PROFANE EXISTENCE P.O. BOX 196 MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94041 USA I.S.A.L. U.S. POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES, MN PERMIT NO.31533 INTERNATIONAL SURFACE AIR LIFT photos by Chris Larson: PO Box 26632 / Richmond VA 23261//
[email protected] / www.slugandlettuce.net Hey ponks. I’m revisiting something that I wrote that never got printed. This was written for PE 58, when we decided to go digital. I feel like the time is right for sharing this, so read on. My name is Jeremy and I’m an alcoholic. Punks like to say shit like that, it’s a part of our culture. We have songs and records devoted to drinking, so do the civilians but it’s so ingrained in everything we do. Punk is about rebellion and one of the first things all kids do to rebel is to sneak that first drink. There is a kind of thrill when you’re young and you discover the kick that booze gives you. That euphoric sense of superhuman awesome-ness; followed by projectile vomiting. I didn’t like booze particularly when I was younger. My dad was an alcoholic, though I only saw him drunk twice in my life it was enough to keep me away from it for years. My dad also got me into punk. My life has been spent chasing rebellion and punk was the one form I’ve felt most passionate about. Everything about it appealed to me. The music, the politics, the fancy dress and snappy hair-dos. Punk was the shit. Now when I went full bore, balls out punk I wasn’t a drinker. I liked amphetamines and acid. Shit, I LOVED acid, but the punks around me all drank and eventually I caved and started drinking too. I found that I enjoyed being drunk. Everything was funnier and though I’ve never had any inhibitions, drinking melted other peoples’ inhibitions and they became more fun to be around. I was nineteen when I (and other people) started to notice there might be a problem. I didn’t drink every day, but I blacked out nearly every time I drank. I would be fine for most of the night, and then I’d be completely WASTED on the turn of a dime. I didn’t turn into a superasshole, or get all violent I just became like a sleepwalker…I think. It’s been described to me dozens of times, but honestly I couldn’t tell you. I’ve seen photos of me while I was in the throes of a blackout, and I look quite dead. My eyes are hollow and it’s like my soul was erased, but being that I was in a blackout, well I just don’t remember. My drinking career continued unabated until I was 21. The first time the consequences of my actions caught up with me. I was in a committed relationship with a young woman and we were all crazy about each other, but I was a selfish and crazy drunk, and I sowed my wild oats like a madman. You see she wasn’t punk, and didn’t go to punk shows and I decided that what she didn’t know couldn’t possibly hurt her. A load of shit to be sure but I didn’t care, and when she did finally find out about my philandering she left. Who wouldn’t? But I didn’t see it that way, and I swore to the heavens above that I’d change. I’d quit drinking and make everything right. Well she didn’t buy that shit. Her dad was an alcoholic and she wasn’t about to go through what her mom went through. That fucked me up for a while. I crawled into a gin bottle for about 2 years and didn’t come out. I ended up moving around a lot. First going from house to house, surfing sofas, wearing out my welcome everywhere I went until I got my own place and when that situation went to pot, I did what any red blooded American does when he’s burned all his bridges. I got the hell outta dodge. (insert video: Homer Simpson shaking his fist saying “goodbye stinktown!”) With a friend, and a plan to move to Oakland; we made it as far as Lawrence, Kansas. Lawerence was a great town. Lots of nice people, shows all the time, and a town with a positive drinking attitude. My friend once got a 40 just by commenting that the coolers in our favorite LQ kept the 40’s at the perfect temp. This is the town for a boozer! The problem was that I never, EVER dealt with the fact that I was severely depressed. I always looked happy, but I was a wreck. It came out a lot when I was drunk. Crying jags, mood swings and the fact that it often took no more than a few beers to get me wasted. My depression in Lawrence came to a crescendo when my house mates quit paying the light bills, opting instead to buy speed with the money we gave them, and it turned out that the rent wasn’t getting to the landlord either. Now despite my tendency to be a completely useless drunkard, I managed to pay my rent and bills. Even if I blew off my shift from time to time, people liked me and didn’t want to fire me, so I was LIVID when my housemates weren’t living up to their responsibilities…fuckers. I quit staying at my house, and instead stayed drunk with my Okie friends. We indulged in incredible drinking bouts. Putting away cases of 40’s and gallons of vodka, whiskey and bottles of Everclear. We weren’t drinking the good stuff very often either. Natty Ice was often the beer of choice and whatever nasty ass hard booze we could get on the cheap (or steal) was the drink of choice. It’s really quite amazing any of us can still do anything at all. The day after Halloween of ‘97 I left town and went back to the Twin Cities. Since I’d left, my mother had shacked up with a dude and they were living in the eastern suburbs. Not far from Minneapolis, but far enough away that I PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 e columns wouldn’t have to face any of the people that I’d pissed off or embarrassed myself in front of (in my mind anyway) and I could try and get my shit together. I hear that a lot from punks… ”I’m gonna get my shit together”…It’s often preceeded by a bender, anyway I moved back home, and I got a job, and an apartment, and I was slowly going out and seeing the people I’d been missing since I left town. It was at this point in my life that I met the woman I would eventually marry. We met each other the day after we’d each drunk vast amounts of liquor and we was lookin’ good! Well, good enough to find one another attractive anyway. (point of fact, we were both quite fetching) During this time I’d managed to slow my “crazy” drinking to a mellow “social” drinking. I think this was the first time in years that I’d actually been happy. I was completely in love, and things were going well. This was also the time I’d entered what we refer to as my “khaki phase”. The only non-punk period of my life. I had a straight job, a dumb haircut, a wrist watch, the works! We were married in May of 2000, the same day Code 13 left for their epic Southeast Asia tour, in a church north of Stillwater and celebrated well into the night. That I managed to not get completely wasted on my own wedding day is still something that boggles my mind, especially looking back at all the other weddings that I’d blacked out at. After a short honeymoon tour of London, Dublin and the lovely town of Dalkey, where we were escorted by the Guarda to the town line and asked not to return, we returned to St. Paul settled into our new life together. We’d been married for a while and were on a splendid bender when we found out that my wife was pregnant. The Mrs. quit drinking completely…I didn’t, and I was going out after work from time to time, and getting wasted at home in front of her from time to time. It was at this period that she asked me to quit for the first time. She was worried that I might have a problem and she didn’t want to raise our child with someone who was drunk all the time. Not that drinking was a bad thing, but someone who’s drunk all the time isn’t a good thing for babies. I quit for the duration of her pregnancy. As soon as my son was born everything changed for me again and it was like I was reborn. My whole life revolved around my new family and I was excited for life, but there was this nagging impulse to drink that I just couldn’t shake. I started drinking a bit and by my son’s third month on this planet I was in the grip of a nearly uncontrollable compulsion. On the day that I snapped, I drank everything in the house…EVERYTHING. Over the period of a day I consumed 12 Becks, one half pint Whiskey, one half bottle wine, and the remains of a bottle of Aquavit. A lot of booze for a fella my size. (5’10” 140 lbs.) When I was confronted at three in the morning I was dinking around with a lightswitch by my side of the bed, trying not to wake my wife and son. I passed out and when I came to, there was a note pinned to the bed, and it said that if I didn’t quit drinking, they would never come back. I was crushed. I couldn’t imagine my life without them, and I would do anything to keep them in my life. I started researching AA meetings in St. Paul and found one up the street. I walked up to this big ass church on Summit Avenue in St. Paul and it was filled with people so I didn’t feel too strange. I really felt anonymous until I saw someone that I knew coming up the aisle of this room. It was my sister. She’d just started going to AA. Shit! I didn’t even know she’d had an issue with the drink. We drank together a lot, and I always thought she was one of those people who could drink and keep their shit together. We drank together one night and she had to move the next day. She got her shit together to move but I was WAY too sick to help. She was as shocked to see me there as I was her. I told my story in the meeting and it was pretty good. It felt good to unload some of this shit with people who might understand where I’m coming from but it also felt a little weird with the god aspect and there were some REALLY self righteous motherfuckers hanging out in that place. When I went home that night, I didn’t feel so bad about not drinking, well physically I was wrecked and a bit shaky, but I knew I had a reason to stay sober and my family meant more to me than anything. I decided not to go back to AA but I stayed sober for four years. I started living again! I went to school and was working at home as the caretaker for our apartment complex, being the stay at home dad for my bouncing baby boy and getting back into punk rock. Eventually I started volunteering at PE and getting involved with other groups, getting a job in radio, something I’ve always had a passion for I was living a really good life. Things were great when I took that first drink and since I didn’t go off the deep end right away I figured that being sober for such a long time, I must have magically been granted a reprieve from my former alcoholism. It wasn’t bad that first year. My wife and I went out from time to time and got loopy. I didn’t get drunk enough to have a hangover for a long time and people noted that “Drunk Jeremy” could be pretty fun! SWEET!! I can drink again and people like me!! Well it was last summer (2008) when things started going pear shaped. After the honeymoon period of mellow boozing I started drinking every day. A six pack a day to start and then I started adding wine and when that wasn’t doing it I started adding swigs of vodka to help out. When the Vodka bottle we keep in the kitchen was getting noticeably low I figured I’d better keep a couple bottles stashed around the house to replace what I was sneaking so no one would catch on. I started blacking out a lot again and waking in a panic. My wife started getting pissed that I was so pissed all the time, and I started trying to quit… but I couldn’t this time. I tried going to AA meetings but I felt like something was missing and I was miserable when I was sober. I went to a therapist for a while who specializes in chemical dependency and that wasn’t working either. The drinking kept getting worse and I was getting more depressed. I was isolating myself from friends, I realized this when I ran into a friend who I used to see at shows and around town from time to time and he commented that he hadn’t seen me in a year. I was drinking to get to sleep at night, and the worst part is I was promising to take my son to car shows and other fun things but getting too drunk the night before to take him, he eventually quit asking me for so much as a glass of water. One night just before PE 57 went to print, I went to a friend’s house for a couple beers, I was already drunk when I arrived and ended up staying too long. I was WAY too drunk to walk but I got into my car anyway and drove home. When I came to the next morning I smiled through my earth shaking hangover to greet my long suffering family when I was made aware that if I didn’t do something they were leaving. I’d heard this a few times before but for some reason I really felt like thistime it was for real. I knew that if I didn’t do something now, I was going to lose everything. I called my office and told them that I was checking myself into rehab. They were very supportive and then I called Dan. I’d been helping around the PE office for a while and I knew that there was a lot of stuff going on and I wasn’t going to be around to help out. Something that surprised me was that no one seemed to notice that I was always hungover if not slightly drunk from the night before. I always tried to cover that fact up by chewing gum abd sucking on mints but I thought for sure I must smell at least faintly of booze. My loose ends were tied up so I called my mom, a nurse and told her what was going on. She recommended a hospital close to my house with a good reputation for clearing the drunkards mind, so since I was heading off to rehab…no sense in going sober right? I took a big ol pull off the bottle of wine in the kitchen and hoofed it to the clink. I spent an hour in the waiting room before I was taken to the CD unit and given an evaluation and a breathalyzer. Well, they said, I’m clearly an alcoholic, and I was clearly drunk, but they don’t accept my insurance so I’ll have to go somewhere else…as soon as I sober up. Well that will never do, I got on the phone and called a representative from my insurance company. I found out that the hospital where my mom works IS covered by my insurance and I’m thinking that being locked up in a building in close proximity to some familial love is just the thing I need. I called my sister, also employed in the healthcare field, and asked her to pick me up and shuttle me to the other hospital. We chain smoked the whole time. My smokes were going to be confiscated so I figured getting as much nicotine in my system now would be a very helpful thing indeed. While I was waiting for a bed to open I got a call from a man I’d never met before. Well, I didn’t remember meeting him. Apparently I hit his car the evening before. He was acquainted with some punks and he decided not to get the authorities involved in this situation. He let me go. We made an arrangement for me to pay restitution to him to fix his car when I got out. I will be forever grateful to this man. I checked into the North 2 Chemical Dependency Unit. I’m not going to bore you with all the details of my self imposed incarceration just now, that’s for another time, but I foundthe tools I need to help me put my life back in order. The week I spent in inpatient rehab was easily one of the best weeks of my life. I was surrounded by people who have the same issues with substances that I do and I was able to focus on my recovery. I also re-discovered AA. The meetings in here weren’t like the ones outside, there was no preaching. Some of these people, like me were not Christians. The whole purpose of AA is to get people sober. But it’s not just about not drinking, it’s about changing your life and the way you live it. Alcoholics are selfish creatures and we need to change the way we live. Helping other people in our situation is key to sobriety, so is finding something greater than your self in this world. I’m still not a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu etc. But I have what they call a higher power, For me it’s the realization that I’m a part of something that’s greater than myself. Being a dad, a husband and a member of this community is bigger than me. In order to be a functioning participant in these relationships and give back what I get from these people I need to stay sober. Now the only other thing on my mind was will my family be there when I get out? I didn’t know this. My wife was pissed the day I checked myself in and it took days for her to say much more to me than “HI” before passing the phone to my son. That was the only hard part of being binned up. Not knowing what was going to happen with my family when I got out. I was released on a Friday and I was sitting outside the hospital sharing a smoke with a friend when my phone rang. It was my wife and she wanted to pick me up. What could I say? I asked where she wanted to meet and she picked me up. I could tell there was some serious tension. I tried my best to be all nonchalant, but shit we’ve been drinking together for years, she was un-cool with AA, and here I am just out of treatment…I’d prolly COLUMNS be a little cranky too. I think she was expecting me to be some sort of self righteous AA book thumper or something. When she saw that that wasn’t the case she warmed immediately to me. We’ve grown closer than we’ve been in a long time and my son will finally ask me for a glass of water. He also knows that when I say we’re going to do something it’ll happen. Sobriety works for me. I’m a sober punk, not straight edge. I don’t like rules that much and I really like to smoke. Maybe one day I’ll give that up too but I’m cool right now. I Not only is substance abuse prevelent in the punk community and it’s also accepted. We’ll never be a threat to anything but our livers if we don’t start to take care of ourselves and one another. Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic, I know a load of people who drink and they have no problem at all but if you have a problem please get help. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, not just for me but for the people I love. Keep on truckin’ Jeremy Stinkbot P.S. This is dedicated to the sober punks, the ones who flew headlong into the shit and came out of it. Filthy and stinkin but getting better everyday. Most especially to these guys whos continued sobriety is an inspiration to me. Talon in S.F., Chris in Austin, Lisa in Oakland, Dervin in Pheonix, Tattoo Shane, Geoff, Joe, Ed and Mike Robertson in Minneapolis. And my sister Erin who just celebrated ten years of sobriety. Java’s are on me. jacent church parking lot once their service let out. Success! This fest converted churchgoing youth, even. Day 2 of Bloodstains Across Eugene TANTRUM from Eugene, FACING EXTINCTION from Eugene, MOROSE from Yakima/ Portland, another set by BLACK MOULD, TOTAL WAR from Vancouver, Canada, and OPOSSUM HEAD from Eugene. This day started off much like the first but slightly more behind schedule. The early evening sun still hung above the horizon and things seemed to be happening at a smooth pace. Then, I saw the douche. It was difficult to tear my eyes away from the man crawling on the gravel drive, being escorted out by five or six Pyrate Punx. Quickly I gathered that the douchey dude had just punched Ian, a Pyrate Punk, in the face. It was at this point that my jubilant high evoked from the success of the previous night took a steep plummet. The douchey dude protested little until he made it to the sidewalk, screaming “You can’t kick me off this space. This is public property! You think you’re punks...I was just skanking! Bunch of pacifists!” He yelled this at the top of his lungs. I cringed. Knowing my neighbors were getting an earful, I felt like an asshole in my role of inadvertently being responsible for this guy. It was myself and Bob (of the Pyrate Punx) whom went door-to-door just days before to convince and promise our neighbors a laidback, easy-going music fest. Now, we had a douche on our hands that wouldn’t fucking shut his trap and remove himself from the middle of the road. Finally, Christine of OPOSSUM HEAD called out a bright idea and suggested everyone go inside so that this fool didn’t have an audience to perform to. We all went inside. I watched the douche stumble his way across the street, into the neighbor’s fence, and turn the corner. You might be asking, “Was this guy really a douche?” I will respond with, “Oh my, let me tell you the ways, friend.” So, douche-dude was dancing too aggressively for the rest of the people in the barn to comfortably enjoy the music. I don’t care what you think, people like this piss me off to no end. If you want to use the lame excuse of “dancing” to mask the fact that you’re just being an aggro fuck trying to hurt people, then go wrestle some rabid hyenas to show how tough you are. Don’t come into an all-ages space and think that your lame ass is carrying on any ideology of “punks forever”. You’re just trying to hurt other people because deep down inside you know how douchey and inconsequential you are to the world...ahem. That aside, I see no issue with skanking, slam-dancing, raging, pogoing, whatever floats your boat. Just don’t pull that shit when kids are around and the majority of people are obviously not into it. So, back to douchebag with his doucheyness. I learned that when a Pyrate Punk approached him and asked him to stop, this Pyrate Punk also noticed that the guy wasn’t wearing a paper band which indicates that he had paid to enter. “How the hell did he get in?,” we wondered. Then, I saw the back fence which somehow seemed to be missing a top portion. Evidently, doucheykins tried to hop the fence and broke it during the process. Then he charged into the barn, “danced” like an idiot, and when confronted by a Pyrate Punk, doucheypants punched the Pyrate Punk in the face. Thankfully, we had no other problems with douchebags for the remainder of the night. Unfortunately, after the douche left it seemed to take a couple of hours for people to relax back into the enjoyable fest vibe. I’ll admit that I was one of them. I was on guard for the rest of the night. I think as the sun set, people began to enjoy themselves again. The bands were super bad-ass and rad to be around. Someone made an impressive beer castle, which I hadn’t seen in a while. I believe it was during FACING EXTINCTION’S set that someone lifted up the carpet remnants off the barn floor and wrapped up moshing people inside them. Finally, this night seemed to bring the good fun and camaraderie that everyone had longed for. At about 1:20am, a neighbor from two blocks down came to the front fence. She was not happy about the continued music. I couldn’t argue with her. We had promised neighbors within closer proximity that the music would end around 10pm. We were far from that mark. Unfortunately, we had to ask the last band to wrap it up. Fortunately, the Pyrate Punx escorted people out and shut everything down so quickly that when the police car cruised by 20 minutes later, all the lights were off and fest-goers gone. The following day while I was at work, the Pyrate Punx and their friends came and cleaned up the back yard and Radical Barn with swift execution. Empty cans, stomped-upon cig butts, and all loose trash were picked up and removed. All in all, Bloodstains Across Eugene was a very successful fest. Without the group of dedicated and respectful people that made it all happen, the fest would have never happened. I want to give a heartfelt and sincere THANK YOU to the Eugene Pyrate Punx, friends that helped out, the beer person, the bands, and the people that paid and supported the local and touring bands and their music. It’s inspiring to know that a smaller community of punks can still bring music to the people on a large scale. ~the anti-christy “There’s no fucking way.”These were the first words uttered by Pyrate Punk Bucky upon entering the out-of-commission barn August 16, 2011. I must admit I wasn’t surprised by his reaction but “no fucking way” was not an option. In just three days’ time the first Bloodstains Across Eugene fest would be in full swing, raging in that very barn. Time had diminished like an ice cube in the unforgiving August sun-we would find a way. It was by no fault of the organizers, the Eugene Pyrate Punx. They had been planning, contacting, scheming, wheeling and dealing for the fruition of this event for many, many months. For anyone that has organized a fest, the following will sound so familiar that it may invoke you to grab the nearest technological device and hurl it out the window of a speeding car-a car that you are driving to get the hell out of dodge. The first venue closed only about a month before the fest date. To my knowledge, no one actually informed the Pyrate Punx of this closure, but the pile of mail on the floor, boxes on the tables, and a perpetual “Closed” sign gave everyone a good enough impression that the gig would not be gigging. Other venues deemed unsuccessful, too. As a last-ditch effort my roommate Heather and I were asked to host the fest at our house, a house built in 1910. Nestled in the non-assuming, stretched-out back yard stands a barn, a barn aptly coined the “Radical Barn”. A few years ago the Radical Barn earned its right as a decent show space. Only a few shows actually took place. One show ended early due to a noise complaint and invariably the cops appeared. By 2011, the barn looked less radical and more domesticated, as it housed remnants of past roommates and storage overflow. There was hardly room to walk from one corner to the other and the piles upon piles of things was a daunting sight to behold. Enter: Eugene Pyrate Punx. They brought trucks, dirty sweat, and determination. After a few Goodwill runs and a hefty dump run, optimism swiftly swept over all. Within two days’ time, the barn was cleared out, rugs covered the gravel floor, and the blue-lit stage was set. Day 1 of Bloodstains Across Eugene the following bands: BLACK MOULD from Ashland, SAVIORSELF from Eugene, RAW NERVES from Portland, HONDURAN from Portland, RTTU from Portland, NINTH MOON BLACK from Eugene, and RESIST AND EXIST from L.A. Music started around 6:15pm with SAVIORSELF and the Radical Barn was packed. Just outside of the barn was a Foosball table that entertained all ages throughout the night. Scattered about were merch tables and info pamphlets. To the side of the house was a beer garden cordoned off for those ofage imbibers. Behind the beer garden rested two tables filled with delicious foods that the organizers made for the bands. For me personally, this night was memorably epic. It’d been years since I’d gone to a fest. The vibe in the air was lighthearted and joyful. The camaraderie of the organizers, bands, and patrons felt sealed with communal kinship. There were no noise complaints, no fights, no disrespecting, and no injury to people or things. Many people even noticed kids dancing in the ad- 3 “Holy shit, Bitty, recognize him?” My co-worker, Tracy, asked me as she held up a newspaper. A client and friend of mine, Scott Benson, was on the cover with his bail set at 50 million dollars. “What the fuck!” I said. I tried to figure out why the bail set on him was higher than the price that was set upon Bin Laden’s head. What could he possibly have done? He is one of the nicest people I know. The last time I’d cut Scott’s hair, he said that he was in between jobs and that he felt bad about what had happened in New Orleans. He wanted to take his nephew with him and help out as much as he could. He contacted many different organizations and all they wanted was a money donation. He told the organizations that he wanted to actually go down and help out with getting food for people, laying sandbags, and helping them clean. Finally, he got in contact with a nun in Biloxi, Mississippi who referred him to the Salvation Army in Baton Rouge. He gave them his information and they told him to get a hold of them as soon as he arrived. A few days later, Scott and his nephew left on a twenty-three hour car trip to Baton Rouge. First they went to work in the Salvation Army Store, restocking items and assisting people that had vouchers for essential items. After about three hours they moved to the food bank, which was an old abandoned store that was turned into a grocery store. When the day was over they headed to the Salvation Army church to stay for the night. After a small dinner, they met other volunteers from all over the country. This is where Scott met a man named Chris Armstrong. As they were talking, a Salvation Army worker said that two people were shipping out the next day and two more people were needed to work the canteen truck. Scott and Armstrong took the duty. According to Armstrong’s name badge, he was the regional director from Orlando and was in charge of the assignment. They drove to New Orleans to deliver food items for the next six days. On one of the days, a worker from Red Cross became upset with Scott for handing out food in their area because they wanted to be the ones to get credit for it. She told him that he wasn’t supposed to be there; that the Red Cross had it covered and she was going to report him to her superiors. “Go ahead, here’s my name, I’m down here trying to help like you,” he said. “I don’t see a line on the street saying you go here, we go there,” he added and the lady stormed off. Scott’s goal was to make sure that whoever needed help received it. It wouldn’t take long for Scott to learn the politics involved in the relief effort. Every day he would see high-ranking Salvation Army officials driving in new imported cars, staying at The Ritz on St. Charles Street, eating at fancy restaurants, and sleeping in warm beds. The majority of the other workers including Scott slept in church pews and ate MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat, a military ration.) Over the course of a few days, Scott saw the good reputation Armstrong was building with the superiors from all of the different organizations involved in the relief effort. Armstrong informed Scott’s superior that he was going to need Scott and his nephew to help him with a new project. They set up a table and got personal information from 2,500 firefighters, police and rescue workers in order for them to receive $5000 debit cards. While Scott was under the impression that he was going to be helping all of these relief workers, Armstrong had another plan in mind. After seven days of dealing with politics, the greed by the officials in charge, and the overall devastation, Scott decided that enough was enough. He told Armstrong that he was leaving the following day to go to Florida and see a friend of his. Armstrong hitched a ride with him. The next day, Scott changed his mind and decided just to come back home to Wisconsin and Armstrong asked if he could catch a ride with Scott to Chicago. Seeing how another person could share the driving, it seemed like a good idea. This entire time, Scott was still unaware of Armstrong’s plan, which was to steal all the debit cards and have everyone’s personal information in order to activate all the cards and redeem them. His windfall would be $12,500,000 and he would be able to leave Scott and his nephew looking like the ones to be blamed. About four hours into the trip home, Scott’s phone rang. It was an irate New Orleans police officer saying, “You motherfucker! How could you do this to us? I’m gonna hunt you down!” Scott had no idea what was going on and hung up. Scott then started getting hit with a barrage of phone calls from upset leaders. He even received a phone call from the head of homeland security and also from Timothy Scott, who is an agent of ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), and they had gotten ahold of Scott’s license plate number. “Is that guy with you?” Tim Scott asked. Little did Scott know, but Armstrong was actually on the wanted list for felony weapons charges in a couple different states. “Yeah,” Scott replied. “You’re in some serious trouble. Where are you going?” “I’m going home.” Scott replied. For the rest of his ride home, Scott continued receiving periodic phone calls confirming his location. At this point, Scott was hoping that he would even make it home as it was becoming clear that Armstrong was not a man to be trusted. Scott wasn’t sure if he and his nephew would even make it back alive. When Scott finally made it to Green Bay with Armstrong still in the car, they were met by several police, DEA, and FBI officers that were waiting outside his apartment building. They arrested Scott and Armstrong. Scott was taken to city jail, and later transferred to county jail for two days and released on a $25,000 dollar cash bond. Weeks later the New Orleans officials wanted to talk to Scott, so he turned himself in. He was instantly placed under arrest and put into Orleans Parish Prison into a holding cell for half a day. Later he would be transferred to a cell holding ten other inmates. The guards were relentless in harassing Scott. They would bang on the bars, throw verbal threats and withhold meal service. He couldn’t believe the amount of rapes, beatings and just about any other violent act you can imagine were happening around him nonstop. Even after one day, Scott didn’t think he’d make it out alive. Luckily enough, he hadn’t been victimized yet. Another two days passed and Scott’s bond was pushed up to a staggering fifty million dollars for being accused of 2,500 counts of felony fraud, which would lead to an interesting introduction to another inmate. “Which one of you motherfuckers is the fifty million dollar man?” The man asking the question was DJ Unk, a successful DJ and rapper. The room parted like the Red Sea, leaving Scott sitting by himself. “It’s gotta be you!” There was a brief stressful pause in the room. “So tell me the real story,” he said. After about twelve hours of talking, rolling up cigarettes, and discussing the legal system, DJ Unk placed Scott under his protection. Most of the other inmates were intimidated by Unk and wouldn’t make a move against a friend of his. The few that tried to get to Scott were met by appointed bodyguards from Unk, and the threats were ended quickly. A bondsman from New Orleans started to talk to the judge about Scott’s case shortly after his imprisonment. He was able to persuade the judge to review the case and reduce the bail to $50,000 dollars. Scott was then able to post bail and come back to Wisconsin. Despite numerous attempts to get his case looked at, it took almost two full years to get cleared of all charges. During this time, it was almost impossible for Scott to find employment. The local news posted constant updates on the case until he was cleared. After the charges were finally dropped, so was all news coverage of the story. Scott was finally able to find a job through his family. Despite being cleared of all wrong doing, to this day the incident still affects him emotionally and financially. The news can be awfully quick to post incorrect sensational stories just to get better ratings. The better the ratings, the better the sponsorship… it is a vicious self-feeding circle of bullshit. The news also seems to no longer quote sources. One station uses unreliable and potentially incorrect information and the other stations copy the first story verbatim, never checking for validity. When they do realize a story is wrong or slightly distorted they are slow to update, if at all. Not exactly an unbiased media, or well-rounded on their coverage. But why should that be a surprise? Ratings were up. For two years the print and broadcast media did all they could to destroy Scott’s name and paint him as totally guilty before he even had his day in court. As soon as he was cleared, 99 percent of the stations stopped covering the story altogether and only one station offered to let him voice his side of the story. So will the media destroy a person’s life for their own personal gain? Absolutely. Killer band watch: OILTANKER; they killed it at Midwest Hellfest. I remember them being a good band, but when they took the stage on the second day of the fest, the place exploded! Their drummer high-sticks and still has totally even chops. There is not a weak link among them. To top it off, they’re super nice guys. If you can see this band, buy yourself a roll of toilet paper first. If you miss them you will need it for the all the tears you’ll shed for missing out on a band that really brings it, and if you see them you will need it when you shit your pants in amazement. Next up: IN DEFENCE… Ben Crew and the guys are amazing. They remind me of the East Coast hardcore I grew up listening to. Now the best thing about them, besides there solid sound, is their sense of humor that keeps you hooked and their live shows that will blow you away. Ben is clever and entertaining at the same time. He has non-stop charisma that just fills up the room and pulls you in. The musicians in that band are second to none. So here is a Jedi mind-trick for you: These are the punks you’re looking for. On a lighter note: Midwest Hellfest was a ton of fun thanks to everyone that showed up. As you know from the last issue, INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL got turned away as soon as they got to the States. It’s amazing that homeland security is saving us from great music. I want to announce first off: World Funeral Records are the first people to ever come to our aid to bail us out of a totally fucked situation. IOS said they would also do a record