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H/C Punk on Havoc Records.
Seattle's Bristle was one of the better traditional punk bands of the 90's. Not as heavy or thrashing as most of the bands I've worked with Bristle's music reminds me more of the great British bands of the early 80's who mixed the high energy of punk with a more melodic sound at a rollicking pace. Their fast aggressive style of punk rock was right at home in the days of the Pist and Aus Rotten. Bristle changed labels several times but their other releases include the Fired from Life 7", Won't Die for You LP, and Inner Conflict 7" on Beer City. Bristle broke up in 1999, but reformed in 2004. They have a discography CD out now on Rodent Popsicle Records
H/C.
After Aus Rotten broke up, Corey and Eric decided to start a new band with a more hardcore direction. Adding Bill Chamberlain of the Pist/React/Broken on guitar solidified their line up. Tragedy struck when their first drummer was injured in a car accident and was no longer able to play drums. Enter a borrowed drummer from Submachine (later to become the permanent drummer) and the result is a band whose components are some of the most experienced and dedicated punk musicians in the Eastern US. Corey gave me a Caustic Christ demo when he was in town with the Unseen and I liked it. But when I saw them open for DS 13 at Mr. Roboto in Pittsburgh I knew I had to put out a record by this band. Caustic Christ play sick heavy hardcore that I would best describe as a cross between early Corrosion of Conformity and Swedish crust core like Wolfbrigade and Skitsystem. Fans of crust and fast 80's style hardcore will no doubt both like this 7" as it bridges the two genres perfectly. Lyrics deal with aleination from dead end jobs, destruction of the environment and the horror of everyday life in 21st century society.
While much of the hardcore scene is based on the energy and anger of the youth, there's something to be said for a band made up of bitter old guys. Years of experience and a complete lack of youthful idealism leave you with some truly raw, powerful, aggressive, no frills hardcore punk rock. Caustic Christ on this release take a "less is more" approach by stripping away the frivolity of fashion and getting down to the brass tacks. Here are five tracks of pure hc punk animosity coming at you like the '79 Steelers "Wall of Steel." Look for them on tour as the live show is like a mallet to the head. Half the crowd will be stunned like they've been zapped with a tazer and the other half are jumping around like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. Pittsburgh brings it...again.
Civil Disobedience formed in Michigan around 1992. Their demo tape sold several hundred copies through Profane Existence mail order. I saw Civil Disobedience when they opened for Destroy in Detroit and was so impressed I asked them if they would release a record on my new label. The 7" which resulted is arguably Civil Disobedience's best material. Powerful hardcore with speed and power but not exactly thrash. The two vocalists switch back and forth rapid fire. I would compare this to Conflict around Ungovernable Force but really its totally unique. This has been one of our most consistent selling releases even though it has been out for over ten years now. A lot of people tell me it is their favorite record of the 90's or even favorite record ever. Civil D. later put out an LP on Profane Existence with a slightly different line up. Civil Disobedience broke up in early 1998.
From Stuttgart, Germany, Clusterbombunit plays brutal Dis-core which reminds me a lot of Discharge's Why? 12" with maybe more added crunch and brutality. The lyrics are bleak and desperate to match the muisc, dealing with the insanity of war and oppression. CBU have a 7" and 10" on Thought Crime Records from Berlin and a long out of print split flexi with Resist, a split 7" with Disclose, a US tour ep and a split 7" with RAGG. They have done European and US tours. This 7" was recorded in 1997 for Pushead's label and finally saw the light of day on Havoc. CBU is one of my absolute favorite bands of the 90's and probably the best band I saw live in Europe on tour in 1999 (well, tied with DS 13). CBU released a new LP on Tribal War Asia in the summer of 2001, and the Last Band Standing EP in 2003. Clusterbombunit is one of those bands that no one is on the fence about. Those who like this band are really into them, the intensity, power and brutality of it all. Everyone else, just doesn't get it. If you can dub or download the 10"especially, check it out. For more info and some free MP3's go to the Clusterbombunit Website Clusterbombunit is still going strong but aren't as active as they used to be. If you see them, tell them it's time for a Discography CD on Havoc and a second US tour.
H/C Punk
Coming hot on the heels of the Doomed Society EP They Made a Wasteland is sort of a State of the Scene Address from the hardcore underground. A breathless report from the front as hardcore experienced a massive explosion of popularity and renewed interest as well as an assault of commercialism and regressive attitudes. Larger political issues to a back seat to confronting poseurs, sell-outs and religious extremists trying to corrupt the true spirit of hardcore. The line-up is the same as the first 7" although we had two different second guitar players around this time neither stuck with us. Musically very similar to the first 7" fast paced straight ahead hardcore with a variety of influences. Hardcore for the Kids and Shady Acres are downright melodic in the old California 80's style while Armed to the Teeth is total grindcore and the rest are punk thrashers.
Originally released by the band on Busted Heads records in Sweden, I liked this so much I asked them if I could press it in America. Raging hardcore from Umea, Sweden. Unlike a lot of Swedish bands this is more of an old school US hardcore sound than a Discharge influenced sound. Reminds me a lot of early DRI, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, and Seven Seconds. Really powerful and pissed off hardcore. Along with the Amdi Petersen's Arme 7" this is my favorite of all my releases. DS 13 went on to have an illustrious career with several more releases, Vad Vet Vi Om Kriget? LP on Deranged, split 7" with STGM, split 7" with Blood of Others, For the Kids, Not the Business 7", Thrash And Burn 6", and of course split 7" with Code 13 and the Killed By the Kids LP/CD on Havoc. However, this 7" is DS 13 at the most raw and brutal.
