BELLY FULL OF HELL

Review Your Face Off: Carnifex - "Hell Chose Me"

2010-03-02T19:19:00.002-05:00

Regular readers of this blog know that I love me some Carnifex, so let’s just say I’m going into this review a little biased. However, I would like to point out that I had some apprehension before my first listen. Carnifex is on Victory Records, which is by far one of the crappiest labels in existence, and bands have been known to slowly turn into the pathetic metalcore known to be put out by the label that made Hawthorne Heights and Atreyu popular. Since Hell Chose Me would be the second release for the ‘Fex on Victory, I had to wonder if the new record would be a bunch of over-produced, watered-down garbage made for boys in eyeliner and tours with Hatebreed. Beyond that, as much as I have praised the idea of death metal with hardcore breakdowns, I will readily admit that deathcore is already starting to get stale, so I would not have been surprised if Carnifex’s new offering sounded fairly familiar.

Well Bellions, you can plainly see from the header that this album was not good enough to make it into the coveted “So Sick It Hurts” category, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. The release is actually pretty solid, but I don’t think it was anywhere near as interesting as the band’s last album, The Diseased and the Poisoned, which was just fucking destructive as all hell. But let me give credit to the band for trying to keep things a little fresh. There were some changes made to the sound, although I don’t think they necessarily made anything better or worse. For example, the growled, death vocals are not as prevalent, instead being replaced with more of the black metal sound. I personally liked the Cookie Monster vocals, but in the big scheme of things this didn’t really come off as a big deal. As for the music itself, Carnifex delivers an album that is played with more speed and less breakdowns than before. I would say the shift sort of resembles what Job for a Cowboy did a few albums back, moving away from the “-core” aspect and more toward the “death.”

Speaking of the breakdowns, those present on this album lack the insanity they have in the past, which is disappointing. One of my favorite things about Carnifex was how intense all that chugging could get. Oh well. While I’m complaining, I also want to point out that the album art is lame as balls.

So where exactly do I stand on this album? I’d say it’s worth the listen, but I can’t tell anyone to run out and buy it. I think this release sort of gives us an idea of where the genre of deathcore is going. By that I mean this: Bands will probably realize that they need to change things up a bit, but nobody is going to figure out how to make things as exciting as they were a few years ago.

Review Your Face Off: Living Sacrifice-"The Infinite Order"

2010-02-12T19:13:00.004-05:00

AAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh.....where to start? This album is such a snooze-fest that I hardly can tell the head from the ass here. I guess my absolute disappointment with this album is as good a jumping off point as any so let's get this ball rolling before my buzz wears off...

Living Sacrifice is, admittedly, a guilty pleasure for me for one simple reason. That being that they happen to be the theological opposites of mine, yet, one of the first metal bands that I listened to with my pink virgin ears. As such, I've cut them a lot of slack in the past and continued to see them live and to listen to their albums even though I disagree with almost all of their god-loving proselytizing ways. Aside from their lyrics I've actually enjoyed their somewhat unique flavor...until now. Having broken up a few years ago I had high hopes that this album would blow me away seeing as this was their inaugural coming-back album. Sadly, I've had my head up my ass.

These guys aren't exactly amateurs at what they do. In fact, this album is very well played and mixed. However, there is nothing unique here. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Fuck-what. Zero. I won't go into detail about every song and how they humiliatingly break down into banal metal riffs and rhythms that any self-professed metal-head out there has undoubtedly heard from not just one source, but multiple. This album was outdated the day it came out and even the almighty himself could not help that fact.

I've read numerous reviews and comments of this album online and have become very despondent at all the positive praise it has garnered. It makes me feel just how trivial metal has become and how innovation, or the complete lack thereof, has been turned on its head in the current scene. It also makes me remember the last show I was able to attend where Converge headlined with one of the most wrath-tastic supporting line-ups I've personally been witness to. Let's just say that the place should have blown up...but the reality was far from it as 90% of the crowd simply stood around and looked really cool in jeans tight enough to constrict all blood flow to a mature, fully grown scrotum. This album is a sorry reminder to me of how dismally the scene has changed along with the quality of music being lauded as "awesome." God damn....

