REVIEWS (old stuff n° 1 - 17/06/2008)

PAVILIONUL 32 supunere? niciodata! (trad. obedience? never!) CD (self produced)
Tavi is god; and no one can deny this statement.
This band is from Timisoara, Romania, and plays fast hc punk with powerviolence hints here and there. Tavi is on vocals, Keetee is on guitar and Mircea is on drums. At the time we played the TIMISOARA THRASH FEST (that, anyway, took place in Deta due to some problems) they had no bass player, so i can't tell you now their position with that. If you complain because there's no scene in your country, or because there are no places for shows, or because your mommy won't allow you to dress like and idiot for the party, try and go to live in Romania. Death Before Work! played an incredible show there, with bands coming from all the world (brazil, poland, germany, austria, italy and only one band from romania - i'm obviously talking about Pavilionul 32) and Tavi did everything alone, with only the help of his bandmates. And for granted, the show was AWESOME.

Anyway, this band delivers 21 songs including an intro and an outro, with lyrics dealing with everyday problems in an anarchist and antiauthoritarian outlook; the general feel is that the cd is a bit too long, but obviously the more music you can fit on it allows you to not waste space and plastic (i hate bands recording cd's that lasts only 8 minutes like a 7 inch; why don't you make a fucking tape?). Their music is fast, powerful and straight-to-the point; sometimes they remind me of older FxPxOx from Macedonia. if you want to play in Romania contact them, they are great people and very hospitable.

(NOTE: after the romanian trip i wrote a song, this is what i pooped from my pen/mind)

TAVI IS GOD
he called us for the show
the Timisoara thrash fest
well, at the end it was Deta
but that's another story
fried! bread! with! cheese!
thanx again you grandma!
drinkin'!vodka! at 9 am!
my hangover lasted longer...
TAVI IS GOD (x4)
streets are broken
and serbia is not fun
(but with) the cheapest beer
i'm gonna get drunk!
a ton of bands
from all the world
and we've even seen death
walking among us
TAAAAVVIIIIIIII!
IS MY GOD!

(http://www.myspace.com/pavilionul32)


INSECT WARFARE world extermination LP (RSR/625THRASH)
This bands seems to be getting famous and famous each week more. Even here in Italy a lot of people knows them, and it sounds a bit strange to me, because it has always been hard to me to be understood on musical taste (oh, poor guy!). Anyway, i already reviewed their compilation cd some months ago, and this new work is only adding more brutality and perfection to the previous material: very aggressive old school grindcore with hints of punk and crustcore here and there, sometimes they even move to noisecore territories. Political /social lyrics perfectly fits with the music. This is no frills grindcore; it has nothing to do with today's Relapse or Earache releases, hyperproduced and plastic sounding. If you like your dose of old school grindcore, blastbeast all over the place and perfectly filling artwork, Insect Warfare is your plate for dinner. You are served!
(www.myspace.com/insectwarfare)


AARDVARK born CD (finalmuzik - www.finalmuzik.com)
Steve was my partner while recording some metal radio shows in 2007 (or it was 2006? fuck, i can't tell now!) called Abominio, and this is his own project Aardwark.
An earcrushing assault of ambient/drone/noise, assembled with a particular industrial touch and a surrounding black metal feeling i cannot say i don't like, well i actually dig it a lot! While i cannot make comparisons, since i'm not so familiar with this kind of sound, i can easily say i like this stuff. Sometimes this is more ambient sounding, and it seems that you're sleeping in a cell inside a huge old abandoned factory with wind running thru the broken windows, some other times it's more complicated and you feel like if you're abandoned on a broken highway after a 50 cars crush. That's it, take it or leave it. I suggest you to take, obviously! Go on Steve!!!
(www.myspace.com/aardvarkisdead)


