BONE AWL.

There's not much going on in Novato, CA on most days.
It certainly isn't a "happening" place, there's no "scene" to speak of, and that makes it the perfect place to start your "KVLT" Black Metal band if you are Bone Awl!

In a genre quickly becoming the flavor of the week, Bone Awl skips all the usual trappings of subscribing to the narrow view / belief patterns of the movement, and their sound? Well, that's on another level too.
A shit-ton of cassette only releases, etc. only adds to the mystery behind these Bay Area cave-dwelling black mashers.

Check the cold raw hypnotic stylings for yourself, right here, on this cool live on-air radio set...



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Bone Awl - 05.21.2004 KFJC 89.7FM, Los Altos Hills, CA

BL'AST!

I'm serving up some choice nugs today from Santa Cruz's finest hardcore/skatecore/lurker crew. Enjoy this most excellent set w/ soundboard quality from back in the day when Indy 169's & 9-inch (plus) wide decks with "money bumps" were the norm.



Bl'ast! - 06.20.1985 Sportsmen's Lodge, Sun Valley, CA

Link in comments.

*Re-upped: 05.22.2010*

RE-UP: MELVINS.

As per request, HERE is a re-up on some raw, funny & righteous early material from (the) Melvins.

In the future, if you guys could use the contact button over there on the left for re-up requests I would appreciate it.
I don't check the C-Box so much, so this way is quicker, thanks.

(Brain hurts from last night's late-night festivities. Back to the couch).

VERBAL ABUSE.

While there's been quite a few lineups / eras of Verbal Abuse, it's pretty much a no-brainer to say that these guys were always at the forefront of hardcore / thrash / crossover at any given time - regardless of the musicians involved.

1995's Red, White & Violent proved to be an explosive and precise pit-inducing monster - never missing a lick, never missing a beat - just a full-on gnarbucket-style Nor-Cal thrash attack at it's finest!



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Verbal Abuse - Red, White & Violent

DEVO.

Here's a great-sounding vintage Devo treat for you...

The Spudboys were hard to beat back in the day, and this early performance is testimony to that as they tear through material from the first two albums.

I always enjoyed their early stuff, as they pretty much made digital tones on beautiful analog instruments better than anyone else. The first two albums are my favorites - especially "Duty Now" - but I'd say up through "New Traditionalists" it's all classic. After that they pretty much lost me.

For the record, Alan Meyers is one of the greatest drummers that ever beat the skins, and to me, it AIN'T Devo w/o him...



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Devo - 11.03.1978 Walker Art Center, Mpls. MN



Hawaii was fucking incredible.
I ate some amazing food, drank some decadent cocktails - I even put on a collared shirt! The beach was killer, did some boogie-boarding/surfing/swimming/snorkeling, our hotel resort was fucking plush, saw some amazing waterfalls/flora/fauna/coastline, went to BJ Penn's training facility, slept in, and just generally r-e-l-a-x-e-d.

The good times always go by too fast, don't they?

TASTE OF FEAR.

Grindy Metallic Powerviolence from members of Citizen's Arrest & Assück.
Taste of Fear is one of those cult bands that you can't ignore - or find out much about them on the web...

If you loves you some Infest as well as Venom, I'd say that you have "great taste" - much like myself - as well as those two aforementioned bands as being the jumping-off point for what you are about to fuck your ears up with.
The Don Fury "production" sadly leaves much to be desired at times, but the ferocity of the players involved always seems to stay in-the-red, and that's a good thing, folks.

A true classic, this one KILLS.



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Taste of Fear - Discography: 1991-2003

I'll be off to Hawaii for a few days of well-needed family vacation - still fucking sick with a gnarly head cold - but I'm ready for some sun & black sand beaches, etc.
I'll see you all in a couple days - keep those heartfelt comments coming - and I'll see you all back here mid-week - (IF I ACTUALLY LEAVE MY LAPTOP HOME, THAT IS)...

POISON IDEA.

Quite possibly Poison Idea's most angry record, "War All the Time" was a ground-breaker for many a future new-school hardcore band.

Sadly, very few could pull this off.

You have to LIVE this kind of filth - day in & day out - you can't just turn it off and go back to your suburban roots after "band practice".

The (physical) price these guys paid day after day for years on end was testament to their sound, and the years of self-abuse finally took its toll on guitar-god Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts in early 2006.

While everyone has a favorite Poison Idea record, I seemingly go back to this more often than most; the lineup on this record was such a mish-mash of scumbag hardcores & thrash metal types and it just fucking worked...



Poison Idea - War All the Time

Link in comments.

* Re-Upped: 08.24.2010*

INCANTATION.

A classic record from one of the true elite outfits of the NY Death Metal Scene, this record never fails me - especially at 7:30am in my car on the way to work!

Incantation deliver the goods - straight from the 46th. plane of hell - on this one. Great song structure with plenty of excellent doom passages mixed in the brutality, frenzied hella-drop-tuned riffing around every corner, and one of the most masterful approaches to the guttural style of Death Metal "singing" ever.

If you've never heard Incantation, this is a good place to start.
I guarantee you'll beg for more...



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Incantation - Mortal Throne of Nazarene