to help us out. Ela, the gal I share my life with and the bass player in WARTORN and DRESDEN, paid for all their plane tickets. Matt from World Funeral Records put his money where his mouth is and gave us a bunch of records to sell and made us some of Ela’s money back. Then Ela smooth talked the person at the airport and got her money back, all 3000 bucks worth. So I paid back World Funeral and graciously thanked them. No bullshit, this is the first time I was helped out in the punk scene where the person really did help us, as opposed to when HELLSHOCK flipped their van and I saw people collecting money for them. Later, when I talked to someone in the band I found out that they never saw a dime. I was also in a car wreck when I was young which left me out of work for four months and I had to go through rehab just to lift my arms. At the same time, the city of Manitowoc was going to sue me if I did not pay them for punk kids trashing a place where I put on a free show. Did anyone help me out? Fuck no! When I could walk I did a benefit show for myself so I would not be fucked and that turned into a riot, but that’s another story. Once again, no help and last but not least I lost out on ten grand the night I survived an attempted homicide. Did anyone do any benefits? Umm, no! I lost everything that night and almost my life. So with that being said, “Fuck yeah! Fuck yeah! Fuck yeah!” to World Funeral records- they helped when the chips where down. Hats off to them for being great people and helping out. Thanks a ton, Matt and Brandon! Now for some other thanks: Thanks to Profane Existence for sponsoring the Hellfest, it was a huge help. We did lose two grand in the end but the show was amazing, the crowd went nuts, and I had a blast. Yes, we will do it again next year but it will be a food drive to raise food for needy people. On that note, the fest was the start of the DRESDEN tour, which was one of the best tours I have been on. We played three fests: Midwest Hell Fest, Forward Ohio Fest, and Threat Fest. If we would have been on the road one more day we would have played with DOOM. Instead, we enjoyed the show and ran the Profane Existence distro. Thanks to everyone who helped us out. All of the shows where off the hook. Up next, DRESDEN is recording another 7-inch called “Extinguish the Cross” that will be released on Profane Existence Records. Hush did some amazing art and Tom did a great job at recording it. Also I am no longer in PYROKLAST. Their previous bass player Anthony is back and is a way better bass player anyway .I would like to thank PYROKLAST for the fun times I had with them. WARTORN is back in full swing, we will be writing an LP and touring next year. Hopefully with RESIST. I’m trying to get that together, we shall see. Last but not least, in August, Ela and I are going to Iceland for a week just for vacation (because I haven’t had one in eight years). I will get to see glaciers, whales, geysers, geothermal electric plants, swim in the blue water, and visit Viking museums. Sounds like fun. See you on the road… Ten years on and not a damn thing has changed. They say that if one doesn’t remember the past, we’re doomed to repeat it. Unfortunately, that will most likely be true in the case of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Of course, most of us remember where we were and how it affected us. I was starting 11th grade at the time, having arrived at school just after the planes hit. We were glued to the TV set all day, watching the attacks and the aftermath and hearing the commentaries from the countless pundits and experts on American and Canadian news channels. It was obviously a fucked up time for everybody watching. No matter what our politics were, there was no way we couldn’t be affected by the images of people jumping from the towers in one final desperate decision. Having said all of this, what was my first thought when I saw these images? “So this is what it’s like in other parts of the world. This is what it’s like when our policies bite us back.” Of course, I use the words “our” and “us” in the greater sense of the word, being part of the “first world” that profits from American imperialism and being a Canadian and all, but I digress… In the days after the 9/11 attacks, I saw the transition from shock and horror into blind, violent nationalism. I recall the calls to war, both overseas and closer to home. I remember the assaults against Islamic centers, against Muslim and Sikh people and against anyone who looked vaguely Middle Eastern. I remember the calls for us to support “our” troops, and to “invade their countries, kill them or convert them to Christianity, to paraphrase one of the most evil figures on the mainstream right in America. Where are we ten years later? We’re embroiled in illegal military actions in the Middle East. We’re torturing prisoners. We’re detaining dark-skinned Middle Eastern people indefinitely. Our oil companies are bidding on other nations’ energy supplies. We’re killing women and children. We’re sending our own poor people to fight rich men’s wars, all in the name of the “War on Terror.” Ah, yes – the War on Terroreven more unwinnable than the war on Communism or the war on drugs. Trillions of dollars have been pumped into this thing, and the only end result is that we’re creating more enemies for ourselves. Big Brother-styled laws have been created to crack down on even the most benign forms of dissent, all in order to keep us “safe” from the enemy. With safety like this, it’s clear that the terrorists have truly won. And yet we’re forgetting the past. We’re forgetting (if many of us ever even knew in the first place) our role in oppressing the “third world”. The warmongers have forgotten that if driven into a corner, an oppressed people will fight as hard as they can with whatever they have to drive the oppressors away. The “patriotically correct” brigade would rather shame and threaten people into wearing some stupid fucking yellow ribbon than reflect on their beloved nation’s bloody past. How long until our collective memories return with a vengeance? How long until our current actions in the Middle East come back and hit us even harder? Oh, wait… I forgot. 9/11 was actually an “inside job”, and was orchestrated by the Bush administration in the few months after he took office. And there are countless scientists on the internet who are risking their lives and careers to show us all the truth of the matter, which brings us to… Truthers and misplaced theories As with almost every major news event for the past millennia, there have been a lot of conspiracy theories about the 9/11 events. Some of them are believable, some are laughable. All of them, however, come to the conclusion that the only people responsible for the attacks on America on 9/11 were the US government, or a collusion between the US government and Israel/the Illuminati/ Masons/etc. Now, as much as I distrust and fear the government, I must come clean and say that I find all of this 9/11 Truther stuff to be…well, bullshit. To buy into the Alex Jones paranoia is to avoid discussing the real truth of the matter. The truth of the matter is that when a nation’s foreign policy involves invading, terrorizing, raping and pillaging sovereign nations for “security” or economic purposes, there will eventually be a reaction. The Middle East (along with Central and South America, to be fair) has long been a target of American-allied “interests” for decades. The US has assassinated democratically elected leaders, propped up corrupt regimes (who eventually became enemies, but that’s another can of worms altogether), and funded all sorts of unsavory activities. That’s the nature of imperialism, which is what America has been practicing for its entire history. To deny this is to blind oneself willingly and swallow an easy answer. Alex Jones and the paranoia brigade became darlings of the progressive anti-war movement for a brief while after the bombs started falling on Afghanistan. I know a lot of people who fell into the Truther line of thinking during this period, because they read it on the Internet or they saw YouTube videos featuring uncredited and unknown scientists giving their take on the demolition of Building 7. I almost bought into it when I was younger until I started reading some books with facts and footnotes, and actual frames of reference. I read about Western policies in the Middle East. I read about dodgy deals with evil men who were our friends one day and then our hated enemies mere years later. With this in mind, I started looking at Alex Jones and Infowars in a new light. It also didn’t help their cause that almost every hardline Truther I met from sea to shining sea was batshit crazy and practically foamed at the mouth trying to work the “truth” into every conversation or political rally. “No More WTO! By the way, 9/11 was an inside job!” Sheesh. To the Truthers, it’s more acceptable that the Bush administration put this ultracomplicated plan into motion without anybody ever finding out. Something of that magnitude would take years of planning, billions of dollars, and thousands of coconspirators – none of whom could ever leak anything about their role. The fact is that their beloved nation has been instrumental in terrorizing other parts of the world for generations. If you look at it that way, then yes, the United States is responsible for the attacks of 9/11. I wouldn’t call it a conspiracy though – just the chickens coming home to roost. So I close by asking again, what have we learned from 9/11? Is it too late to change course, or has the damage been done already? Will we see more attacks against us in our lifetimes? Will we start changing the way we interact with other cultures and other lands? Ten years later, and not one fucking thing has changed. ENDNOTES: Contact me at damien.inbred@gmail. com or
[email protected] (use the second one for podcast-related inquiries only, though) If you want, email me for my mailing address and we can be penpals. Hooray. Cheers to CONTAGIUM, ISKRA, SIX BREW BANTHA, and NO EULOGY for coming through town and ripping the shit out of this one-horse town. Touring bands, you really should make an effort to come through Calgary, Canada on your travels. The kids here are (mostly) super rad, and we have great turnouts at our shows. Along the same lines, my attempt at a punk fest here fizzled this year for a number of reasons, so I decided I’m starting to plan NOW for next year… a two-day punk fest in July 2012 called “Bomb the Stampede,” after a song by the legendary Calgary band The MOTHERFUCKERS). If you have a band interested in taking part, get in touch. I’m going to start hassling bands very soon. Also, cheers to the ladies who put on this year’s SlutWalk in Calgary! Spawned after a Toronto cop told a university class that if women don’t want to be raped or sexually assaulted, they should “avoid dressing like sluts”, the SlutWalk movement has reached all areas of Canada and parts of the USA. Combatting rape culture one city at a time! Cheers! SCOTT BENSON & BITTY OIL TANKER IN DEFENCE 4 columns e PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 I had already kicked him out of the cafe several times and had also almost gotten in a fight with him at Palmer’s by the night that he blew into the place like a drunken hurricane. I remember that ELECTRIC WIZARD’s “Black Masses” was playing on the stereo and thinking that it seemed to be a culling song that was dragging the zombies out of the woodwork. He was as loud and obnoxious as the day is long and up in the grille of every girl within earshot, trying to get any one of them to help him fill out an order ticket since he was obviously too hammered to do so on his own. Being that I use that as a gauge as to who should be in the cafe and who shouldn’t, I asked him to leave as politely as I could. He complied, but came back in a minute later wanting me to call him a cab, which I never do for anyone-especially those whom I have just kicked out. I was just shy of getting down on my knees and begging him to split and not come back but I couldn’t stop the whole exchange from devolving into a shouting match no matter how hard I tried. I came around from behind the bar and got toe to toe with him and could smell the beer on his breath as he spat those words into my face...”I’m gonnaaa fuck you up!” I have never been the fighting type, but I am still trying to figure out just what the fuck came over me as I handed the baseball bat to one of my co-workers and shoved him as hard as I could (the dude, not my co-worker). He crashed into one of the front doors and I grabbed the back of his jacket and threw him outside onto the sidewalk. He turned around and when I saw his fists coming up I took a step forward and decked him as hard as I could. I then shoved him into the fence outside the cafe and when he fell, I kicked him in the ass a time or two and took a step back. I saw him sit up on the pavement and when he screamed at me for supposedly picking fights with drunk people I had no recourse but to politely reply “You’re the one who started it, motherfucker!” Of course, this all happened while I had customers at the counter so I left his sorry ass there and tried to go back to doing what I’m paid to do...being a barista and not a fucking hired goon. And fuck me if this clown didn’t try to come back into the cafe after all this had gone down. Luckily a couple of regulars were able to keep him out and when the rush died down and I went back outside to see what was happening, I was told that the cops had picked up the guy and hustled him to the drunk tank. As luck would have it, I had just clocked a co-worker of the girl I was trying to hook up with at the time, who I would add has a history of sociopathic boyfriends. So now here I was,-3:30 am with no lady friend, sore knuckles, and only four and a half hours left of my shift. Fucking ace. I second-guessed myself for weeks following that whole debacle, if for nothing else than the fact that it fucked up whatever chances I had with the aforementioned love interest although the whole thing would have probably fallen on its side with or without me having to go Monday Night Raw on one of her co-workers. I have spent a lot of time since that night wondering if the whole exchange was the result of the latent evil side that I alluded to on my last column coming to the forefront, ready to demolish someone for so much as looking at me the wrong way. But what I’ve been thinking about more than all of that is accountability, and not in the traditional way that accountability gets discussed in a forum like Profane Existence. Specifically, the way we present ourselves as individuals and how we treat those around us has been on my mind a lot lately; especially in working as part of a collective without any bosses or other leaders. As I said last time, being in this sort of environment has changed me a lot, but the biggest thing I have taken away from it thus far is an increased sense of responsibility and a heightened awareness of how I want to be perceived by others in terms of being a man of my word and someone who follows through on things instead of making a bunch of bullshit promises that he can’t keep. -To really cut to the chase, I am tired of drunks. I’m tired of having to take shit off of people just for having the misfortune of being in the wrong place in the wrong time and I’ve also had enough of watching people-friends of mine, even-turn into someone else after a few too many. This is not a crusade for sobriety (I’m drinking a whiskey on the rocks as I type this), but I have gotten weary of having to feel like I’m dealing with zombies and I’m also tired of people who drink themselves stupid without any consideration as to how their drunken, annoying, and childish behavior affects their friends or anyone else unfortunate enough to come into contact with them. Where this really cuts to the bone, though, is how the well-documented drunkenness of the punk rock scene (with Minneapolis being about as good of an example as you can get) has taken its toll on my relationships with people that used to be my friends. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this behavior, coupled with the aforementioned lack of individual accountability with a hefty dose of what I call a “false sense of entitlement” has made me a hell of a lot more selective as to who I spend my precious hours off the clock with. As I said before, the city of Minneapolis has held a lot of attainable charm and it has been really easy for a guy like me to find my way here. At the same time, though, I can say without much hesitation that I have never been-much less lived in-a city that condones and encourages drunken, nasty behavior at any hour of the day or night. Here in the TC, we have 3-for-1 drink specials, the dreaded “Wanderer’s Punch,” and the equally insipid “Pedal Pubs” loaded with wasted suburbanites who scream and yell and clog up the bike lanes, to name only a few. Closer to home, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been on the receiving end of someone’s drunken horseshit simply because it got out that I had interests outside of going to shows, getting drunk, and getting laid. In a way, it’s been good for me-I have toughened up a lot since I’ve lived in Minneapolis, to the point where I look at the column I wrote for PE when I first got here and it seems like it’s full of childish wanderlust and naivety that simply got burned away over time. But on the other hand, I worry about becoming excessively mean-spirited and I sure have gotten tired of turning my back on people that I’ve considered friends for years simply because they didn’t treat me with any respect. I don’t expect anyone to kiss my ass or anything and I definitely didn’t move to Minneapolis to reinvent the wheel. I have simply had enough of the whole “we built this city” bullshit from old fools who do nothing but talk a bunch of shit, go to strip joints and run up massive bar tabs at Jasmine 26. I still love Minneapolis and can’t see myself living anywhere else right now but the last three years have done a number on this boy here. Deep down inside, I know that my intentions are good and that I am ultimately a compassionate and caring person. I am always there for my friends and family and am kind to animals and all that shit...I mean, I wrote a column in this very magazine about my cats, for fuck’s sake. At the risk of sounding overly “sensitive (another word I’ve had used on me from a lot from people up here),” I’ve gotten tired of my kindness and generosity being used as a stick to beat me with. If there is any final point to all of this-especially after writing about cracking some chump in front of my work and then somehow turning it into a column- is that dealing with peoples’ lame attitudes has almost gotten the best of me and I think it’s about time that people wake the fuck up and start realizing the effects their behavior has on others. Simply put, don’t be an asshole. If drinking too much turns you into someone else, then fucking stop it. If you can’t be accountable for your own lame behavior and lack of manners, it’ll only be a matter of time before someone breaks you off a piece. And if you’re going to give myself or anyone else a hard time for not being in the scene as long as you, don’t be surprised when we don’t answer your phone calls or show up with your stupid band is playing. Adios, fuckheads-that’s my name. *Respectfully dedicated to the real ones in my life: Katie Jo Texass and Crazy Sara, Will M, Mariko, Beard, Neal, Dr. Phil, Gary, Kellea, Ashley “The Diva,” Bri and Ken Ciderpunk..if for nothing else than not making me feel like I have to be punk as fuck all the time. Much love. New email:
[email protected] WARTORN @ MIDWEST HELLFEST PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 e columns Summertime rules! I love the summernot so much a fan of the winter. I love being outside even if it means just sitting on the patio and watching my dog piss in the yard and rummage through the garden…damn dog… Stay out of the garden! My garden is being kind of tricky this year. The spinach bolted almost as soon as it came up and the lettuce went apeshit overtaking some of the smaller tomato plants even. Some of my tomato plants haven’t done shit while others have grown the size of bushes almost 4 feet tall with dozens of tomatoes hanging from them-yet I have only picked three ripe ones and it’s August already. Maybe it’s not a good year for tomatoes. The last time I tried to grow cucumbers they didn’t do well. They didn’t get very big, they bloomed really late and frost got them before they were able to be used for anything. This year they have gone nuts and the plants grew huge with cucumbers everywhere! A storebought cucumber cannot compare to a fresh one from your own organic garden. They are so crisp and fresh! The green beans have also gone crazy; they actually reached out and a tendril attached itself to a low hanging branch and started to climb up it. I am going to have green beans growing in the cotton wood tree! Gardening is punk! There is nothing like growing your own organic food. The more we can eat from the garden the less I have to spend at corporate-owned chain grocery stores or even overpriced farmers’ markets. And it’s fucking easy! Put the seeds in the ground, add water, and wait. That’s about it. Sure, you can get really into it and go all green thumb and shit but it’s not rocket science. Even when Dana and I lived in a downtown apartment, we had a few buckets of cherry tomatoes that we bought at the neighborhood hardware store on our balcony. Fresh cherry bombs as a snack or in a salad were awesome! Hell, I have even seen where people have grown lettuce in flower planters on their railings. Urban gardening is not hard; it just takes a little invention. I saw an article in Mother Earth News where this dude in an apartment in LA was growing lettuce and other crops in recycled plastic 2-liter soda bottles hanging from string on his balcony. If you don’t have a balcony, you can even grow a few basic things in pots in the windowsills or on a small table that gets lots of sun. Leafy greens might be the easiest in this situation, again lettuce or maybe even spinach. I also find gardening as a good way to reuse some old items. My potatoes grow in old tires stacked three high. I have the ends of my daughter’s old crib in the garden as lattice for the snow peas and green beans to vine on. For stakes, I have other parts of her crib sunk in the ground and the plants loosely fastened to them with twine. It’s late in the season to be writing a piece on gardening, but it’s something to think about and perhaps even research as fall approaches and winter sets in. Maybe I’ll return in the spring with a more informative and detailed article on organic gardening and share some tips like sister gardens, what organic fertilizers to use, and how to use straw to keep the weeds at bay. Summer also brings us touring bands. Last night I caught AGAINST EMPIRE at the Blast O Mat in Denver. I’ve seen them a few times and have even played with them on their other visits to Denver. They are a kick ass band and they killed it last th night. My dad came over to visit over the 4 of July weekend. We started with a movie night in the backyard with the kids and friends but the order of business was Rock ‘N Roll. The next day my Dad, my brother and I were going to drive to the cowboy town of Greeley, about 60 miles north, to see CHEAP TRICK and BLUE OYSTER CULT. The morning we were getting ready I had on my AMEBIX “Do you really want your freedom?” shirt but had second thoughts considering I was going into the redneck Mecca of Greeley for the Greeley Stampede none the less. I opted for some other punk rock shirt that would be maybe less likely to cause me to get my ass kicked. In my younger days I would have been like “Fuck it”, but being older I don’t really look to get into altercations. I recall one 4th of July when I was in my late teens when I was at a parade with my friend and we were getting all kinds of bad looks. We were punk rockers, but that wasn’t it. It dawned on me that it was the 4th of July and she was wearing her SUBHUMANS “Day the Country Died” t-shirt. No wonder the festive patriots of Redstone, Colorado were looking at us like we were shit and they wanted to kill us. It was only then that she pointed out I was wearing my EXPLOITED “Fuck the USA” shirt. Not the best shirt for the day’s festivities, but on the other hand maybe it was! Also, don’t take your kids to the yuppie park in your Millions of Dead Children shirt. The SUV driving, Crocs wearing crowd don’t like that. My bad. Anyway, here we were in the land of slaughterhouses and Stetsons. Being that CHEAP TRICK and BOC were the nights entertainment, the crowd of Wrangler-wearing, Skoal-chewing ‘necks was peppered with black clad biker and rocker types. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it might have been. I can blend in with some biker trash with the best of them. My brother’s dreadlocks were getting some looks, but it was my Dad who decided to push the envelope. The old hippie thought it was the perfect day to sport his “911 Was An Inside Job” shirt. Yup, we were getting the stares from the ‘necks as well as some of the bikers with their Harley Davidson “An American Legend” bullshit. Shit, keep your gaze down and don’t make eye contact with anyone… We had the GA tickets right in front of the stage and I found us a good spot to lean up against the fence and get dug in for the nights rock show. Dude…The show was in the rodeo grounds and we were the dirt. Yup, just plain dirt and it smelled like horse shit. As my Dad and brother approached, I flagged them over and maybe my movements caught the attention of the hick next to me. He looked over and then stared right at my Dad’s shirt. Dammit! This dude was the stereotype, too… he had he NASCAR hat, Oakley Blades, handle bar mustache, tight Wranglers and was built like a brick shithouse. He looked at my Dad, then at my brother and I…”Oh shit”, I thought, “It’s go time!” But then the unexpected happened, he looked us over and said “Nice shirt. I’m a Marine and an explosives expert. I think the buildings were dropped.” WTF???!!!! Did he really just say that? He then went on to say that his brother was a cop and thought the same thing, that 9/11 was an inside job. He took out his phone and asked if he could take a picture to send to his brother. Shortly afterward, his wife came back and he pointed the shirt out to her. She exclaimed how she thought the same and had watched a movie that proved it. She said she talks to her friends and “Sometimes they don’t believe me and I say I’ll betcha’”. Really that’s her educated argument? “Un-hunh, I’ll betcha’”. Wow. Whatever works. With the worry of an imminent ass beating pushed to the side, were able to focus on the evening’s rock concert free from the fear of this dude beating us up. Whew! And the show kicked ass. Rudy Sarzo from OZZY, DIO, WHITESNAKE, and QUIET RIOT fame was on bass with BOC and he fucking ruled! BOC was the band I was there to see and although they were brilliant, the three of us all agreed that CHEAP TRICK stole the show! My favorite part was at some point during CHEAP TRICK where my Dad put both hands in the air and gave a double metal horns! My brother and I looked at each other and proceeded to bust a gut! The old hippie was getting into it! One thing to take note of here is that even segments of the Wal-Mart crowd are suspicious and don’t quite buy the official story of 9/11 that was force-fed to us. Before we go down the rabbit hole here, let just agree that this is a story for another time. And with that I am out of here to pick green beans…”I want you, to want me”. the whole epic journey for some. But I see this as a need to bring in what’s always been a massive influence on our upbringing and education in the punk community. It’s not sacrificing the aura we perceive from these older foundations, but a reinforcement to what we’re building now, and that for me brings a sense of strength to what’s important to us. This is not an attempt to downplay or dismiss our own efforts and qualities-just an observation into what was before, can still be now...and is. It’s these foundations that have brought us to where we are, and later on that future community will see our efforts as a vital ingredient that I speak of. It’s only natural for some of us to be cynical and question the motives behind a band’s actions. But put yourself in their shoesspending a good majority of your upbringing in such an extreme environment and growing up into such a force that it makes history. After a while, it’s all you really know and eventually you become a part of that force and it defines your being. Just because the music may have stopped, does not mean the fire inside has. Maybe for some it diminished to an ember, but never really died. I think after some time, there’s a realization that the force and energy which was created as a young adult never went away. Understanding the impact on later generations would be enough to reflect, ponder and really take a look at what influence it had on the community, both past and present. It’s a revitalizing feeling and something of that nature can have enough force to rekindle that fire. This is the general idea I’m getting from talking to some of the old-timers that have graced us with their current efforts. This is not an attempt to say what’s right or wrong. I only want to share my thoughts on the subject matter and want some to look at it with some perspective without jumping the gun on criticizing their motives. Sure, make your own educated guesses and go from there. Experience the moment and if it seems questionable to you, look at their side and understand them as individuals and not a commercial entity that’s looking to bank on anarchy, although there has been an unfortunate side to this that has ruined the “aura” for many. This sad attempt at exploiting our efforts for the sake of monetary gain has failed in the past and will continue to fail in the future. There is too much spirit and commitment amongst us to ever have the superficial and shallows types thrive in our community. Stay aware, stay punk-Leffer There’s a lot happening these days. The subject matter I’m about to touch on has been a bit controversial to some, and others just don’t mind it at all. So with that, let’s chat about band reunions. Yes, love or hate, it’s been a barrage and personally I couldn’t be any happier. This, of course, depends on the reformation and personal experiences with it. As some of you know, I’m biased in regards to one particular reunion, but that’s only due to working closely with them. But, I’m not here to talk about my personal input, although I would like to get my opinion out there. Where to begin.....hmmm. Well, we all know that the last few years has brought a deluge of classic reformations. Some so important and unbelievable that we had to do a double take and others that made us go “really?” with palm in face. This is all based on individual opinion and thought. How did this begin? I honesty couldn’t tell you, but I can say that not all was based on monetary gain, which, of course, was the highlight of this conversation piece. Consider that the folks involved with some bands that are reforming are older now and have obligations and responsibilities (jobs, families, etc.) that were not foreseeable during their younger years. So ensuring a good reunion, tour and enough loot to feed and shelter one another is not asking much. Most of these folks don’t look at these reformations as a career choice, but as a realization and wake up call to where their hearts truly lie. After having some time to speak with some of these folks and do some one on one interviews, it’s quite clear that their absence in what they grew up with is very much still there. I’m not speaking for all, but with what I’ve experienced, the ones that I hold true to their cause are the ones who’ve missed it the most and recognize the world is still in bad shape. I myself couldn’t go long without playing music in protest of our surrounding world. It’s a way to create a line between the world we know as a mass, and the world we want to have in lieu of the norm we currently live with. This is what I’ve gathered in regards to the reunions and how the feeling is mutual amongst many that are involved. I understand the sentiment from both sides of the spectrum and how touching that “sacred cow” may ruin I haven’t been feeling very inspired lately. Been spending much time alone and reminiscing about growing up in Minneapolis. I’ve been away from “home” for quite some time now, and my how perspectives change. I didn’t really realize when I was living there just how good I had it; essentially in a punk mecca. I had the privilege of at the age of 13 seeing bands like MISERY and STATE OF FEAR. I got to volunteer at one of the best record stores on the planet for 5 years where my music knowledge expanded immensely. I sometimes had to choose between shows and activities because there was so much going on in one night. A cluster of things I took for granted were outside my back door. Anarchist bookstores, Extreme Noise Records, punk houses and basement shows, radical organizing, bike trails, vegan cafes, and just a general open-minded artistic vibe all around. How lucky was I have been surrounded by such a vast array of interests and things that helped mold who I am today? Very fucking lucky. But what about all those kids who didn’t grow up in such a place? Those who didn’t have one of the best punk rock record stores in the world at their back door? How the fuck did they get into punk and stay into it, especially with no support or constant shows and happenings? Since trying out this small town thing and really experiencing firsthand tremendous scrutiny for being punk, my respect for those that grew up in places like this is SO immense. So much love and regard for those that don’t have a strong community to back them up, that get constant shit, and in most cases only have themselves. Y’all are tough as nails! I’ve to admit it’s super hard to stay positive and motivated when you put your heart and soul into booking a show and maybe a handful of kids come out. I’ve grown thirsty for punk here. I ache for it. Hell, I felt like an addict when I went to the Birmingham Pride Parade recently and spotted a kid in the crowd with a charged mohawk and studded jacket. I literally ran up to this kid like I was fiending for a fix-all wide eyed and said something along the lines of “PUNNNXXXXXX” to him. He looked at me like I was insane, but since then he’s been to every show I’ve booked here and we’ve become good friends. He grew up in the middle of fucking NOWHERE Alabama. I’ve passed on many books/zines/mixtapes to him and it feels satisfying to have opened his eyes to a community outside of the corporate bubblegum punk he was used to. He had no idea that things like Profane Existence, crust, and D-beat even existed. Whereas if this were Minneapolis, I doubt that would be the case! It’s weird not seeing lots of tattooed, purple haired freaks roaming about. It sucks not going to shows much or having an option to go get some delicious vegan food some- 5 where. It’s sometimes scary having random people aggressively question me based on my looks. I was spoiled fucking rotten up North! It’s definitely been a culture shock. All this really makes me not ever want to take things for granted and enjoy the good times more so, as they are farther between. It’s been a struggle just existing in the conservative Bible Belt, let alone trying to find people to relate to. It’s been an altogether very lonely process, but I’m fucking trying to create the world I want to live in and find like-minded individuals in the process! It’s making me stronger and definitely more open-minded. Not going to give up, striving hard to make a positive change around here, even if it amounts to nothing in the end. I just need to remember like COCKSPARRER said, “So remember, out there somewhere you’ve got a friend, and you’ll never walk alone again!!!!!!!!!!” Up the punx! Mad respect and cheers to all those struggling to make a difference! It’s not a sacrifice; it’s a deep enrichment to life. It’s a perfect example of being motivated to creatively adapt to the adversity of the economic crisis with alternative, diy, peoples’ solutions that are far more robust, rewarding, and resilient than the capitalist market economy. Neighbors are actually starting to get to know each other for the first time since fly screens, TVs, video games, and the internet started sucking people away from the yard, porch and stoop scenes. This is a dream come true and it’s made me think about an experiment I came up with several years ago. It was an alternative economic model designed to transform apathy into action within the punk scene. I don’t have the time to develop it anymore, but I thought it would be worthwhile to document in this column. Maybe some people out there who read this can adapt and implement this idea to some extent and see how it works for them. Note: The “Alternative Gathering Collective” (A.G.C.) was an anarcho-punk collective that faded in and out of existence four