CRUCIAL SECTION/HIT ME BACK split 7" (625thrash)
God oh God oh shitfuckin' christ i was so pleased to get this small piece of plastic in the mail!
Crucial Section is one of my favourite japanese bands, and i love their dedication on the hardcore scene after all this time that has passed thru the years. Hiro is my god!!!
HIT ME BACK delivers 3 blasting hc/powerviolence tracks i was amazingly surprised to hear, because last time i got their LP i was a bit disappointed: it was not cohesive, it was lacking some energy and all in all it was a bit too uninpressive, and i hate to say that because their earlier material was AWESOME! Anyway, these 3 tracks will completely floor your apartment, so keep yourself ready!
CRUCIAL SECTION continues their nippon assault with 3 more tracks of fast hc in japanese tradition, continuing on the line of their "catch the future" LP...fast, full of choruses, tempo changes and the likes. Even if it's a bit old now, find this gem becasue it's fuckin' worthwhile. Uh, and don't forget that soon i'll publish a CRUCIAL SECTION interview for all of you thrashin' maniacs!!!
(crucialsection@hotmail.com ------- www.hitmeback.org)


LORDS OF LIGHT energy LP (LIFE IS ABUSE/625THRASH)
Well, i was already pleased with their first 7", as it was a courageous step toward something new, starting the search from a (not-so-typical) powerviolence perspective.
This new lp simply works more and more towards that direction: could you ever imagine mixxing powerviolence with prog and rock influences? It sounds weird, i know, but the final result is AMAZING.
LOL is 3 guys, vocal/drums/baritone guitar (if you wonder what a baritone guitar is, think of a variation on the standard guitar, with a longer scale length that allows it to be tuned to a lower range. This helps in the elimination of a bass player a.k.a. less problems when on tour :) ) which has no problem in mixxing styles and tempo changes, and they do it with a particular sophisticated taste which is almost perfect. The drummer is a MONSTER, he's accurate and powerful like few in the scene today, and i have to admit the baritone guitar adds a consistant special flavor to the end result. It's like a trip in a new dimension, a struggle for the creation of a new empire. I will put Lords of Light together with Iron Lung, Agents of Abhorrence and maybe Lana Dagales on the top of this new world. Who will have the force of waiting and see what's gonna happen in the future, will see a new era of crazy bands...Vinyl is white, lyrics deal with strange social/scene related/musical topics (some titles: "Jethro Zeppelin" "Prog for Camellia" "My bloody/DC") and, as usual, i suugest you to buy this one. Fuckin' good.
(http://www.myspace.com/lordsoflight)


ROBERT DELIRIO california republic CD (self produced)
i've been contacted by Robert some months ago, and i finally have to say sorry because i spent too much time complaining about non-music related things instead of reviewing his cd. This cd is stranger to the sound that i usually deal with on Thrashmaniac 'Zine, anyway i obviously think it deserves some words. Robert used to live in Italy, and at the time he was playing in the seminal hc band Atrox (today still active), in which he was a former member. Now that he has moved to Usa, he's got his own project, a one mand band dealing with hc topics and playing with electronics. We can say this cd is a mixxx between hardcore punk guitars, angry filled lyrics and a drum machine: sometimes the end result works, like on "Made in China" or "Acqua Business"...i am not familiar with this kind of sound, because i don't dig much drummachines and samples in hardcore punk, but at least i suggest him to try to find a real drummer and keeping the bips, blups and strange sounds he has added here and there. Maybe it would sound more powerful and a bit more cohese.
Anyway, maximum support to diy projects like this one, the scene would be a worst place if noone would try with new sounds!
check this shit out at http://www.myspace.com/rdelirio


