Friday, January 30, 2009

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Jan. 30)

Alrighty fuckrazors, we gave you a week off of the Rotation that is Heavy so you could really let that best of '08 post sink in as deep as possible... or we just forgot to do it... either way, eat it.

Regardless, some things have changed in the world since our last communiqué in this column... Obama-mania (Obamania? Obamapalooza?) swept over us for about 2.36 seconds, then we were back to being over it. Even more over it than we were before he even took the oath. Don't get us wrong, we voted for the man, but we're entirely back to being "meh" and over it... And that's why we've obviously decided to move our focus to 2012! Who really gives a shit about the next four years anyway? It's just gonna be politics as usual... So anyway, we here at the Belly fully endorse and put our wholehearted trust in the elusive Kroll currently tossing his hat in the ring for our prestigious 45th president. So please join us in our fight and support the right man for the job... visit his splendiferous site here: Vote Kroll!

And on to what you're really here for...

Spleen Latifa (curled up with some old faves this week):
01. Curlupanddie - "Unfortunately We're Not Robots"
02. Jawbreaker - "Dear You"
03. Minor Threat - "Complete Discography"
04. Pig Destroyer - "Prowler in the Yard"
05. Botch - "An Anthology of Dead Ends"
06. Jon Cougar Concentration Camp - "Jon Cougar Concentration Camp"
07. The Queers - "Love Songs for the Retarded"
08. Deadguy - "Fixation on a Coworker"
09. Jerry's Kids - "Is This My World"
10. Dillinger Escape Plan - "Under The Running Board - Reissue & Bonus"

The Hellion:
01. This Day Forward- "The Transient Effects of Light on Water"
02. Carpathian Forest- "Defending the Throne of Evil"
03. 1349- "Hellfire"
04. Terminally, Your Aborted Ghost- "Inanimately Soundless"
05. Two Dead Sluts, One Good Fuck- "The Pinkest Demo"
06. Iron Cross- "Crucified for Our Sins"
07. Yaphet Kotto- "Syncopated Synthetic Laments for Love"
08. Xiu Xiu- "Fabulous Muscles"
09. Screeching Weasel- "Boogadaboogadaboogada"
10. Elliott- "If They Do"

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Review Your Face Off: SOS- "Adult Situations"



First, I would like to apologize for the lack of the usual album cover photo. This album is not released as of yet, and all I had was a promo copy. In case you really want to know what that promo copy looked like, it was all black and had "SOS" and "Adult Situations" printed on it. I'm not sure what the font was. I apologize for that. I know there is one person out there who really wants to know. Let me just say they didn't use Comic Sans, which was a good choice.

Alright, Bellions, let's move onto the album. I have to say straight off that I was a bit surprised at what these NYC boys sounded like after taking a gander at the press release. With the references to hardcore and punk dropped into the text, I was expecting something with a decent amount of edge. This edge, however, is not present. This album seems to be more like a hair metal meets alternative rock hybrid. While there were some slight allusions to thrash and even horror punk, the overall feel is much tamer.

I guess in the big scheme of things I would have to say I wouldn't listen to this album merely for my enjoyment. I get where they are going with it, I guess. You can tell the band is trying to create music to mimic a rock n' roll lifestyle, but it just doesn't have enough power to really get you into much of a wild mood. While the musicians are all decent, it's just not my style of music. Plus, I think the lyrics need work. They are very standard, like most lyrics that are forced into rhyme schemes. I will be happy the day rock bands finally realize that rhyming is stupid, and one can say a lot more without trying to fit into the standards of pop music.

So there you have it. The album isn't terrible, but it's also not good. If you really like auto-wah, however, you'll find it used a lot on this record. Now THAT'S info you can use to make a decision!

