Social Amputees Forever zine #1

the first week of 2012 saw the release of my zine!

it features articles, reviews and  and interviews with bands. 

check it out by clicking the images above!

Out Of The Box On Sunday XXIX

Command Of The Formless by Pale Chalice

BWWWOOOO))))AAAAAHHHHHH
Last fm tags as black metal, usa black metal, usbm, metal,american black metal

We’ll Die Smiling – Avant Garde

We’ll Die Smiling (myspace) plays chaotic punk music with angsty screaming vocals like it hasn’t been done in ages. The spastic start/stop dissonant guitar-patterns are wielded to the point of perfection, quickly changing to mellow clean parts or violent chugs, and back again, while the vocals constantly harshly soar above the end product. This reminds a lot of what smaller bands did within the confinements of term ‘mathcore’ around the time we bridged from the 20th to the 21st century. Somewhat like Shoemaker Levy 9, Path Of No Return or As The Sun Sets, to give a few examples that won’t mean anything to most people. But there, I said it anyway.

Out Of The Box On Sunday XXIV

(you'll need a torrent program for this download)

Dëthkløk is the band around which the animated show 'Metapocalpyse' revolves. the theme of the show is the vulgar and brutal lifestyle of the metalband, which is bigger than anything in their world and makes them literally get away with murder. so basically an animated series that balances gore, metal and dark or absurd comedy. in almost every episode you would get a song, which are all written by Brendon Small, the band had written based on their experiences of that episode. and when you have followed the series for a while, those songs become something to look foward to. a surprisingly distinct sound that somehow covers a lot of different branches of metal music, only always as hard as it is melodic with over the top cliché METUHL  or just absurd lyrics. these are 2 albums that compile those songs

Last fm tags as  death metal, blacker than the blackest black times infinity, melodic death metal, metal, comedy

Engineer - Crooked Voices

 listen to The Idiot's Theme by Engineer

This is the 7th release by (ex-The Minor Times band) Engineer (facebook). down-tempo hardcore with an amazing sludgy groove and their signature raw -even somewhat emotional- vocals, that both easily fit under a Post-Hardcore label. which I found interresting, since the label sludge is so often misplaced on downtempo Post-Hardcore bands, not that anyone should take such labels seriously, but this is a band that blends the trve with untr00 with the best from both worlds. nevermind. this is dark yet catchy stuff, with influences from all sorts of slow and extreme music, which always beats tapping from a single narrow source. as these guys proove.

Last fm tags as sludge, hardcore, mathcore, metalcore, metal 

click the image above to order merch from their label

Ed Gein - Bad Luck

listen to The Spectacle, by Ed Gein sur Myspace Music

You may have noticed that Ed Gein (myspace) is back! years after last showing any sign of life, they recorded Bad Luck and another year later it was actually released. this record shows only a hint of how you would remember Ed Gein, if you paid little attention to them, since around the time of their last release. it's a more hardcore metal approach of the modern kind. in stead of their signature chaotic structures, you only get a few odd timestructures but decent songs nonetheless! the only thing about the change I regret, is the lack of witty songtitles.

Last fm tags as grindcore, mathcore, hardcore, metalcore, metal 

 click the random image above to order merch directly from them

Hessian - Hessian 2011

 listen to Torch by Hessian

Another addition to the streak of belgian bands pushing the envelope! Hessian (facebook) is a metalpunk/crust-influenced hardcore band (not unlike all pigs must die, trap them, cursed, black breath or rise and fall). The band features the drummer from The Black Heart Rebellion/Kingdom and the vocalist from Losing Streak (RIP), for as far as I can link the members to other musical projects. Strangely, it’s the vocals that first kept me at bay. They worked very well in Losing Streak, which was an oldschool hardcore band, because of their angry and raspy sound, but I felt that made them fall through the cracks of this crafty music. Now that I’ve seen them a few times and listened to the entire record, I feel they’re just as much an essential part of the music as the thoight drums (DAJ-JUM)  and eclectic metal guitars. I became a fan! Give it a few spins before you decide you’d never be.
Last fm tags as metallic hardcore, real metalcore, hardcore, metal, punk

click the image above to buy their merch!

Departures - Escaping Air

 listen to The View From Below by departures

Hardcore band Departures (Myspace) is a bunch of Scottish dudes taking a swing for a different approach at the passionate and melodic breed of punk music. I especially appreciate their uptempo songs, that they rush through sounding like More Than Life running for their life, from an actual hardcore band or a Twister or something.

Last fm tags as: hardcore, under 2000 listeners, metal, rock, punk but consider there are apparently 2 hardcore bands with this name. one American and this one

keep an eye out for their next release. coming very very soon! somewhere. until then, click the above image to get these songs in the form of a split with the band Atlantic Heart