CRUSHED UP demo 2007 CD-R
I decided to call this one "demo 2007" because it has no title, but i think it's a bit too simplicistic callin' it only a demo because it's a good recording and everything sounds perfect.Finally an hardcore band with something to say, xmaryfux on vocals is harsh but still understandable. Hardcore very punky and superfast, lots of breakdowns and stop'n'go, where my only complaint is that it's too short. It's just 9 songs for 6 minutes and few seconds of music.
Fuck off macho core, i wanna see more ladies in the pit kicking and circle pitting as she does. Too bad, i've missed the opportunity to catch them live a couple of weeks ago in Firenze, they played a Thrash Fest with other bands from the peninsula. Oh by the way, they come from Sardegna (it's an isle here in italy, not Sicily dudes, that's far south and it's homeland for Burst Up! and LxExAxRxNx and Sonny Corleone and...ok anyway since they live far from me it's not so easy to get a show from them - FUCK WORK!) and i think that Mr Pietro from STRESSTODEATH records has already putted his hands on the combo.
That said, watch out for a vynil from these people very soon!
Another small stone in the shoe of an emo dork.
(nb_maryf@hotmail.com)
(www.myspace.com/crushedup)


LA PIOVRA LAST SHOW


An incredible show, 5 bands, A LOT of people, stagediving, moshing, skankin', pogoing...everything/everyone was there. I met so much people never seen before and that i always argue with on many messageboards (mainly i went crazy for meeting Iceman and Fremen), liters of beers and finally even my lovely half Lucy attended a very spectacular and good and groundbreaking show!
THE GUILT SHOW (ah-ah) started the dances with a very good mix of 80's str8 edge hardcore with some 90's chugga chugga stuff, very well done and MOST IMPORTANT finally someone taking back the mic to say something worth a listen. I'll never be thankful enough to Giangiacomo for a song talking about the no-meaning of fashion into hardcore (go back to your dancey-rap roots, stupid clowns!). I hope this shit would go away soon and the fashion would take those posers to another place. Too bad not many people danced at their show, but in the future they can became huge. I missed the 2 central bands (namely BOOTER from france and GIUDA from bologna/firenze...this one being Mila/Agipunk recs' own band) because i was lost outside talkin' with the zillion people from all of italy that came for the show, and finally BANxTHIS! started their set: choruses, singalongs, they sent people on the moon with their perfect mix of hardcore and skaterock tunes. Edo the guitar player almost standstill in it's own place, acting like if nothing was happening in front of him...the place was so packed they were having problems in findin' space for playing! LA PIOVRA closed the set, all the people were there to say hello, their last show after hunderd of shows in europe and usa, we have lost one of the best italian bands for sure. A fuckin' good surprise, they played a song from L'AMICO DI MARTUCCI ("xmestrex") with original singer Beppe on vocals, back for this special night from Spain...people went NUTS, i got crazy, tons of stagediving and...ok that's all. fuck off. just watcxh the video and don't break the balls.
to see more pixxx:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/behindthiswall/


DEADLY SINS compilation CD (MCR company)
Since i live in a shitty town called Milano (i think at this point who read this blog should have understood this) i decided to move with my lovely half in another part of italy, and often i'm gonna have trips in the region of Emilia Romagna (where good towns like Bologna and Ferrara are located). I'd like to move there because today Milano is a completely business town and any kind of leisure is always placed secondary; since i'm still in my 16 and i want to have fun, since i like my job because it leaves me a lot of free time, and since i will never give my freedom for some more money, the decision was obvious. So, often i visit Bologna with the purpose of finding a cheap house to buy, a cheap one but big enough to have some space for a practice room and for setting up some small shows. Mila from Agipunk is also a long time friend and 9 times to 10 we go to sleep at his apartment, which to me is like heaven because the house it's also the headquarter of his "business", and i often spent hours looking for records, cd's, books and tapes. In one of those trips/visits i got a compilation cd called DEADLY SINS, featuring all japanese bands from thrash metal to death metal to speed crust. I have to admit that i would have never bought this record if it wasn't for the bands' logos, since i never heard of any of them before (with the exception of Beyond Description, but i also don't like them much neither). TERROR FECTOR plays speedy thrash metal with some death influences here and there, they are from nagasaki and they remind me a bit of my friends from Milano Irreverence, mostly on the vocals. MAGGOTY CORSPE is pure grind/death metal, long hair, flanned shirts, carcass t-shirts so you got the picture.veeeery old school. ERODED is still death metal but a lil' more in a swedish way (i mean OLD swedish way) think of a mix between Entombed and Pungent Stench and the deal is done. BEYOND DESCRIPTION offer a couple of speedy crustcore songs with thrash guitars, i saw them 2/3 years ago here in italy and they were very good...if you like metallic thrashy crust. VOIDD goes on with very heavy and crunchy death/thrash (it seems now they are playing hardcore punk...uh!, tortured vocals as well and a speedy part in the middle.INCRIMINATION starts off with a double pedal assault,then the song goes for a mosh assault. GABISH close the cd with another gem of speed thrash in the old style way. All in all a brutal listen for all of you that wanna know something more about the metal/hc scene in japan.