times over the span of about 20 years in the th L.A. area. I was a part of the 4 incarnation, here was the concept some of us developed in early 2005: WORK FOR THE MAN AND GET RIPPED OFF, OR WORK WITH US BUILDING COMMUNITY, EARN WORK HOUR CREDIT COINS AND GET INTO SHOWS AND BUY FROM OUR MERCH TABLES WITH A 50% DISCOUNT Since our primary objective is to strengthen the roots of our movement by building sustainable infrastructure, we have designed a system to secure not only money and resources but also human energy and labor. Unlike most collective projects and organizations, involvement in A.G.C. is not solicited solely by convincing people with words that they should join or hoping that people read our literature and want to sign up. While we’ve seen and we know in our hearts that when apathetic or inexperienced people have a taste of the joy found in building a culture together, they’ll never fall back into the state of oblivion that characterizes punk’s dominant culture; we also know that this process takes a long time This new currency idea is a strategic intervention in the force of apathy and obsessive material consumerism of the punk scene. We realize the classical approach by self-righteous, elitist punks and activists of guilt-tripping apathetic punk consumers into self-sacrifice has been totally ineffective. We’ve designed an alternative economy that can put a wind turbine on the storm of punk economic activity. Rather than preach to the scene about how it must change to fit our world view and agenda, we can tap into the force of the scene and capture energy and resources to divert to our projects. In the process we can transform people’s lives by experience and action, not by indoctrination or peer-pressure coercion. Here’s a rough outline of how it can work: A.G.C. throws a series of benefit shows. Rather than give that money to causes outside of our community, we invest that money into the wholesale records, raw materials, equipment, and tools needed to make our own merch items (silk screens, food dehydrators, sewing machines, etc.) We fill a calendar with A.G.C. events (garden work parties, clean up crews for shows at venues we support, workshops, etc.)At these A.G.C. community building events, we compensate all those who work and contribute to the process with our own alternative currency we call “creds” that are essentially color coded punk pins that function as coins that represent units of time from 15 minutes to an hour. People who have earned our money Economic Survivalism: Experiments in Social Permaculture I recently joined a community time bank. As a member I can offer and receive services. Each hour of time spent is recorded in a webbased community interface. All services are of equal value from childcare to acupuncture to landscaping, time is the common denominator, not market value in U.S. dollars. This flattening of the economic landscape provides due honor and value to every individual’s contribution to society regardless of class and privilege. It recognizes the often devalued home and family work commonly heaped atop thankless housewives. It ensures that those with bloated incomes are kept in check and compelled to offer their services to those who could normally never afford them. It is pure elegance and beauty. It joyfully, peacefully, and instantaneously smashes the state and capitalism. The quality and authenticity of the services are regulated and policed by the community’s organic flow of trust, feedback, and accountability. It was awesome reading through the ads people post to describe their passions to share services. I can get a professional massage! I can get help with accounting! I can network with other gardeners and learn from their unique experiences! I can also develop my skills and provide services I’m passionate about like permaculture design, self defense, and disaster prep. What’s so cool is that the system records your credit so you don’t have to trade services one-to-one with each individual person. You’re not bartering time directly per se. You’re paying and earning in a currency that can be saved and spent with other people in the future. So if I want that massage, I gotta find someone who needs some help in the garden. After I help someone, I can get the help I need from someone else, this is real reciprocity and mutual aid. As the U.S. economy collapses, it will be systems like this that’ll break our fall. Of course there may come a time when the web interface goes down along with everything else that’s centralized and non-local. But in that case, the economy of trust and neighborhood networking, (the real social network) will have been restored. The time bank system can continue on paper if necessary. It’s truly trans-apocalpytic. can then redeem their creds at our merch table where AGC money automatically makes everything that we sell 50% off the U.S. dollar price. If we set our work credit hour compensation rate to equal $10 U.S. dollars per hour, and all A.G.C. table items are half-off with A.G.C. creds, our “volunteers” earn $20 of purchasing power per hour by helping us build the culture. Now you have a choice in the way you go about purchasing the records, fashion items, and other diy items that we’re all so addicted to. So you can either work FOR “The Man” (and most likely make minimum wage) or you can work WITH us and earn twice as much in the same amount time, have no boss, and be building your own community. We continue to throw shows and table all throughout the scene, hitting all the backyard and venue shows. We distribute our expanding inventory through A.G.C. chapter tabling kits. Most of our sales will be in U.S. dollars since it’s unlikely that we’ll ever have more “paid” A.G.C. workers than random punk consumers purchasing from our tables. Income from cash sales can be used to fund projects and be reinvested into expanding the distro. We’ll be able to compensate ourselves with A.G.C. money for all the hard work we always do for the scene, e.g. graphic and web design, handing out flyers, cleaning up at shows, doing security, etc. We perfect the model and test it in other cities, first by creating an online catalog ordering system where we can sell our merch internationally and get create ways for people throughout the world to earn the currency by working on local projects and on collaborative global projects. Not only can we fill a monthly calendar with “paid” A.G.C. events and activities, we can have a list online of projects and tasks that need to be done independently. People volunteer or be commissioned to complete tasks and projects that will earn them creds. Not only can there be constant culture building activity going on that we define through a collective consensus process, anyone is free to make a proposal for a project that they’ll want x-amount of creds for. You could write a proposal stating that for so many creds you’ll map out all the fruit trees in your area, or you’ll sell us tools that your dad no longer uses, or you’ll build a website or a stage, or whatever Jack works full time for minimum wage. He loves cable tv, punk shows, records, and beer. Occasionally he picks up his old bass and jams some riffs hoping to someday start a band. He’s happy to just be able to afford his individualist life. His wages afford him all the comfort he needs on a daily basis. Whatever ambitions he had to be creative, productive, and proactive died long ago, or are perhaps just dormant. Jill is a high school student with no income. She’s always broke however, she is full of ambition, creativity, and positive energy that she constantly tries to cultivate and apply, only she’s constrained by her lack of funds and mobility. Many of the projects she wants to initiate or join are out of her reach. One thing Jill has that Jack does not is time; what Jack has that Jill doesn’t is a car and steady income. Jill has recently done a lot of gardening work with AGC and has earned lots of creds. While Jack would never lift a finger or go out of his way to support this activity, he’ll go to great lengths to get that rare green vinyl hand numbered test pressing 7” of Band X. Unfortunately for him, the eBay auction is closing soon and he spent most of his pay- HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ECONOMY IN ACTION: check already. Jill had seen the same record in the A.G.C. distro table. So while Jack is lamenting about not being able to afford the release, Jill reminds him that if he would only volunteer with A.G.C. he’d be able to earn creds which are worth TWICE as much as the U.S. dollar when redeemed for A.G.C. merch items. She tries not to laugh at his pain. Then she remembers her own pain, she wants sot badly to go to the next A.G.C. camping trip but all the carpool sign up sheets are full. She doesn’t know anyone with a car except for Jack. She begins to think, ‘hmm, I could pay Jack with creds to give me a ride...better yet, I could pay him and invite him to come and camp. He’ll be so happy to get his record, he might be willing to break out of his daily mold and enjoy life with people and nature for a change!Jack was so happy to be able to get his record, he actually dared to venture into the wild with Jill and the crew. He had a great time, even though he didn’t learn much from the workshops because he was jamming out to his new record on his iPod the whole time. Okay I wrote all that a long time ago, but re-reading it now, it still kinda makes sense. We actually got pretty far along. We printed the coin pins, “paid” punks for community project work, we “sold” them distro items, we had a retail store, gallery, and an online store for diy punk arts and crafts from around the world. We had set up most of the infrastructure for the currency to work through, but just as the currency was being born in early 2005, A.G.C. morphed into the Gaian Mind Institute. Unfortunately the alternative economy idea was shelved at that time because simply running the community center space took up most of our time, energy, and money. With so much new responsibility, administering an experimental economy wasn’t practical. The hope was that we’d get our nonprofit status, get funding, and then be able to focus on building the alternative currency in the future. We got our non-profit status, started getting grants and donations, but then the city basically shut us down in mid 2006, the currency hasn’t been used since. The model seems complicated but it’s based on a simple idea: the punk economy has a tradition of doing fundraisers, if it fundraised for itself and invested in itself it could get very creative with how it distributes its wealth. By pooling monetary resources from “the commons”, what’s purchased with the money is not an investment coming out of a private individual or business owner’s pocket so it doesn’t need to be sold for a profit, nor does it need to cover it’s own cost and “break even”. It can be played with. No one needs to get paid back for fronting or pitching in for the cost of goods sold. It’s almost like a voluntary tax. If the punk scene added a tax to record sales, show tickets, patches, shirts, etc. and collected that money to pay for a diy venue, the p.a., printing flyers, having a backline, buying seeds, acquiring and maintain a van, a truck, home-brewing equipment, etc. we’d be a little autonomous utopia. But because the second you start funding a government to administer your tax dollars, you get all of the bureaucratic b.s. and regulation that anarcho-punks are trying to smash. It would be much better if it was neither an obligatory or a voluntary “tax” but rather a donation or a cover charge. If you pay to get in to a benefit concert you get entertainment for your money. You got your value, your claim to the money’s value is gone. Benefits make it so that rather than being pocketed by the bands, the promoter, and venue the funds can be given away, OR be reinvested directly into the community. I’m not saying to stop doing fundraisers for outside causes, I’m saying first things first. Build a solid foundation for the scene, then branch out to support other issues, campaigns, causes, etc. So many punk run projects fail because they don’t budget for their own needs. I’m not an economist, I’m sure there are aspects of the model that would have to be tweaked to guard against abuse and limits would have to be placed so one person doesn’t end of hording all the best stuff. I’m sure the 50% discount would have to fluctuate according to various patterns, cycles, and anomalies in the market. Maybe the 50% discount would fluctuate based on supply and demand, or apply to certain items that are cheaper to produce. Another way to get free products into the system would be to ask bands to donate some of their records and merch. If bands care to support community development but they’re too busy posing to lend a hand, they can always kick down some of their swag… The goal would be to spark real community exchange and interaction. It’s like training wheels or a cocoon. It’s just a creative reaction to a very odd and unprecedented trend in modern human economic behavior: consumerism. We want stuff, we work hard to buy stuff. We also want entertainment, we work hard to buy entertainment. Our tribal ancestors worked much less than we do, had much less stuff, yet had all their needs met and lived in an abundance of community and natural resources while providing their own entertainment. I want to see consumerism go extinct; I want to revive the old ways. Since we lost all of the natural and social infrastructure to live in anarchic tribal villages, we have to build it back if we want it back. Building it back will take hard work. Hard work has to be motivated. While we’re still consumers working hard to buy stuff, why don’t we work hard for ourselves and buy stuff from ourselves. Let’s grow our own food, make our own toiletries, medicines, clothes, run our own venues, record labels, etc. and support our own diy underground economy. We’re already doing a lot of this stuff, we’re just not capturing the surplus and returning it into our own system. We’re letting our economic power bleed back into the global industrial economy in the form of the rapidly devaluing U.S. dollar. Think of all the store-bought beer that the punk scene buys. If there was an economic incentive for punks to home brew, overnight millions of wasted dollars would be conserved and circulated within the punk economy. It’s all gonna happen when the shit hits the fan anyway, we may as well get good at exchanging value amongst ourselves now. What would you do if there were no grocery stores? What if you couldn’t just run down to the market and buy some food? How would you eat? Could you survive? These questions and others like them have motivated me to learn to grow my own food over the last couple of years. I’ve had some moderate success, but growing food – enough food to sustain yourself – is every bit as hard as it may seem. I’ve learned a 6 COLUMNs e PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 NEW BAND PROFILES KRANG Location: Chicago & South Suburbs What is your ultimate dream gig? We meant to ask you this Christy; we would really like to have the Bloodstains Across Eugene Fest at your place. The yard and barn would be the perfect space! We will even clean it out for you! What do ya say?? Pretty please? Contact: www.reverbnation.com/saviorselfeugene or at
[email protected] ing to avoid tired punk cliches. Sometimes we do that through absurd hyperbole (“Vivisect The Bastards” is about vivisecting scientists and their bosses to get to the root of their greed and cruelty) and in other songs we do it by zeroing in on “us” instead of “them”. For example, “Their System//Our System” and “Storms of War” talk about what we as punks and we as the disenfranchised should and can do differently, rather than just griping about how fucked up the world is and who’s fucking it up....but we do that too... What drives you to write music? NOBODY’S DRIVING!!!.....er well, we’re just three punks who are very creative people and that leaves us all with an itch that is best satisfied by jamming often and playing shows. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? We have pretty varied tastes in music, but one thing we definitely share is a deep-seated love for anarchopunk and early “Proto-Crust”. Still have no idea what or who we sound like-at a show recently, this guy said we sounded like TOOL and BLACK SABBATH...mixed feelings on that but when writing songs we just keep trying riffs and beats until we figure out something we all really like. We don’t try to follow any formula and we don’t try to copy the sound of any other bands. At the end of the day, we each play our instruments the way WE like and we’re just really lucky that when we do that, some unique and decent-sounding songs are produced. Not gonna lie though, the band was originally started with ANTISECT worship in mind... What have you put out? We are hopelessly prudish and don’t put out....however we have released two demo tapes so far. The first was called “Vivisect the Bastards” and it had four songs and a pretty cool poster on the back of the insert. It’s out of print, though, for various reasons. The 2nd, and currently available, tape is called “AnarkoNot-Peace Punk”. It has seven songs plus one cover, includes lyrics, and is 100% DIY. Write/email us to buy or trade. Future plans? At the time of this writing we are on tour, but when we return home we’d like to make a record or two. We’ve discussed a split with some of the people/bands we’ve met, so keep an eye out! Contact: Hear us at: vivisect.bandcamp.com Tour dates on: downpunx.blogspot.com Email:
[email protected] Write/Send Stuff to: THE JERK STORE 1411 Summer St. Houston, TX 77007 GATGAS BONEBLACK Members / Instruments: M. Peni -vocals A. Churchburner – guitar/vocals M.D.C. - guitar Olwyn - bass BLR - drums What are the main ideas behind the band? We are a vegan anarchist band. Our songs are not necessarily explicitly about such issues, but in practice our lives revolve around these ideals. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? Although our songs aren’t explicitly political, we feel that actions are more important than words. We consider ourselves an anarchist crust band, but our sound is comprised of d-beat, doom, and black metal. We are not concerned with fitting into a specific category of music. Future plans? We will likely release an EP or something next winter, possibly another tour next spring. Members / Instruments: Jack D-Ass Gibbons-vox Brian Gibbons- guitar Corey Shipp- guitar Bob Bromley-bass Gary Ingram-drums What are the main ideas behind the band? The main idea behind the band at the start was just to get together and jam and have fun. Then once we decided to play some shows and people came to watch our practices we decided to try and open up some ears in this small, shitty town-something a little different than they were used to with a little political twist to the lyrics. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? I don’t know; we just try to have fun and make the crowd enjoy and participate. Future plans? Just to play more shows and to record new stuff Contact:
[email protected], Facebook: GATGAS page Members/instruments: Austin-guitars / backup vocals / coming soon: piano Brendan -vocals/Lyrics Adam - bass / backup vocals Brett -drums What are your songs about? We tend to veer away from the strictly political cookiecutter punx songs & write about things that affect us in our daily lives, be it within our “scene”, our home lives, or our own fucked minds. Of course, there will always be crossover between the social & political but expressing one’s self through personal songwriting & poetry has always felt far truer than sloganeering. I deal heavily in the double-edged sword that is sentience: Life, death, punk rock & self-destruction What drives you to write music? The feeling of playing a raging song that flows together well-transference of emotions to musical notes, all the struggles, ups and downs, good and bad etc. if I didn’t have this band as a cathartic output live & on paper I’d probably institutionalize myself. Playing in KRANG is an escape mechanism that I am proud of and my way of growing as a person and moving forward. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? We are influenced by so many different types of music. Each member plays their own individual role in the band. We all take the band very seriously, but also have a personality that most people would find easy to get along with. What have you put out? Our Demo Tape “Onward, Desolation” as well as our 7” “The Bog of Eternal Stenchcore.” Both of these recordings feature Hannah Benoche on vocal duties prior to her relocation to Minneapolis. Future plans? Our intent is to record a handful of very focused & thematic tracks in June & then release “Sounds of Death” in late Summer/Autumn; most likely as a 12” EP and Portland artist Halsey Swain is doing our cover Sarah Walker from Minneapolis/Chicago is doing the layout and back and most likely another rad poster. I feel our newer material will truly capture what we’ve been working towards for the last 2 1/2 years as a band and be our defining release for the sound we are trying to create. There is also talk of a split 7” shortly after this release... Contact:
[email protected] is our band e-mail. On Fuckbook we’re Krang Crustards. AUSTIN:
[email protected] SIN VIDA Location: West Bay/SF Bay Area Members/Instruments: Jen - vocals Dave - vocals & guitar Jay - vocals & bass Jerry - drums What are your songs about? Death, war, injustice, drugs, uncertainty, and butterflies. What drives you to write music? The need to express incensement about the ways of the world. That and our cars. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? We just do what we do and try to have fun with it. Our sound stems from our different backgrounds in music, which includes hardcore punk, metal, and grind. What have you put out? We have vinyl available for the folks who like to listen to the cracks, hisses and pops that only a record can provide! Our self-released 12” split with LIFE WITHOUT (pre-SIN VIDA) is fresh off the presses. You can also download our music online for free. Future plans? We have a few new songs in the works and plan to release a demo cassette this fall. We want to keep playing local shows around the S.F. Bay, and also have plans to go to L.A. in the fall. Contact: Email:
[email protected] Blog: http://sinvidasf.blogspot.com Also on Facebook and other spaces. WRATHCOBRA Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Members/instruments: Caleb Cornell (C-Bone) -vocals, Greg Colaizzi - bass guitar Kenny Kobra Houser -guitar Bill Earl Gilliland - guitar Jordan Villella - drums What are your songs about? “From the Holy Mountain the blood’s running down, the starving shall drink and piss on the crown” - A God With No Name “The planet is rotting, ash rains from above, the masses stay on their knees and still pray for his love. They feast on each other, but give unto their lord. A Nation of Ghouls forevermore.” - Nation of Ghouls What drives you to write music? It is difficult to answer without mentioning the birth of WRATHCOBRA. The band was formed in the West End no-mans’ land of Pittsburgh in the summer of 2006. Founding members Bill Gilliland, Stephen Lauck, and original drummer Jon Chermonitz met for the first time in Jon’s West End one-bedroom apartment. Jon set the tempo for the group while unpacking his drums, “I play two beats; fast and faster!“. After the completion of a handle of ’Rebel Yell’ whiskey, we composed what would eventually become the ripper, “Sanctuary Burning”. Fast-forward to 2011, WRATHCOBRA has performed across the US and Europe with various lineups of past and present WRATHCOBRA members. Our tastes in whiskey may have improved (slightly), but remains as a constant inspiration for WRATHCOBRA’s new material. Throughout the years of hardship and real-life Pittsburgh shit that has always slowed the momentum of this band; WRATHCOBRA has persevered and continues to transform what began as a weekly drinking club, into a D-Beat Heavy Metal powerhouse hell-bent on playing any city or country that will have us. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? The music in no way represents a ‘fresh sound’ on the scene. We are all simply huge fans of the greats that have come before us. We draw from many influences in our song-writing; incorporating aspects of the English shit like AMEBIX, DISCHARGE, and CRASS as well as IRON MAIDEN, MOTORHEAD, BLACK SABBATH, DIAMOND HEAD; some American shit like CRUCIFIX, POISON IDEA, HIRAX; and some more recent Canadian shit such as INEPSY and BORN DEAD ICONS; and especially all of the Pittsburgh shit happening now! Check it out, there are things happening here! Our vast and endless list of influences poke into the songs here and there, but we have developed a “WC formula” of writing that allows us to restrain ourselves from writing music that is too far out. We play politically-minded, punishing most of the time alcoholfueled, metallic d-beat punk, similar to probably hundreds of bands right now…I suppose what sets us apart is that we come from Pittsburgh. What have you put out? WRATHCOBRA - Self-titled LP 2008 (Cobra Cabana 001) WRATHCOBRA - Fang and Tail LP 2010 (Cobra Cabana 002) Future plans? In our immediate future, we intend to nurse our wounds from our July Euro tour. However, we intend to soon return to writing, keep off the road for a bit, and bang out a new album in 2012 to be released on Alerta Antifascista Records out of Hannover, Germany. We will also be working on developing our in-house label: Cobra Cabana Records. As far as our live shows, we have little scheduled as of now but we will assuredly be playing some long weekends we’ve been flushing out in various parts of the States, and a trip up to play Varning Festival in Canada. We are on some serious upward momentum and were having a blast, and it would be nice to keep it that way. Contact: Cobra Cabana Records 201 N. Fairmount St. Pittsburgh, PA 15206 Were on the internet. Facebook. Myspace. Google. Etc.
[email protected] STATE OF MINEFIELDS Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Members/Instruments: Jess-vocals Tash-bass Tizdale-drums Brianne-guitar/sometimes accordion SAVIORSELF 12 NEW BANDS e PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 Band Members: Brandon - guitar Ian- bass Bob - drums Becky - vocals How did you come up with your band name? It was better than PARAMEDIC MUMMY or SOMBER ARROWS. What are the main ideas behind the band? A DIY ethic off getting off your ass and playing music in a small town. Be yourself. Don’t succumb to any social or political standards. Most of all, have some fucking fun before you die. We are four friends that randomly migrated from California to live in Eugene, OR and have played in other bands here, too. It came together naturally. What do you feel sets your band apart from others? The music comes together from a love of different influences-from sludge to crust to D-beat to jazz. We all come together easily and don’t fight over petty bullshit. For example, Brandon blew his amp a few weeks ago, and 2 minutes later blew Ian’s. We just went outside, drank some beers, and laughed about it. You need to be on the same page as friends if you want to be on the same page creatively. Future plans? Shows, records, tours, and playing at Stonehenge to resurrect the Macho Man. If your band could have a superhuman power, what would it be and why? The ability to answer this question cause it was too hard for us. Our friend Matt wouldn’t shut the fuck up to let us think of a witty answer. So: the ability to shut Matt the fuck up. What has been your most memorable show and why? Our first show that we played at a bar in town with MURDERESS from Portland, BOROXA from Seattle, and FACING EXTINCTION from Eugene. We all agree it was the best first show any of us have ever played. No nerves, all shits and giggles. It sealed the deal and felt like we had been playing together for years. Have you ever played any benefit shows? If so, what cause did you support? We are playing a benefit show tomorrow for our friends in TRANSIENT who got in a wreck in Georgia while on tour. All contributions are going to them for medical bills and damage costs. There is a PayPal account set up for their benefit online, check it out. What bands have you most enjoyed playing shows with? FACING EXTINCTION (the hometown grind kings), MOROSE (Yakima, WA- check out AmpuTape Records), NAPALM RAID (Nova Scotia, Canada), and OPPOSUM HEAD (our tour buddies... Ian really likes playing with himself). What are the main ideas behind the band? I guess just our general disgust with the human race, how we are allegedly living in a “democratic” society (whatever that means...) as we are slowly and ignorantly being stripped of our freedoms. Describe your sound? We’ve been colorfully described as creepy, pissed off, suicide-inducing, crusty, sludgy, grindy, doomy, but we like to call ourselves grimecore. Releases? We just recorded at The Avenue studio in Saskatoon with some good dudes, Mike Lefebvre (DFA, etc), Jordan Smith and Mark Klopoushak. We’re releasing a split 7’’ with Vancouver’s COOKED AND EATEN on Bloody Scythe Records by the fall of 2011. What sets you apart? We don’t try to fit in a certain niche, and don’t follow any certain style. Whatever happens happens...there’s no thought behind our direction, it just works for us. Scene: It seems like its picking up-Saskatoon used to have a fucking nuts scene. It kinda died down for a bit there, but now it seems to have been resurrected in the last year, thanks to some sick shows at The Roundhouse (RIP). There’s a spark of interest from the youngins again...finally...been waiting for that for awhile! We plan on putting a real effort into bringing some killer bands through this shithole and shaking it up a bit. SHAKE UP THE SHIT! Future plans? A second 7’’ split, playing lots of out of town shows, space/moon tour 2012...we’re in the process of writing some new shit. Yeeeahhh baby! VIVISECT Location: Houston, TX Members/instruments: Ian - Untunable bass, vocals, latent drunken British accent Joe Ray - Guitar, really long dreads, talent Chuck - Drums, lyrics, unintelligible backing vocals What are your songs about? We write songs of a political/social nature while try- photo by Chris Larson A BIRTHDAY PARTY BAND – Lead Sky CD A BIRTHDAY PARTY BAND is a rock band that has a strong ska feel to it without much punk influence. There are no horns but it would definitely be a welcome addition to this band if they ever decided to go that route. The vocalist has an extremely good voice for this style of groovy ska influenced rock. He has a cross between a singing voice and spoken/ yelling voice. Its not particularly a good voice but fits swimmingly with the music. The music is on the slower side ranging from slow to mid paced. Normally I am more into more upbeat music but the music holds up well enough to carry the album making it enjoyable despite it being outside of my personal comfort zone. The record flows well with most of the songs sounding quite similar but different enough to make them stand on their own merit. The finale which has a very 70’s punk sound to it that leaves you quite satisfied with your travels through the record. It did take me a couple listens to truly enjoy the record but in the end it was well worth it.(Travis Assault) Nikt Nic Nie Wie / P.O. Box 53/ 54-400 Nowy Targ / Poland //
www.nnnw.pl hey none of us are perfect. Cover artwork was done by Andrei Bouzikov and features a zombie killer who has decapitated both bands who’s heads are hanging in an S.O.D. Budokan VHS fashion which brings back good memories. He has done art for MUNICIPAL WASTE, AUTOPSY, SKELETONWITCH and tons more, his website has some really cool shit I recommend checking it out, maybe even get em’ to do your next record? TANK CRIMES / P.O. Box 3495 / Oakland, CA / 94609 // www.tankcrimes.com Excellent work here with some serious punk heart and soul. (Leffer) halo of flies records c/o Cory Von Bohlen / 3444 N. Bremen St. / Milwaukee, WI / 5321// www.halooffliesrecords.com ATOMCK / PAUCITIES – split 7” I played the PAUCITIES side first and right with the opening chords of ‘Tyrant Mania’ my attention was seized! The track starts off with a mid temp stomp with crunchy guitars and pounding drums before they pause for a brief second for the guttural cry of “Blood for the blood gods” before bursting into manic thrashing crust. Oh wait, that’s not what they say, I don’t know what they say, there are no lyrics with this record. But damn! This is right in the vein of DESTROY’s ‘Total Fucking Chaos’ 7 inch. The production is slightly blown out and the riffs are simplistic yet badass with their metallic crunch. The vocals have the low low and the high high, again PAUCITIES could even be compared to Scum era NAPALM DEATH, which I think was also a very obvious influence on early DESTROY. Sadly PAUCITIES only turn in two bad ass tracks on this record. I must have played this side of the records 20 times already. This is the shit! ATOMCK play straight up grindcore with a much smoother production and cram 5 songs into their side of the record. ATOMCK deliver short blasts of chaos and grind similar to WORMROT or PIG DESTROYER and also don’t think a bass player is necessary. WORMROT doesn’t either and now that I look at it the back cover again, it looks like PAUCITIES don’t like the four string long necker either. This works for some bands (PAUCITIES) and doesn’t for others, I prefer bass. But in the end it’s fast, it’s loud, it’s brutal, it’s grind! (Josh Mosh) Selfish Satan Recordings // selfishsatanrecordings.com it’s always cool to see people working together to get records out there that might not see the light of day otherwise. Being that I have not heard a lot of stuff out of France this makes me want to look into it and see what other things linger beneath the surface. Very simple layout with the bands name an X and a border around the edge. over all the music makes up for the artwork for sure so don’t be fooled Selfish Satan Recordings // selfishsatanrecordings.com ANNIHILATION TIME - “II” LP Originally released in 2004 on Six Weeks records and this reissue brought to you by TANKCRIMES has all the benefits a re-issue should have, full color gatefold jacket, fold out insert, colored vinyl and even a bonus 7” of the same aqua blue color. The bonus tracks are “Reality” and “Feel it Annihilate!” making this a must have for you fans of AT out there! This is classic material by now, dont know how long something has to be around for it to be “classic” but anyone who has had this record since it came out will tell you that it is. If you have not heard these dudes yet they have a very DEAD BOYS, NEW YORK DOLLS approach to punk rock. The we are gong to do what we want to and there is nothing you or anyone can say or do about it...gotta love that. Songs about killing yuppies, getting high and being a rowdy ass mother fucker. There are parts that bring to mind TURBO NEGRO as well like a more raw party animals. Cover art has all their heads spewing upward out of a toilet, smashed tv’s and punk as fuck corpse rocking a B.O.C. shirt! An ultimate re-issue for an ultimate record. pick up this gem grab a beer or a joint, or both? and rage hard! TANK CRIMES / P.O. Box 3495 / Oakland, CA / 94609// www.tankcrimes.com COUNTERBLAST – Nothingness CD While this is equally as crushing as their previous releases, this collection of songs is considerably more advanced on so many levels.7 songs ranging from 2:50 minutes to 10:03, there is a quite wide variety of emotions and sounds going on here. The shortest track Spirit Displaced is a simple composition of acoustic guitar , organs and mournful vocals. The second track “The Truth Will Remain” exemplifies the standard of the rest of the album being half sad yet beautiful guitars and keyboards similar to that of MORNE and then belts into a barrage of driving crushing and aggressive guitar work then melds into a bit of psychedelic yet still crushing chords that transform the song into a pounding trancelike dirge that calls to mind warriors trudging back home after a long battle. Each song exhibits moments of peace and beauty as well as driving battle hymns that make you want to grab your axe and run into war growling and spitting YOU WILL DIE towards your enemy, and gets bleaker towards the end. Tribal-punk drumming rhythms and driving guitar and bass riffs combined with the ancient folk influenced interludes will appeal to any and every primitive-punk out there. This CD is not lighthearted in any way shape or form. A mixture of crust, doom, folk... this will grab yer guts and never let go. Presented in a bleakly simplistic digipack with a well done booklet of lyrics, this one is definitely a keeper.(Cavewizard) ALERTA ANTIFASCISTA / c/o Timo Nehmtow / Engelbosteler Damm 35 / 30167 Hannover / Germany// www.no-pasaran.org/ ABOLITIONIST – It Used to Rain CD ABOLITIONIST plays a melodic punk similar to JAWBREAKER. The music is has a folky punk feel to it (not acoustic though.) “It Used to Rain” is a theme album portraying that of a world that doesn’t have rain anymore. It seems to have a self consciousness to it while speaking out against the ecocide of our world. I personally love music with a message and this was done in such a unique way that really caught my attention. Usually politics in this genre are far and few between so it was nice hearing an album about something they care about. The vocals are a little gruff but sung well and definitely not a typical pop punk voice. His voice actually sets them apart from most of the poppy bands with its harsher sound and less melodic style. I really enjoyed the vocals with this music and was pleased while listening to it. This may actually be detrimental for some but I felt they were perfect and no other voice would have fit. Not being a big fan of this style, I found myself really enjoying the album. It is unique and has some great songs with a very competent front person. I can see people into this style of punk really loving these guys. The CD also comes with free poster, button, and sticker. (Travis Assault) 1859 Records /