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Top Ten Albums of 2009

2010-01-26T21:03:00.010-05:00

It's January, and you know what that means: snow. But it also means we get to post our top ten albums from the year that was 2009. It's pretty much recommended you check these fuckers out, because if we like them, they have to be good. The following are all presented in no particular order.

The Hellion:
01. Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
02. Old Canes - Feral Harmonic
03. Behemoth - Evangelion
04. Dying Fetus - Descend into Depravity
05. The Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate
06. Tim Hecker - Imaginary Country
07. Gaza - He is Never Coming Back
08. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
09. Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
10. Vader - Necropolis

Old Iron Blood:
01. Born of Osiris - A Higher Place
02. Burnt by the Sun - Heart of Darkness
03. Goatwhore - Carving out the Eyes of God
04. Katatonia - Night is the New Day
05. Suicide Silence - No Time to Bleed
06. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
07. November's Doom - Into the Night's Requiem Infernal
08. Secrets of the Moon - Privilegivm
09. Swallow the Sun - New Moon
10. Vader - Necropolis

Spleen Latifa:
01. Converge - Axe to Fall
02. Magrudergrind - Magrudergrind
03. Graf Orlock - Destination Time Today
04. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Agorapocalypse
05. Coalesce - Ox
06. Gaza - He is Never Coming Back
07. The_Network - Bishop Kent Manning
08. Ben Weasel - The Brain That Wouldn't Die
09. The Chariot - Wars and Rumors of Wars
10. Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave
.... Honorable Mention:
11. Brutal Truth - Evolution Through Revolution
12. Defeatist - Sharp Blade Sinks Deep Into Dull Minds
13. Rise & Fall - Our Circle is Vicious
14. Doomriders - Darkness Comes Alive
15. Dear Landlord - Dream Homes

Featured Book: Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground

2010-01-12T22:26:00.005-05:00

Authored by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind

I believe I first heard about this number through Amazon.com when I was looking into purchasing a book of photographs called True Norwegian Black Metal. This read came up under one of those “you might also be interested in” sections, if I remember correctly. At any rate, I figured it might be interesting so I picked it up. Knowing that the history of Black Metal is pretty fucked up, I assumed it would score fairly high on the gnarliness scale. Instead, it scored extremely high on the “meh” scale.

This book is written in a way that seems to meld crime drama and investigative journalism. It’s also full of interviews with many of the prominent people within the Black Metal scene, as well as people completely outside of it. The problem is, sometimes things get too far outside of what I expected to be reading about. Some cases it seems warranted, and other times it just seems extraneous. In fact, this bad boy is almost 400 pages long, and I have a feeling I would have gotten the same amount of information even if it was cut down to 200. At times this read just wanders.

Moynihan and Soderlind start out with a basic history of the rise of Satanic metal in general, citing bands like Black Sabbath and Venom. Then they move into how Black Metal itself actually started, still keeping a close tie to the Satanic aspects. All of this is pretty interesting, even if you’ve heard it before. Obviously the book takes on the infamous church burnings and murders involved with Black Metal, thus giving it the crime drama feel, but after awhile things changed, and it began to get a bit boring.

A massive amount of this book is spent talking about Varg Vikernes from Burzum. It’s true the guy is batshit insane and had a lot to do with where Black Metal began to progress, and it’s also true the guy murdered Oystein Aarseth (aka Euronymous from Mayhem), who was probably the most important person in the scene, but I just didn’t want to read that much about him. The whole section just talks about how Varg moved from Satanism to Odinism and is now a Neo-Nazi. Basically, you spend about a quarter of the book reading about Vikernes’ view on Nordic legends and getting a taste of his hate speech.

Using Varg as a bridge, the book then takes a turn from covering the “bloody rise of the Satanic metal underground” to covering nothing but the right-wing politics of many metal bands. If you want to read about that, then you’ll get plenty of information, but that isn’t what I was looking for when I got this. The writers still include information about various crimes and murders committed by the people involved, but most of them are politically based. I don’t know, I just lost interest.

The writing isn’t bad, and the amount of information contained in these pages is pretty impressive, but I lost a lot of respect for the authors because they tend to get very preachy or have a heavy slant towards one person or another. The way Euronymous was described used loaded words that gave me the idea that the writers didn’t respect him. On the same token, when they talked about his murderer (Varg), they seemed to praise him. I later read somewhere that one of the authors is actually a huge supporter of Varg, and whether or not that’s true, I could easily see why someone would think that.