MCR COMPANY has offices in usa and uk also! so it's fucking huge!!! i wanna be on that label!!!
this is MCR official address: mcr@dance.ne.jp

if you want to buy some of their stuff with no much trouble, join the AGIPUNK army:
http://www.agipunk.com/


NOMINON recremation LP 2005
Got this one from paolo SOA records. Luckily enough somethimes i can get my hands on gems like this one for not so much money. NOMINON exists since 1993, they come from Sweden and guess what they play...swedish death metal, obvious. Thi is no crap ala In Flames or The haunted new era, this is solid death metal with perefct rhythm section, solid and straight to the point, crunchy guitar riffs and a voice coming straight from the tomb. I love old school death metal, and this is no doubt a perfect step in to the past. From the cover, to the sound to the inlay greetings section, everything smokes. Plus, the vynil version added a powerful coversong from an old Whiplash tune, "spit on your grave", so you already know we are not talking about a sissy band.
I'm fucking looking for their new effort on vynil too ("TERRA NECROSIS", published this year - go and listen to this gem also).
I couldn't ask more from a death metal band.
Top A!!!
www.myspace.com/nominon


DEATH BEFORE WORK! live @ skatepark lambrooklyn summer 2007
ok, here's a new tapelabel born here in milano: SHITCHRIST LOST TAPES.
the first release is DBW! live @ lambrooklyn skatepark here in Milano.
DBW! has a strange connection with people from the skatepark, because even if noone of us is actually an active skater (maybe only Doner is, and Marra reminds to have a deck under his bed a couple of times per year) they have always been positively reactive to our music and our noises.


Well, this recording comes from a show we did this summer together with RFT, NASHWUAH and a couple of other bands i'm sorry i cannot remember now, all of them coming from the Milano area. 16 traxxx for 16 minutes circa of music, an incredible scream on the first track ("we are like U2!!!" - this because we were playing in the middle of the pool, on a very small "isle" inside it, and i felt as we were playing on the top of a building like in the movie Rattle and Hum...ok, that's just bullshit).
We have played one of our fastest shows, a couple of errors here an there and lots of energy anywhere. this new shitchrist tapes will provide you some obscure and unreleased material form long gone thrash/doom/powerviolence bands, so check this shit out and don't fool yourself around too much.
www.myspace.com/shitchrist


COMRADES/DEATH BEFORE WORK! split 7"
And yes, another dream has come true.
Comrades have been a part of my adolescent years, and i bought everything they ever done. If you don't know them (STILL???) they were born in late 80's/early 90's as the first italian grindcore str8 edge communist band. They released tons of compilation traxxx, seven inches, split seven inches and a collection with all the older material. Their sound was a mixxx between early grindcore ala napalm death/agathocles mixxed with punk and hc elements, and over the years different lineups helped them in keeping their music varied and exciting. Actually, they are on hold, since their latest drummer Cabeza moved to Berlin (creating the huge deathcore combo ALTARE www.myspace.com/altare), but their latest release are still powerfucking violence hardcore with a psychotic touch.
On this side they develop two traxxx, harsh sounding and with screamed raging vocals (high pitched, since they are not anymore a "double fronted" band). Very fuckin' good the break in the middle, reminding me of some 80's thrash bands. On the flipside, there's again the band i sing in, DEATH BEFORE WORK!. finally, things start to move in a better direction than on the previous cd. Sure, i still can't sing but finally tracks are more in a thrash/spedd metal way, alwasy with a touch of hardcore punk on them. It's written THRASH all over the place. Sing-a-long, choruses, a song about (against?) Tadzio, a song dealing with my back problems