[email protected] www.abolitionistband.com APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT / OI POLLOI – split 7” APALACHIAN TERROR UNIT is, in my opinion one of the best bands going right now. Their unrelenting and unapologetic in your face political punk is exactly what our community needs right now and this material will be the soundtrack that sparks the complacent either off their asses, or into oblivion. Judgmental, Ignorant, Stupid and Blind is a brilliant ditty that rails against the rich, the media and the pundits keeping Americans from focusing their attention outside the sham of the economic collapse in the U.S. We Will Continue to Break the Law and Destroy Property Until We Win pretty much sums up that one. And Meat Punks…well what do you think that one’s about? Every punk rockin punk rocker needs to get this. My only real complaint about this record is that somewhere in the recording process the tracks got pushed too close together so that the transition between songs is pretty jarring. Otherwise another great release. OI POLLOI…fuck, one of the best bands ever, right? Disperse is not only a great punk song it’s practically a how to manual for insurgent maneuvers. With Systeemin Orja, OI POLLOI go from Gaelic to Finnish to throw some d-beats around and get you all geared up for a night of rage. Feoladair Craicte is a tune about the brutality of the Russian military during the conflict in Chechnia in 2008, a painfully raw song about the brutality of armed conflict. The pairing of these two anarcho-punk powerhouses is enough to start a riot, even the most fence sitting, milquetoast, motherfucker would will get up offa the barstool and do something drastic like form an opinion. This is a great record. (stinkbot) Profane Existence Records / PO Box 18051 / Minneapolis / MN, 55418// www.profaneexistence.com BANJAX – Ride the EverChanging Wind CD Oh the love of all girl punk rock out of Japan. You see pictures of the band members and they seem all nice. But once the music blares from the speakers, you get a whole different slice of reality. The intro track throws you for a loop with a weird new wave sort of track that doesn’t give a hint of what is to come. 2nd track the venom of power bursts out. A mixture of screams and girlish talking are interspersed throughout the song. Also, they go into breaks where the music is clean and calm before the cacophony repeats. Continuing on with this release they mix it up with garage parts mixed with their brand of manic hardcore punk. Mild comparisons of Melt Banana meets the Gaia come to mind. But they truly are unique in their own right. A tight knit unit who can go into spastic moments, go into dissonant dirge or make things sound pretty and then change it around with precision. Probably could be considered more of an EP due to only 7 songs being released. But I think the shortness keeps a person’s attention without it being too overwhelming. Added bonus is video footage from their 2008 US tour. (Donofthedead) MCR Company / 157 Kamiagu Maizuru / Kyoto 624-0913 JAPAN // www.dance.ne.jp/~mcr CUFFS – Privilege 7” There’s a brilliant magic in being able to write a indie-pop without coming across as either the most boring music ever or cutesy to the point of disgust. Massachusetts’s own CUFFS have somehow figured it out. I’ll admit that my own love of 90’s indie-rock is less geared at the bands playing mellow, poppy variations of the genre and more often focused on the depressed as hell, morose sound; but having said that, CUFFS got me. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t sound sugary sweet and cottoncandy-y as fuck. It is infectious without being annoying and there is a subtle depression in the singer’s voice that grabs at me. After several listens, I’m still debating which side of this two song 7” I like more…but I think the title track has it. What I do know is that I really fucking like this record – it took those several listens for me to understand just how much I like it – and I’m looking forward to seeing what these folks come up with next! Extra cool bonus points go out to the hand-numbered limited pressing and the minimal but interesting artwork. This is a record that will sit nicely next to your hidden JUNE OF ’44 records. (Sammy Totep) Ride the Snake Records // www.cuffsband.tumblr.com A FIGHT WITH SLEDGEHAMMERS – Dogmatic Deception 7” AFS (as they refer to themselves) dish up six songs (that’s a song per inch and a quarter) on this slab of white wax. This is by far one of the better 7”s I’ve gotten from the review pile in quite some time. AFS play straight up crust punk, emphasis on the punk as there is little to no metal influence in spin of this genre. The guitars are crunchy, thick and tight. Occasionally a melodic lead is peppered in to help lift the song and keep it moving forward. Although vocal duties are shared one of the vocalists employs a more urgent scream that is not lacking in emotion. His vocal really reminds me of ECONOCHRIST with a little less desperation. WARTORN might be another band that comes to mind in comparison. I like the lyrics on this one. They are songs of protest but for the most part steer clear of the clichéd topics we know so well. ‘What Can You Say You’ve Changed’ tackles some of the hypocrisies of the green trend and the profits being made off of it. This is a song I can easily relate to as I see it everyday with the yuppies from Evergreen driving their SUVs 25 miles to shop at Whole Foods to stock the shelves of the pantries in their $1.5M homes. Making a difference they are…yeah that’s what they tell themselves anyway…Flu vaccines is another subject they tear into on with the track ‘Domestic Disease’. All in this is top quality 7”, the production is just and the tunes are solid. A nice effort from AFS. (Josh Mosh) Suburban White Trash Records / PO Box 270594 / Fort Collins, CO 80527 // www.suburbanwhitetrashrecords.com BOAR HUNTER / RAZORHOOF – split 12” I am a huge WHISKEY SUNDAY fan and was stoked to discover that members went on to form BOAR HUNTER, which is more along the lines of a crust group than W.S.’s LEATHERFACE meets POISON IDEA hybrid sound. While the d-beat is good and the BOAR HUNTER side is certainly a driving hardcore record, it’s the more anthemic moments on their tracks that shine through. The track “Horizon” is a powerful and raging punk song, and I’m finding myself glossing over the faster d-beat stuff in comparison. The first couple of tracks on the RAZORHOOF side didn’t quite move me as much, it’s sludgy and loud stoner rock and roll, and as with many splits, the production was unbalanced on both sides. The last track on the RAZORHOOF side is a rager, and overall I think this is a good collaboration. (Rob Hanna) Vinehell Records / P.O. Box 36131 / San Jose, CA 95158 // www.vinehell.com DEATH TRAP – No Hicks 7” The 80’s were obviously the golden age of hardcore and with that there is an innocence that has been all but lost to gray hair, beer bellies and fading memories. In these days of digital recording just about every band can afford to spit out a CD or even a 7” or cassette. Too many of these band shouldn’t…There was a time when a band really had to save up to record…if they could find a place that would record them…if their parents would let them. A lot of bands were out of the main scene, there weren’t social networks, internet or any of the luxuries of the current times, and a lot of info was passed on by word of mouth or even by zines, both local ones and the “punk bible”, MRR. They thrived or simply tried to exist in small towns off the beaten path and created their own scenes out of necessity. DEATH TRAP comes from that era, this record was recorded over 25 years ago and this is the first that it has seen the light of day. When the needle drops into the first groove of this 7” time machine you really are taken back to that time of punk rock innocence. The tones, the mix, the song arrangements and even the song titles (‘No Hicks’, ‘Peer Pressure’, etc) speak for that first generation of American Hardcore that so many bands try to recapture in hip retro-core bands chock full of talent (too much talent to really authenticate the sound) but void of originality yet still so ready to play Riot Fest. DEATH TRAP came from a small town along the Central Coast of California and through that afore mentioned word of mouth found themselves getting some killer shows in San Jose with all of the classic California bands including: BATTALION OF SAINTS, SOCIAL DISTORTION, DR. KNOW, the VANDALS, etc. Like many of these bands they shared an energy and ideals but were original each with their own distinctive sound. DEATH TRAP play simple hardcore full of youthful angry, energy and a hunger that cannot be met by today’s bands. This record isn’t going to blow anyone away and isn’t a must have. But, if you are fan of that early sound and energy and maybe even somewhat of a completist this record is for you. This isn’t something I would have seeked out, but I am very happy that it landed in my lap. This is the type of record that my friend John should own if he doesn’t already (he’s a completist). (JoshMosh) Warm Bath Label // warmbathlabel.wordpress.com ARCTIC FLOWERS – Reveries LP Portland’s ARCTIC FLOWERS have quickly become one of my favorite bands. This new LP comes on the heels of their debut 7” and split 7” with SPECTRES. If your not yet familiar with AF, they are one of the growing number of contemporary bands playing music which draws heavy influences from 80’s postpunk and even some new wave, although they are one of the best in this genre. On this LP they seem to lean a little more toward the rockin’ melodic punk direction, but still maintain that driving post-punk drum beat, and at certain times they even veer toward a slightly more aggressive punk side. The over all feel of the record is very gloomy with a seriously hopeless and melancholy vibe. The lyrics are clearly sung by the female vocalist in a somewhat haunting manner. The lyrical content runs the gamut from the very personal, the socio-political, to contemplative and introspective. One of my favorite lines- “do relations, have expirations” is in the first track “Double Edged’, about a once great relationship turned sour, but still not wanting to give up the good times. The cover is a beautifully haunting post apocalyptic painting, and the first press of the record comes on blue vinyl. Go get this. (righteous) Inimical Records - PO Box 2803 Seattle, WA 98111// www.inimical.com/ CAST IN IRON – I-X CD With some heavy dosage of RORSCHACH style-raspy vocals layered over some fairly complex metal-driven hardcore; Poland’s CAST IN IRON comes off quite strong in what I am assuming is their debut full length on the Nikt Nic Nie Wie label. The band can pull of an occasional blast beat, bluesy leads, tough guy hardcore breakdowns, and decent melodic hardcore punk all in the span of a couple minutes from one another. I love the economy of design and packaging in this release; it’s stark and beautiful and stripped of any excess fluff. I’m very excited to see where this project heads, and the more I listen to this the more pissed and amped I get, it’s something I perhaps didn’t fully catch on to upon the first listen. With ten tracks totally only 19 minutes, this album feels like it occupies more time that it actually does. Will make you want to punch a floor. (Rob Hanna) Nikt Nic Nie Wie / PO BOX 53 / 34-400 Nowy Targ / Poland // www.nnnw.pl A.N.S / RAMMING SPEED - Split LP A.N.S. are a band I have always wanted to check out but always had my record fund tied up when the opportunity to buy their stuff presented itself, now to my satisfaction I get this bad oscar to review and my lucky ass gets to keep it for the eternal spin. The thrash that I had hoped for did not disappoint as it is here in droves, lots of fist pumping in the front row kind of feeling that makes you wanna turn around and get in the pit. It also has an old school punk rock backbone which is always the best kind of crossover. Lyrics have a solid D.I.Y. ethic as well as an old school hardcore feel that is kind of a negativity has made me positive thing going for it, reminds me of NEGATIVE APPROACH or SSD CONTROL in the lyrical sense. The picture inside the record keeps making me laugh, the looks on two of the guys faces has me rollin’ just buy it and find out what I mean. RS Come blasting out the gate straight into a thrasher meets grinder apocalypse going back and forth like they know how to shred, the vocals do the same as they go from shouting to growling in the crack of a beer can, the moshier parts on this side should really get the circle pit going as I can almost hear the feet stomping around in a whirlwind of shredding fury. I like how they mix the two styles making it more interesting then just a thrash band or just a blast band, its important to not fear the blast! These are some dedicated guys, bumped into them in Czech and they had just had their Passports stolen but you still couldn’t knock the smile off their faces or the party out of their stride. Before you know it the record is over which in my opinion id how you know that its a good record because you are never bored, great stuff. The lyrics are very political which makes them a bit different than the whole N.W.O.T.M. that’s (New Wave Of Thrash Metal) which I cant believe I just used that, but THE ASSASSINATORS – s/t 7” Wow......4 songs of epic beauty, punk and rage! This is angry punk with female vocals....but not your normal kind of vocals. The vocals here are actually sung and blend so damn well with the music. Closest comparison? I’d say something along the lines of LA FRACTION or ARCTIC FLOWERS. This is a record with excellent packaging. Heavy card stock with all the lyrics, photos and then some. This package carries a very deep, political and thoughtful punch to those who hear and see it. These lovely folks reside in Germany, but both German and English lyrics are printed up for all to see. The smart approach to both the music and lyrical content gives this the true definition of what punk is. It also portrays how important it is for our community to be aware of our world and decipher what’s right and wrong with this damn place. 4 songs grace this piece of wax and I HIGHLY recommend putting some investment into their records. CHAROGNE STONE – s/t 7” Still not sure how that is pronounced so if you can tell me that would rule, but sometime the mystery is more fun anyway. What I do know is that these french rippers like there fast and they don’t want just a taste of speed but th whole buffet. I can tell you that they remind me in some ways of a more chaotic MELT BANANA if they were yelling in French and recorded in a more D.I.Y. fashion. they also could have easily fit on one of the Reality comps with bands like LACK OF INTEREST, SPAZZ AND SUPPRESSION. This record was released by eight labels from all over the world which DECAY AFTER DEATH – Alcohol 7” When I first saw this record in my review pile I wasn’t expecting very much. Maybe it was the grainy, pixilated, black & white collage art on the cover. But that’s the thing about expectations, they are often proven wrong. When I put this on the turntable I was blown PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 e NOISE REVIEWS 13 away. This is raging, pissed off, slightly metallic hardcore punk! And in a genre that is over saturated with mediocre records, this one stands out due in part to the above average song writing, obvious musical talent, and general fist pumping awesomeness. It’s fast and aggressive with ripping metallic guitar riffage, and searing pissed off and anguished vocals laced with tons of reverb. Musically these Chicago boys remind me of RELIGIOUS WAR, SSR, or even ‘The Solution’ LP by RESIST at times. The lyrics are mainly pretty well written, yet very angry political rants, but my favorite song has to be the title track ‘Alcohol’ which features the verse“problems and problems, I need another drink. Don’t need a doctor to tell me how to think. I don’t give a fuck if my liver fails, it will be more agony if it prevails.” Since I’m a bit of a tortured drunk myself. My only advice would be- on the next record, go over to a friends house who has a newer version of photoshop to do your artwork, and It might be a good idea to include the band name somewhere on the front cover so that when people see it in a distro box they might not pass it up. But it does come on pink vinyl which is awesome. All in all this is a killer punk record. (righteous) Occult Whispers – www.occultwhispersrecords.bigcartel.com/ FATUM – Skverna LP Words can barely describe how amazing this record is. Dan forwarded me the email he got from Gas Mask Records who wanted to trade releases , and said, “This guy always puts out quality stuff.” This review is long overdue...having been released at the end of 2010, we did not get the trade settled until January 2011 and these gems arrived in April due to the long wait of getting stuff from that part of the world. So I read the review, and with a comparison to bands like HELLHAMMER, DARKTHRONE , BOLT THROWER, VENOM and AMEBIX, I could not pass this up. However, despite a lot of these elements present in FATUMs “Skverna” LP, I would be more inclined to compare them to DEVIATED INSTINCT, HIBERNATION and the ANTISECT “Out From The Void” 7”! This album is raw, old school metallic crust, straight up. Not over produced or under produced, just a perfect amount of scruffiness in the recording, and a brutal, dark sound with orc-like vocals. And I really mean orc-like. Heavy and growly with a thick Russian accent ( did I mention they are from Russia?) I LOVED this the very instant I put this record on. In fact, I accidentally put to this on 33 1/3 first listen and thought it was amazing....it was sludgy , doomy and crusty and the vocals were EVEN MORE orc-like....then it was pointed out that it sounded good, but probably on the wrong speed! Two records in one! It sounds DEADLY on both speeds! On top of the killer original songs, their cover of HELLHAMMER’s Messiah is quite a masterpiece, and the BATHORY cover is quite lovely as well. The artwork is quite remarkable as well. The outer sleeve is a mixture of hand drawn images of nature and apocalyptic themes mixed with a collage of post war images, ancient iconic art and Celtic knot work. Also included is a nice card stock insert with more killer art and the song lyrics in English and Russian! ...AND since I love this band so much, I tracked down a cassette version on Ebay released by Madfly records - limited to 150 copies ($4) and there is contact information for them on their myspace page as well as an email address for Totalpunk Records who made a run of 500 CDs ( I wrote them but have not heard back from them). Get this record while you can. It’s sure to be an obscure classic. One of those “best kept secret” type albums. Gas Mask Records / CESKY HERALEC 71 / 592 01 Heralec / CZECH REPUBLIC // www.maskcontrol.com song deals with multinationals taking control of the water supply, keeping us at their mercy. Track two questions the purity of our food and how it’s being tampered with. Now, here’s where it gets scary. The third track aggressively confronts the jock mentality of violent jock dancers and their ultimate demise. The last two songs continue the raging fury. Just pick this disc up to read the rest. The mix and recording are great on this disc that’s released on Brandon’s (guitarist) own label. Bringing it all together is the artwork with real black and white war photos that are a reminder that the apocalypse has already started in some parts of the world. This CD EP is limited to 200, but it looks like there’s going to be a 7” out soon in larger quantities. I can’t wait to hear more from these folks! $5ppd U.S. / $6ppd outside U.S. (Jake) Armed to the Teeth c/o Brandon / 817 Dane St. / Madison, WI 53713// www.myspace.com/hatekrusher the Aussie connection. Come to think of it I think that most of the worth wild Grind is coming from over there these days. All the lyrics are written in a stream making it read like some sort of angry rant you would find carved on a prison wall next to an inmate who had slit his wrists out of spite for the world. This one will be getting a lot of spins on my 7” party nights and will end up on a lot of mix tapes as it is a scorcher! (Nate Fetus) 625 Productions / PO Box 591 / Middlebury, VT / 05753// INTRO5PECT – Realpolitik! LP Re-released on ACTIVE MINDS’ UK label Loony Tunes in 2009 with bonus live tracks, this is the second LP by this synthpunk outfit from southern California. The first noticeable thing about the release is that it features Stza from LEFTOVER CRACK, who performs vocals on three of the seven tracks of the album, one of them being an 8-bit thrash cover of the aforementioned group’s song “Nazi White Trash”. While I’m not a fan of LC, I did find this release to be surprisingly fun to listen to and not completely overwhelmed by Stza’s appearance so as not to just sound like a LC side project. The obvious comparison would be ATARI TEENAGE RIOT or LOST SOUNDS on 78rpm, although this is much more of a blazingly fast pop-punk record than anything else. The lyrics do kind of read as a jumbled collection of surface political jargon and cliché, and overall (Rob Hanna) Loony Tunes / 69 Wykeham Street / Scarborough / N. Yorks / Y012 7SA / England // www.loonytunesrecords.co.uk HYDRA – Worship Your Diseases CD Whoa. Just from reading the press-sheet that came with the CD, I was on the fence about whether I’d love or hate this – and it really could have gone either way. When a band describes themselves as, “Occupying a position somewhere between SKINNY PUPPY, early CONSOLIDATED, and DISCHARGE, the sound is a head-on collision between the righteous anger of Punk and the viscous soundscapes of Industrial pioneers like CABARET VOLTAIRE and SUICIDE,” I get really excited. When they continue with, “Punk without the guitars. Industrial without the crypto-fascist bullshit,” I’m thinking this is the best band who’ve ever existed. Then the creeping skepticism lumbers over and I think, “Wait a second…Industrial and Punk together in the year 2011 (well, 2006, which is when this first came out), really? Sounds like a recipe for poorly conceived numetal bullshit.” My fears have been laid to rest. HYDRA are pretty fucking cool! Now, I wouldn’t call it very similar to SUICIDE and it clearly has elements of the pseudodisco era of 90’s Industrial, but the sense of awareness as an ancestor of CABARET VOLTAIRE and THROBBING GRISTLE are apparent, as is their love of CRASS. Occasionally you do feel like you’re getting ready to watch The Matrix or go to a seedy underground fetish club but most of the grooves hearken back to an earlier era of Industrial, just made with more current technology. I’m not sure how many PE readers will be into this but if the description (mine or their own) grabs at you, I’d say give it a try! (Sammy Totep) Kairotic Records // www.slainofthehydra.com DOOM – Doomed From the Start The Demos CD Ahh, and here’s where it all began. Originally released on vinyl many moons ago (got my first copy used for like 3 bucks at our local record shop at least a decade ago), the wonderful folks at Anti Society Records have re-released this collection of all the demos from this legendary crust-core band, and not a moment too soon. In an age of technical crust, epic crust, deeper poetic lyrics, and artistic album covers (none of which I’m opposed to, by the way!), it’s a good thing to see and hear the roots of this subculture come from. To the point lyrics, rudimentary musical skills (anyone can – and should – do it, remember!), crude cover art and low production values. This is the shit! This collection starts at the beginning, with the legendary “Rich Bitch” demos from 1987, featuring early versions of the classics “Relief”, “Slave to Convention”, and “Fear of the Future”. The next set of demos is from the November ’87 Redspot Studios sessions, which actually sound a lot crappier than the first demos. Not unlistenable by any stretch, but definitely a step down. Next up is the “Phantom Zone” Studio sessions from May of ’88 (I would have just turned three years old, for the record). The quality of these sessions is much higher, and probably could have been put out as an LP of their own. I love the beginning to “Life Lock” with the pronounced kick drums. Also featured on these sessions are early versions of the classics “Police Bastard” and “Nazi Die”. The last set of demos is from four years later, recorded in April of ’92 at Fulton St. Studios. Here we hear a heavier version of the original lineup kicking out the jams. The four years apart obviously didn’t mellow them out at all. Check out the early version of “Trash Breeds Trash”, which has always been one of my favorites. For years, the early lineup of DOOM was always my favorite. After I discovered “Pro-Life Control” and the other mid-nineties classics, however, I changed my allegiance. Listening to these lost sessions however, I remember why I loved the early lineup for so long. Also included in the liner notes (aside from the original lyrics and photos from the initial vinyl release) is a really cool early interview with the band… Aww, hell – it’s DOOM. Do I really need to convince you to get this?! (Inbred) Anti Society Records //
[email protected] IRON LUNG – Life, Iron Lung, Death CD I need to start this review by apologizing to the band, they stayed at my house some years ago and at the time there was a dog my ex. had left behind who was shitting in the room they ended up crashing in and I had no idea until I finally cleaned it up. I have felt bad about it ever since, so yeah sorry about that. Now to the reason I am writting at all. This Disc was a good score, it has a full length as well as some of their rare split 7” releases such as the splits with TEEN CTHULU & BRAINOIL. Also has the material from their “Demonstrations in Pressure and Volume” 7” Which are among my favorite Power Violence EPs that I have, but sometimes I don’t take the time to hit the 7” piles so its nice to have them on a portable format. I hope that anyone reading this has heard these guys but if you have not they are a two piece Power Violence outfit from Seattle. WA, that remind me of the more musical parts on MAN IS THE BASTARD fast mixed up with some pounding your face at a slow rate moments. Their lyrics are very medical they talk about Polio, Skin Rot, Decapitation,Various Medical Supplies and Diseases I may not be all to familiar with. Has a full fold out lyric sheet with it so you can see what I am blabbing about. They seem to have an obsession with blasting along to lyrics of technology trying to save an already doomed species that has the ability only to kill and destroy itself. I am into it, your going to be into it, so just get it. (Nate Fetus) 625 Productions / PO Box 591 / Middlebury, VT / 05753// GET RAD – Choose Your Own Adventure 7” Do you remember the movie “RAD”, you know Hell Track and the Mongoose team representing capitalism in BMX Racing, by far one of the best movies of all time as well as one of the hardest to find, VHS copies go on ebay for damn near $30 every time! Well this delightful little homage to the classic 80’s masterpiece that is RAD has a choose your own adventure story included that lets you take a journey with Cru Jones through a seven page optional story that you the listener can decide his fate, will he surf, will he skate it’s for you to decide, the first time through I died for sure so think your decisions over wisely before making your choice or the same death may you suffer. Enough about Rad and more a bout GET RAD. These fastcore style dudes shred out of Wisconsin have been pretty prolific in the 7” department so if you haven’t picked anything up yet its time to look through your local distro’s and dig some stuff out, this in my opinion being there best output to date and has 5 songs with great titles like “When Push Comes To Skate” and “The Ultimate Adventure” that remind me of IN DEFENCE in the fun tounge in check attitude mixed with Hardcore music that will have you singing along in no time. I can assume all these songs are about RAD things in general this record is over before you know it so read quick, grab your skateboard and GET RAD! GET RAD: 4144 S. 1st. Place / Milwaukee, WI / 53207// www.ThunderInYourHeart.com I KNOW – Robe, Kill 7” So, on a quick search I found out that this band is from Belarus and one of the labels is from the Ukraine. What seems to be more common lately, this is co-released with 9 other labels. It must be worthy for so many people wanting to invest their money for this to see the light of day. An energetic and forceful female and male led anarcho punk band is immediately recognized. They bring forth the anger with hard hitting songs with vocals that are passionate in delivery. You can feel the emotion behind the lyrics even though I wouldn’t know what they were singing about if it weren’t for the included translations. Included are topics about political apathy, human rights, and toppling the power structure shows that they mean business and call out the injustices of life. Backing that is the dirtiness of the production which gives the music the angry power. I get a live feel to their music. The sound of not being perfect is perfect here. Individually, the instruments sound a bit out of tune but when they come together the magic happens and tight in delivery. The grit punishes your ears with their punk rock mania and makes a person want to jump around. Closing things off is a cover of the 80’s Russian punk band Kino played to perfection with their flavor. I was highly entertained with this release. (Donofthedead) Miravoice Records // www.myspace.com/miravoice KISMET HC – Songs of strife CD Brilliantly played, written and executed hardcore punk right here! KISMET HC is political punk at it’s finest, with superb female and male vocal combo (mostly female) and ultraintense music. This combination of thoughtfully written lyrical content and dynamic thrash really brings the adrenaline up and ready to hoist the flag! It has a variation of moods and subject matter. Varying from the superficial types based on vanity to the importance of breast feeding and how the corporate machine distorts the truth about such important matters. This is an excellent disc, because I can’t really find a good comparison.....due to it’s original content and sound. If anything, I would say it might sound like a very advanced DISAFFECT with amazing dynamics, hooks and breakdowns. The production quality is spot on with layered guitars and a well balanced rhythm section and crisp tone. The vocals aren’t what you’d expect. Actual thought went into the structure of the vocal patterns and are very clear with no overkill on the guttural side of things. The length of the tracks go to show how much work they put into writing their music, This wasn’t thrown together for the sake of putting something out. The tracks are longer than your average raging thrash ensemble. A lot of thought and dedication went into their writing and I appreciate everything about it. Once again, political and intelligent punk at it’s finest without the “PC” element. Do it! (Leffer) Active Distribution / Bm Active / London /
WC1N 3XX
/ England// www.activedistribution.org ECOCIDE – S/T LP What a stunning record this is. A five song doom laden masterpiece, incorporating elements of crust, doom and experimental metal such as NEUROSIS , ECOSIDE harks to mind several bands but can be compared to none. Four of the songs are more straight up heavy and driven HEAVY dirges with male female vocals that sound like a mixture of WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM and DAMAD. The Female vox is a call that could wake the dead from hell and all the way back while the male counterpart growls in the background, complimenting as opposed to competing with the hellhound shrieks that could wake the dead halfway around the world! There is one song that is completely different from the rest of the album yet still has the same feel and is equally compelling – a collage of samples and piano that is as creepy and haunting as the other tracks are heavy and skull crushing. Also noteworthy is the sleeve artwork composed by Jason Barnett who was the featured artist in PROFANE EXISTENCE # 60/61. (Cavewizard) Burnt Bridges / c/o Chad Byron / 5700 Leslie Ave #11 / Nashville, Tn 37209 // www.burntbridgesrecords.com/ GUERILLEROS DE NADIE – Intolerancia EP This is the debut 7” by Miami’s GUERILLOS DE NADIE, and it is as full of piss and vinegar as anything I’d expect to be released on Suburban White Trash. We get a bilingual punk attack, as they sing…er, roar in Spanish and English. Well, okay – the majority of the songs here are in Spanish, but the first track, “H1N1” is in English. The majority of the vocals are provided by their guitarist, Michi who has a great voice which ranges from more melodic singing to all-out screaming. At points she reminds me of the vocalist from CONDENADA, but that’s just a starting reference. The vocals on the first track, “H1N1” are provided by their drummer, it appears – he’s got a good gruff voice, which totally kills. I have to say, though that the EP layout is a bit too busy for my tastes – way too much use of certain fonts, which make it really uncomfortable to read the lyrics. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me being too nitpicky, but sometimes aesthetics mean a lot too. Ahh, fuck it - what can I say? This is a great band, and they’re totally raising the bar for modern Latin-American punk rock. They’re also helping me get rid of my anti-Florida bias, which is always nice, too. Hope they have more stuff up their sleeves, because they totally rule. (Inbred) Suburban White Trash Records / PO Box 270594, Fort Collins, CO 80527-0594// www.suburbanwhitetrashrecords.com IN RUINS – Lifeless CD Turns out that one of the fastest ways to my heart is quoting Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Who knew? Anyway, on with the show. This CD tour edition with a hand numbered tour poster that lists the dates underneath the same artwork from the back of the CD. On the reverse side is the lyric sheet. They could stand on their own without the music. The pessimism and despair are so seductive that you just wish it were a whole book instead of just a 9 song album of doomy melodic crust. The upside is that the music sets the perfect atmosphere to sit back and accept the fact that everything is not going to be okay and we can only blame ourselves. After playing this a few times, I could hear bits of HIS HERO IS GONE, FROM ASHES RISE, TRAGEDY and NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR. It’s always good hear a band that actually takes the time to write separate lines for each guitar and the bass instead of just playing over each other and occasionally hitting an octave to switch things up. The songs are beautifully melodic but completely unsettling at the same time aided by an extremely talented drummer that nails the time changes and adds dimension as well as emotion to each epic piece. The writing is absolutely incredible. (Jake) Anti Corporate Music/ PO Box 190339 / Nashville TN 37219 // www.myspace.com/anticorporatemusicinc ENJYOKOUSAI – Debtor’s Prison 7” The tracks of this EP by Chico, CA’s ENJYOKOUSAI were laid down in 2003, but not completed until 2009 and released recently. It’s mildly sloppy hardcore punk with dual vocals, and kind of reminds me of late 90’s US groups like CHRIST MESS, or Denver’s DRATSAB. Prevailing lyrical themes are the decries of consumerism which permeate every track. This would have been much more enjoyable had the guitars and bass been more apparent in the mix, but at face value it’s basically a demo and not a bad one at that, but perhaps more appropriately released as a cassette rather than vinyl. I can’t say I’m a fan of the unnecessary kanji translation of the band’s name all throughout the layout, which is a Japanese phrase meaning “a form of compensated dating sensationally ascribed to disaffected young women who exchange sex for designer goods,” only because when I see kanji in a 7” I hopefully expect ripping Japanese hardcore to be assailing my speakers when it hits the turntable. If we’re gonna get mad at consumerism let’s include false advertisement in that as well! (Rob Hanna) Faces of Debt / enjyokousai.bandcamp.com / e-mail contact:
[email protected] KNIFE IN THE LEG – The Next 3 Stabs CD The Next 3 Stabs” is compilation of songs from their “No Peace For Boys” 7” and their splits with FIX MY HEAD and IMPERIAL LEATHER. KNIFE IN THE LEG hails from Poland and plays hardcore punk in the vein of DC style hardcore. This said, KNIFE IN THE LEG would have fit in with many of the American 80’s hardcore bands. They come off sounding like a genuine band and not a rip-off trying to rehash an old style. Even though they have numerous influences and wear them plainly on their sleeves, they manage to produce a very unique sound for themselves that sets them apart and provides them with their own identity. The music is both enjoyable and nostalgic with its old school hardcore sound. With nineteen tracks, clocking in at a little less than twenty-seven minutes, the songs are short and fast and never go on long enough for you to get bored with them. The CD comes in a gatefold style case. The artwork is minimalist drawing of a lady with a stomach wound that is actually quite cool looking and HATEKRUSHER – Annihilation//Salvation CD Here we have another fine release from Disconsin featuring members of PYROKLAST, WARTORN and TIERRA DE NADIE. Convinced yet? No? Okay. The CD starts off with a very rockin’ d-beat ‘n’ roll jam that slides right into that signature crust sound that Wisconsin does so well. Annihilation//Salvation isn’t not just another d-beat ‘n’ roll album, though. The thing that really sets this apart for me is the lyrics. While following the path of doom that we all love so much, HATEKRUSHER push things a bit further to a scary and near psychotic (I say that with love) level. Are they conspiracy theorists or just paying attention? The first INTERNAL ROT – s/t 7” This little gem of Grindcore from down under can’t be listened to without bringing to mind the likes of EXCRUTIATING TERROR. It sounds like they actually went through the trouble of figuring out exactly what ET tune to and how the vocals are screamed and gurgled out of whatever hell hole they might be lacerated from. This is in no way a bad thing, I love to know people out there, even if it is all the way in Aussie still know what real grindcore is, not super polished but ugly and real like it was meant to be. With outrageous blasting that reminds me of WARSORE which might have something to do with 14 NOISE REVIEWS e PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 forth, through the mundane, with a punishingly brutal record that inflicts emotional pain while kicking the shit out of your ears. This shit sounds evil – let me backtrack, the original vocalist thought that the songs they were playing called demons forth to torture him, this shit is evil! The LP is split between three songs on one side, recorded in a studio, and one long song on side two, which is actually a few songs played back to back, but recorded live in their practice studio. This was done with the intention of showing people how they sound live, without any overdubs or studio edits. Honestly, the sound quality between the two is really similar, which I was worried about when I read that. The cover artwork is superb, but the insert leaves a bit to be desired. I’m glad that these guys got back together and decided to put some material out, as I’ve heard a lot about them but never had a chance to listen to any of their output. They remind me of EYEHATEGOD and NEUROSIS fighting over bottles of booze and pills; it’s hazy and psychedelic but has dirge and covered in grime. Highly recommended! (Sammy Totep) To Live a Lie Records / c/o Will Butler / 2825 Van Dyke Ave / Raleigh, NC / 27607// www.tolivealie.com for fourteen years. This is a decent record, there’s plenty of wanking, heavy bass lines, and reverb on the vocals to keep anyone who likes this style happy. The intro into the first track is pretty epic, borrowing the opening element to the opening of Black Sabbath’s s/t LP. Also the last track on the A side caught my attention: “Bringing me Down” pretty much sums up my feelings, especially as I get older. You can’t go wrong getting this record, the music is excellent as is the artwork and packaging. There is just something kickass about gatefolds especially when the art is this good. Scotty at Tankcrimes always puts out high quality shit. You could also probably snap one of these babies up on VICTIMS US tour this month. The LP is also a coop release in Europe with La Familia so get it. (JasonS) TANK CRIMES / P.O. Box 3495 / Oakland, CA / 94609 // www.tankcrimes.com VIVISEKTIO – 1984 LP I absolutely fell in love with this record the second it hit my turntable. This is a collection of songs that were largely written in the early to mid-80’s, however the band (called VENDETTA at the time) were never able to materialize an actual release before splitting up. Reunited in early 2008 with a new singer and the drummer of short-lived but well-loved 90’s band TOTUUS, this is fast, punchy, hard-hitting, classic Finnish hardcore punk with a great modern production. This is very much along the lines of DESTRUCKTIONS, BASTARDS, and KAAOS, but manages to throw in some American hardcore influences as well to shake things up a bit. Cover art is a cool dystopian illustration of what looks like some sort of post-apocalyptic prison camps for punks, and there is a really nice thick lyric insert (although it’s all in Finnish and I can’t read any of it). Someday I’d love to get a copy of those lyrics because I’m assuming the content of their songs is equally as badass as the music. Get it now. (Rob Hanna) Roku Records / c/o Ville Vuorjoki / Kemintie 1488 / 97130 HIRVAS / FINLAND //
[email protected] Hohnie Records c/o Andreas Höhn / an der Kuhtränke 7 / 31535 Neustadt / Germany// www.hoenierecords.de think I enjoy hearing music more from other countries than from the states. This is jammed packed with 11 bands hailing from the Czech Republic. Looking at the grooves of the physical record, you can see that it is filled with a ton of songs. Included are 11 current bands of different varieties. Crust, death metal, hardcore, punk, grindcore, and fastcore are all represented here. Each band provides anywhere from 2 to 5 songs each giving the listener ample amount of music to make a judgment and find personal favorites. The high quality and diverseness of the bands and music gives the whole package an enjoyable listening experience I haven’t heard that often since 80’s when I was listening to a lot of compilations. Hate to sound clichéd and say that this is all killer with no filler. I have listened to this multiple times and I have yet to pick out my absolute favorites. But I will definitely keep an eye out for releases from the bands featured due to this release. (Donofthedead) Selfish Satan Recordings // selfishsatanrecordings.com U.S. / $7ppd world. (Jake) ASADACHI / 2964 Winter Garden Unit D / Lexinton, KY 40517 //
[email protected] DISSIDENT AGGRESSOR – Agonizing Demise CD It’s hard to tell if this is a demo or not since the disc came in a blank jewel case with the band name scratched into the CDr with a ballpoint pen and the only info was an email address written on a torn piece of paper. When you put the disc in and hit play everything changes. The mixing and recording are totally beautiful and as pro as it gets adding to the kick-ass song writing. Guitar riffs seem to be the focus of this bass-less three piece. Lots of bands in the past few years have gone the route of 80’s thrash, but these 8 songs are right up there with EXODUS, SACRED REICH and DEATH. Some artwork and lyrics would have really sweetened this up, but I’ll take what I can get. From what I can see, these Florida thrashers love metal and weed. Fair enough. (Jake)
[email protected] SWEAR JAR – CUSS CD/LP SWEAR JAR’s press release pegs them as one of those bands most people will probably not like, save a small few who ‘get it’. While this may be true, I’d like to add an additional dimension to this claim: if you like NOMEANSNO, THE MINUTEMENT, JESUS LIZARD, or early BUTTHOLE SURFERS you’ll probably find something – nay, many things – to like about SWEAR JAR. It’s weird and jazzy (in the way THE MINUTEMEN were jazzy), chaotic and noisy, and really fucking fun to listen to. If their musical direction wasn’t enough to make you think it was 1987, the fact that they recorded this record in their practice space on a reel-to-reel further nails the point home. And it sounds fucking amazing. I wouldn’t have known had they not pointed it out on the liner-notes. The cover art leaves me wanting more, but the rest of the layout is pretty fitting with what they have going on. I really enjoy this record and feel lucky that it ended up in my hands. Seek this out if you wish that there were more bands bridging the gap between jazzy-punk craziness and noise-rock harshness. Buy two copies if you wish that those bands would do it with a sense of humor and mathematical precision without the pretense. (Sammy Totep) Phratry Records / PO Box 14267 / Cincinnati, OH / 45250 // www.phratryrecords.com DEMOS ABDUKTION – Demo 2011 cassette Discharge/Anti-Cimex styled punk, this demo looks like it’s been handed down, passed around and traded through endless soap charged, beer guzzling til’ you puke, raging punx. The packaging is your basic folded tape insert with chicken scratched barely legible handwriting, and a pixelated image of a drunk puking mohawked peace punk, complete with a d-beat head band. Songs in English and Spanish, the ones I can make out scream about religious lies and a disgust for humanity. I seriously look forward to seeing and hearing more from these Houston madheads. Good shit, keeping it grimey, pissed off, and raw. I know it’s been done a million times before, but goddamnit I don’t think I could ever get enough d-beat. I love this shit, and ABDUKTION kill it. (mandapocalypse) Fermented Chaos Records c/o THE DEATH STAR / 1719 Weber St. / Houston, TX 77007// INFERNAL MASSACRE – Followers of the Apocalypse CD South America has a thing for death metal and they do it well. That said, this Bolivian one-man metal massacre has relocated to the U.S., specifically Virginia, and is churning out more brutal grinding death. Now, this is a bit different than most of the bands reviewed in these pages in that politics don’t seem to play much of a part in the band as much as death and gore, but I’ll leave it to the readers to decide whether or not to check I.M. out. There’s no shortage of blast beats or chaotic guitar riffs, but it is a bit all over the place. If you like bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE or NILE, you might enjoy this. No lyrics were included, nor was there any artwork. Followers of the Apocalypse is a 4 song promo for the upcoming full length. Listen at your own discretion. (Jake) www.myspace.com/infernalmassacre666 LIFETIME SHITLIST – demo CD It would seem that LIFETIME SHITLIST might not be regular church-goers since the cover of this demo is a drawing of a zombie priest eating the brains of Jesus with a fork straight from his skull. With that and the band name I half expected something a little more chaotic a la BATHTUB SHITTER, but as it turns out, this Baltimore four piece plays solid straight forward hardcore with bits of chugging metal and gruff vocals that tops off at about thirteen minutes for five songs. There’s no lyric sheet or much of anything else included in the demo or at myspace for that matter, but it’s definitely worth checking out. (Jake) www.myspace.com/lifetimeshitlist V/A Ear Damage #3 CD Ear Damage was a compilation made by the online print shop Chaos Printing. He printed everything himself and stapled everything together as well as silk screened the CDs. The quality of the packaging is pretty awesome for DIY. It is a four page booklet with a seven inch style sleeve. The point of the these compilations seems twofold. One is to show off what he is capable of doing for potential customers in terms of CD duplication and printing as well as helping out bands to reach new listeners. Although all the songs on here are great, the sound fluctuation was a little annoying but was easily overlooked due to the quality of each song. The first song is by far the highest quality track on the album by RESISTANT CULTURE. Its a typical RESISTANT CULTURE song and is great start to a CD as well an all around great song from a great band. SUBURBAN SHOWDOWN is probably my favorite band on the entire album and the song did not disappoint. There is a pretty decent cover of SUBHUMANS(UK) “Society.” There fifteen songs on the CD with eleven bands. With multiple songs from a few of the bands it felt like it lacked a bit in flow. It would have been a more solid record had it had more bands instead of multiple tracks from the few on there but I would venture a guess that no other bands were interested at the time. Even with its few faults I definitely have listened to this CD many times with more plays in the future. (Travis Assault) Chaos Printing / 2421 W. Jefferson St. / Phoenix, AZ / 85009// www.chaosprinting.com ARTIFICIAL BRAIN – Lightwaves Birthing Ages Rough Mix Promo CDR Well, there was not a whole lot of information about this band given. Just a name and an e-mail address printed on the CD. All I have to work with here really is one 4:25 song. Thankfully, this snippet consists of some good old fashioned death metal. Good vocals, and a song that has a diverse range within it. I thought the first guitar solo was well executed, even if the tone seemed a bit too clean for the brutality of the rest of the song. Whatever, it worked. I really wish I had something else to go by here. Note to bands – when sending in a demo for review, while we do appreciate minimalism… maybe you should include more information with your product. Just sayin’. (Inbred)
[email protected] THE UNITED SONS OF TOIL – When the Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful CD/LP Buy this CD. Please. Heavy and driving with heavy and sludgydriving elements, all the while avoiding dumbed-down riff emphasis, THE UNITED SONS OF TOIL sound like the perfect blend of Am Rep and Touch and Go circa 1994. Buy this CD. Please, for yourself, not for my sake. The bass in this record makes me preemptively envious against every record I’ll ever play on; it’s dense and thick while maintaining clarity and purpose – something many heavy bass players seem to lose in the wake of ‘heavy as fuck’. When the Revolution Comes… is an album about revolution, and the things people are willing to do in its name. The music speaks to this in a discordant, pained and solemn way, matching its melancholic lyrical tone with the defiant anger of an individual, not an unnamed mass. Apparently, this is their third album and I can’t fucking wait to find and absorb the back catalog. I also can’t believe that they’ve put out three records, are from Wisconsin, and that I’ve never heard them before now. Similar to many (Unwound, Helms Alee, and Neurosis come to mind, in a strange mix), but unlike them all. Buy this CD. Seriously. (Sammy Totep) Phratry Records / PO Box 14267 / Cincinnati, OH / 45250 // www.phratryrecords.com URSUT – Demo CD-R This demo fucking kills! URSUT play some of the best Swedish D-beat punk rock that I’ve heard in years. Heavy, heavy, brutal Scandicore done the way it should be. This demo was put out in January of this year by Not Enough and is the only release I’ve see by URSUT so far, I hope they got some more coming. I can’t say enough how good this demo is. Ripping D-beat hardcore with an awesome rhythm section, shredding guitars with plenty of wanking, and insane shrieking vocals. URSUT also manages to pull off some modern crust elements without sounding cliché. URSUT ploughs through six intense tracks that immediately makes you want to play them over again, which I in fact did. While URSUST isn’t doing anything that fresh or unique its still just so fucking good. The only recent Scandicore that sounded this good(in my opinion) was COP ON FIRE, this is right up there. It looks like Not Enough makes these to order so they should have copies on demand. My copy came in a white card-stock sleeve with a Xeroxed lyric sheet in Swedish with English translations. I think the original was in an LP sleeve but I’m not sure. This is fucking good.(JasonS) Not Enough / postugen 44 / 21165 / Malmo, Sweden// www.notenough.se // www.myspace.com/ursut ASADACHI – demo CD While poking around on the web, I found that a loose Japanese translation for ASADACHI is morning wood. Ahem. I’m not here to judge, in fact, I love hardcore with a sense of humor. On that note, that’s exactly what this is. Hardcore. If you put this on with out paying close attention it will be over before you know it, so you might as well start of by putting it on repeat to save yourself the frustration. Shit, do it even if you are paying attention, because the 5 songs that are squeezed into roughly 9:30 minutes is just enough to get your blood moving. There seems to be a bit borrowed from Japanese hardcore here, moving at a frantic pace with chaotic intensity. Even the artwork utilizes Japanese imagery combined with what looks like black ink and wood cut design. Clean and simple, unlike the lyrics which are deep and poetic that challenge the listener to question and then act. There were only 100 printed, so this might be hard to get your hands on. Well worth the hunt. $4ppd VICTIMS – A Dissident LP A Dissident is VICTIMS sixth LP and it’s also the first one I’ve heard since their split with FROM ASHES RISE back in 2003. I’m really a fan of Swedish hardcore and this release backs my feeling up completely. This record is a bit more mid-tempo but it has just as much energy as some of the more fast paced disbeat. It also helps that VICTIMS have been doing this V/A Poslouchate Jizni Cechy 3 LP Haven’t been real keen on compilations as of late due to in my theory many bands not providing their best material to be included. But I still think they are still the best way to sample a multitude of bands in one sitting. Here is a record that kept me intrigued enough to listen to the entire release. I VIVISECT – Anarko Not Peace Punk Demo cassette Now here’s something we can all enjoy! Dark and heavy crust that actually has politics! Politics which are plainly written in the lyrics, and up front! No guesswork needed! The vocals are gruff, the music is heavy, and the logo is super solid. Everything about this band rules, and I’ve heard that they totally rage live. I live nowhere remotely close to them, so the soonest I’ll be able to see these cats is next spring, if I’m lucky. My only complaint about this demo is the recording quality, which is pretty muddy. Yeah, lo-fi is great and all, but for a band like this, I’d like to hear a bit better production. But whatever, this is a really good demo despite that. (Inbred) VIVISECT c/o The Jerk Store / 1411 Summer St / Houston TX / 77007// www.vivisect.bandcamp.com 16 NOISE REVIEWS e PROFANE EXISTENCe 63 PROFANE EXISTENCE MAIL ORDER CATALOG All items on this page are available using the order form on page 31 or online from profaneexistence.com heavy crust-influenced grind slaying everyone everywhere and channeling the spirit of DISSENSION and HAIL OF RAGE... rural Minnesota, and boasts ex-members of DRESDEN, DESPITE, STILLBORN, and TWO MINUTE TANTRUM, just to name a few. They play heavy pummeling crust that reminds me of older DOOM filtered through a Japanese crust band. The sound is raw, but not so much that you can’t distinguish the various parts you can clearly hear the driving bass riffs through the wall of heavily distorted guitar. The vocals are guttural and haunting, with so much reverb that they appear to be screamed at you from the bottom of a deep, dark pit. The lyrics are short and to the point, not needing a ton of words to get the message across. This is a killer debut that has me head banging along every time. Crust-as-fuck. (righteous) —PE 62 their first official new recordings in 20 years! Formed in 1982 MOB 47 were contemporaries with ANTI-CIMEX and played a similar style of break-neck hardcore punk. Between 1982 and 1987 they released several cassettes, the fmous Karnvapen Attack 7” and appeared on numerous compilations. Members of MOB 47 also played in other classic 80’s punk bands such as AGONI, CRUDITY, RÖJERS, DISCARD and PROTEST BENGT. After 1987 the band went silent, excepting the occasional re-issues of old material and the 1998 release of a MOB 47 demo featuring a solo work by guitar player Ake and a drum machine. In 2003 Speedstate Records (Japan) released their definiteive discography CD and the world rediscovered this long lost legend. In 2005 MOB 47 officiall reformed and in May of 2006 played their first live gig in more than 20 years. Since that time they have played on numerous other occasions and even toured the UK. This new EP is eight songs of classic MOB 47, picking up right where they left off 20 years ago. Same raw guitars, machine gun drums, and pissed off vocals that made this band the stuff of legends. hardcore legends Kaaos, Antikeho and Bastards, though the band’s sound was less of a wall-offuzz-distortion compared to those bands. THE SKUDS History 7” $3.50 Newest EP from this metallic crust band from Augusta, Georgia. Four song here that have elements of thrash, crust and metal sounds and dark political lyrics. This EP has great new artwork from Nesha of Doomsday Graphics and is limited to only 300 copies on vinyl! GEISTER Night Terrors 7” $4.50 Moloch Record’s debut release on black vinyl with silk screened sleeves. Four songs alternately brooding and furious. For fans of X and 45 Grave. Deathrock for the punk rockers. The darker side of punk and hardcore. RAGING FUGITIVES s/t 7” $4.50 Totally raging and intense thrashy Norwegian hardcore. Lots of rapid guitar work and speedy bass lines complete with manic drumming and screaming. An awesome 7” that really floored me from the first listen. Seven tracks of LOS CRUDOS styled Norwegian sounding insanity - highly recommended! SOCIAL PRESSURE Bad Mentality 7” $4.50 A brand new debut 8-track 7” by Stockholm hardcore heroes formerly known as BAD NEWS, now with a slightly different line up. Hardboiled old school shit that clocks in somewhere between NEGATIVE FX via early FUCKED UP to later POISON IDEA. SOCIAL PRESSURE is one of those all-star bands so typical of Communichaos Media releases and have current / former members of NITAD, IMPERIAL LEATHER, THE KIND THAT KILLS and TYSTA MARI. GET RAD / PROTESTANT split 7” $3.50 Both are Milwaukee hardcore. Get Rad is full throttle, have fun hc with members from Since By Man, Kung Fu Rick, High On Crime & Seven Days of Samsara. Protestant is darker, faster with nods to Infest and Tragedy. 1000 pressed, 100 on white. RAYDEAD s/t 7” $4.00 A two song 7” from this Austrian band. A powerful mix of metal and hardcore make up these long songs with lyrics about halting environmental destruction and the deteriating situation we as humans (or should I say greedy capitalists) have created around us. These rare early Skuld Releases EP recently found in Kleister’s attic! KULTURKAMPF Existence 7” $3.50 Fans of AUS- ROTTEN, DISCHARGE, AMEBIX, VENOM, EXTREME NOISE TERROR (you get the idea) will dig this. Elements of, crust, thrash, D-beat, grind, black metal, and even a little early street punk with an emphasis on telling people to fuck off, let’s party! Each record back is hand numbered out of 300. GO! What We Build Together 7” $3.50 While on our California mini-tour in Jan, 2007 we hopped into House of Faith in Oakland to record new songs for this 7”EP - a co-release with Refuse Records (Poland) and Stress to Death (Italy). Musically, you can expect GO!-style hardcore (of course) with some interesting twists and turns. Lyrically, we touch on a variety of topics. The title of the EP is taken from the song Room Enough on this world which about seeing people beyond an us-vs.-them mentality. Too Religious is about those assholes we all know who think god shines out their butts and feel the need to condemn others with their self-righteous bullshit. Polar Bears are Drowning is like duh - but it brings up the impact we’re making on the planet - and the record lists some resources people can support to help offset what we’re doing. Some other stuff, and for fun there’s Du Sagst and Atah Omer Sheh’, which are versions of GO!’s 1990’s classic You Say You’ll... but in German and Hebrew, respectively. SOTATILA Vituiks Meni 7” $3.50 Sotatila play pure Finnish hardcore in the early 80’s style. Stripped down, raw thrashing hardcore that makes you feel like you are watching Kaaos at Lepakko in 1983. RE-SISTERS Riots Not Diets 7” $4.00 A radical kick in the groin to male / hetrosexist domination in the punk scene comes this debut EP from this pro feminst, pro-lesbian punk band from Switzerland. Musically raw punk with angry vocals which at times match those of Contropotere in intensity and outrage. Seven songs in all, with lyrics sung in German, but with English translations provided in the large, informative booklet, which also contains lengthy rant against the ideal woman and the effects of anorexia nervosa and eating disorders in general. WARNING: This EP contains socially explicit material which WILL BE OFFENSIVE to narrow minds and those of a morally correct disposition. MØRKT KAPITTEL s/t 7” $4.50 Mørkt Kapittel is a hardcore punk band form Trondheim, Norway. Five tracks of gloomy, crusting hardcore punk with some moody guitar melodies a lot of angry attitude. This reminds me, at least vocally, of Victims with the very aggressive delivery. Good stuff! KULTURKAMPF Too Cold To Smell The Dead 7” $3.50 Debut EP from these spiky metal punkers from upstate New York. Fans of AUS- ROTTEN, DISCHARGE, AMEBIX, VENOM, EXTREME NOISE TERROR (you get the idea) will dig this. Elements of, crust, thrash, D-beat, grind, black metal, and even a little early street punk with an emphasis on telling people to fuck off, let’s party like it’s 1999! SPITTING TEETH Don’t Believe The Hype 7” $3.50 Spitting Teeth came to my attention when they were still called the Shit Bastards. They gave me a demo at Chicago Fest which I really enjoyed. Spitting Teeth play wicked fast thrash. The drumming and riffage approaches grind core speeds but is still pure hardcore thrash. The lyrics are humorous, yet pointed critiques of society and the state of the scene. Seven of the songs on this 7” are critical thrash core and the last song, Hell to Pay is more of a AC DC or later SSD inspired hard rocker. Spitting Teeth later broke up, but not before recording a split 7” with 1-2 Go Crew (Ben Crew of Damage Deposit’s SE Hip Hop project). Drummer Joe is now in Skarp. -Havoc Records NAPALM RAID Corruption Of Their Little Minds 7” $3.50 The horror... the horror... Is the singer wearing a gas mask? Winded vocals carry you through a field of land mines as the rock-n-roll undertone fuels your fire and thumping bass ignites the bombs as you bolt into a trench hoping your not a baked corpse after the explosion. Six merciless tracks of contagious, cutthroat crust punk. As you read along with the lyric sheet, NAPALM RAID paints a smokey picture, sets the distressed mood and doubtlessly hand over what they’re trying to dispatch. LOSER LIFE Burning Fields / Hard to Please 7” $3.50 This is the 2 track 7” for their European tour which took place in June/July 2008. LOSER LIFE comes from a place called Bakersfield, California, an area the band has numerously described as the armpit of California. This is what LOSER LIFE is influenced by and the band’s sound makes their pleasant description seem all too realistic. LOSER LIFE is dirty, grimy, filthy and fucking pissed off at their little hole in the world and the world in general. They play music with a glass half-empty feeling with a glass overflowing the brim spirit. -Yellow Dog Records REGULATIONS Different Needs 7” $3.50 Four new tracks for 2007 from Regulations. An outstanding mix of the sounds of late 70’s Swedish punk with the early LA scene. At first listen you hear the influence of the Germs and early Black Flag, but more structured and complex guitar work and arrangements on this release show that beneath the sneering raw hardcore punk is a more cerebral approach to hardcore song writing based on the 70’s Svensk Punk sound. Top notch material from one of the best hardcore punk bands around today. Dark introspective lyrics, with the exception of New Ways which decries the recent election of a conservative government in Sweden. GOATBOY Struggle for Power 7” $3.50 Goat Boy hailing from Victoria, BC play fierce political punk rock in the Propaghandi/I Spy vein or even a more fierce Dillinger 4. All unreleased material not contained on their two blistering albums! SPRING BREAK! / ZOMBIE RITUAL split 7” $3.50 A split of total misfit grind. Tokyo’s Zombie Ritual continue down their near obsessive path of zombie themed thrashing gore grind. One the other side is the similarly one track minded Spring Break!, from the sunny lands of San Diego it seems obvious that their grind would revolve around the topics of the beach, malt liquor and weed. The only was you would know that is what you were experincing is to read the lyrics, as musically it is as ripping as you can get. Recorded in the same session as their up coming split with Cross Examination. Artwork done by Impaled’s Sean Bloodbath McGrath. -Inimical Records NAPALM RAID Trail of the World 7” $3.50 Second 7” from Halifax, Nova Scotia’s NAPALM RAID. Taking their raw mix of DOOM, ANTICIMEX, and DISCHARGE influences a step further with an improved recording showing the way they were meant to sound. The Raw D-beat crust you crave is all here, with their own take on it making it catchy and memorable. If that was not enough this four song 7” includes a cover of misery from BASTARD! limited to 500 copies, but i have less than half of the pressing for distribution so don’t slack! HELLHUNTER / UNHOLY GOATFUCKER / split 7” $3.50 This is blackmetal in it’s two greatest forms. San Francisco’s Hellhunter conjure forth two hellish offerings to the black goat with their raw, stripped-down, old-school, Celtic Frost style. Unholy Goatfucker crushes all that is holy with one track of Ludicra/Dissection style blackened crust. UGF has dueling female vocalists. One vomits forth screeches and guttural growls while the other answers with doomsday operatic power. Both bands offer a flawless, balanced recording quality that is neither over or under produced. Don’t miss this super Satanic slab of wax! Color cover/pink puke vinyl. - Buried In Hell KVOTERINGEN Dödens Handslag 7” $4.50 Another hard-hitting release from KVORTERINGEN. Four tracks of carefully un-produced punk thrash that once again pay homage to the Swedish / Finnish hardcore tradition. KVORTERINGEN are made up from of former/current members of such legendary bands as TOTALITÄR, MEANWHILE, I.R.D. and BLINT RASERI and have been active as a unit since 2003. In the mean time they have released an LP plus numerous EPs abnd split EPs (with PISSCHRIST and NITAD). This four track EP is equally as raw and brutal as their previous efforts and promises to be pleasurable for the even the most discerning connoisseur Scandinavian d-beat thrash. RESIST s/t (Another Day in Paradise) 7” $3.00 After a fifteen year break to wise up and dry out, Portland’s anarchopunk legends RESIST are back and stronger than ever. Still anchored by original vocalist Tom Nims and guitar player Ward Youn, they have added new talent on bass and drums. While still distinctivelythe same fast and raw RESIST you remember from the old days, the song writing for this new material has greatly matured and is much more dimensional than anything before. The cover is a classic anarcho-punk fold out poster sleeve just like their last LP on Profane Existence. This record is being pressed on 100% recycled black vinyl because it’s the right thing to do! NOVI CVETYA (NEW FLOWERS) s/t 7” $4.50 Traces of different formations of Novi Cvetya (New Flowers) have existed ever since 1979. This is what the band members say, and they look reasonably old for this to be true. They never got too famous and they never put out anything, with the exclusion of a demo tape, that spread out in like 10-15 copies. So, the band plays very good and interesting punk rock, highly influenced by the early UK bands with a very simple, yet effective sound. I guess they never did anything but freak around the pubs in their home town, called Kjustendil. A pretty beautiful spot on the Yugoslavian border, surrounded by mountains, but never a very vivid punk centre. With the coming of democracy they did several gigs and again vanished into the nothingness. STATE No Illusions 7” $3.50 Going back to straight up hardcore punk on this post. State released this in 1983 on Statement records. . It’s been bootlegged on Reagan era and re-issued by Havoc records. IMPERIAL LEATHER Antibodies 7” (Profane Existence Records) $3.00 Four new songs with the new and improved Imperial Leather line-up, playing their hallmark style of rip-roaring punk rock’n’roll that’s catchy as all hell. If you are still not enlightened, IMPERIAL LEATHER are exmembers of such legendary bands like NO SECURITY, DS-13, etc. with Amyl of the infamous NYC all female oputfit SPIDER CUNTS on lead vocals and in your face attitude. The have just completed their thrid US tour, during which this EP was released, and are now jetting back to Sweden, fired up for the next release and another round of adventures. M.C.D. Empezamos un 23-F 7” $4.50 M.C.D. (Me Cagüen Dios, Fuck God), was one of the first punk bands from the Basque Country (they started at 1978), and they were one of the more popular. Empezamos un 23-F was their demos released at 1984. Here you’ll find six of their classic songs, released later at their first two albums. But here you’ll find the most raw-punk version of this songs, faster and with a more punk attitute vocals. Gatefold cover re-designed by original bass player, this 7” comes in a really nice gatefold sleeve and includes a CD copy. STOCKHOLMS BLODBAD / THE VULTURES split 7” $4.50 A pair of Swedish hardcore punk bands team up for this brutal slab of raw d-beat thrash. STOCKHOLMS BLODBAD are from Stockholm (go figure!) and contribute four tracks of scorching rage with angry political lyrics (written in Swedish). THE VULTURES are a two piece band from Borås who have no problem cranking out a fullblown aural assault and decidedly misanthropic attitude. RIISTETYT Kahleet 7” $3.50 Finland’s long running hardcore powerhouse. Riistetyt blaze through five tracks of pulverizing hardcore intensity. Four strong tracks of 80’s Finnish thrash crossed with modern Scandinavian hc/crust and one track which is more of a droning, dark, tense number in the true Finnish style - Havoc Records NUX VOMICA Embrace The Cycles 7” $3.50 NUX VOMICA – Embrace the Cycles 7, coreleased with UK label buddies Active Rebellion. This is a tour-edition 7” limited to 500 that accompanied NUX VOMICA on their whirlwind European tour and has as of yet not been available in the states. The record comes in a color glued pocket sleeve with a printed insert. Vinyl is grey/brown splatter with specks of translucent orange thrown in for good measure. It’s pretty and sounds amazing. STOP BREATHING s/t 7” $3.50 Out of the strawberry fields of Oxnard, CA comes the raging debut 7” from Stop Breathing. Playing classic Nardcore punk mixed with a bit of east coast flavor, this 4 song gem will have you circle pitting in no time. Think RKL partying it up in NYC in the late 80’s! Features current and ex members of The Missing 23rd, Glass & Ashes, The Fucking Wrath, & Young Livers means these guys know how to play and do it well. If you’re a fan of Nardcore & late 80’s hardcore get this now! There are only 300 and they’re going fast! M:40 / SAND CREEK MASSACRE split 7” $4.50 A five-song international crust punk conspiracy between M:40 from Sweden and SAND CREEK MASSACRE from Germany. M:40 have a few releases behind them by now, and on the three tracks on this split they continute to develop their hardcore/crust sound. It´s fast and aggressive, but they aren´t afraid to lower the tempo and perform some crushing tones and powerful rhythms as well. Faster and slower crustcore in a well executed blend. M:40 convinces more and more for each release. Sand Creek Massacre are more dark in their approach and falls under the category of modern crustcore. Not at all as aggressive and explosive as M:40, but still solid stuff. SALTED WOUNDS National Buyproduct 7” $3.50 The debut EP from this new band from Denver, Colorado that has Justin from CLUSTERFUX on drums. Four straight forward punk rock songs with a raw sound, urgent vocals (kind of like the early AUS-ROTTEN EP’s) and lyrics about corporate and government lies - as well as the virtues of smoking weed! Comes on clear wax. JUGGLING JUGULARS When I See / Addicted 7” $4.50 2006 single from the best punk rock band from Finland!!! Two new hit songs recorded with the ex-bass player Jantsa. When you like femalefronted melodic but powerful punk rock / hardcore you will love this one! Limited to 500 numbered copies. A limited edition EP by Finland’s veterans JUGGLING JUGULARS and a farewell to their bassist of 17 years! Always rooted in that