In all honesty, I would recommend the first half of this book as an interesting history on the development and background of Black Metal, but I’d leave all the rest behind. It’s too drawn out and not really worth the time invested.

Heavy Rotation: January 8, 2010

2010-01-08T10:43:00.003-05:00

The first Heavy Rotation of 2010 has arrived, and I know you can all breathe a sigh of relief now. So here comes what we've been rocking to within the last week.

The Hellion (has gone folk):
01. Wye Oak - The Knot
02. Old Canes - Feral Harmonic
03. Architect - Ghost of the Saltwater Machines
04. Blues - Snakepit
05. Harlots - Betrayer
06. Orenda Fink - Ask the Night
07. Method Man - Tical
08. Chuck Ragan- Gold Country
09. Doomriders - Darkness Come Alive
10. Chris Wollard & The Ship Thieves - Self-Titled

Spleen Latifa:
01. Mammoth Grinder – Extinction of Humanity
02. Aneurysm Rats – Dying to Live
03. The Broadways – Broken Star
04. Nasum – Helvete
05. Coalesce - Ox
06. Kent Brockman – Discography '99-'03
07. Angry Samoans – The Unboxed Set
08. Dear Landlord – Dream Homes
09. Medusa – En Raga Sul
10. Deadguy – Fixation On A Coworker

Featured Live Show: Small Brown Bike / Bridge and Tunnel

2010-01-05T01:07:00.006-05:00

Small Brown Bike / Image taken from last.fm

12.04.2009 - Beat Kitchen - Chicago

I’m sure many of you have heard that Small Brown Bike recently got back together and are actually playing shows and working on new material. In fact, you all should know because we posted this news on the Belly a little while back. Well, I managed to get myself some tickets to one of the two shows they played here in Chicago, and while my plan was to get turbo-drunk and rock out to some hella tunes with my friends, let’s just say things fell a bit short.

Let me begin by pointing out that I could only get tickets to the earlier show of the two. Of course this ended up being the all ages show, and I think as we get older we understand that all ages shows can really start to suck. All the usual pop-punker teens were there, probably only showing up because they heard one SBB album from their older brother or something along those lines. Fact: These kids are little shits. Look, I know there was a time when we were all younger going to punk shows too, but at least back then most of the underage crowd actually hated MTV and bands signed to major labels. We had somewhat of a handle on what we were talking about because we still used mail-order to get records and read zines. The fucks that show up now have no clue that punk and hardcore are actually not supposed to be mass-marketed and that eyeliner doesn’t make you look cool; it makes you look like a dumbass. I just wanted to make this disclaimer ahead of time in all fairness to the bands since it’s hard to enjoy yourself at a show when the kids in front of you are making the same jokes over and over that are about as funny as those found on South Park (which aren’t funny, by the way).

Alright, now let’s move back to the bands. I’m not even going to go into a lot of detail about the first band. I was in the bar while they played, and honestly, my friends and I all decided those jokers were doing everything in their power to sound like a Gin Blossoms cover band. So instead of heading into what seemed like an XRT sponsored concert in the 90’s, I drank beer. Since the beer was more interesting than the band, I’ll give you some deets on that. This beer was of the Pabst variety and came in a 16 oz. can of deliciousness. It was cold and crisp, and it managed to be the perfect vessel for routing alcohol into my ever-waiting body. If this beer was a band, it would be like mashing Hot Water Music, Leftover Crack, and Dillinger Four into a group that put out music that was completely unintelligible but awesome, and which also had the power to make you pee way more than normal.

Pabst / Taken from my camera

When Gin Blossoms: The Second Coming got off the stage, we packed up and headed in to listen to Bridge and Tunnel, a band that I particularly like and have seen play before. As expected, they put on an excellent show, and I found myself yelling along with every song. If you want to get down to some excellent post-hardcore jams, you must check this group out. If you don’t want to get down to some excellent post-hardcore jams, then you’re probably waiting online to purchase Soulfly tickets right now, and I feel sorry for you. I would say half of the people at this show wanted to do the former, but that still wasn’t enough to really get the place going, which is very unfortunate.