(if you see us on a live set and you think i got a wooden piece in my ass it could be funny but maybe not so much realistic, try to jump and sing for 20 minutes with a bastard hammering on your spine and then let's talk about old school death metal records again)

a song about going to rehersal by bike, a song about listening to some bad heavy metal insted of going to church, a song about eating falafel instead of listening to some crap underproduced boring goregrind, and a song about suicide (is the only good solution).
At leeast give me some credit because i got balls to admit it. We are too much on this world and we need some people go die. We'll see who'll be the first...
produced by the new hope for the italian scene, Mr Pietro from
STRESSTODEATH RECORDS (check his shit out, he's the new god in italy for anything about fast hc/thrash/grindcore/powerviolence/sludge/doom etcetera).

www.myspace.com/stresstodeath
www.myspace.com/deathbeforework
www.myspace.com/comradeshc


DEATH BEFORE WORK! "messageboard punx on a rope" CD
ok, you never thought about reviewing your own band? i'm gonna do it now, and i don't care if you like it or not.
Finally, after 1 year in the making, MY band did it!
16 traxx of manic and blistering hardcore with a crossover thrash feel. After almost one year that this shit is out, i can easily say that:
-it is with no doubt powerful and well recorded, but still this is no way the feel i'd like to give it;
-it's a bit too much clean, even if this kind of sound luckily is not killing the power;
- my vocals aren't the real ones i usually got, and they are a bit too much treated...

Anyway, i think this record ROCKS.

lyrics are very cool and funny (uhuh- i wrote them!) and deal with usual hc topics, politics and social issues, but as already written (CAN'T YOU READ???) it's done in a funny way; since they are very cryptic, there are also explanations... :)


that's it.

produced by SOA records from rome, you can find this gem here:
www.myspace.com/deathbeforework


NO KIDS "-ep" 7"
FINNLAAAAAAAAAAAAAANND!
is not only the homeland for old school Kaaos-like raw hardcore punk, it's also the house for this 80's punk lovers named NO KIDS!!!
This is the perfect blend of 80's hc mixed with today thrash sound, and their live set is intense and crazy!!! (i saw them playing Puntala Rock Fest 2007).
they got a song called "20 minutes":

"i go to a show, see a band play
too fucking long and waste my day
40 minutes of total boredom
only iron maiden is allowed to play
for more than hour
20 MINUTES IS ENOUGH
TOO FUCKING ENOUGH
gimme your best shit in less than 20 minutes"

The review is finished

(http://www.myspace.com/nokidsattack and/or http://www.nokidsattack.com/)


TWO BEATS OFF demo cd-r
DBW! played one show with this band in Oulu, Finland, in an incredibly (why?) almost-empty bar with no free drinks and with beer costing too much for a punk/thrash band on tour. At least the 2 bartender women were really nice and pretty (i love women middle age looking with aggressive heavy metal t-shirts) and they were one blonde and one dark haired. I love clichés.... After the show, at 2.30 almost, a lot of couples arrived for dancing to some trashy 80's music and getting drunk...and it was only thursday night. In Italy, something like that it's close to impossible (at least in a boring town as Milano is and will always be) but this town got lots more problem than this one, so i don't complain that much about. So, after we arrived at the show we have been introduced to Sami, guit/vox for this band. One of the first things i remember to have heard coming from his mouth was "i love La Quiete" and "i met Michele from la quiete" and i immediately thought: oh jesus fucking christ...So now i can finally talk about his band's demo.
The first 3 tracks are fucking good, fast hc/powerviolence with a screamed vocals and intricate guitar parts, a bit crusty (not crust!) and in some way it all reminds me of a strange (in a good way!) mix of Betercore!, His Hero Is Gone and another "i-wear-black-and-lots-of-patches-but-i-got-a-brain-too" band i cannot remember the name now. On the fourth track they start adding some "emo violence" guitar licks here and there and my stomach start to rebel; but it's no problem, as i said before i already got in mind the words coming from Sami's mouth about a strange italian band he loves. This cd contains six tracks and all in all i can say they are worth a listen. But most of all you have to see them live, they are fuckin energic and Sami is also an hyperactive guy (quite strange for a finnish dude!). It seems like this demo has the first 3 tracks coming from early practices and the remaining 3 are new material. Or maybe it's just my imagination.
So, it's good to hear something different, sometimes, but i think they should push the pedal in the powerviolence direction ("nooooooo! don't tell us??!!? nobody could ever imagine something like that coming from your mouth!"). Go on Two Beats Off, thrash the place and fuck god.
(myspace.com/tbofinland)