Check these guys out and decide for yourself at the band's website or their Myspace

Friday, January 23, 2009

GnarVideo of the Week: The Acacia Strain - "Skynet"



ALL HAIL HUMOR IN AGGRESSIVE MUSIC... There, I said it... And it shouldn't be taken lightly... As you know, we here at the Belly are no strangers to mixing the funny with the brutality in such a way that after reading a couple posts, you faithful Bellions get treated to a delightful tingling feeling in your swimsuit area and the urge to continue on with your day suddenly able to ignore your complete contempt for the world around you which usually taunts you with the idea of taking the big dirtnap after a siesta with your head in the oven... It's cuz we're here for you! ... So naturally, we'd be drawn to like-minded individuals that see the power and splendidness in blending hilarity with the pummeling.

So in saying that, The Acacia Strain are these kinds of individuals... case in point, their new video for "Skynet" off of their latest record, Continent. Sidenote, not only does it bring the funny, TAS set out to accomplish a task that up until now was only left up to African American stand-up comedians... and what is that? ... well... damning the white population into the goofy nerdy unhip painfully-square stereotype that we are, of course. If I lost you with that last line, confused as to how a group of burly inked sledgehammer-hardcore merchants could accomplish such a feat, just click the play button and bask in the glory... YES WE CAN!

SKYNET

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Get the Fuck Back Together, Idiots: For Science



For fuck's sake, seriously... I was just thinking about this the other day... Apparently there seems to be some sort of pandemic going around killing off all the true pure amazing pop-punk bands that were my best kept secrets. (And I seriously hope I don't need to instruct you bearfight readers about the definition of good pop-punk... Descendents/Ramones/Screeching Weasel/The Queers = correct and brilliant... everything that's made it onto the radio or TV parading itself as pop-punk = epic fail). So as I was saying, they seem to be dropping like flies at a fly dropping competition where flies are dropped nowadays... from the giant heartbreak of the disbanding of The Ergs! to the news I just received of The Steinways calling it quits, whom of which I only just super recently got my hands on some of their jazz. Regardless, after listening to For Science's Revenge for Hire for the umpteenth hundreth time yesterday, I decided they needed to be sodomized by one of our finger-wagging razorfuck columns.

First off, For Science ultimately needs to go down in history for having the most incredibly powerviolence reason for breaking up... coming straight from the horse's mouth: "This probably sounds too ridiculous to be true, but our singer and my friend John Slover had an acid freakout which led him to pack up his stuff and move to New Orleans on a complete whim without telling anyone, then continue on to Hawaii. I doubt we'll be able to play any kind of last show due to the circumstances, at least not anytime soon, and I know that kinda sucks." WTF. Beautiful. Package that shit up and sell it to me, cuz I'm buying two... However it seems this story has tweaked a tiny bit... the last show part, not the Timothy Leary part... since apparently a "farewell" show has been posted on their myspace, slated for Hoboken, New Jersey, and saying Slover will be in attendance, but from what I can gather, will not be singing.

Anywho, I don't feel like wasting my breath instructing you just why these guys were special to me... But it might have been that they somehow managed to write a barnburner buzzsaw pop-punk love letter to Kirsten Dunst clocking in at just under a minute long that I actually really liked... but it might have had a lot to do with the fact I thought Slover was saying "kissing dust" or "kissing a ghost" the whole time, until I looked up lyrics, confused as to what Spider-man had to do with dust and/or ghost kissing... Man, I feel like a toolbag. So regardless, pick up Revenge for Hire then get the other LP and their EP, cross those knobby little meat hooks, and hope acid freakouts have a tendency to wear off...

For Science - "Leeloo" (live @ the Insubordination Fest 2007)

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Review Considerations

The Spleen and I realized recently that we never gave a good way for people to send us albums for review purposes. So, if you want us to take a look at your shit and toss a review up here on the Belly, then send us an email at bellyfullofhell2@yahoo.com. We will give you all the info you need after that.