Bridge and Tunnel / Taken from B&T's Myspace

When it came time for Small Brown Bike to play, I figured things would surely pick up. People began to surge forward to get at the stage before the set started, so I had a good feeling. Straight out of the gates, SBB came through would a few of their most energetic and well-loved songs. Everyone old enough to recognize the sweet sounds being relayed from the band’s equipment went nuts. SBB had the crowd in their hands, but unfortunately decided to drop them all on their heads, presumably so we were all too unconscious to try and figure out what happened next.

The Bike played the slowest shit ever following this amazing beginning. It was like they sat down and picked out which songs would bore everyone to sleep. I don’t know if they wanted to force us to finally listen to all the songs we usually skipped on their albums, but the feeling was sucked out of the room leaving us all wondering, just like Superdrag, where the hell it went. Here and there the band would inject a few familiar numbers to wake everyone up, but then it was right back to naptime. In all honesty, I was completely disappointed when their set was over.

Small Brown Bike / Taken from Smallman Records

So I would say the high points of the night were me imagining Pabst as a super-group (Slash’s Snakepit, anyone? No? Okay.), and Bridge and Tunnel’s fantastic set. It seemed like Small Brown Bike still needed some warming up, and I would be interested to see how their second show went.

Heavy Rotation: December 18, 2009

2009-12-19T07:08:00.005-05:00

And here we are, back on track... Hit it up, fuckrazors.

Spleen Latifa:
01. Phobia - 22 Acts of Random Violence
02. North Lincoln - Midwestern Blood
03. Choking Victim - No Gods / No Managers
04. Insect Warfare - World Extermination
05. The Copyrights - Mutiny Pop
06. Infest - Discography
07. Bullet Treatment - The Mistake
08. Spazz - Dwarf Jester Rising
09. Tear It Up - Taking You Down With Me
10. Combatwoundedveteran - This Is Not An Erect, All-Red Neon Body

The Hellion:
01. Knights of the Abyss - Shades
02. Lewd Acts - Black Eye Blues
03. I Declare War - Amidst the Bloodshed
04. Crestfallen - Streaks of Terror
05. Mastodon - Leviathan
06. Skullflower - IIIrd Gatekeeper
07. God Equals Genocide/Shang-A-Lang - Split
08. Razor of Occam - Homage to Martyrs
09. Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
10. Racebannon - In the Grips of the Light

Review Your Face Off: Lewd Acts - "Black Eye Blues"

2009-12-14T21:42:00.004-05:00

San Diego is home to many things, most of which I can't think of right now. However, there is one important thing that comes to mind, and that happens to be the band Lewd Acts. I think you should know about them and their album on Deathwish Inc., so I'm going to give you the lowdown.

If you are a fan of raw and gnarly hardcore, then you need to set aside some time to rage out to Black Eye Blues. Lewd Acts isn't here to try and start a new scene or fit into the latest trend; these fellas are keeping hardcore true to its roots. This record is chock-full anthems for those with bleak views on pretty much everything. While other bands are pumping out crap that remains irrelevant to their audience, Lewd Acts manages to hit home with listeners by taking the time to show they actually give a shit about what they are putting out for consumption.

Most of the album keeps a fantastic amount of energy, but at times it does seem to get a little slow and even drag. It's alright though, because there is a lot more good on this record than bad. Songs like "Young Lovers, Old Livers" and "Wide Black Eyes" will bring you back to the times before hardcore was a fashion show. You'll be screaming along to this like you did the first time you heard Minor Threat (or The Counting Crows, depending on how you were raised).

So there you have it; this album isn't so sick it hurts, but it's definitely worth checking out.

Here's Lewd Acts live playing "Penmanship Sailed" off this album:

Heavy Rotation: December 14, 2009

2009-12-14T21:25:00.006-05:00

It's been a long, long time since we put up a Heavy Rotation, but in case you haven't noticed, we're actually posting shit again. I know it's a Monday, so we'll post what we listened to last week. This upcoming Friday, look for another Rotation showing what we jam to in the days to come. Don't fret, these will be back in the normal Friday spot come the end of this week.

I would also like to make note of a new writer the Belly is proud to have. You might have noticed someone named Old Iron Blood has popped up on our contributor list. Yes, friends, we are expanding! If you remember back, we had an article posted about Unleashed's Midvinterblot, and now the man responsible for that article is here ready to rock with the crew. As usual, these are in no particular order, so let's get to it.