interesting, somewhat experimental early -90s nexus of avant-garde rock, pop, and hardcore here the two tracks are more song-driven punk than quirky or hardcore. The A-side What I see is a great pop song that competes well with the Danish school (GORILLA ANGREB, NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS, etc.) of catchiness. Excellent lyrics! The B-side is a more straightforward, upbeat track with shout-along choruses as it stomps forward. Good send-off and a solid EP. (KS) -MRR ORDER OF THE VULTURE Martyr For Nothing 7” $3.50 Recorded in 2004 aside the Christ Killer EP and originally to be put out as a split 7” that never materialized. This was remastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door in 2011, and is 3 tracks of punishing blackened d-beat crust amidst dark, atmospheric soundscapes. Ltd to 550, 440 copies on red and 110 copies on black. Comes with French-door style jacket and printed lyric insert. SECURICOR Only In Death 7” $3.50 Studs, Spikes, and Dreads!!! Chicago-based metallic hardcore/crust punk with dual male/ female vocals. Sweet metallic riffs with screaming solos over hardcore punk and crust beats. Think Whorehouse of Representatives and The Restarts screaming over riffage influenced by English Dogs, Broken Bones.... So far they have released a 7” vinyl EP, split cassette/CD-r, and three demo CD-rs. This release is limited to 500 and hand numbered. TAXI Who’s to Blame 7” $3.50 Here it is, the LIMITED EDITION tour single that was released in connection with their last US tour! This sucker sounds like it was recorded in 1979. Looks like it too. Just look at that classic cover! It’s as if they took all of the great higherfidelity records from punk’s first few years and said: this is what we will do. Like the Dead Boys, Dictators and Vibrators, they do it well. Degenerate sounds that would make Stiv Bators proud!! Think Eddie & The Hot Rods/PVC/ (early) Slade along with with a strong touch of vintage dirty 70’s glam. GREAT! MEISCE Bored Of The Dance 7” $3.50 Aborted Society and Fistolo Records are proud to present the debut EP from Seattle’s folk punk ensemble, Meisce (pronounced Mesh-Kyuh). Elements of Irish folk, gypsy, and eastern European klezmer come together underneath a very strong punk rock influence. Two tracks featuring mandolin, accordion, fiddle, guitars, bass, drums, and vocals on this release. The perfect soundtrack for an evening of drunken debauchery! Recorded by Brandon Fitzsimons at the Audaretum in Seattle and mastered by Chris Hanzsek at Hanzsek Audio. Includes current members of: Wormwood, Inhaste, City of Dust, Oakhelm, and Slightly Less Than Nothing. PADDED CELL That Punk Next Door 7” $3.50 Debut single from legendary Whittier, CA punk band. Blending early UK punk with early LA punk the Padded Cell made their mark. Fans of the Stiff Litte Fingers, Buzzcocks, Boys, Dils or the Adolescents will dig. SHORT CHANGED Burn Down Wagon Town 7” $3.50 Great eight-song debut 7” from this long standing Oakland band that has existed in various incarnations since the early part of this deacade. SHORT CHANGED plays wicked, ramcharging hardcore that is reminiscent of SCURVY DOGS with caustic, scowling vocals and relentless speed. There’s a marked simplicity to the songs but it actually works in their favor, similar to some of the crust records of the early 90’s where the catchiness or memorable-ness of the songs is extended by their easy to follow steps and direct attack. A good recording with lyrics that are all over the map about everything from seeing Star Wars on LSD to living the punk life of being broke, coping and not coping with alcohol, violence at shows, and a Pyrate Punx anthem. Nice split colored vinyl with absolutely insane cover art-a grasshopper tank/sailboat/machine gunthing, ridden by a scantily clad pirate woman with a skull and an alligator with... oh just check it out for yourself. Numbered and limited out of 500 —PE 57 TEAR IT UP s/t 7” $3.50 Tear It Up were from New Jersey and take their name from a Jerry’s Kids song. If that gives you one clue here’s another, several of these guys were in Dead Nation. Fast high-energy hardcore. Part of the revival of back to basics hardcore that is swept the nation in the Y2K era. Tear It Up takes on scene sell outs, rapists, and society in their lyrics. All the while reflecting the alienation of the outsider in the lonely crowd. Tear It Up was one of the hardest working bands in hardcore, playing constantly all over the USA and Europe. After this debut release they did a split LP on Deranged, two split 7s, a one sided 7, the classic Nothing to Nothing LP on Deadalive and finally returned to Havoc for their swan song Taking You Down with Me 12. One of the best bands of the early 00 thrash revival. -Havoc KATHODE / VOIDD split 7” $4.50 Bands that have mastered the profound principles of death matal core confront each other on this disk. Voidd from Nagoya makes a ferocious onslaught on you, with their solid sound plowing through the surging waves of chaos. Kathode from U.S.A. plays more stagnant noise, which heavily leans over you. PATH OF DESTRUCTION 1 A.M. 7” $3.50 Minneapolis hardcore crust punk at it’s most tough and brutal. This band started originally with Chad of Calloused on Drums, Link of Pontious Pilate on bass, Big Rick of Code 13, Rat Bastards, Dead Drunk, Motherfuckers, Impulse Manslaughter etc. on guitar and Andy Hefner on vocals. They recorded a 7” for Sin Fronteras and a split EP with Minneapolis metallic crust core band Provoked. Path of Destruction also toured Europe and the USA with this line up. Andy left and was replaced by Pignose of Assrash on vocals. Since the days of Hell Spawn I’ve thought Pignose had the most punk as fuck vocal delivery. The main influence here is POISON IDEA and when you spin this sucker you will Feel the Darkness. But it’s hard to really nail these guys down as punk, hardcore or crust since their style really draws on elements prevalent in all three subgenres for maximum impact. MOB 47 1984 EP (Karnvapen Attack) 7” $3.50 At long last an official re issue of this most classic Swedish hardcore 7. Mob 47 took the anger and intensity of early 80’s Swedish hardcore and injected it with the speed and high energy of American Thrash. The result is some of the most powerful hardcore of the early 1980s. Recorded in 1984 these 8 tracks, one of which appeared on the PEACE comp, sent a shockwave through the world of hardcore. Powerful, fast and angry hardcore from some amped up young Swedes. This record has been bootlegged and re issued several times in different forms, but it’s my intention to re produce the record as close to the way it dropped back in the 80’s. The packaging is almost the same as the original except we’ve added a bunch of never before seen photos on the back of the insert. - Havoc KNIFE IN THE LEG Bloodlust EP 7” $4.50 Incredibly driving and explosive hardcore punk rock stuff from Poland. The songs are very inspired by the early U.S. scene, yet they somehow manage to get their own original twist to things. If you like the retro sounds OF REGULATIONS, IMPERIAL LEATHER, RESTARTS, etc. then this record will rock your fuckin’ planet! KOBAYASHI s/t 7” $3.50 Melodic crust with political lyrics from Germany. In the spirit of the more tuneful (i.e. less noisy) bands on Skuld such as GRAUE ZELLEN and PETROGRAD. THE TOTAL END s/t 7” $3.50 Members of ANOTHER OPPRESSIVE SYSTEM, DIALLO, etc. play Scandi-crust via way of STATE OF FEAR, but with the heavy-edge of MISERY. Perhaps it’s inevitable this band will move to Minneapolis and get jobs at Profane Existence. If you were to buy only three records this year, then buy three of these! PROTESTI s/t 7” $3.50 Loose, fast early ’80s Finnish hardcore with cool clobbering, clubbing and clanging percussion sound, like a sloppier version of early grindcore drumming styles. Members played in Finnish SINLOGICA Riff In Peace 7” $4.50 Four songs of rocking, melodic hardcore punk with a healthy dose of Motörhead and POISON IDEA, good lyrics & a nicely done artwork. KONTRASEKT s/t 7” $3.50 This crust monster hails from Minneapolis and MOB 47 Dom Ljuger Igen 7” $4.50 Sweden’s infamous MOB 47 are back with 20 PROFANE EXISTENCe MAIL ORDER CATALOG PROFANE EXISTENCE MAIL ORDER CATALOG All items on this page are available using the order form on page 31 or online from profaneexistence.com TOXIC NARCOTIC Had It Coming 7” $3.50 Two reggae influenced numbers from Boston’s infamous punk/crust stalwarts. Features one unreleased song that never made it onto their discography. Two very unique yet similar Boston based bands on this new split full-length album! Both of these bands exist on the fringe of musical categorization but appeal to fans of accoustic, folk and gypsy punk! ABSINTHE ROSE is a newer Boston area band, the Brainchild of singer songwriter guitarist Kimbo Rose and was originally established in Medford/Ashland Oregon during the summer of 2008! After relocating to Boston, MA in 2009 she began working with a rhythm section consisting of well-seasoned Boston area music veterans Bill Damon on Bass and brothers Nick and Rich DellaRocca on guitar and Drums! HUMANWINE is a longstanding Boston local favorite with core members M@ McNiss and Holly Brewer accompanied by a revolving cast of musicians since their inception in 2002! Though not a band that pursues or cares for mainstream attention they have gained a large local following and have been nominated and won many Boston area music awards over the years! Both bands have strong DIY ethic and mix many various styles of music with political, personal and apocalyptic subject matter! Limited Edition LP only 500 pressed on Bronze vinyl with full color cover printed inner sleeve with lyrics and free CD! AMEBIX Knights of the Black Sun 12” Maxi-Single $12.00 Knights of the Black Sun is the preview single for the first AMEBIX studio album in more than 20 years. This anthemic single is nearly six minutes long and is accompanied by a full length animated video crafted by Andy Lefton and Director Fin McAteer. The HD quality video is included via download card free of charge for those who order the 12 vinyl version from Profane Existence Distro. The 12 is pressed on premium heavyweight (280 gram) virgin vinyl, include a laser etched image on the B-side, and will be limited to 2000 copies. UNHAIM Dr Tobehoktr 7” $4.50 First record for this Swiss band with ex- PACK / BRUTAL MASSACRE members, four tracks of angry crust punk!! The cover glows in the dark! pleasing singalong choruses. The lyrics are a mix of the personal and political, not too dissimilar to the creative wordplay favoured by Dick Lucas, which is exactly how it should be. Packed into the backroom of a pub with this lot on the stage gets the dancefloor hot n’ sweaty very quickly. OLDPUNKSNEVERDIE.COM Due to the Boskops’ two guitar players and a vocalist with a roaring strong voice, their first LP stands as a good stylistic example of what later become known as Thrashpunk - less instrumental proficiency but raw highspeed energy and sonic brutality. This is an officical re-press which comes with a 24-pages booklet and a huge poster. Classic! AVFART 33 / INSIDIOUS PROCESS split LP $11.00 This is a split release from two up and coming female-fronted Swedish hardcore groups hailing from Gothenburg. INSIDIOUS PROCESS plays brutal and heavy d-beat crust with intense shrieking vocals, while AVFART 33 blazes through catchy, pissed off anarcho punk. Co-released with Undislessed (FR) and Halvfabrikat (SWE). BROKEN BONES Fuck You And All You Stand For LP $8.00 And Broken Bones in 2010—thankfully—ain’t a helluva lot different than the classic mid-’80s lineup that recorded classics like Dem Bones, Bonecrusher and F.O.A.D. The current lineup of Oddy, Bones, drummer Dave and vocalist Quiv has been going at it since a late ’90s reformation, and Fuck You and All You Stand For is now their third release in this incarnation. Bones originally left DISCHARGE to pursue a more metal direction, and he continues that mission here with a well-focused fury. On song after song, he throws down crusty thrash riffage over classic, moshfriendly D-beat rhythms that barrel along with thunderous intent. As metallic as the music tends toward, Quiv’s snarling, angry bark maintains the perfect crossover tension. This is some seriously incendiary shit that pretty much schools every Dis band that’s tried to emulate the style since the originals laid down the template. UNIT 21 Death Stripes 7” $3.50 Four new songs of ripping Texas punk rock with Japaenes hardcore influences!! Ltd to just 300 copies! VIRGIN WHORES Whiskey Girl 7” $3.50 Whiskey Girl 7, pressing of 500, hand numbered. Simple. Rocking. Raw. Virgin Whores hit the stage with a brick wall of sound, reminiscent of old school punk/hardcore. Formed in the summer of 2003 after collaborating for a tribute to Joe Strummer, the Virgin Whores have torn up stages like Triple Rock, Hairy Mary’s, 1st Avenue, Turf Club, Uptown Bar and many others across the midwest. With scathing lyrics and commanding stage presence, the Virgin Whores have performed with The Germs, Krum Bums, The Briggs, Angel City Outcasts, Everybody’s Out, The Dragons, The Effigies, The Arrivals, Wednesday Night Heroes, as well as Minneapolis heavyweights such as Dillinger Four, EightySixed, A-Bomb Nation, Corpse Show Creeps, and many others AMEBIX Redux 12” $10.00 Profane Existence is proud to team up with crust punk/metal legends AMEBIX for the release of three classic AMEBIX tracks as redone by the current lineup: Rob (aka The Baron), Stig, and Roy. This is AMEBIX played louder, tighter and more intense than you’ve ever heard them before. All tracks recorded and produced by Roy Mayorga, mastered by Rodney Mills and vinyl lacquors cut by Prairie Cat Mastering. Total running time is approximately 17 minutes and is pressed on heavyweight black virgin 12 vinyl. The vinyl edition also includes a download card for the digital edition (including bonus track) and a large embroidered AMEBIX patch. The vinyl / CD tracks are Arise, Winter, and Chain Reaction. The digital release includes the bonus track Progress. BILL BONDSMEN Swallowed By The World LP $8.00 Swallowed By The World is the BILL BONDSMEN ’s first album and it’s not really presenting all that cheery a picture. These songs scream about lousy jobs, barely having enough money to make your mortgage payments, paying for prescriptions, having the electricity shut off when you can’t pay the bill etc. On this album, instead of going for any sort of slick sound, things sound rougher. Especially with the vocals. To my ears they sound cruder and that’s meant in the most positive sense of the word since it really enhances Gabby’s larynx-shredding utterings. There’s an abundance of go-for-the-throat thrash and other climactic elements as well. The circle-pit inducing breakdown of Another Wave is one such moment. So is the stop/start thrash of It’s Always Darkest After Shutoff, interspersing guitar and bass atonalities, if that’s the right term. Everything comes to a screeching halt for the final cut, A Bird In The Hand Means You’ve Been Dead For A Few Days and it’s a slower, desperatedroning song, building up and then slowing down as the guitars mimic the sound of something/ someone barely clinging to life before it abruptly ends. Think of the album as a cautionary tale and, as Black Flag sang on Depression all those years ago, They say things are gonna get better—all I know is THEY BETTER. Swallowed By The World may not make you feel better but it’s still some damned good scream therapy. AFTER THE BOMBS Relentless Onslaught LP $8.00 At long last we have the hugely anticipated full length from Montreal’s AFTER THE BOMBS (members of HELLBOUND, KONTEMPT and ANOTHER OPPRESSIVE SYSTEM). What you have here are five epic late 80’s style crust-metal anthems (to the likes of SACRILEGE meets the metal redeaux ENGLISH DOGS) with raging female vocals and angry political lyrics. The gatefold sleeve is completely adorned with new Marald artwork that includes a variation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse theme on the outside and a crest of skulls on the inside that pays homage to classic DISCHARGE and AXEGRINDER imagry. Definitely one of the must have albums of 2007. CAST IN IRON I-X LP $11.00 The summer heat of 2010 made some Warsaw dudes, who have been pretty much experienced in playing hardcore, metal and punk, decide to team up together to create a musical hybrid that by any means couldn’t be called a summer vacation soundtrack. Past and present members of a few Warsaw bands (Government Flu, Drip of Lies, Daymares, Coalition, Sunrise, Born Anew to name a few) wrote really sinister, angry and filthy tunes, inspired by the darkest and the most furious songwriting of last decades (from Born Against and Rorschach, through Entombed and NEUROSIS, to Cursed and Converge). Bitterness and frustration helped to spawn a full length made of nine (well, rather IX) songs – some of them are slow and heavy, some of them are raging fast. In the very same hot summer the songs were recorded in their homebase Warsaw and Nikt Nic Nie Wie got interested in putting them out soon after that (both in vinyl and CD format). To support the upcoming debut, Cast In Iron will hit the road anytime soon, gigging throughout Poland and beyond. VISION TUNEL La Discordia Original 7” $4.50 Great Post-Hardcore band from Zaragoza. Three melodical songs with female vocals, nice design and a 70 grms. black vinyl. V/A EMRACE THE KILL, HELLMOUTH, IN DEFENCE & OPPOSITION RISING four-way split 7” $3.00 Crash Records, Rodent Popsicle, and Profane Existence presents a four-way split 7” with EMBRACE THE KILL (from Portland, OR, bridging the gap between punk & black metal), HELLMOUTH (from Detroit, MI, in your face, god-hating metallic crust), IN DEFENCE (from Minneapolis, MN, sarcastic punk/thrash metal crossover) and OPPOSITION RISING (from Boston, MA, ex-members of Mouth Sewn Shut playing angry anthems for rebellious youth). Putting the youth back into rebellion seven inches at a time! AMEBIX The Power Remains LP $9.00 Power Remains is a sampling of the original AMEBIX at their high point, with one side featuring four demo out-takes from the Monolith LP, while the out has four songs (from Arise and Monolith) recorded at Bath, England in September 1987. This was the first post-break up AMEBIX collection album to be issued with the band’s blessing by the German anarcho-punk label Skuld Releases in 1993, and the only AMEBIX album to remain continually in print up to modern times. The studio side contains demo versions of ICBM, The Power Remains, Chain Reaction and Last Will and Testament, recorded in 1985 and 1987 and constitutes one half of the bands demo recording of the Monolith LP. The live side contains quality live renditions of Nobody’s Driving, Fallen from Grace, Arise, and Drink and Be Merry. AGAINST EMPIRE Thieves and Leeches LP (Profane Existence Records) $7.00 AGAINST EMPIRE unleash their latest onslaught of hardcore punk with in the form of the Thieves and Leeches LP. Seven new tracks, plus a CRUCIFIX cover highlight their knack for mixing classic 80’s style hardcore with hints of more modern crust punk influences. The recording is clean but powerful, with post-production mastering handled at Jack Control’s Enormous Door Studios. AGAINST EMPIRE have been around for several years now and have previously released a full length LP, a split LP with ISKRA, a split 7” with AUKTION and more. If you have not yet heard AGAINST EMPIRE then now is the time to get started! BLACK JETTS Bleed Me LP $8.00 Remember those days when Rock & Roll ran through the veins of the bands that played it. Well you don’t have to remember those days any more thanks to Rock N Roll heathens the Black Jetts. Situated deep below the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip, lie these 4 mopped haired rockers. These fellas have been around for a few years now creating quite a commotion in and around Sin City. With the undaunting drive the Black Jetts had to create the epic debut, ‘Bleed Me’ offers 11 killer rippers including a cool cover of the Who’s ‘Leavin Here’. -Dead Beat Records CAUSTIC CHRIST Can’t Relate LP $8.00 Following up their 7” on Havoc and splits with Rambo and Intense Youth, CAUSTIC CHRIST unleashes their first full length on the scene. Poseurs shall know fear as the CAUSTIC CHRIST hardcore steamroller crushes all opposition. CAUSTIC CHRIST has one of the most unique sounds in current hardcore because they mix the bass heavy drive of Swedish crust with the high octane thrash of American hardcore. The lyrics and music sound so aggressive and pissed off the speakers can barely contain the rage. Lryically the straight forward agitprop of AUS-ROTTEN has been replaced by a more bleak form of social commentary based on a desperate alienation. But critics who think CAUSTIC CHRIST have distanced themselves from political statements should read the lyrics to Satisfied Means Pacified and other tracks on this LP. The cover artwork is by Tommy Gun who also did the 7” and shirt artwork. V/A Silesia Hardcore Omniobus Vol. 1 7” $4.50 9 bands from Silesia - the industrial area in Poland. Crust, thrash and raging hard core. The bands: CASTET, HARD WORK, HGW, MINORITY, NICE SHOES, NO TIME TO WASTE, STEP RIGHT IN, STREGESTI, SWINIOPAS. Coproduced by NNNW / Pasazer and Hasiok labels. The idea came from CASTET crew. A//NARCOLEPSIA / SIERVOS DE NADIE split LP $11.00 ANARCOLEPSIA hail from Caracas, Venezuela and present us with 11 tracks of fast and furious female fronted thrash hardcore punk. SIERVOS DE NADIE are from Spain and contribute nine tracks of dark crust punk. On clear vinyl with black splatters! AGRIMONIA Host of the Winged double LP $13.00 An intense new full length album from this dark crust band hailing from the gloomy crust punk underworld of Gothenburg, Sweden. Eight songs in just over 72 minutes(!) of death and blackmetal gloom with a healthy dose of crust punk influences. This is one of the most epic and most expressive releases to date: crushed souls, despair, and everything you’d expect from a Profane Existence title. Now available on vinyl as a gatefold edition double LP on Skuld Releases. BLACK SEPTEMBER The Forbidden Gates Beyond LP $8.00 Chicago’s metal punks has put out a new record of pure black metal with a touch of crust, it sounds furious, violent and powerful. They have been working hard on building up their own sound, i just love the way how it sound this full length and the voice of the girl, definitely some of the best stuff from Chicago right now. Highly Recommended. Bundles of joy RAGE in a 10” package! 10 VINYL RECORDS ANTIDOTUM Jedna Plaga Ludzka Plaga LP $11.00 New album from Warsaw’s Antidotum - raging punk with a female singer, and a drummer who played on the 1st El Banda album. Faster, more aggressive version of watever Post Regiment means to you. Rock solid Polish punk/hardcore with female vocals. Songs are tight, anthemic, and catchy without sounding too formulaic, preachy, or professional. Good stuff. - Razorcake ASSHOLE PARADE Live in Rostock 10” $11.00 wenty-one tracks of raw seething hardcore of one of the greatest sets from one of the greatest fast hardcore bands. Pro-recorded live from the soundboard in Germany and profesionally mastered. Gold foil printed cover, this is quite a deluxe release. - To Live A Lie Rcords AGRIMONIA s/t LP $9.00 Their demo CD hit me by surprise and I really couldn’t refuse to put this out! These folks come from Gothenburg in lovely Sweden and deliver the goods! The demo (minus 1 song though) that you’ll find on this black piece of vinyl hold 4 times thundering death and black metal soaked doom, with hints of crust, as well as atmospheric and epic darkness. The guitars range from devastating heaviness to gloomy acoustic sections, with piercing leads that flash through the darkness every now and then. If you’ve ever wanted to know exactly how your favourite metal, crust, and doom bands would have sounded like if they were one band this is where you should turn. I won’t namedrop anything, just ask you to take me on my word that you really need to check this out if you’ve been even the slightest intrigued with what’s written above. Even though I could drop many influential names, as well as list several of your favourite Swedish crustcore bands in the members of department. —Skuld BLEEDING RECTUM / FLEAS AND LICE split LP $9.00 Will Skuld put out a bad record? Probably not, this release is among their top. Fleas and Lice kick ass all over the place, this is much better than their 7. much more energy, anger, power, I get shivers up and down my spine every time I listen to it. Bleeding Rectum are good too, they’re slightly more on the hardcore side of the spectrum, but excellent at any rate. What more can I say about this flamin’ hot slab of wax, fuck damn, I’m speachless. - Heart Attack #8 CHOLERA Alguien Siega Vidas Por Mi LP $11.00 Hardcore-punk band with female vocals, this was their best album (released in 2007), where they made their most rock influenced songs. Not to be confused with the Brazilian band with the same name. This folx are from Barcelona / Spain and on this LP you get seven track of energetic kick ass punk / hardcore with a range of influences in the modern epic crust to old school power driven H/C... this is amazing! ANTIDOTUM Testowane Na Ludziach LP $11.00 This band is from Warsaw, Poland and if you think POST REGIMENT - you’re right! No personal links (apart from being friends) but immediate link when you hear their music. Powerful, melodic punk with a female singer, more aggressive that most of PR stuff. Think of old ARMIA records to get another hint. Exactly the kind of release yo be expect from Skuld and Nikt Nic Nie Wie. DAWN / SANCTIONS split 10” $9.00 DAWN and SANCTIONS return with the followup to their 2008 albums. this record sees both bands developing into way more menacing creatures. Brutal blasts of political hardcore, blackmetal, and doom!!! CHAOS UK s/t LP $11.00 Oh, this is really cult – first album of Chaos UK! Released on vinyl again after near to 30 years! Eleven songs of that what can be called as brilliant punk 82. V/A Short Fast & Loud #24 10” & Zine $10.00 Ten year Anniversary issue w/ 10 compilation vinyl and zine, unreleased rippers from Lärm, Coke Bust, Voetsek, Lack Of Interest, Seein Red, Brutal Truth, Extortion, Superbad, Noisear, Catheter, Enemies Of Inertia, Brodys Militia, Wasteoid, Pretty Little Flower, Slight Slappers, Street Pizza, Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation, Conquest For Death, Torture Unit, Total Fucking Destruction, Gride, and Lahar!!! ANTIPRODUCT The Deafening Silence of Grinding Gears LP $9.00 One of the East Coast’s best anarcho-punk bands of today. Eight tracks for raging, angry anarcho punk with male / female vocals, inciteful lyrics, and great packaging. Originally pressed on Tribal War (but long ago out of print), this is the German version on Skuld Releases. BOARHUNTER / RAZORHOOF split LP $8.00 Members of Apeface, Saros and Uzi Suicide team up to form San Jose’s Boar Hunter!! Playing fast melodic punk hardcore with crusty vocals!! Razorhoof are Montereys volume masters!! Powerchords, Hardcore, Rock, Loud!!! CIVIL VICTIM No False Hope LP $11.00 After 3 insane 7s here’s finally the 1st full-length LP from civil victim! You’ll get 12 tracks of pissed off German hardcore that has a Swedish and US hardcore sound to it. BLACK FLAG, SS DECONTROL and POISON IDEA already sent their regards. The LP comes in thick 180gr vinyl, inside out cover and includes a MP3 download card. AI Sound of Hearts LP $8.00 Spawned from the same Japanese scene as Crude, Paintbox and Forward, AI bring fast, frantic hardcore with elements of the burning spirits, and since they come from Fukuoka, rather than any of the large central cities, have a sound that sets them apart. Blazing fast, frantic and furious Japanese hardcore from the southernmost island of Kyushu. The a-side is the studio side of their 2000 a hope on the concrete album while the b-side is the 1998 7” arming rebellion with the sound of hearts. APEFACE s/t LP $8.00 Melodic Bay Area crust with screamed vocals. The follow up to their split 12 with Zero Hour, this Bay Area band played hardcore in the vein of Finger Print and Econochrist with cynical lyrics about life on planet earth. The cover folds out into a poster. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL / ICON OF EVIL split LP $11.00 The Bold and the Beautiful deliver 12 tracks of anger and rage which will literally smash your face. While Icons of Evil (exEvil, Infekcja) also leave no prisoners. Absolutely brilliant and brutal metal-punk for all you Bolt Thrower freaks. Making punk a threat again... one square foot at a time! 12 VINYL RECORDS COCHE BOMBA Vectores de la Muerte LP $11.00 Coche Bomba were five punks from Lyon starting playing fast, violent and distorted hardcore at the beginning of the Nineties. Not that they were ahead of their time, but their quirky sound, machine-gun drumming, odd tempo changes, were not that common by French standards back then... Instead of following trends or imitating bands, Coche Bomba rather developped its personal musical approach. Lyrics, alternatively sung in French, English and Spanish dealt mostly with socio-political issues... Despite being unappreciated and misunderstood in their early years, the band managed to gain recognition in the European H/C scene from the 90s. After spewing out many different records gathered on the discography CD 5 Years of Trash Guerilla, after a two-month tour in South America, and a farewell gig in October 2003 opening for Dropdead in Paris, here’s finally their last, unreleased full-lenght album. Recorded in 2002, Vectores de la Muerte has 26 furious and relentless songs delivered in less than 27 minutes... A//POLITICAL The Greatest Working Crass Rip-Off discography LP $11.50 The Wait is over: this long overdue discography album finally see’s the light of day. A//Political was very active during the mid to late 90s. Their style is similar to that of many peace punk bands from the early 1980s and was heavily influenced by anarcho-punk bands like Crass and Conflict. Members were involved in the Crasshole Collective and the Anarcho-Punk Federation (A.P.F.). Many members were in other local punk bands such as Coexist, Flag Fallen and U.S. War Commission. Stas (Vocals) also sang for Boston area anarcho-punk band, Krema-1. This album contains all re-mastered versions of the Propaganda By Deed 7, Punk Is A Ghetto 7, split 7” with COUNTERPOISE, Not In The Name Of Science Compilation 7” and 6 UNRELEASED tracks! CD Version includes: bonus tracks from The Planting The Seeds Of Revolution demo cassette tape. Both CD & Vinyl come with a 60 page book that includes the entire history of A//POLITICAL and the CRASSHOLE collective. Filled with old interviews, flyers, communiques, lyrics, pictures and more! APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT Greenwashing LP $7.00 The long-anticipated full length LP from West Virginia mountain punks APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT is upon us. Nine raging tracks of angry crust punk with crushing riffs and (mainly) female vocals. They have shed one guitar player since their EP, making for a much more raw and organic sounds (more rock and less thrash). Both musically and lyrically the best comparison I can conjure up is Sabbath Bloody Sabbath meets NAUSEA’s Extinction LP. One of the most raw and intense musical experiences Profane Existence has released in a long time. Includes all new cover art by Marald and a 16 page booklet inside. Catalog: Exist 113... the number of the beast! THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL / TUNGUSKA split LP $11.00 The Bold and the Beautiful connecting fast and angry punkrock with old style sarcasm in the vein of early ‘80 hardcore and with political but not always deadly serious lyrics. fast and furious crusty powerviolence, aggressive and in your face. Tunguska Irish/Polish hybride with heavy and dark monumental neocrust mayhem. Totally devastating and powerful wall of sound in the vein of Silence, FAR, The Dagda etc. ALTERCADO Radio Rebellion LP $11.00 The Chilean trio is back with a full-length album. Their music is still raw and fast but shows an increasing emo touch too. I don’t talk about the white punk kind of emo, but about a feeling of urgence, desesperation and angriness, a feeling feed up by the South American way of life... -Punk Distro BONEBLACK s/t LP $11.00 Eight tracks of relentless darkened crust hailing from Montreal. ANGRY female/male vocals! Limited run of 500 copies. ALTERCADO El Ruido y la Rabia LP $11.00 The second full-length release from Chillean anarcho-punks Altercado is simply pure brilliance! Total high-energy hardcore punk that fuses the the unbelieveable power-riffs of Crucifix and break-neck speed and energy of LOS CRUDOS! IT all comes packaged in a beautifal gate-fold sleeve, but you had better brush up on your Spanish, because there’s no translations for the lyrics! Don’t miss! BOSKOPS Sol 12 LP $11.00 Out of the ashes of the band BLITZKRIEG from Hannover, northern Germany, the Boskops were formed in 1982. The Boskops were one of the most important german bands, alongside other bands like BLUT & EISEN, TOXOPLASMA or SLIME! In 1983 FROSTSCHUTZ RECORDS released their first LP Sol 12. The original lineup consisted of two guitarists (one male, one female), a bassplayer, a vocalist and a drummer. COMA s/t LP $11.00 Heavy-load crustcore from Sweden. Probably you know them from previous splits with Born Dead Icons, Autoritar and Mass Genocide Process. Crushing fast scandicrust mixed with classic death metal riffs. 