As a little disclaimer: We are not into kissing the asses of bands or labels. We will tell it like it is. If your album is great, then we'll let everyone know that they should check it out. If your album sucks, then we will let the world know that it should be avoided at all costs. If you album is mediocre, then the population will be warned. So hopefully your band kicks ass!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Heavy Rotation: Best of 2008

2008 had some pretty decent releases, and while I don't think there were as many killer albums dropped as in some of the years past, I'm not going to complain. Since we here at the Belly are so nice and always looking out for our bearfight readers, we've decided to give you a top ten list of the best records released last year. Obviously it becomes your duty to go and get these.

The Hellion (in no particular order):
01. Whitechapel - "This is Exile"
02. Hej Ninja - "Hej Ninja"
03. See You Next Tuesday - "Intervals"
04. Austin Lucas - "Putting the Hammer Down"
05. Mogwai - "The Hawk is Howling"
06. Drive-By Truckers - "Brighter than Creation's Dark"
07. Cursed - "III: The Architects of Troubled Sleep"
08. Hot Water Music - "Till the Wheels Fall Off"
09. Fuck Buttons - "Street Horrrsing"
10. Origin - "Antithesis"

*Spleen Editor's Note: I was having a real hard time discerning between the best records of the year and just the ones i dug the shit outta the most of the year... so regardless, here's a mix of my 14 (sorry! fuck you.) favorite albums of the year and best albums of the year. If you don't like it... Tough... You're probably a dicktard anyway.

Spleen Latifa (in no particular order):
01. Lords - "Fuck All Y'all Motherfuckers"
02. Young Widows - "Old Wounds"
03. Torche - "Meanderthal"
04. Trap Them - "Seizures in Barren Praise"
05. Off With Their Heads - "From the Bottom"
06. The Ergs! - "Hindsight Is 20/20, My Friend"
07. Cursed - "III: The Architects of Troubled Sleep"
08. The Banner - "Frailty"
09. Disfear - "Live The Storm"
10. See You Next Tuesday - "Intervals"

...Honorable Mention:
11. Ceremony - "Still Nothing Moves You"
12. Virgins - "Miscarriage"
13. Romans - "All Those Wrists"
14. Suicide Note - "Empty Rooms"

...Albums I really wished were gonna be the albums of the year, but I still dunno how I feel bout 'em:
01. Dillinger Four - "CIVILWAR"
02. The Bronx - "The Bronx (III)"

Friday, January 9, 2009

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Jan. 9)

What the hell? ... 21,000 hits? ... That's just nutty.

01. Glass and Ashes - "Glass and Ashes"
02. Last Lights - "Self-Titled EP"
03. Examination of the... - "We Are the Architects of Desire"
04. My America Is Watching Tigers Die - "Stone Age"
05. Tongues - "Tongues"
06. Limp Wrist - "Discography"
07. Ultra Dolphins - "Mar"
08. Sweet Cobra - "Forever"
09. Total Fucking Destruction - "Peace, Love, and Total Fucking Destruction"
10. Phoenix Bodies - "Raise the Bullshit Flag"

The Hellion:
01. On Broken Wings - "It's All a Long Goodbye"
02. Swing Kids - "Discography"
03. Caspian - "The Four Trees"
04. Havergal - "Elettricita"
05. Origin - "Antithesis"
06. 7000 Dying Rats - "Season in Hell"
07. Diskreet - "Infernal Rise"
08. Avail - "Dixie"
09. Rival Schools - "United by Fate"
10. xBishopx - "Suicide Party"

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Bomb the Music Industry! Reveal Details of New Album



Straight from the horse's mouth, sharkfucks... Today in a post on their die*Space page, Jeff clued us all in to some juicy details about the upcoming BTMI record that is apparently less than a month away. Scrambled, as usual, will be available for free download (donations don't give you AIDS, no matter what you heard, so try and be a little giving) on the Quote Unquote Records site, and like their last release, hard copies in CD and LP formats will be released on that forgotten gem, Asian Man Records.