The Hellion:
01. Wolfbrigade - Comalive
02. Breathe In - From This Day On
03. Disfear/Doomriders - Split 7"
04. Sworn In - Sworn In EP
05. SS Decontrol - The Kids Will Have Their Say
06. Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli
07. Behemoth - Evangelion
08. Origin - Antithesis
09. Me and Him Call It Us - Loss
10. Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien

Old Iron Blood:
01. The Faceless - Planetary Duality
02. By Night - A New Shape of Desperation
03. Bloodbath - Unblessing the Purity
04. BloodStream Parade - The Apocalypse in Retrospect
05. Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
06. Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli
07. Grand Magus - Iron Will
08. Vader - Necropolis
09. Katatonia - Night is the New Day
10. Gama Bomb - Citizen Brain

Spleen Latifa:
01. Pretty Little Flower – Pulverizing Lethal Force
02. Black Army Jacket – Closed Casket
03. Hellnation – Cheerleaders for Imperialism
04. Coke Bust – Lines In The Sand
05. Blotto – Get On Bored
06. XBRAINIAX – Hail Fastcore
07. Traitors – Traitors
08. Low Red Land - Dog's Hymns
09. No Comment – Discography '87-'93
10. Jawbreaker – Unfun

So Sick It Hurts: Low Red Land - "Dog's Hymns" and "Weight of Nations"

2009-12-13T18:40:00.004-05:00

Ok, truth be told, this was just going to be a So Sick about Low Red Land's brain-flooring and practically pitch-perfect "Dog's Hymns"... but as I was refreshing my memory of the brilliance that is that record, I was reminded of the stepping stone brilliance that paved its way: their previous monstrous effort, "Weight of Nations". Perplexed with how to approach this gnarcolumn, not wanting to sacrifice any opportunity to turn any of you loyal Bellions onto ridiculously talented and masterful artists you might not have came across yet, I decided to make this So Sick more just about the band itself, since I'm including both their full-lengths, which to my knowledge is pretty much their discography. I promise to keep that a one-time occurrence, since we probably don't want this to evolve into just a mere gushing over a rad band, but rather keep it about an over-the-top sick record you need to own, like, yesterday.

So anywho, where do I begin? Fuckin Low fuckin Red Land... Fuck... I will go out on a limb and say "Dog's Hymns" is probably one of the few records that I would truly refer to as a "cinematic triumph". No joke in the slightest. Each track after track just paint and evoke such vivid, and often haunting, representations of our most basic of feelings: be it despair, triumph, regret, optimism, loss, camaraderie, rage, nostalgia, sadness, etc. It baffles me how this band can capture more raw, gritty, aggressive emotion in one verse than some brutal bands can in an entire album, let alone their entire career. But this isn't even the clincher -- They can do it in a song that is most assuredly the opposite of brutal. Hell, they can even do it with just a fuckin banjo. And if you can make a banjo stir up such visceral feelings that can make a brain feel like it's on autopilot, lost in a movie scene directed by the accompanying tragic/inspiring lyrics, you win.

But don't get me wrong, these guys are not some sad-sack piece of shit weepy band... They construct every turn of their musical landscape with fucking teeth. They deliver those kinds of sentiments that can hit you in the gut like that first time you saw your tough as nails father accidently let a little of the waterworks show through his stonefaced exterior, to only choke it back down again into forgotten existence. Shit, I have never heard so many songs one after another that would be the quintessential soundtrack behind every shot in a movie where a character stands lips pursed staring off into space... I'm looking at you Gus Van Sant... And I haven't even begun to talk about the songs where the singers fucking YELL. These cats have shredded throats can peel paint off a '74 Dodge. The range of the tunes are seriously fucking batty. I dunno, I could totally be in the minority with these claims, so you'll just have to pick up these two records and decide for yourself. But seriously heed this call, cuz I really doubt you'll be disappointed in the slightest.