15 songs in 20 mins - oh yeah! Full colour cover design by Michael Bukowski. AUTONOMADS No Man’s Land LP $11.00 This is tight and energetic punked-up ska with a decent splash of dubby sauce. It’s set off perfectly with some nice upfront sax and crowd- ABSINTHE ROSE / HUMANWINE split LP $8.00 PROFANE EXISTENCe MAIL ORDER CATALOG 21 PROFANE EXISTENCE MAIL ORDER CATALOG All items on this page are available using the order form on page 31 or online from profaneexistence.com AGRIMONIA Host of the Winged CD (Profane Existence Records) $6 An intense new full length album from this dark crust band hailing from the gloomy crust punk underworld of Gothenburg, Sweden. Eight songs in just over 72 minutes(!) of death and blackmetal gloom with a healthy dose of crust punk influences. This is one of the most epic and most expressive releases to date: crushed souls, gloom and despair. Compact disc fromProfane Existence and double LP vinyl from Skuld Releases. Latest stuff this band released was a split 7’’ with bio Crisis from Mexico, two compilations and this CD split with Antiprotokol. On this release they offer also 12 tracks of three guitar crustpunk d-beat, sounding quite powerfull, and I also think that members from Nodslakt are contributing as back up female vocals on few tracks.anyway, this CD contains 24 tracks in total and is released by Black Seeds Records. nus track Putrefaccion. The original tape wasn’t remastered this music contains 100% from the original tape. after song the BLACK KNOTS plow through the competition by doing what so many bands have failed miserably at attempthing. Rockin’ out. In the same league as long standing riff demons like the Candy Snatchers, New Bomb Turks, the Hellacopters and Zeke. The BLACK KNOTS flawlessly spew 10 fierce, vicious rippers that so many ‘kiddy bands’ could only aspire to write. the DVD including 2 different whole gigs from 1983 by the camera of also legendary Existenz member with 23 tracks, TOTAL 72 TRACKS!!! A TRUE MUST FOR ALL PUNKS IN THE WHOLE WORLD FOREVER!!! AUGUSTA TAURINORUM Giochi Fatui CD $9.00 Nine super technical ragers from Italy. Very similar in nature to bands like LOS CRUDOS and Seein Red, but with a little more metallic chugging and an unusual twist,some of the songs have techno/experimental introductions. Very fast and very angry! THE BRISTLES Union Bashing State CD $9 THE BRISTLES are back! Their past releases have been very rare and loved by worldwide punks and everybody should remember the release of their discography CD released recently. And now the band is finally reformed and back from the silence featuring singer Puma and other original members who played on the 1st 7” Don’t Give Up and classic 2nd 7” Boys Will Be Boys! Starts off with the strong chorus of the first song to Scandinavian UK influenced melodic hardcore punk with Puma’s strong vocal! Total 4 tracks, LAST SURVIVORS NEVER DIE!!! -MCR Company APATIA Uleglosc CD $9.00 After five years from their last album this Polish hardcore punk institution is back with new record. Apatia is surely one of the most important bands in Polish DIY hardcore punk scene since early 90’s. They are responsible for sound of various Polish bands, and are still active playing lots of shows all around the country. This new record is first one recorded after their original guitarist left the band, but still has this characteristic sound and songwritting. Catchy, powerful, and a bit emotional technical hardcorepunk with roots deep into 90’s. Recorded in really good studio by Perla, mixed by Smoku, and with great cover art by Rafal Wechterowicz. AUTONOMIA / KAKO / ELEKTRODUENDES / MALESTAR four way split CD $9.00 Latinopunk attack spearheaded by Elektroduendes, Kako, Malaise and the AUTONOMIA. BLACK NOISE CANNON Unsaved: The Reality of the Silent War CD $9.00 Continuing where CHRISTDRIVER left off, Eric Greenwalt and friends deliver up an onslaught of mournful, down-tuned, dirge-like crust. Listed influences are Godflesh, Swans, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, NEUROSIS, Jesu, ISIS, Christdriver, Pelican, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Earth, Pitch Shifter, Gira, Jarboe, The Deer Hunter, The Conversation. These three tracks are a non stop steamroller of sound and clock in a total running time of just under 60 minutes. If there is such a thing as apocalyptic crust, it probably sounds something like this! AIWASS Before Satan - After Satan CD $7.00 First studio album from Monterrey’s black death metal legends! AXION//PROTESTA Discographia CD $9 Possibly the most brutal and underrated band in the Latin American anarcho punk scene. An expression of anger, commitment and activism in a CD that brings together their entire discography. Contains all songs of their demo, the Afilando Nuestras Vidas CD and the split with Desesperanza. Comes with lyrics, art and articles about the band and Latin American anarchopunk scene. Audio quality is considerable better than mp3’s found on the web. BROKEN Active Denial CD $7 BROKEN have been around forever. I recognize their logo and am familiar with their name but have never been introduced to their music until now. Formed in 1994 in New Haven CT, BROKEN boasts past members of 90’s East Coast stalwarts MALACHI CRUNCH and maintain much of that 90’s East Coast hardcore punk sound and attitude. And that is what BROKEN delivers: straight ahead hardcore punk. If there is a metal influence it is buried so deep that only the those with the keenest ears for the detection of metal (me) will have any luck unearthing it. BROKEN play heavy, the music weighs a lot but doesn’t let it’s girth slow it down as they plow ahead at a decent clip. The main vocal is heavy and can be described as gravely in the whisky soaked, cheap beer drenched, cigarette parched way... With their no holds bar approach to hardcore I would imagine that BROKEN are able to cross over ‘scenes’ and play a local bar show as well as hold their own on any crust fest on a hot summers night. A very decent disc from a band that has certainly paid their dues and even after 15+ years is probably far from done! Cheers guys! (Clusterfux Josh) - Profane Existence 60/61 AL INFIERNO EN GOITIBERA Presaka CD $9.00 AIEG is a Hardcore band with members of old hardcore bands from the Basque Country (Cave Canem, Ostakulo, Eskupitajo...). This is a long-album with melodic vocals sung in Basque and Spanish with ironic lyrics. APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT Its Far From Fucking Over (Discography Pt 1) CD $6.00 The first installment of APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT’s discography is now availablle. The CD includes all the songs from their 2007 Armageddon Won’t be Brought By the Gods EP, their 2008 Greenwashing LP and one unreleased cover song by FINAL WARNING. The package includes 24 page booklet, with all lyrics, writing, and original artwork from Marald, Hush and others, plus a bonus ATU vinyl sticker. APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT hail from Huntington, WV and play a powerful blend of classic anarcho-punk, crust and a hint of metal, with aggressive female vocals, and urgent political lyrics. This discography compiles all the songs that launched ATU’s meteoric rise in popularity and is being released while they are taking a break from touring while Sarah is pregnant. They are using the time off to write new material, for which they have recentlky recorded for a split EP with OI POLLOI, and have more recording plans for the near future. Of course Profane Existence plans to be involved in the next ATU releases, so long as our financial outlook continues to improve.</p> BLACKOUT s/t CD $6.00 From the storms of Minneapolis’ sub-zero winters hails BLACKOUT with their debut LP release on Aborted Society. Drawing on equal parts hardcore, punk, blues, and metal, this is ten tracks of raw, unabided Midwest madness. Recorded by Jon Greenslit at the House of Misery Studios in 2006, this is the alcoholic soundtrack for the apocalypse - a heavy influential doseage of MOTORHEAD and POISON IDEA while retaining a strong DIY punk sensibility. Impeccably catchy riffs and bluesy guitar solos wind their way through songs of drinking and rogue debauchery. Includes current and ex-members of Provoked, Scorned, Stillborn, Assrash, and Phalanx, among others. ALL SYSTEMS FAIL / WHAT IF GODS LIE split CD $9.00 Double dose of battleground punk along the lines of Anti Cimex, Extreme Noise Terror, Selfish (you get the picture).....What if Gods Lie )frpm Mexico City) feels like a bunch of orcs chasing you with battle axes with a heavier denser sound while All Systems Fail hails from Salt Lake City (ex-AUS-ROTTEN) and has faster angrier feel and pace. BALLAST Fuse CD $7.00 The second full length from Montreal’s Ballast shows a maturity and intense growth often unattained in the melodic crust/ peace punk scene. 10 tracks of intense female fronted hardcore including a Post Regiment cover, falling between the aforementioned band, LOST WORLD and perhaps Tragedy. Each song showing they took the time to develop the melody that will stick with you rather than be processed and quickly filed away. An amazing release worth it’s praise. Domestic release remastered by Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound. AMEBIX Redux CD $5 Profane Existence is proud to team up with crust punk/metal legends AMEBIX for the release of three classic AMEBIX tracks as redone by the current lineup: Rob (aka ‘The Baron), Stig, and Roy. This is AMEBIX played louder, tighter and more intense than you’ve ever heard them before. All tracks recorded and produced by Roy Mayorga, mastered by Rodney Mills. Total running time is approximately 17 minutes. BANJAX Dedicated to Flowers CD $8.00 Cry out! Insanity! Violent emotion! This is a 5songs 1st EP by the ultra-powerful girl’s HC band from Tokyo. Fast, short songs here, but you can’t miss their delicate parts sometimes they put in their songs too! totally out of any category, they are the must to listen & to see! Now you cowards, take this and fall like flowers!! BLACKOUT Stop the Clock CD $6 Following directly on their heels of their 2007 debut LP, Minneapolis’ BLACKOUT deliver another dose of angst-ridden punk rock’n’roll madness. The music is powerful hardcore punk (read POISON IDEA) with a healthy dose of MOT’RHEAD style metal. Lyrics are cut-to-thebone observations about life on the ugly underside of society and are heavily influenced by classic American Blues music. BLACKOUT members have been part of the Profane Existence family for nearly two decades and include members of ASSRASH, PROVOKED, STILLBORN, PHALANX, etc. As with the previous album, this was recorded at the House of Misery studio and a vinyl version will soon be out on Aborted Society Records. Musically this album is much more matured than their previous album and the production is not as roughshod nor rushed as their first release. BROKEN BONES Time For Anger, Not Justice CD $8.00 Time for Anger, Not Justice by Broken Bones, first released 2005 on Dr. Strange Records. This release has 13 tracks including Advertisements from Hell and Plastic Gangsters. BASTARDOS DEL METAL Historias De Amor CD $9.00 Melodic, metallic hardcore from Peru with a pyschedelic edge to it. A//Narcolepsia / DISSENSION split CD $7.00 Two tremendous bands from Caracas-MierdeZuela, Dissension with d libertarian hc crust and A//Narcolepsia with very destructive female vocals. The disc is in direct from the ONG of Caracas to benefit of the victims’ committee against the impunity of the state lara. A nice edition in recycled paper sleeve, and fact sheet. A//POLITICAL The Greatest Working Crass Rip-Off Discography CD $9.50 The Wait is over: this long overdue discography album finally see’s the light of day. A//Political was very active during the mid to late 90s. Their style is similar to that of many peace punk bands from the early 1980s and was heavily influenced by anarcho-punk bands like Crass and Conflict. Members were involved in the Crasshole Collective and the Anarcho-Punk Federation (A.P.F.). Many members were in other local punk bands such as Coexist, Flag Fallen and U.S. War Commission. Stas (Vocals) also sang for Boston area anarchopunk band, Krema-1. This album contains all remastered versions of the Propaganda By Deed 7”, Punk Is A Ghetto 7”, split 7” with COUNTERPOISE, Not In The Name Of Science Compilation 7” and six UNRELEASED tracks! CD Version Includes: Bonus Tracks From The Planting The Seeds Of Revolution demo cassette tape. Both CD & Vinyl come with a 60 page book that includes the entire history of A//POLITICAL and the CRASSHOLE collective. Filled with old interviews, flyers, communiques, lyrics, pictures and much more! BULLET RIDDEN Songs Written Before Jumping Out Of An Eight Story Window CD $9 Ex-members of Bomb-blast-men, VARUKERS, Black Eye Riot and Gurkha and current members of Warprayer, Violent Arrest and The Rejected team up to make the darkest sounding hardcore for the coming storm. Despair, anger and hatred are sewn into a body bag of metal riffing and punk aggro. The end is fucking nigh and Bullet Ridden are here to celebrate that fact. - Underground Movement BEERZONE Against the Flow/Strangle All the Boybands CD $9.00 Second and third albums compiled onto one CD. Catchy as Hell street punk from the UK. Oi! BILL BONDSMEN Swallowed By The World CD $7 Swallowed By The World is the BILL BONDSMEN ’s first album and it’s not really presenting all that cheery a picture. These songs scream about lousy jobs, barely having enough money to make your mortgage payments, paying for prescriptions, having the electricity shut off when you can’t pay the bill etc. On this album, instead of going for any sort of slick sound, things sound rougher. Especially with the vocals. To my ears they sound cruder and that’s meant in the most positive sense of the word since it really enhances Gabby’s larynx-shredding utterings. There’s an abundance of go-for-the-throat thrash and other climactic elements as well. The circle-pit inducing breakdown of Another Wave is one such moment. So is the stop/start thrash of It’s Always Darkest After Shutoff, interspersing guitar and bass atonalities, if that’s the right term. Everything comes to a screeching halt for the final cut, A Bird In The Hand Means You’ve Been Dead For A Few Days and it’s a slower, desperatedroning song, building up and then slowing down as the guitars mimic the sound of something/ someone barely clinging to life before it abruptly ends. Think of the album as a cautionary tale and, as Black Flag sang on Depression all those years ago, They say things are gonna get better—all I know is THEY BETTER. Swallowed By The World may not make you feel better but it’s still some damned good scream therapy. ANTI CIMEX Raw Live 84-86!!! CD $9.00 A MUST-HAVE for hardcore Anti Cimex fans! 9 classic live tracks from 1984 (location not specified) and 6 more live tracks from 7/2/86 Leeds, UK ! Has a gatefold insert with a few old pictures of the band, and on Orange CDr, matrix number has bee scratched out, only thing readable is 1894. Quote from the booklet:The stuff of this CD was taken from Charlie Claeson’s archives (exAnti-Cimex drums). BUMBKLAAT Ciegos CD $9.00 BUMBKLAAT come out of southern CA and play an excellent mix of dark heavy crust and thrash with multiple vocals sung in English and Spanish with energy and intensity with well written lyrics. At first I passed this band off as another World Burns to Death / Tragedy band but the more I listen to it the more I realize how good it really is and how much they have their own thing going on. (Chad) PE #46 BLEEDING EYES One Less To My Last CD $9 Five tracks of pure sludge-metal. For fan of Mastodon, Pantera and Raging Speedhorn. Mixed and mastered by Steve Austin (Today Is The Day, Lamb Of God, Converge...). ANTIDOTE Another Dose CD $7.00 Hollands finest are back with a brand new full length of high intensity pogo punk! Arguably their best work to date with 12 new songs recorded in 2005 on this Digipack CD! BLOOD OF THE GODS The Shadow Before CD $7 The Shadow Before is the debut release from New Hampshire’s axe-wielding, death-crustdbeat warriors, Blood of the Gods. Like a clan of possessed, drunken Viking Berzerkers marching into your ear canals, BOTG will violate, pillage and decimate everything you once thought was deadly and brutal in the ‘Metal-Punk’ realm. Eight unsubtle nuances of sheer brutality range from skull crushing slow grooves to gut-wrenching gallops and blood boiling blast beats. Fans of Bolt Thrower, Disrupt, Obituary, Stormcrow and others of similar ilk will proudly sacrifice their eardrums to this devastating disc. Features ex-members of Buriedinhell’s very own dbeat/crust merchants, Man The Conveyors. BURN AGAIN Excuses for Apologies $9.00 BURN AGAIN, hailing from Oulu, Finland. This intense band play dark, melodic and pure crust / thrash. I think the d-beat to be emphasized more though they are the sounds influenced by the Tragedy / From Ashes Rise types. Exactly, it is a sound that BURN as shown in the band name. And I was heated to the thoughtful angry political lyrics. This special Japanese edition is their discography so far including split 12” LP with Lahdon Aika (Finland) and 1st demo CDR. Therefore, it will be able to be said that it is CD version of the split 12” LP.They are band that acts aggressively in Finland now. They insist : D-BEAT RULES THE WORLD! ARGENTINUM ASTRUM s/t II (white) CD $7 Followup to their debut. This one is meaner, uglier, and just straight up more evil than the first. HARSH! ANTIDOTE Back In Year Zero CD $7.00 Fifteen tracks of raw Chaos punk from Holland’s finest! This is a re-issue of their out of press 2003 full length originally only available in Europe! ANTIDOTE No Communication CD $7.00 Holland’s finest are back with their fifth full-length record! Fourteen new songs of Dutch pogo punk with strong political and personal lyrics recorded in 2007! ARGUE DAMNATION Nasty Nation Neglect Nature CD $9 Osaka city’s political CRUST HARDCORE, ARGUE DAMNATION strikes back with their social criticism to all over the world!!! Their basic musical style never change’s, but also with much musical developments, it’s going to be their BEST release ever which is going to be released as MCR-120, the ghost label number for several reason. ANTIDOTUM Testowane Na Ludziach CD $9.00 This band is from Warsaw, Poland and if you think POST REGIMENT - you’re right! No personal links (apart from being friends) but immediate link when you hear their music. Powerful, melodic punk with a female singer, more aggressive that most of PR stuff. Think of old ARMIA records to get another hint. Exactly the kind of release yo be expect from Skuld and Nikt Nic Nie Wie. BLACK ELK Always CD $9.00 Black Elk would have ruled the roost in the early ‘90s. Running concurrent to the grunge explosion, a plague of brutal, messy noise rock acts festered on labels like Amphetamine Reptile. Direct descendants of these bands, Black Elk have mastered the dynamics of punishing, bulldozer heaviness that owes little to metallic flash while still displaying a powerful technique. My Last Shred of Decency is pure, pitch-black punk blues, carried over by a fuzzed-out rhythm section, and She Pulled Machete is a tensed muscle that never relaxes.Kerrang (Magazine) (p.51) - “Creating a dense, off-kilter, punk-based racket with sludge on its soles and menace in its demeanor, the Portland quartet bring to mind grimy luminaries from the Melvins to The Jesus Lizard...” BURNT CROSS / A.U.K. split CD $9.00 Ten tracks of angry anarcho punk from Burnt Cross, from their 3rd, 4th and 5th 7” Then nine tracks from A.U.K (ex-Alternative / crass records) from Scotland and just as angry. Lyrics dealing with all the shit in the world today. A split label release between Tadpole Records, Pumpkin Records, Active Rebellion, Rusty Knife and Sound for Pound Records. Good catchy anarcho punk from both bands. A.U.K. are a Post Punk, Gothic, Death Metal recording project, based around the nucles of brother’s Johnny Punk (real name John Ball) and Iain Influx (real name Iain Ball). They combine guitars and drum loops to create a fast, angry, wild, chaotic and sometimes melodic tortured style of musc. Their influences run far and wide, from bands like Burnt Cross and AMEBIX to Imprint, Joy Division, Killing Joke and Satyricon. ASEDIO El Ultimo Invierno CD $9.00 Brutal and amazing D-beat / black / death metal from Coru’a, Spain. This band was formed by members of EKKAIA, BLACK PANDA, DAS PLAGUE and NASHGUL and profess a message of paganism, blasphemy and absolute darkness. Contains their first LP, split 7” plus one unreleased song. The darkness is with us! THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL / TUNGUSKA split CD $9.00 The Bold and the Beautiful started in autumn 2004 with a few members of punk bands from Lublin area (AntiChrist, Silence, G.C.M., Poem After Auschwitz, Unanimous Society’s Paradox, AntiCop), cause guys were just pissed off on polish specific lifestyle, political madness, religious frauds and attitudes of scene gestapo/scene merchandise of some dumbs. They had an idea to connect fast and angry punkrock with old style sarcasm in the vein of early ‘80 hardcore and with political but not always deadly serious lyrics. In total - two guitars, two screamers, one bass and one drums. They call it Gitwa Punk and if you like Siekiera (a Polish old punk legend) you know what they mean ‘ fast and furious crusty powerviolence, aggressive and in your face. On the other side of the split you find Tunguska ‘ Irish/Polish hybrid with heavy and dark monumental neocrust mayhem. Totally devastating and powerful wall of sound in the vein of Silence, FAR, The Dagda etc ANTIPRISM s/t CD $7.00 Mind and string bending stoner rock that pulls influences from the last three decades. Riff driven, stealing a bit from the NWOBHM, but easily with enough extreme modern metal touches to garner a spot in today’s mess. Dual vocals, interesting and sometimes off kilter beats, double bass and great trade off leads. Melodic, cosmic heavy riffs intertwine with urgent angry vocals and occult lyrics. The Antiprism explores the wide girth in the middle of the stoner spectrum ASS Sink CD (Profane Existence Records) $3 Five new tracks from the the snottiest DIY punk band in Minneapolis, whose message screams to be proud to be different, proud to Queer and be proud of non-conformist. Musically they play raw punk rock that would have fit in well with early 90’s East Bay bands such as BLATZ and FILTH, playing rousing scream-along anthems. Four of the songs are originals, while the final song is an appropriate cover of FAGGATRON’s classic Ass-Kick-a-Tron. ASS have been active in the Minneapolis punk scene for the past several years and active in the local homocore movement. Aside from venturing out to suburban venues where other Minneapolis band rarely go, thy have also self-released their first 12” / CD, and host one of the largest DIY punk message boards in the Twin Cities on their web site. BLACK ELK s/t CD $9.00 The eponymous debut from Portland, Oregon’s BLACK ELK is a raging destructo rock eruption, heavy, catchy, and flattening. This ten song album contains a creeped out conglom of carnivorous charred hardcore punk, the sludgy power of primo Pacific Northwest tarpit rawk (think KARP, MELVINS, and early SOUNDGARDEN as reference points), twitchy Midwestern noise rage somewhere between Am Rep Records (circa-1991) and a more rabid DIE KREUZEN, and a goatheaded psychedelic backwoods black mass/dance party risen to a freakin’ fever pitch. Total crush. Produced by Mike Lastra at Smegma Studios (EARTH, THRONES, JACKIE O MOTHERFUCKER). BURNT CROSS Carcass of Humanity CD $9.00 From the band name, album title, and black and white cover featuring a pile of skulls, I’m assuming this isn’t power-pop. Guess what--it’s not powerviolence either. This is hard anarcho-punk that sounds a lot like EXIT-STANCE, LIBERTY or a tougher SWARTZENEGGAR. This band is a two-piece comprised of two brothers from the UK. It’s pure DIY, recorded in the bedroom with an 8-track and drum machine. It’s well done, and they have a solid political street punk sound that fans of CONFLICT will like. Good lyrics on a variety of topics make this a very worthwhile release. Good stuff. -Tadpole Records ANTIPROTOKOL/SLATATTACK split CD $9.00 Antiprotokol come from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Talking about a four member crust d beat band playing 12 tunes of WOLFPACK driven crust, with less intensity, but still going to crush you down. After some band changing, Antiprotokol was now a four member band existing since 2001, and a first release in 2006. Three years later they manage to pull off preety good trax on this split,and have upcoming own release and a split with Spanish Totalickers. Next on this split you get Swedish d beat crust punks Slaktattack.Theyre formed around ‘02 and managed to make a release one year after.At that point the band was five members. In ‘05 after member changing experiment, they now have three guitars, and a six member band. With this line up they did some promo recordings with tracks that circulated on splits and compilations. THE BRISTLES No Future In The Past CD / DVD Box Set $12.00 80’s early Swedish RAW HARDCORE ATTACKPUNK legend! This is absolutelly the FIRST official best of the best of THE BRISTLES, including almost ALL of their material : their ultra rare classic 1st 7ep Don’t give up, Boys will be boys 7ep, the total 1983 masterpeace cassette Ban the punk shops, tracks from the infamous Welcome to 1984, Really fast, We don’t want nuclear force compilations, first rehersal from 1982, final recording session from 1985, other unreleased tracks, TOTAL 49 TRACKS!!! Also comes with ATROFIA CEREBRAL Matanza Extrema CD $9.00 Re-issue of their demo 1989 this band Grind Noise Master of SouthAmerica this CD contain 40 songs ultra Grind Noise and includes a bo- BLACK KNOTS Guitarmageddon CD $8 After a self released debut full length on the bands own Oil River Records, the BLACK KNOTS are back with an abosulutely thunderous, mind numbing record. Riff after riff, song CALM HATCHERY Sacriledge of Humanity CD $9.00 CALM HATCHERY, death metal quintet from northern Poland, featuring past and present members of DEAD INFECTION and TEHACE have just released their new, second album. PROFANE EXISTENCe MAIL ORDER CATALOG 25 PROFANE EXISTENCE MAIL ORDER CATALOG All items on this page are available using the order form on page 31 or online from profaneexistence.com lease. Les Ramoneurs de menhirs is a Breton celtic punk group formed in 2006. Its members include Éric Gorce on the bombardon, Richard Bévillon on the bagpipes, the traditional vannetais singer Maurice Jouanno and Loran, guitarist from the group Bérurier Noir. They play concerts at fest noz as well as normal rock concerts. Most of their songs are sung in Breton. Les Ramoneurs de menhirs participated at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in 2007[2], having performed outside the official programme. They also played at the BetiZFest. From January 2008, they went on tour in Europe (Scotland, France, Switzerland). During their tour in Scotland, they supported the Scottish celtic punk group Oi Polloi. sciousness of the Metal buying mainstream. A name particularly comes to mind simply because those guys had all the elements to reach those heights, SACRIFICE! SOD HAULER s/t CD $6 Debut release from this swamp dirge stoner metal group. Rising from the ashes of State of the Union, they polished their sounds and expanded the songs to eight minute monsters. Crushing. For fans of Sleep, Sabbath and all things heavy. SANCTIONS Home Sweet Home CD $7.00 Twelve tracks of dark hardcore from Tennessee. Very personal and, at times, fucking hostile lyrics. There are some obvious FROM ASHES RISE influences but not overt attempt to be quite as epic sounding. Comes in a very nice DIY screenprinted, plastic-free digipack. A good-quality DIY effort. real deal nowadays in our over saturated market of underground punk rock. And we’ll all be referring to ‘yu tolk tu mach’ as a classic in years to come. Think Eddie & The Hot Rods/PVC/ (early) Slade along with with a strong touch of vintage dirty 70’s glam. GREAT! FREAKS established by Takaho, the vocalist of the band. The album was remastered at a studio in Osaka by Chew of CORRUPTED. This album was finally completed as the very RAW GRINDCORE sound. The album contains 20 tracks, including a cover song of REPULSON whom Takaho respects. It is the 5th album. Thanatopsis A View of Death CD $7.00 Cursed Productions is proud to present this reissue of Thanatopsis’ one and only recording, 1990’s legendary Death Metal masterpiece, A View of Death, remastered and with three bonus tracks. For fans of Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Insect Warfare, Cannibal Corpse, MotOrhead, The Misfits. URBAN BLIGHT 1998 - 2001 CD $9 If ingenuity counts for anything then Urban Blight is ahead of many. The band actually consists of only one member, a beat box and a couple of audio techs. The lack of members (and therefore contrasting influence) is noticeable in the lack of variation of musical style from song to song. The beatbox is also pretty tining sounding in some songs and takes away from the overall impact of each song. At the same time this also leads to a more synthesided of electronic sound. If you’re looking for something crusty, but with a new twist to it, then Urban Blight is worth looking it. SOUKROMEY POZEMEK Rouhani CD $9.00 Third album by this Czech punk group. 12 songs in the veins of old Czech punk but with modern sound. SEITAN D-Beat Hippy Lovers CD $3 This 14 track CD is the debut release by SEITEN, an intensely furious= d-beat hardcore band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Musically SEITAN play raw and brutal hardcore punk in a style that pays homage classic early 80’s d-sound. On top of it all are guttural style vocals that give this an overall sound not too dissimilar to the first couple of SORE THROAT albums. While the message herein is totally political, there is an obviously humorous undertone to everything band does, keeping it interesting and setting them apart from all the other d-beat clones. This CD is also the debut release on Inget Javla Chafs Records, run by our Norwegian bureau chief, and distributed for a low price in North America by Profane Existence. STATE OF FEAR Live In Monterrey CD $7.00 Eighteen blistering live tracks by classic d-beat crusty thrashers, including their raw take on Chain Reaction by AMEBIX! Also includes the Wallow in Squalor EP and the s/t EP. A must for any State of Fear fan! RESIST Resistography double CD (Profane Existence Records) $8.00 RESIST were first among the wave of new anarcho-punk bands that swept over Portland, Oregon in the late 80’s. Durign their brief existence they became a fixture of the local DIY / anarchopunk movement and released several records before personal problems tore the band apart in 1994. During their brief time together RESIST released their self-titled debut EP, The Only Solution... LP, a pair of split EPs with DISRUPT and DEPRIVED, and finally the Ignorance is Bliss LP on Profane Existence Records. Druing their time they were considered one of the foremost activist bands of North America, even though they rarely played outside their home town. After the band split up, members of RESIST went on to form other bands such as GODLESS, DEFIANCE, SEVERED HEAD OF STATE, etc. In late 2007 three of the four original members (Kelly Halliburton, Tom Nims, and Ward Young) reunited for a 20th anniversay show in Portland, Oregon. Considered a success by a more mature and sober line-up, Tom and Ward have decided to keep the band going and will be playing more shows up and down the West Coast this spring and summer. This discography CD includes studio versions of all previously released RESIST tracks plus outtakes and live tracks. The recordings contained herein are completely remastered from the original recordings are sound the way they were originally intended to be. Aside from an extensive booklet of lyrics, photos, and flyers, there are also several video clips contained on each CD. A classic piece of North American anarcho-punk history finally given the attention it deserved. THIRD DEGREE Punk Sugar CD $9.00 The quintet from Olsztyn, Poland strikes back with the second full length in over a decade. Coalescing grind/crust elements characteristic of early Third Degree recordings and gloomy, complex song structures that veer away from most of today’s modern metal acts’ extreme face, Third Degree explore what has yet been unexplored, forging their own path in heavy music. Punk Sugar was produced and mixed by Third Degree’s guitarist Szymon Czech (Nyia, Antigama). Incorporating variety and a pinch of experimentation into the mix should get Third Degree the kind of attention that sent Antigama packing for the land of Relapse —Metal Maniacs. “Think DISCHARGE meets Killing Joke meets Voivod. In a very dark room. With a very dark sense of humor.” —Decibel Magazine STATE OF THE UNION In the Bitter End... A Discography CD $6.00 This discography disc includes five pulverizing new tracks (for an unreleased 12’ recorded in 2000) plus their self-titled LP and both EPs in their entirety. STATE OF THE UNION played dark, introspective, and despair-driven gloom core in a style that groups them with likes of DYSTOPIA, CHRISTDRIVER, ASBESTODEATH and even some NEUROSIS and GODLESH. Originally formed in Rapid City, South Dakota, STATE OF THE UNION toured the country extensively and were a staple feature of Minneapolis’ underground punk / crust shows during the mid-late 90’s. On the strength of their live performances and their self-released debut EP, they were picked up by Profane Existence Records, who released their Rez-Erection EP in 1995 and a full length release in 1998. Former SOTU members have not dropped out of the scene by any means and play on today in several other Seattle area bands such as SOD HAULER, WORMWOOD, ARID SEA and THE PRIDS. This CD is a long-overdue final testament and contains practically everything they ever recorded and has a total run time is 79:45! UTOPIA - s/t CD $9.00 Debut CD of one of the most promising, in our opinion, young bands from Poland. They play quite many shows recently and already drew attention of punx all around the country. Energetic, straight forward, totally catchy and melodic punk rock with melodic female vocal - somewhere between Post Regiment and La Fraction with guitar parts reminding american hardcore bands from beggining of 80’s. SHADES OF GREY Freedom/Incarceration CD $9 S.O.G. should be well known to all who are into Scandinavien d-beat/hardcore! they have been playin’ all around Europe, released a demo and a split LP with massmord and now it’s time for their very own long-player! incl. 16 page booklet! split release with Contrazt Rec, Acclaim Collective & Sadness of Noise! UTOPIA Niee CD $9.00 First real UTOPIA album - few years after their debut CD, which was actually a rehersal space demo recording, but already gave this band a lot of attention, supported by their energetic and passionate live shows around Poland and some other European countries. 11 raging punk songs with strong female vocal. Fast and energetic, with great tempo changes, melodic parts, solid drumming and powerful guitars. Their music is somehwere in between Polish melodic hardcore punk (Post Regiment again), La Fraction and American 80’s hardcorepunk. Plus great production - mix and mastering by maestro Smoku (Post Regiment, PESD) THIS SYSTEM KILLS / VIKTIMS split CD $9.00 Carrying on the spirit of their former bands IN THE SHIT and RECTIFY (you know, the band that kicked your ass on the Aftermath comp.) THIS SYSTEM KILLS deliver seven songs of raging, yet super-catchy, hardcore punk fuckin’ rock, with vocals you can actual understand the words (in spite of the Welsh accent). VIKTIMS are from France and also deliver seven songs for their half of this collaboration. Musically they are speedier and more distorted for the most part, but sitll classic hardcore punk, and excepting the occasional blast beat, could easily have come straight out of the 80’s. If I had to make references to compare this too, I’d have to say 80’s Dutch hardcore like BGK meets 90’s crusters ELECTRO HIPPIES. Both bands put on an excellent performance are a reminder that good song writing is a skill and not just a mtter of knowing a few trendy tricks and shortcuts. As it says on the CD: In punk hardcore we crust. Indeed! SICKBAG Shade Among Shades CD $9.00 SICKBAG started as a Napalm Death influenced grindcore band. They’ve released several demos and EP in 2003 and 2004 (these have been repressed on one CD). A first album was later recorded to be released on Polish label Deaformeathing Production in 2006. They’ve toured a lot in France and Eastern Europe. After been relocated to Paris with several line up changes, SICKBAG made it’s music elvove a lot. They kept the dark mood but added lots of tempo changes and more modern riffs in their old school influences. Six songs were recorded last summer in Paris’ Studio Sainte Marthe, all the music has been recorded live. The sound is powerful and as dirty as possible, in the way the scandi crust metal bands do. While listening to these new songs, I can still feel the urgency, the tension in the music even if they have evolved from grindcore to modern hardcore metal & punk crossover. These six songs (that last almost half an hour) taste like despair, they are here to prove that it has been hard but SICKBAG is still up and SICKBAG is that kind of band that really deserves your attention! V.O.H. Sen o Zivote CD $9.00 V.O.H. aka ‘Victims Of Hate’ is Prague city punk band. They started as classic punkrock band and record one demotape, but later they change they style more to hardcore punk and record their first CD. Sen o Zivote (The Dream About Life), is their second album and first released on our label. Their music, that is combination of hardcore/ punk, crust and metal (last song on this CD is cover of popular Czech metal band). This band sing in Czech language, but in booklet is translation to English. STROSZEK Life Failures Made Music CD $9.00 Stroszek returns with their second opus, the follow-up to ‘Songs of Remorse’, with the aplty titled Life Failures Made Music and with song titles like The Unlucky Ones, Gone by the Fall, and Land of Silence and Darkness its no secret that this album is filled with crushing sadness. Take equal parts neo-folk, the fatalist mentality of black metal, the darkness of older Alice in Chains, the beautiful acoustics of latter-day Antimatter and the painfully soft, whispered vocals of Tom Waits and it is easy to see precisely why this crushing sadness is what makes this record so damn special. THORNSICK Games for Annihilator CD $7.00 SUPER FAST 80’s style speed metal from Monterrey, Nuevo Le’n, Mexico. This band exhibits some of the most unusual falsetto vocals I have ever heard. I almost thought it was on the wrong speed! RESTARTS Actively Seeking Work 19961998 CD $9.00 This is not a full discography CD but it features the Frustration EP, the Just Gets Worse EP Job Club demo and State Rape LP tracks (everything not on the two LP’s) all remastered in a lovely bespoke card package. Includes two posters, one of lyrics and one of artwork. TOTALICKERS D-Beat Barcelona Kaos $9.00 Originally released in 2007. 