JIGSORE TERROR world end carnage LP
Do you like death metal? do you like grindcore?
If you answered "yes" to both questions you have to leave anything you're doing in THIS moment and go outside buying this record.
Coming from many other bands like General Surgery, Birdflesh and Sayyadina, this fucked up trio from Sweden play exactly what i love more from the early days of the crossover death/grind:crunchy guitars, blastbeats all over the place, tight musical precision and a lot of breakdowns. The fast tempo parts between a blastbeat and another are luckily NOT in a crustcore vein, so you never get that feel of having a bunch of drunken punks puking on your back while listening to this gem. THEY ARE INVENTING NOTHING NEW, but this record rocks anyway. This record sounds NOT like: goregrind, electrogrind, swedish death metal, melodic death grind(?), razorgrind (hullo Leng Tch'e!), new metal, grindcrust, technical death metal.
If you need reference points take 1 part first Terrorizer album, 1 part early Death records, 1 part Mentally Murdered Napalm Death's period and all the rest of good fuckin rockin death bands from 1988/1991. very fuckin good. thank you boris for this "present".
(www.power-it-up.de)


MASS OBLITERATION abrahamitic curse demo cd-r
Well, finally someone sent me some records for a review!!!
(self promotion and myspace sometimes works, don't you think so?)
This fuckin' trio from Rome offer us this 7 tracks demo, which includes 3 videos as a bonus, containing live songs and the "making of" of the demo itself.
First off, it has to be noted that this is sort of a conceptual record, since its lyrically centered on the plague of monotheistic religions, such Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And if you're asking yourself "Oh my god will be them another nazi-related anti judaic/christianity band" i can easily say : NO! YOU'RE WRONG!
The band analyzes in a death/gore way (ahahah!) (no seriously, read a title like "Balls Torture for Preachers"and tell me what you can imagine from that...) the sociopolitical sides of this virus that rules the world; we are slowly dying of a cancer called Religion, but not much people seems to care. So, red carpet to people like MxOx which have the balls to tell the truth about this shit!!!
Musically they are not bad, they quote as influences bands like Incantation, Death, Cancer, Morbid Angel and the likes, and here and there you can feel some melodic reference to some of those bands' riffing (in particular i remind a Death riff in the song "Demon of Goddess", too bad actually i can't remember it's name). The only problem is that since this is their first effort (they started playing one year ago) they still have to amalgamate their sound, making it more tight and powerful. In addition, some songs sound a bit too long for my tastes, and they should cut them for a more "straight to the point" feel and results. Anyway, i think that after some more time spent in the studio (the famous "hard working" glory) they will became a real warmachine.So go on dudes, see ya for the next effort!!!(i hope even after this review they will still send me more of their stuff).
DEATH METAL FROM THE GRAVE!
(massobliteration@libero.it / www.myspace.com/massobliterationdeathmetal)

(Uh, i forgot to tell ya, but here and there they also remind me of CEREBRAL FIX's "Tower of Spite"...don't ask me why! maybe it's because of the half speed they often use? uhm....)