Low Red Land - "Dog's Hymn" (live @ Monkeywrench Books SXSW '08)

Low Red Land - "Dreams That Heroes Dream"

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Earth Crisis Post Entire Concert Online

2009-12-13T17:58:00.006-05:00

Stumbling around the interwebs, I found some news that over at your friendly neighborhood UVTV, footage from an entire recent live Earth Crisis show has been posted online. And just our luck, the video happened to be gnar-embeddable, so you lazy bums don't have to travel too far to get your hungry meathooks on the vid... Oh, and say what you will about EC, their politics, or the vegan/straight edge movement in general, but there is no denying they had some fucking sick records back in the day. Who can deny that live cut of their cover of Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Love' from The Oath That Keeps Me Free? That shit fucking slayed tenfold... Honestly, I haven't delved into their newest record yet, so I don't have an opinion on where I stand with this current reformed Earth Crisis, but I'm adding it to my to-do list as we speak... jerks. So anyway, if you're a fan or even just mildly interested, pull up a chair, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the entire show while you floorpunch to your heart's content in the comfort of your own home or office.

Here's the setlist, in case you wanna be a dick and fast forward to your faves:

1. Against The Current
2. All Out War
3. Forged in the Flames
4. Wrath of Sanity
5. No Allegiance
6. Forced March
7. End Begins
8. To Ashes
9. Gommorah’s Season
10. Born from Pain
11. To The Death
12. Firestorm

Also, click thru to UVTV's site for the info to download this footage from iTunes... If that's your thing. Dirty fucks.

Featured Live Show: The Chariot / Horse the Band / Arsonists Get All the Girls

2009-12-11T12:28:00.007-05:00

Tonight, there shall be distortion... And it was good.

The night in question was last night at Gramercy Theater (Blender Theater, if ya nasty)... Beards aplenty filed into the Manhattan club to boogie down with chaos engineers The Chariot, along with Arsonists Get All the Girls, Horse the Band... (and *sigh* Norma Jean)... After waiting in line outside the venue in the fucking freezing cold, stupidly wearing just fingerless gloves as my only winter accessory, I took a seat in the Old Man Section in the back of the club to rest my frail, aging bones and to get a bird's eye view of the audience in attendance. One thing I instantly noticed was the noticeably noticeable harsh divide of the crowd: either late-twenties-ish bearded and flannel-clad gentlemen or 14 year old scenester co-eds in neon-splashed graphic tees, graphic hoodies, and skinny jeans, with noses buried in their cellphones, no doubt twattering nonstop about how the show is going to be the most epically massive "evar"... I wept silently within... but not in a goth way... in a man way.

Anywho, it didn't take long into the show to see who these children were here for... judging by their attention to the Arsonists set that opened the night, they were definitely Horse/Norma fans. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to shat on the headliner of the night or their direct support (I just honestly think someone shoulda stuck with their original vicious blueprint while someone else needs to start expanding on their schtick... respectively). In other words, these two will not be discussed here. Only the two I traversed midtown to go see...

(Arsonists)

As mentioned before, AGATG kicked off the night... and they did so with fuckin fire. This is only the second opportunity I have been able to catch these cats, and it has been a long time coming. The first time being at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival two or three years ago when they were only a mere "I've heard a few decent things bout these guys, maybe I'll give them a passing listen for a song or two" blip on my radar. And ever since have grown into an act that always seems to find its way into my listening rotation, thoroughly pummeling my ear canal in some of the most wonderful ways possible... See the track "Shat Shart Tart" if you need an example... Anywho, their set paraphrased: ridiculously awesomely abrasive. My only slightly negative comment would be that they seemed cramped as hell up there with six members and what looked to be all the bands' gear for the rest of the night. But regardless, they still delivered the wallop, though I noticed they seem to be drifting in a more accessibly brutal direction, I hope which continues to be a positive thing rather than detracting.

(The Chariot)

And then it was time for the main event... Well, the main event in my personal opinion... And boy howdy, did they ever fucking bring the ruckus. Fucking A right, The Chariot NEVER cease to amaze me live. It just seriously never gets old. They fucking wail, and they're a cavalcade of cacophony, hellbent on obliterating every notion of a nice, calm rock show... Instruments thrown, abrasive lighting, alienating feedback, dizzying ragdoll antics by the members, and general disregard for any kind of structure or even fuckin safety, are all par for the course with the ones they call the Chariot... If you can't tell, I'm kind of a fanboy for these guys. They're like my little underdogs. Momma's special little guys... It was somewhere between the jarring mash of feedback and samples and the whipping around of a workshop hook lamp that I realized I wasn't going to do this set or any set of theirs any justice through verbally trying to describe it. You just have to do yourself a favor, tuck in your balls, and go see these delightfully damaging little scamps when they blow through your town... And do like I did, make sure you venture out of the Old Man Seats for these guys, cuz it's just a tiny bit better when a guitar neck narrowly misses clipping your ear. It always is.