14 brutal crushing dbeat crustiness from Barcelona, Spain! VACANT CHURCHES As I Fall From Grace CD $7.00 South Bay San Jose band Vacant Churches does not fall far from the target in As I Fall From Grace. Vacant Churches came marching into my apartment, threw out what ever I was listening to and gave me a lesson in some absolutely amazing old school hardcore influenced punk. With a really nice sample and a beat pumping intro, the band sets high expectations on what’s to come. And I tell you, they didn’t let me down not even for three seconds. You’ll just have to go buy the record and listen for yourself. RESTARTS Outsider CD $7.00 Thirteen new anthems of aggressive and catchy sing along punk rock from one of London England’s most active and well-known DIY bands! SIMBOLA ANTIFASZISTA 2009/2010 CD $9.00 This is an antifascist benefit project started by El Banda musicians and joined by Samba crews known from protest actions in different parts of Poland, hip-hop singers and other punk musicians. Benefits from this release are spent on legal fund for the protesters who got in problem with law during the actions against neo-fascist marches in Poland over last twoyears. STROSZEK Songs of Remorse CD $9.00 Continuing on with our fascination with dark and emotional acoustic music we have unearthed another gem. This time in the form of Stroszek?s (Italy) ‘Songs of Remorse’ debut album. The band’s namesake (Stroszek) comes from the WERNER HERZOG film of the same name and is the perfect moniker for a band with such a gloomy atmosphere. While the band contains members of one of Italy’s most respected black metal acts FROSTMOON ECLIPSE, this should be looked upon as a seperate entity and not just a ‘side project’. With carefully strummed minor key acoustic guitars, deliberate yet restrained piano lines, bursts of heaviness added for texture and deep, lush clean sung vocals that relay a sense of dread lurking beneath the surface, ‘songs of remorse’ is perhaps at once one of the most melancholic yet accessible albums of 2007... -God is Myth TOXIC NARCOTIC 21st Century Discography CD $7.00 23 songs from the last decade remixed and remastered on one release from these Boston Punk Legends. RESTARTS System Error CD $9.00 System Error CD from the Restarts is maybe a little more punk than Slumworld, it’s certainly smart punk rock you can’t ignore! TRASHCAT Living In The City CD $9.00 New album of this UK punk with one ex-member of The Restarts. Great punk / rock’n’roll. VARUKERS Live In Holland CD $7 Ultra Rare 16-track live recording from 1984. RUIN / T.R.I.B.E. split CD $9.00 The U.K. is still burning! RUIN is the band made up of ex-members of DOOM, DISAFFECT, DEBRIS, and SCATHA, playing FAST, POLITICAL D-BEAT HARDCORE FUCKIN’ PUNK!!!! Powerful, angry as fuck total 90’s CRUST explosion back again! T.R.I.B.E., also has ex-members of SCATHA and plays almost tribal sounding, hardedged metalish crust attack terror! SJU SVÅRA ÅR - Storma Varje Hjarta CD $9.00 SJU SVÅRA ÅR (Seven Hard Years) were formed in Stockholm in 2001 on the ashes of unfogotten BURNING KITCHEN, but they release their debut record just now ‘ in 2011. During this decade band was defunct for few years, one of the reasons being its members were active in other Stockholm based bands like WOLFBRIGADE, TO WHAT END?, ABDUCTEE S.D., ASTA KASK. Finall they got their shit together and recorded this totally catchy debut album. Melodic, sometimes nostalgic and than fast and simple, catchy punk rock with Josefin vocal you must remember from Burning Kitchen records. You can listen to this record constantly with the urge to singalong, if it wasn’t sang in Swedish! EL TRONO DE JUDAS Zuzen Aht-Ren Aurka CD+DVD $12.00 El Trono de Judas is one of the most popular Punk bands actually at the Basque Country. At January 2009 they made a live show for a collective against the high speed train they are building at Basque Country. Same day, 20 kilometers near the live show, was a demonstration near building that was violently put down by police. There were eight guys that were under arrest and they’re still waiting for proceed. DVD have the history of the band, a documentary about their tour in in Mexico at 2008 and a video of one of the live songs. Part of the benefits of this album will be for those eight guys. VELNIAS Sovereign Nocturnal CD $7.00 God is Myth Records is proud to present Illinois based blacked doom outfit VELNIAS. The bands music can be best described as a combination of sorrowful black metal with a very doomy atmosphere, combined with elements of folk. Although the band definately has their own sound, one could easily find comparisons to bands like OPETH, AGALLOCH, PRIMORDIAL & WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM. Sovereign Nocturnal, the bands debut album is miles ahead of their 2007 demo ?Pacing the Cyclic Nether? in terms of maturity, songcraft & production. With the three songs combining for a total running time of 41 minutes & 15 seconds the emphasis has been laid upon a musical foundation of progressive yet feral riffs intertwining with delicate passages that only make the heavier parts that much more potent, not unlike early Opeth & Agalloch! Combined with lyrical content based upon the premise that the human race is insignificant compared to the grand power and prestige of nature this is a debut album that should not be dismissed! RWAKE Voices of Omens CD $9 Emerging from deep in the backwoods of the American subconscious, Arkansas’s Rwake represent the dirty south with their intensely unique style of acid-drenched metal. Hitting below the bible-belt in a narcotic-dazed fury of epic proportions, Rwake’s thick, tar-black riffing and vicious male/female vocal attack plunge the listener head-first into the abyss as their transcendent melodies and blazing leads raise the spirit to the cosmos. Voices of Omens is a hostile explosion of hideously impure American metal which emanates an eerie and unsettling vibe, haunting in atmosphere and hallucinogenic in it’s effect on the listener. -Relapse Records If you like mid period NEUROSIS, Eyehategod, Cough, Damad or Mastodon you will LOVE this! SUMMON THE CROWS Scavengers Feast CD $9 Musically STC is heavy, fastpaced crust with more hardcore roots than metal. The vocals are really gruff shouting that is awesome and their lyrics are negative, depressing, and totally unwavering. They have really good song structures musically I might add, and a good recording too. I fucking love STC art more than most other bands. I like to read their lyrics because they are composed so well and really grasp a lot of feelings of depression that I can relate to due to the state of this world and life in general.I like their music in small doses, like on a comp tape, mainly because of the cookie monster vocals. I like bands like HAITUS and DOOM, who I could compare their vocals to, and I would say the same goes for those bands too. Anyhow, this is a very good release and I think that a lot of folks who like crust will be digging this band for a long time to come. This record is far above average for certain. (WK) - MRR SKARP Bury Your Dead CD $9 SKARP are political punk rock, but musically fall into a more grinding style than your average punk rock band. Of note, SKARP shares a drummer with the Seattle based HC band SPITTING TEETH. Uchazim Edice 15 Separace CD $9.00 Fast HC/Punk band from the Czech Republic. Uchazim have been around for more than 15 years and this is their 5th album. 12 songs of high quality HC/punk with metal influence. UNCURBED/WARVICTIMS split CD $9.00 Eight new tracks from pioneer Swedish d-beat vs new but long time in the scene Warvictims. Uncurbed continued their tradition with Swedish d-beat hardcore with great rythm and structure, while Warvictims played as everybody know d-takt kang at its best! SKITSYSTEM Allt e Skit CD $7.00 SKITSYSTEM burst onto the scene in the mid 90’s and quickly re-established Sweden as the home of the most brutal thrash on the planet. This CD contains all of their brutal early vinyl releases: the Pofithysteri 7”, Ondskas Ansikte 10” and their side of the split EP with WOLFPACK. Many have tried, but none have done it better VIRAVOID Thrown To The Wolves CD $7 Twisted teens from Cincinnasty, Ohio with their own form of primitive thrashing speed metal not to be lumped into the retro thrash movement. Unearthed from the caves of Queen city this never before heard material has finally seen the light of day. This collection of the bands complete body of work includes both demos and the unreleased full length LP along with a brief biography and an assortment of photos and artwork. Also features the masterful illustrations of Donald England of Slaughtered Lamb Studios. In the wake of Viravoid’s death by metal, the Dawn of Wolves has taken form. These fierce creatures are prowling in the shadows of the metal underworld to this very day. ŠANOV I Delikatesy $9 It took 5 years, but new album of this cult Czech punk band is here! Sanov 1 has their roots in second half of 1980s in communistic Czechoslovakia. With their aggressive punk, offensive lyrics (also against secret police, Soviet Union etc.) and the unmistakable voice of leader Radek Santrucek they soon became a legend. And they are still here and with same energy! UNEARTHLY TRANCE Electrocution CD $7 New York doom phenomenon Unearthly Trance has returned with the awe-inspiring atmospheric colossus that is ELECTROCUTION. Brimming with mystical power, the eight songs on Electrocution retain both the inhuman scale and the barely-concealed aggression of previous Unearthly Trance work. Vocalist Ryan Lipynsky’s bilious vocals poke up through the thick low-end haze of the crushing layers of guitar on up-tempo opener “Chaos Star,” and throughout the album, the duality of textured gloom and rugged fury creates something full-bodied and suffocating. A host of bands have made art out of heaviness, and Unearthly Trance is at the forefront of the movement. SKULLFLOWER IIIRD Gatekeeper CD $9.00 A reissue of Skullflower’s acclaimed 1992 album IIIrd Gatekeeper, featuring the lineup of Matthew Bower (guitar), Stuart Dennison (drums and vocals), and Anthony DiFranco (bass). IIIrd Gatekeeper is an immensely heavy album that was originally released on HeadDirt, the label run by Justin Broadrick of Godflesh/Jesu/Final fame back in the early 90’s, and featured Skullflower at their heaviest, grinding out slow, sludgy riffs... SVINE! s/t CD $9 Just released long-awaited new album-Bohemian hc/punx!. 10 new songs you sharp and aggressive hardcore punk shows the band in the best form. BITCH! started keeping both musically and lyrically, and now we have one of the best punk records of the year! In addition, all packaged in a paper in format digipacku with silver print. Band from Strakonice district and the surrounding area plays since 2001 and hunted so far had 2 albums and a split single with Antiseptic, and listen to the compilation of South Bohemia. In the series acts as a second guitarist Puffy, mj. Disinfection and Gride. You can get a good base for coin seconds from the band, which over the years has proved that it can play music and take the right end of a rope. SLOWA WE KRWI - Przebudzenie $9.00 SLOWA WE KRWI as a band were strongly connected to one of the most active squats in Poland DE CENTRUM in BIALYSTOK. They exist since few years now, play many shows in Poland and eastern Europe. They released a demo tape few years back, which got really good reviews, and its high time for full length CD. It is powerful, fast and passionate east European hardcore punk with lots of emotions and powerful, screaming, female vocal. Slowa VIRGIN WHORES Public Nuisance CD $7 Simple. Rocking. Raw. Virgin Whores hit the stage with a brick wall of sound, reminiscent of old school punk/hardcore. Formed in the summer of 2003 after collaborating for a tribute to Joe Strummer, the Virgin Whores have torn up stages like Triple Rock, Hairy Mary’s, 1st Avenue, Turf Club, Uptown Bar and many others across the midwest. With scathing lyrics and commanding stage presence, the Virgin Whores have performed with The Germs, Krum Bums, The Briggs, Angel City Outcasts, Everybody’s Out, The Dragons, The Effigies, The Arrivals, Wednesday Night Heroes, as well as Minneapolis heavyweights such as Dillinger SKY BURIAL s/t CD $7.00 Featuring members of Dawn, Karoshi, and Sacaea, it was only natural for us to host the first release of Nashville’s Sky Burial. Within their 1st year of playing shows Sky Burial has wasted no time making their presence known. Utilizing 2 drummers, they break down the limiting barriers of cliches and explore the possibilities of what having an extra drummer can bring to a band. Incredible melodies are laced throughout 3 compositions, with excellent precision, only to lead into crushing heaviness, sparsely decorated with well thought out lyrics of self betterment and hope. UNHOLY GRAVE Terroraging Crisis CD $9.00 In 2004, the 12th anniversary of UNHOLY GRAVE, Grindfreaks wanted to make the album that compiles all the past releases. They did the recordings with DIY spirit, and this album Terroraging Crisis was completed. Back then, a German label wanted to release it, but it got postponed for various reasons. After all, this album is going to be released by the new label GRIND- Sacrifice The Ones I Condemn CD $9.00 The mid 80’s were incontestably full of brilliant Metal acts which for different reasons never reached the level of acts such as METALLICA, ANTHRAX, SLAYER, QUEENSRYCHE and the likes, let alone making the leap into the con- TAXI Yu Talk Tu Mach CD $7.00 Long awaited second album from Rome’s premier Killed By Death purveyors, ladies and gentlemen....TAXI! It took a year and a half to record this album, but it’s well worth the wait. TAXI is the PROFANE EXISTENCe MAIL ORDER CATALOG 29 PROFANE EXISTENCE MAIL ORDER CATALOG All items on this page are available using the order form on page 31 or online from profaneexistence.com Four, EightySixed, A-Bomb Nation, Corpse Show Creeps, and many others WOJCZECH Pulsus Letalis CD $9.00 The long awaited second full length length from Germany’s WOJCZECH is called Pulsus Letalis and was recorded by Pierre Bernhard at Sessionstudio / Ostseerockstudio and mixed and mastered by Harris Johns (CORONER, KREATOR, VOIVOD, PESTILENCE) at Musiclab. The album contains 12 tracks of high-speed manic chaos. Dissonant, monolithic walls of guitar on top of a tutorial in blast beatsÔæómonumental grind and metal with a crusty edge! Fans of DISCORDANCE AXIS, REPULSION, PHOBIA, EXCRUCIATING TERROR, GASP, SOB, and DISRUPT should love WOJCZECH. - SELFMADEGOD Records VIRUS Unaccaptable Noise Levels CD $9.00 This could be considered a Discography CD of all that Virus never properly recorded back between 1983 and 86 plus some new stuff! SIONS OF WAR, NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR, RADIO. Comes is a beautiful glossy Digipack and includes a 56 page Booklet that includes El Libertario’s texts and informations and artwork of the bands. V/A Mizaru Kikazaru Iwazaru CD $9.00 A compilation of three or four tracks each from some of the best political punk bands going in the UK today. The bands are Da Capo, This System Kills, In the Shit (with a new, gruffer sounding vocalist), Poundaflesh, Gurkha, and Bomb Blast Men. Anyone of these bands’ offerings would make a great 7” release in their own right, but collected on one CD it’s a-fucking-mazing! VIVISICK Respect And Hate CD $9 Great manic hardcore / thrash band from Tokyo / Japan. Fast powerfull songs with choral vocals which reminds me legendary bands like Systematic Death or Gauze. Band released two seven inches, split seven inch, many songs on compilations and split LP with Mukeka Di Rato on Sound Pollution records. When the V3S split up some of original members found new band Do Rady! Their music is great punk in 77 and oi/punk style. On their 20 years anniversary was organized festival where played best Czech punk band and as special guest British 999. Do Rady! Gig at this festival was recorded and now is available for you on DVD, you can see here this legendary band live with some bonuses as video clips, interview etc. Special bonus is audio CD and poster! This must be in every serious collection of old punk groups / Cryptonaut, Kapreles, Jenz, Olivier de Sagazan, Chris MArs, Jan Schleevogt, Navette, Dan Verkys, Justin Aerni, Oliver Schott, Tachas Tachas, Oliver Wtterm Sybille Lengauer, Michael Hutter, Juan Cabana, Fero, Patrick Byers, Bastart-Worx, Neils Parthey, Tom Bresemann and Frederico Bebber. Yes, they’re expensive to order, but it would cost you much more to order a single copy from Germany. Top quality is worth it. Inside Artzine #13 $8.00 Inside Artzine is a collective of underground artists and other nonviable weirdos. You will find international underground art (paintings, drawings, (digital)collages, sculptures, shortstories, reviews, links....) and lots of dark, bizarre, political and sexual artistic statements. This is the art of the real underground: The sewer! Issue # 13 is 40 heavy-weight pages, printed in glorious full color and written in English. This time: Chris Mars (USA), Bastartworx (GER), Kris Kuksi (USA), Dan Verkys (AUS), Navette (FRA), Carlos Villas (MEX), Chet Zar (USA) Interview with KD Matheson, Art after Death, Reviews... DOOMED MESSIAH Beholdent 2 None Video Magazine DVD $6.00 A psychedelic collection of live clips, videos and interviews weaving in and out of acid trip animation by Tom Denney. Featuring: Weedeater, Starchild, Buzzov*en, Anal Cunt, Lair of the Minotaur, Debris Inc. and Buried at sea. Packed full of crusty doom sludge and grind! WOLFBRIGADE Prey To The World CD $9.00 Now needless to explain, Swedish LEGENDARY D-BEAT NIGHTMARE WOLFBRIGADE is finally back with their brand new album! This is an excellent stuff under the mixture of their classic ALLDAY HELL & LYCHANTRO PUNK. Thick, heavy sound, brutal shouts, totally standout existence!! This CD includes both of the different bonus tracks included in European pressings and North American pressings each! -MCR Company VNITRNÍ Faktor Slzy Paní Poldi CD $9.00 Kladno Internal Factor band comes three years after the last recording with the new album. The board named Tears of Mrs. Poldi and subtitled Commercial success is more than worthy successor to the previous album. Coincidentally, but quite deliberately, is a new record called Jubilee and is issued only to 10 years of intrinsic factor, but also for 120 years SONP Poldi Kladno. And what to expect new recordings? Nothing really new, it is still that an overview and insight played melodic HC punk rock cuts and small metal influence. The recording is a bit more more technical, but without unnecessary curls, everything is perfectly elaborated and subjected song. Total 10 of which 5 in stock brand new and 5 old songs in a new guise in the area round exactly 30 minutes. Music, definitely appreciate the fans of brass band, but for enthusiasts in quality and original punk rock obvious choice. V/A Shred or be Shredded Vol 1 CD $7.00 Featuring the underground’s most sick and brutal bands: Call the Paramedics, Anal Nosorog, Three Faces of Eve, Waking the Cadaver, The Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza, Cumbeast, Kuru, Funeral Rape, Sacrificial Blood, Amputation, Distorted Impalement, Ex Dementia, Intestinal Disgorge, Mortal Decay, Splattercraft, Knifethruhead, Cemetary Rapist, The Dead Meat, Bonesaw, The Dolemite Project, Captain Cleanoff, Assnation, Waiting Mortuary, Nahurak, Gruesome Stuff Relish, Coaccion, Psychosomatic, Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire & N.J.D.O.T.S. HIRAX Thrash And Destroy DVD + CD $12.00 Following the 2007 releases of the “Assassins Of War” and “Chaos And Brutality” Eps, the Long Beach thrashers unveil their brand-new DVD, “Thrash And Destroy.” The DVD features the band’s entire 75-minute performance at the Keep It True Festival IX on November 3, 2007, in Dittigheim, Germany, a raw, kick ass show to a sold-out audience. Never before seen live footage: fists flying, stage diving, heads banging! Six in-your-face professional camera angles—the closest you can get to seeing the band live without being there—an up-close, personal look at one of the all-time most legendary thrash metal bands, with high-quality digital sound. More than that, the DVD disc includes a 12-song bonus set recorded live at the Metal Forces Night on September 29, 2007, in Lorrach, Germany. More than that a bonus audio CD with complete 75-minute performance has been included to the package! The artwork has been drawn by Rafal Wechterowicz (Iron Maiden, Shadows Fall, Lamb Of God, Terror). The DVD is NTSC and Region 0. Inside Artzine #12 $8.00 Issue # 12 is 40 heavy-weight pages, printed in glorious full color and written in English. Inside are contribtions from Johnny Chunders (UK), Chris Mars (USA), Navette (F) Viron v2.0 (ITA), Rodrigo Braga (BRA), Chet Zar (USA) Shann Larrson (HK), Kris Kuksi (USA), Jeremi Rimel (USA) +++ many more. WOLFMANGLER They Call Us Naughty Wolves CD $7.00 D. Smolken returns to the God is Myth stable in the form of his slow, grim & noisy chamber doom outfit WOLFMANGLER. With the spirit of past WOLFMANGLER releases where covers of folk songs, classical music pieces and jazz standards are the main lifeblood, this latest work entitled ‘They Call Us Naughty Wolves’ is the bands unique take on pop music from yesteryear. The results are very much remniscent of a blackened burlesque chamber ensemble funneled through a broken radio in a post-apocalyptic wasteland picking up distorted pieces of hits from the 1930s. -God is Myth Records V/A They’ve Taken Everything double CD $8.00 A benefit double CD compilation in memory of deceased ICONS OF FILTH vocalist Andrew Sewell (aka Stig), who died following a gig in Hackney, London on October 23rd, 2004. Paying tribute to Stig’s inspiring life and message are 34 bands from around the world, almost all being exclusive to this collection. The double sized digipack features cover art by long-time ICONS OF FILTH artist Squeal plus photos of Stig and IOF - old and new Included is a 36 page booklet with a page for each bands’ lyrics, etc. and it all comes comes wrapped in a gold foil stamped slip case. Includes contributions by CRUELTY, SCARRED FOR LIFE, EXTINCTION OF MANKIND, NO CHOICE, BEHIND ENEMY LINES, THIS SYSTEM KILLS, THE OPPRESSED, AMBULANCE, LOST CHERRIES, GURKHA, HARD SKIN, MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION, DISASSOCIATE, DRONGOS FOR Europe, SUICIDE WATCH, FLEAS AND LICE, MURDER DISCO EXPERIENCE, C.C.S.S., M.D.C., TRACK THE CURSE, SHORT BUS WINDOW LICKERS, MOLOTOV COCKTAIL, AVSKUM, TOXIC NARCOTIC, PHOBIA, ANIMA MUNDI, FILTH OF MANKIND, THE VAGINALS, RUIN, CONTEMPT FOR HUMANITY, FLYBLOWN, RESIST & EXIST, IN THE SHIT, and MISERY. Profane Existence #60/61 double issue $2.00 Spring 2011 is a full 36 oversized tabloid pages absolutely packed with punk rock goodness in a very small typeface! Content includes interviews with Steve Ignorant, NAPALM DEATH, DEVIATED INSTINCT, INSTINCT OF SURVIVAL, Nightgaunt Graphics, Microcosm Publishing and featured Artist Jason Barnet. There is also a large article on Greenscare defendants Scott DeMuth and Carrie Feldman, new band profiles, Naked Maygun’s Punk Rock Food Forum, interesting columnists and a vast quantity of reviews. Only 3000 copies were printed so don’t delay getting yours! VOIVOD Kronik CD $9.00 A year after the release of 1997’s Phobos (Voivod’s second -- and ultimately, final -- release with bassist/singer Eric Forrest at the helm), an 11-track compilation of odds and ends saw the light of day, Kronik. Focusing entirely on the group’s mid- to late-’90s era (one that saw Voivod return to their metallic roots and eradicate their prog metal excursions), you get a smattering of outtakes from both the Negatron and Phobos recording sessions, a trio of remixes by the likes of Foetus, Haig Vartzbedian, and DJ Acucrack, as well as four tracks recorded live in Germany from 1995. The track that will be most welcomed by Voivod fans will be Ion, which was heard in the movie Heavy Metal 2000 but mysteriously was not included on its subsequent soundtrack. Also included are fine readings of such Voivod classics as their cover of Pink Floyd’s Astronomy Domine and Nuclear War, the latter a track that stretches all the way back to their 1984 debut, War and Pain. The remixes are your usual not as good as the original fare, but the outtakes and live tracks will be worthy of any Voivod fan’s time. WORMSBLOOD Mastery of Creation Demos CD $9.00 Ambient/haunting outsider metal from Clay Ruby (Burial Hex, Jex Thoth). Very unhinged and dangerous. Similar to Armanenschaft, Bone Awl, Blood of the Black Owl or the True Werewolf, both musically and in the way black metal is used as a basis to explore more experimental avenues. Very sparse and bleak, rumblings, clanging and tortured cries erupt violently throughout this album. Wormsblood is a welcome addition to the constantly changing face of extreme music. -Interpunk TOXIC NARCOTIC Live In Boston! DVD $7.00 Boston’s longest standing DIY Hardcore Punk band filmed live at their 15th Anniversary show on Dec 18th 2004! The DVD includes 22 songs from the show professionally filmed, recorded and mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. Unlike their previous DVD this one has five camera angles and the audio was multi tracked with a mobile recording truck. This is a 100% DIY DVD produced and released by the band on their own label but looks and sounds as professional as any major label live video! With plenty audience participation in the final edit this video is sure to become a classic! Profane Existence #59 $1.00 Issue #59 contains interviews with Dave Dictor of the legendary MILLIONS OF DEAD COPS, Twin Cities hardcore punks IN DEFENCE, artist/illustrator Hush a.k.a. Jeremy Clark (originally slated as the featured artist in the aborted issue #58). There is also the first of a two part series in memorial of Warren “Spider” Hastings and the legacy of his Punkfests at Spiderland Acres. To round it off, all of our regular columnists are back in full swing, Maygun covers Indian foods in her Vegan Recipe section (also originally slated for #58) and review section that totally raises the bar for the level of thoroughness of each item covered. WOUND UPON WOUND Grievance CD $9.00 The latest young heathens to Ireland’s Black Metal scene unleash their debut mcd with a killer track mix production. Killer down-tempo black metal that has been dragged through the sewers of Doom... VUUR Vuurviolence CD $9.00 Belgian political hardcore-punk screamo violence terror. This CD is their discography including split 7” w/Seein’Red, Amen Ra, 4 way split CD, compilation tracks and unreleased Born Against cover! Better Than Blood by Eric Greenwalt $5.00 A follow up to the successful 2004-released Spontaneous Human Combustion, Eric Greenwalt comes through again with this new Chapbook of poetry and prose. Eric was the vocalist for legendarypunk/crust bands SUBVERT, CHRISTDRIVER and BLACK NOISE CANON and is currently involved in Seattle’s spoken word underground. He is also the only author to be excluded from Profane Existence decades old “poetry free zone” policy! BOOKS ZEMEZLUC ‘07 & ‘08 CD $9.00 Nineteen tracks of aggressive, tough edged punk rock that isn’t afraid of drawing from other bands, eras, and genres. The album kicks off simple enough with your usual brand of Czech hardcore, but with a distinct metal and melodic punk influences. The title ‘07 & ‘08 refers to ‘2007 & 2008,’ and that the album’s content consists of tracks found on different EPs, compilations, and splits released during those years. WLOCHATY Droga Oporu CD $9.00 1999 studio album from Polish Crass / Conflict influenced anarcho punks. It wasn’t available for quite some time, now it’s back in print. Yep, we still got ‘em and we still love ‘em! CASSETTE TAPES FILTH OF MANKIND The Final Chapter Cassette $5.00 Still the only full length by this Polish band, but what a classic one. The essence of heavy, metallic, apocalyptic punk witch great production - Amebix, Sacrilege, Misery and Axegrinder fans must dig this one. Peace Ridge Sanctuary 2011 Cookbook $6.00 100% DIY handmade vegan cookbook! 100% of the proceeds go to Peace Ridge Sanctuary in Maine home to 60 (and growing) animals from cases of abuse and neglect. These zines are printed on dumpstered paper with a dumpstered copier! can’t get any more DIY or eco-friendly than that! WARCOLLAPSE Defy CD (Profane Existence Records) $6.00 The Swedish gods of crust break three years of silence to unleash a new masterpiece of epic proportions. Twelve brutal new songs that layer new realms of gutteral intensity to the traditional Swedish d-beat KÅNG of the likes of TÅTALITAR, KRIGSHOT, WOLFBRIGADE, etc. And of course there is plenty of the traditional WARCOLLAPSE sound that emphasizes mournful dirges, captivating guitar leads, and vocal style that is as primal as it is guttteral. If you are a fan of their previoues releases then this will certainly not disappoint - delivering all the goods than made WARCOLLAPSE a name among legends. Their previous titles include the Crust As Fuck Existence CD on Distortion Records, Divine Intoxication LP/CD on Mind Control, split EP’s with DISRUPT and EXTINCTION OF MANKIND and a number of other EP’s, a live 10” and video, plus several compilation tracks. ZEMEZLUC 4EP CD $9.00 CD version of four EPs of the Czech punk legendary band Zemecluc. Profane Existence #57 $5.00 Back in stock! Issue #57 Summer 2008 featuring Warcollapse, Empire, Against Man The Converyors, Armstice and Kursk. CD features : Empire, Against Armstice, The Cooters, Creosote, Crisis, Dogsholylife, End of All, Expendable Youth, Homicide, Jesus Fucking Christ, Kismet, Knife in the Leg, Kursk, Kvoteringen, Man in the Conveyors, Massmord, Mob 47, Morguemart, Pazahora, Resist,Shades of Grey, Social Pressure, Systemphobia, Warcollapse,Wartorn,Wartrash, What if Gods Lie. ZEPPO L’ Envers Des Corps CD $9.00 The second full length release from this Swiss punk band with metal and industrial influences (technical 80’s punk mixed with MINISTRY and BIG BLACK) for a totally powerful and heavy tribal sound. All lyrics and packaging in French. This disc gets a LOT of play time at the PE office! GERM ATTACK Fear of the Unknown Cassette $3.00 NEW album from these PONX from Canada! Cassette release by XbezerkerrecordsX only! DIY at it’s finest! Spontaneous Human Combustion: A Case History by Eric Greenwalt $7.00 “Eric Greenwalt was in SUBVERT, CHRISTDRIVER, and ST. BUSHMILLS CHOIR but I had no idea that he was such a great poet. I read poem after poem, thinking to myself, I feel like this. These could have been my poems. Greenwalts poems range from dark and angry, to hopeless, to just plain bored with existence. We all know what its like to feel these things and thats precisely what make his poems so relatable. Greenwalt takes all of the thoughts and feelings that we normally keep to ourselves and puts them in your face with no apologies. All of his hopes, dreams, and fears are right on the page for all to see. I sat down and found myself reading Spontaneous Human Combustion straight through. Its one of those pure, totally uninhibited books that make you feel oddly at ease, like youre not totally alone in this world. All I can say is read this. Poetry can be exhilarating if its honest and up front and Spontaneous Human Combustion is spot on. (JasonS)” - PE 52/53 IN DEFENCE Party Lines and Politics Cassette $4.00 Fourteen tracks of spastic Ritalin-fueled hardcore thrash from the toxic underbelly of Minneapolis-St Paul. Caustically sarcastic lyrics spewed over super crushing guitar riffs and relentless machine gun-like percussion. IN DEFENCE are definitely hometown favorites (usually drawing bigger crowds than the touring bands they support), have a relentless tour schedule, and are comfortable playing with bands from across the hardcore / punk / metal spectrum. IN DEFENCE have several previous releases out on Learning Curve, Give Praise, Scene Credentials and World Won’t Listen Records and have been likened to a cross between MUNICPAL WASTE meets CODE 13 ZOUNDS The Curse of the Zounds CD $9.00 Classic UK anarcho punk! “This is sturdy, aboveaverage English pop-punk with some surprisingly infectious hooks. But the foursome ain’t just disaffected youngsters lookin’ for a kiss (or any ol’ white riot) - they’re searching out the meaning of life in the post-industrial capitalist system. As long as you’ve got the tunes, fellas - go for it! “ All tracks on this CD, except Alone, re-mastered (or mastered for the first time!) by Steve Lake in 2007 at Ideal Studios, London. Profane Existence #56 $5.00 April-June 2008 issue is another stuffed-to-thegills, 80-page monster issue with tons of great reading. Feature-length interviews include MURDER DISCO EXPERIENCE, PROTESTANT, HEVN, BLACKOUT and ATOMGEVITTER plus updates from WOLFBRIGADE, MEANWHILE, AVSKUM and Slug & Lettuce editor Chris Boarts-Larson. There is also an interview and gallery from this month’s cover artist AMY TOXIC, who combines classic styles with punk rock politics. Other features include the beginning of a PE’s new political prisoners’ section “Dehumanized Nation,” Naked Maygun’s vegan recipe section covering four-pages of mouth-watering Italian classics, and feature length article debunking the fat myth. There is also a photo spread from the recent Steve Ignorant’s “Feeding of the 5000” event by Mateus Mondini plus a personal account by PE columnist Rob Hanna. Included with the magazine is the customary compilation CD, this time totally packed to within seconds of our 80-minute limit. V/A Don’t Fall Asleep CD $7.00 The Daybreak Collective of Minneapolis has been irregularly publishing a refreshingly defiant anarchists newspaper since 2001 and has been a mainstay in local activist organizing. In an effort to raise money for publishing the newspapers and other projects, they have compiled a CD of local anarchist and DIY bands from across the musical spectrum, but all united in their activist commitment. There are 21 tracks in all from the likes of WOODCAT, THUNDER IN THE VALLEY, DEUCE BOLDLY, DORIC, CHOKECHERRY, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, SYNCHOCYCLOTRON, LADYSLIPPER, THE BLACKTHORNS, YOUR LOVING TIGER, EATING HOGEYE, DANGER BOY AND THE ROAD VULTURES, BLA BLA BLACK SHEEP, ANGELWORM, GAY BEAST, DREAMLAND FACES, ECHO-MASHO, DREAMLAND FACES, THE KNOTTWELLS, PRETTY BOY THORSON AND THE FALLING ANGELS, FORT WILSON RIOT, and LUC THE DRIFTER. WARVICTIMS Lognen Om Fredsavtalet CD $9.00 D-beat crust punk out of Sweden and in your face! Brand new tracks with 8 page booklet. One of most active bands with a new release every season. Silver foil stamp logo. KYLESA Time Will Fuse Its Worth Cassette $5.00 Since this Savannah, Georgia, quintet first formed in early 2001, worrying about genre limitations has never been a priority. Taking musical chances, however, always has been. While Kylesa are as heavy as any band out there, they are beholden to no one scene, punk, hardcore, metal, stoner rock, crust, or otherwise. Kylesa ranges far and wide, using their utter disregard of musical boundaries to bring together avant-garde experimentalism with the pure fury of dirty, sludgy riffs and raw, impassioned male and female vocals. There is a relentless intensity to their music, from the ambient noise interludes that sometimes link songs to the doominspired punishment they are capable of dishing out with dual drop-tuned guitars. Inside Artzine #15 $8.00 ZINES WHATEVER... Jabberwocky CD $7.00 Debut 12 song full length from this amazing Cleveland band who later moved onto Dr. Strange. Fierce, angry punk rock that had alot of bite to their melodic, poppy snarl. Members went on the start the Teenage Knockouts, Neon King Kong, and the Chargers Street Gang. WOJCHZECH Sedimente CD $9.00 Originating back in 1995, Germany’s Wojczech have undoubtly become one of the most famous groups on the worldwide grind scene, thanks to a steady stream of vinyl releases over the years. After a decade of existence the band unleashes its long awaited debut album Sedimente and detonates 11 fireshots of nihilistic rage, blast-beat fury and apocalyptic sound. Deranged, frenzied, super-tight metallic grind with hints of crust, thrash, hardcore, death metal and punk, this is GRIND A.D. 2005! Amazing recording production courtesy of Harris Johns at Spiderhouse Studio (Pestilence, Voivod, Sodom, Kreator). Highly recommended for fans of Assuck, Nasum, His Hero Is Gone. KYLESA To Walk A Middle Course Cassette $5.00 2nd Kylesa full length. Dark and implosive hardcore. Kylesa draws on the power and riffage of metal and crust but mixes the heaviness with the more progressive sounds of Neurosis and a hint of psychedelic rock. Essence of monumental and full passion hardcore. V/A El Libertario CD $9.00 Killer Massive Compilation imported from Switzerland. This is a list of the bands included: APATIA NO, MISERY, REMAINS OF THE DAY, DENTRO DE NADA, PACK, DIOS HASTIO, MON DRAGON, ETHNOPAIRE ,CALAVERA, TRAUMA, DISRESPECT, OI J AI MALE, KRAPNEK, DONA MALDAD, COCHE BOMBA, REIGN OF BOMBS ,AUKTION, AUDIO KOLLAPS, CAMPUS STREMINI, DESKARGA ETILIKA, NO CONFORME, FALLAS DEL SISTEMA, BAIT ,HOLOCAUST IN YOUR HEAD, ISKRA, CELLULE X, RIVER MADNESS, VI- Artscum from Europe, USA, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Outerspace: Aegis Strife (ESP) Anathema Photography (US) ,Axel Torvenius (SWE), Beb Deum (FRA) Dan Verkys (AUS), Darth Hell (US), Hell in Hell (BRA), jenz (GER), Jeremy Russel (CAN), Joachim Luetke (AUT), Johannes Witek (GER), Karezoid/Michal Karcz (POL), Kris Kuksi (US), MxNihil (GER), Navette (GER), Ralph Manfreda (AUT), Robert Bauder (US), R.S. Connett (US), Sam Van Olffen (FRA), Scott Wilson (US), Seth Siro Anton (GR), Shann Larsson (HK), Stitchpuller (US), Sybille Lengauer (GER), Urs Böke (GER), Yan Arexis (FRA), “Vienna crawling” - gonzo interview with Joachim Luetke (AUT) and Ralph Manfreda/Cryptonaut (AUT) “The art of suffocation” - (gas)masks report. Reviews: Artbooks & mags Inside Artzine #14 $8.00 The newest edition of Inside Art features a plethora of works from deviant “artscum” from around the world, presented in glorious full color on heavyweight paper. Inside Art is always filled with most amazing and cutting edge works of art that push boundaries between tasteful and disturbing, thoughtful and thought-provoking. Aside from the amazing artwork, there is also an article about Lovecraft’s fish people, reviews, and contacts. This issues featured artists includeSeth Siro Anto, Pierk, Jason Felix, Ralph Manfreda DO RADY 20 Live DVD & CD $12.00 CD/DVD of this legendary Czech punk rock band, Do Rady! Have their roots in band V3S which was one of the first Czech punk bands. DVD VIDEO 30 PROFANE EXISTENCe MAIL ORDER CATALOG