Cleveland Ohio's h-100's blast out crucial early 80's style raw thrash. The singer was a teenage kid with a really snotty voice. The rest of the band were thirty-year-old record collector dudes who were there when hardcore ruled and didn't forget. Although the h-100's claim 80's Japanese thrash as their main influence this record reminds me more of early Die Kreuzen, Poison Idea, Toxic Reasons or many other Midwestern thrash bands of the 80's. Pro-wrestling is a big influence on this band as evidenced by the cover. H-100's were notorious for their outrageous live shows which usually featured fireworks, wrestling moves and throwing everything that wasn't nailed down. In fact the whole Clevo Chaos Schtick really started with these guys. The music just screams Chaos and Destruction at top volume. H-100's also released the Dismantle 7" in their own Bloodclot label, and the Distort Cleveland 7" on Burrito Records. After singer Chris quit and moved to Chicago the rest of the band continued with Steve on vocals and became the first line up of Nine Shocks Terror. Wedge and Tony went on to be in Gordon Solie Motherfuckers as well. Chris has since moved back to Clevo and now sings for Upstab. This 7" was almost called "So What if We're on Havoc".
Masskontroll were a wicked brutal Portland band heavily influenced by mid-80's Swedish and Japanese thrash hardcore. The Avskum, Warcollapse, Anti-Cimex, Crude SS, No Security, Swedish "dis" sound is unmistakable. Totally heavy riffs and crushing power. The song Genocide is of course a Heresy cover. Masskontroll took on serious political issues and confronted apathy in the punk scene (see the essay on the lyric sheet). Masskontroll went on to record an LP on Mind Control and did a split 7" with Heartline from Czech. Before this record went to press there was a fucked up test pressing with the wrong songs in the wrong order. There were 20 test pressings of the fucked up version and 20 test pressings of the final version that was released. Kelly did up covers for these and they were passed around the collector scene. Masskontroll was one of the bands that set the standard for the now prolific Portland crust/hardcore scene. Their sound, look and image are still influential in current releases. After Masskontroll Kelly went on to Detestation, and Severed Head of State. Kelly also plays in Clusterbombunit, Suicide Blitz and Murder Disco Experience. Adam plays in Deathcharge and does After the Bomb records and fanzine.
Totally chaotic Punk/HC in the Disorder, Bad Posture tradition. At the heart of the Murderers is the legendary Bob Murderer who has kept versions of this band going since the early 80's. One incarnation backed GG Allin for a while. Bob also played in the Vampire Lesbos and many other bands in the 80's. Moving to Minnesota Bob got a new line up together and recorded these songs, some new, some from the mid 80's. Totally irreverent drunk drugged chaos punk with a ton of energy and power. This 7" is a blast of pure chaos. The Murderers lineup changed several times. Sid From Misery took over on drums when Mitch Useless left to play in Servitude and later Code 13. The Murderers sound changed somewhat later on. Their subsequent recordings sounded more like the US Bombs or Sex Pistols. But this 7" is pure, hate filled hardcore punk. The Murderers released a split 12" picture disk with the Jerkoffs on Beer City in 1999. They played a final show and broke up in 2000.
First in a series of re-issues from lost bands of the 80's. Protesti was around during the heyday of Finnish Thrash in the early 80's. I have long been a fan of the aggressive hardcore that came out of Finland in the 80's. When Fight Records agreed to let me do US pressings of their re-issue 7"s this was the first in line. Protesti never had a vinyl release in the 80's of their own, although they did appear on the legendary "Hardcore 83" comp. on Propaganda records. As far as I can understand this was a side project of members of Kaaos and the Bastards. With these influences you can guess at the sound and style, raging fast and chaotic thrash music. The lyrics are translated from Finnish and honestly are just as pertinent today as they were in 1983.
Fast and furious hardcore from LaCrosse, Wisconsin. USV playED full bore energetic hardcore with no slow parts or metal influence. Solid fast high energy hardcore. How can you go wrong? Reminds me of early 80's Boston bands like DYS, Siege, and SSD mixed with a little of the late 90's Power Violence sound. USV released the Choke Slammed Back to Life LP on Deranged in 2000. USV toured quite a bit and never really got the recognition they deserved. They toyed with the idea of moving to a bigger city, but broke up instead. This ep is one of the "sleepers" on my label. It's never sold a huge amount of copies, but rages just as hard as bands twice as popular. I guess that's what coming from a small city in Wisconsin gets you. Ex-members went on to Weaving the Deathbag and Drysocket.
Vitamin X is a Straight Edge Hardcore band from Amsterdam Holland. Their earlier material is more in the Youth Crew tradition of Youth of Today, Bold and Chain of Strength. But over time Vitamin X's sound has progressed to a faster more intense sort of hardcore. This 7" is a really fast hardcore sound very similar to DS 13, Lifes Halt or Tear It Up. Vitamin X has very well thought out political lyrics which defy some of the wack stuff going on in SEHC today. Indeed bands like Vitamin X are re claiming SEHC for what it really is, a branch of hardcore punk rock and not some sort of mainstream metal music. Vitamin X also has two 7"s on Committment Records and an full length CD on Underestimated (SOA in Euorope). They followed up this recording with two full length LP/CDs on Havoc as well as a US tour 7" and several comp tracks.
Noisecore compilation featuring CSDM, Kanibal Bloodbath, Nihilist Commando and Noise.