And to send you packing with a smile, a splendidly beautiful representation of why The Chariot is one of the most INFUCKINCREDIBLE live bands ever... Go see for your damn self, ass:

The Chariot - Unofficial video for "Teach" (sick live montage):

So Sick It Hurts: Disfear / Doomriders - Split 7"

2009-12-09T22:13:00.005-05:00

When I first got my grubby hands on this 7", I was happier than a frat guy with a garbage can full of jungle juice. Disfear is one of my favorite bands, and Doomriders never disappoints. Bellions, this is a marriage than can not go wrong.

The split contains one song from each band, and both are top notch. Disfear delivers a little number called "Fear and Trembling," and it is one of the best songs I have heard from the band. The Swedish D-Beat group decided to add a good amount of melody to this track, and it adds a new dimension of emotion that sits pretty with the usual urgency these guys are known to project in their music. Fantastic song on all counts. Any fan of the band needs to hear it.

While Disfear represents with ONE of the best songs they've ever written, Doomriders presents THE best song the band's ever written. "Crooked Path," which is also available on their latest release Darkness Comes Alive, is everything you could possibly want from these fellows. It too introduces a bit more melody than usual, but keeps the same edge you would expect. The first time I played this song, I had to listen again. Then I listened one more time. I'm sure this will rank in your top three Doomriders jams. If it doesn't, the Spleen will mail you ten bucks.

This record is a limited pressing, so pick it up as soon as you can. You can thank me later.

Disfear playing "Fear and Trembling" live:

Doomriders "Crooked Path" with a picture of the 7". (I hate it when people do this.)

So Sick It Hurts: Wolfbrigade - "Comalive"

2009-12-08T22:25:00.003-05:00

When I first listened to Wolfbrigade's Comalive, I thought to myself, "Can an album be this fucking gnarly? Is it possible?" Yes, friends, it is possible, and I thank Satan himself for such greatness and for allowing us to rage this hard. I thank Wolfbrigade, too, but not as much.

Known as Wolfpack before the late 90's, these Swedes have continuously pumped out righteous D-Beat crust for our listening pleasure, and Comalive does not disappoint in the least. I seriously cannot stop listening to this record. Expect to see it show up on many "Heavy Rotations" to come, assuming we actually start writing them again. I suppose I just can't get enough of the pure speed and sonic mayhem, the crunch of the guitars that just beg for fist-pumping and generally debauchery, or the vocals that make me want to yell along until my throat feels like sandpaper (with blood on it, of course).

D-Beat and crust punk is not about technicality and precision, but leaving those things behind opens the door for straight-ahead rock and roll. Wolfbrigade embraces this and delivers an album that just shreds the hell out of everything around you. Seriously, I just looked at my bed, and the whole thing was shredded. The beer can next to me? Shredded. The cats? Shredded to bits. The letter Wolfbrigade sent me saying they weren't sorry for shredding the fuck out of all the shit in my room? Completely destroyed. (It was shredded.) Don't get me wrong, this album isn't sloppy or something like that, it just doesn't pull any punches for masturbatory noodling. It's in your face like a zit in seventh grade. This album fucked your mom.

Buy this, but make sure to remove anything you want to keep in good condition from your house.

Check out the video for "Ride for a Fall" on Comalive below:

GnarVideo of the Week: The Bronx - "Knifeman"

2009-12-06T17:33:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since the last GnarVideo, but fret not... we still love you. This week's installment of our column masquerading as a finger on the pulse of the music video scene comes from the swaggeringly vicious LA boys in The Bronx. Though their latest self-titled album, unofficially referred to as The Bronx III, had the kids divided, I still will always give these bruisers the benefit of the doubt. Also, anyone that's seen them live can attest to their devotion to the sound... the energy... the power... the heart... the sexiness... the sleaziness... and the violence. So arguments about the quality of the latest album aside, we bring you their video for the single entitled "Knifeman".