Also, if you're into this kind of thing, you can go check out a track off Scrambled that's on the Quote Unquote 2009 sampler right here. But regardless, Jeff swears it's done and will be posted at the end of the month, and also gave a peak at the album art too, which you can use your peepers on below. Also, he says "It will contain a thirty-four page fanzine featuring ex-members of Latterman. We've met a lot of amazing people through music and a whole mess of them are kickin' mad knowledge about the shit they've learned over the years. From how to change your oil to how to make a decent salsa when it's not tomato season, to even more things printed by people who aren't in Mustard Plug. I'm pretty damn excited about it. So excited that I've been staring at my computer for twenty hours editing it." Sounds pretty sick to me... but as usual, I guess only time will fuck.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Old Timers: Swing Kids - "Discography"

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What can really be said about Swing Kids? They were insanely influential to a shitload of bands that rock/rocked like no other. Like Orchid? Like Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower? Where do you think they got their sound from? Orchid just sped it up and shortened it, and PBUET just added jazz and little bit of Drive Like Jehu. And even back then, Swing Kids had a song with jazz in it. "Disease," anyone? By the way, right when the guitar kicks in, there is a little part that was blatantly ripped off by another band, but I can't remember who it was for the life of me. I was thinking Avenging Disco Godfathers of Soul, but I can't find it, so I might be wrong. If you know, let me know. I'm positive it's an emo-violence/screamo band. At any rate, the point is that Swing Kids showed a bunch of people the way.

So what could be better than a discography? I mean, let's be honest, the band existed for merely a second and barely put anything out so this collection is about the same length as an LP, but it's still worth getting. Why? you ask. Because even if you don't care about the history of emo, emo-violence, screamo, or emotional hardcore, this band was fucking rad. They laid the path for the spoken/screamed vocals picked up by so many bands. They also set up a song structure that was copied by so many bands after them. Pretty much any band ever to release something on Level-Plane, Witching Hour, Ebullition, or the old Magic Bullet listened to these guys. Swing Kids pervades all their sounds. So if you like that shit, which you should, then why wouldn't you like these fellas?

Don't be a doofus. Pick up some Swing Kids. You'll also sound cool in first-wave emo circles.

(Disclaimer before I get a ton of emails/comments: First-wave emo is not the shit on MTV today. It was what screamo and emo-violence were based off of. Some call it emotional hardcore to make sure douche bags don't accuse them of listening to Dashboard. Look it up if you don't believe me. Or just check out the video of them playing "Warsaw" live below, and tell me if it sounds like fucking Jimmy Eat World.)

Sunday, January 4, 2009

GnarVideo of the Week: Don the Reader - "Reader"



Silhouetted violence!!

Honestly, who doesn't love mile-a-minute cuts, harsh lighting, and silhouetted band members going mach 5 apeshit on their instruments? ... Nobody. Except maybe Jeff. But we all know Jeff's a cunt. ( 'Jeff' will play the role of the all-encompassing character in all our lives who just can't help being a total dicktard... I know we all have at least one). Regardless, feast on some awesomeness, and give Don the Reader a second spin. I know I'm about to right this second... cuz somehow their album that came out a couple months ago just slipped through the cracks due to the volume of shit coming into my hands. But on quick perusal right now, I wish it hadn't... Enjoy.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Blues Posts Free EP



If it already hasn't hit your fuckradar, the mighty Blues have posted up six tracks in the form of an EP titled Heavy Sci-Fi ready and willing for you to manhandle and rape it into your music catalogue for free (though there is a donation link as well if you're feeling extra saucy)... I haven't fully sunk my teeth into it yet, but right off the bat I notice much more singing from this vicious beast of a band... not that that's a bad thing at all. But lemme immerse myself in it more before I hastily give some sort of review. Regardless, who doesn't love free shit? Hop on it, gurl... and let the rock fuck you.

Click the album cover below to get shot over to Blues' myspace page where you can download the tracks...


And just for shits, here's a live vid of them playing the song "Aeterna Veritas" from this new stuff...

Friday, January 2, 2009

So Sick It Hurts: Origin - "Antithesis"

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Holy fuck.

Technically, I could just end the review right there. I mean, you already know this album falls under a "So Sick It Hurts," so you should already be on your way to buy it, but adding a review with only the words "holy" and "fuck," in that order, should get the point across. But I love you all too much to throw up a two word review, so I'm going to continue on.

This album is about as brutal as it gets. I think technical death metal is super rad, so, believe it or not, I also think this album is super rad. Funny how that works. This record is just plain destructive. At every turn, there seems to be something waiting to bludgeon you over the head. It's kind of like when you were younger, and you just got Doom for your computer, and you still kind of sucked at it so you would walk around with that fear in the back of your mind that imps were going to rush out of the next room and massacre you. Then sure enough, that exact thing happened. Remember? Yeah, you remember.

Origin just knows what's up. They know the kids want technicality, but they don't want to sacrifice rage. They also know that pummeling speed is a necessity, so they make sure that plenty of that was added to this bad boy. They also know that weird alien-looking covers are cool. Alright, maybe they aren't that cool, but I'll take it.

Just listen to this. Words aren't going to get you headbanging.

The video for "Finite." Check out how goofy they look.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Jan. 2)

Welcome to 2009 AD. Expect a best-of the past year column soon. Live fast. Die.

Spleen Latifa:
01. Khann - "Tofutopia"
02. Romans - "All Those Wrists"
03. Spitfire - "Cult Fiction"
04. Narrows - "Narrows EP"
05. The Abominable Iron Sloth - "The Abominable Iron Sloth"
06. Orangeburg Massacre - "Moorea"
07. New Mexican Disaster Squad - "Don't Believe"
08. Various Artists - "This Comp Kills Fascists, Vol. 1"
09. Cloak/Dagger - "Pinata Breaks, Demo Takes"
10. Kiss it Goodbye - "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not..."

The Hellion:
01. Origin - "Antithesis"
02. Mogwai - "Mr. Beast"
03. Hopesfall - "The Satellite Years"
04. DYS - "Brotherhood"
05. Emperor - "In the Nightside Eclipse"
06. Wu-Tang Clan - "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)"
07. SS Decontrol - "The Kids Will Have Their Say"
08. Cave In - "Jupiter"
09. Mastadon - "Leviathan"
10. Architect - "All is Not Lost"

So Sick It Hurts: Lords - "Fuck All Y'all Motherfuckers"



This is going to be a bold statement... so seriously brace yourselves, kids... Kentucky's brashest of the brash, the mighty Lords, might have quite possibly bottled up and laid down a record that comes the closest to sonically delivering a glimpse at what it's like to be The Hellion and I. Meaning, if you were to take our personalities, our interests, our tastes, our tendencies, our views, our traits, our ticks, our demeanors, and our all-around fuckedupedness meets righteousness, toss it into a blender set to violently mix, then dump said contents onto a vinyl copy of any Motorhead, MC5, or Stooges record, smooth out the mess, cauterize it to the wax disc with a crème brûlée torch, then pop that fucker onto your turntable and turn it up to 11... Fuck all Y'all Motherfuckers is what you'd get.

It's all quite simple... this album fucking rips. It's been a little bit since an album so gritty and dirty has come along where I have a hard time figuring out if I should be pumping my fist and cussing out people I despise, or viciously bashing my teeth in with a metal pipe, or drinking hard and bangin raw, or simply just shaking my ass a little bit while i listen to it. Cuz seriously, track after track on this glorious beacon of hope makes feel like doing all of the above.

From the incredible teeth-gritting one-liners that pull through above the nihilistic chaos ("It all looks like shit / because it really is", "This is why I don't give a fuck", "Everything I see, I wanna kill", etc) to the the raw, biting, and reverb-heavy production, this album is a straight up kick to the teeth... Fully living up to the most wonderful description ever: "Lords, from Louisville Kentucky, are like Black Flag and Black Sabbath getting into a fist fight at stonehenge." ... I think I just peed a little.

Lords - "The Legend of Reginald" (live/instrumental, NYE '07/'08)