This is the second video from III, though I personally consider it the first... Since their first one was just a song over some weird wrestlers in S&M-ish Tron outfits and shit. And frankly, I consider any video that doesn't have the band in it (either just acting out a narrative or pantomiming rocking the fuck out) as a serious cop-out (with the only exception being that Pearl Jam/Todd McFarlane animated video, which was the tits... The video, not the band or the song). Anywho, this latest one, like almost all their videos prior, has a very clever catch to it. This time being: the band rocking the fuck out underwater, in a pool, with their instruments and whatnot... Yes. That simple. Yet it totally makes me smile like a grin like a fuckin dummy dumdum, and I hope you do to. Have fun.

The Bronx - "Knifeman"

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Maryland Deathfest Line-Up Posted

2009-12-02T18:18:00.003-05:00

....... AND IT BE FUCKIN RIGHTEOUS.

I am seriously beyond jazzed after seeing this massive bit of news... Honestly, I had no idea how last year was going to be topped with the ridiculous line-up they had (Pig Destroyer, Napalm Death, Brutal Truth, Magrudergrind, The Red Chord, Trap Them, Rotten Sound, Weekend Nachos, Cephalic, Victims, Kill the Client, Venomous Concept, Bolt Thrower, Cattle D, Phobia, Birdflesh, etc etc ... just off the top of my head). But it seems the MDF braintank deserves yet another gold medal for bill-filling again this year, as the flyers below clearly show... Rhymes.

Last year was also the first to have indoor and outdoor stages, which helped a lot with not having to be velcro'd between two giant sweaty mouthbreathers in Pestilence and Mayhem shirts for 11 hours straight... so hopefully that stays the same. But holy sharkfuck, even the "pre-party" the night before is insane! All hail the 18 second song!

UGH... I'm seriously counting down the hours... Where to even begin??? Converge, Entombed, Capitalist Casualties, Total Fucking Destruction, Verbal Abuse, Magrudergrind, Trap Them, Birds of Prey, Iron Lung, XBRAINIAX, Pretty Little Flower??? I already have a grind/crust/violence/fastcore/hardcore boner. And it is good.

Official MDF VIII Site

Click the images to see them full size...

Dispatches from Powerviolence: That's Some Heavy Shit, Brah

2009-12-01T19:22:00.003-05:00

We here at BFoH love some good old brutality, and we assume you do to. Because of this, I have a prepared a short list of insanely brutal jams to bash your head to. These might be heavy from start to finish, have crazy breakdowns, or just be so fast your they'll make your ears bleed. Of course there are many more intense songs out there, so these are just some off the top of my head, presented in no particular order. So have fun with these bad boys, ladies and gentlemen.

The Acacia Strain - Demolisher
From start to finish, this track with fuck your shit up. Not to mention, the breakdown is one of the best I've ever heard.

Carnifex - The Diseased and the Poisoned
This one will leave your body mutilated when you leave the pit.

Destroyer Destroyer - Horse Drawn
These guys are just completely insane.

Cephalic Carnage - Endless Cycle of Violence
Technical and fast as balls, this jam will make sure your brain doesn't work for the next 48 hours.

Ion Dissonance - OASD
Super technical. Super mathy. Super heavy.

See You Next Tuesday - In the End
Slow and monstrously heavy.

Me and Him Call It Us - Innocent Bystanders Watched in Horror as Peter Jennings Drew His Murder Weapon
Controlled chaos? Um, sort of...

Ani DiFranco - Red Letter Year
My friends, it doesn't get more brutal than trying to listen to this. Trust me.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Small Brown Bike is Back Together

2009-11-30T13:12:00.002-05:00

Photo from smallbrownbike.com

I feel bad for sitting on this one for so long. At the beginning of October, Small Brown Bike announced they were getting back together. Not only do they have some shows scheduled, but they also said they are putting together new music, and to prove it, released a 7” with two new songs on it entitled “Composite, Volume One.” The lineup is the original members, so we should all expect the great music we loved from the band before they broke up.

Check out the band's new site here: Small Brown Bike

Review Your Face Off: Behemoth - "Evangelion"

2009-11-25T15:50:00.001-05:00

Behemoth, one of Poland’s best known metal bands, started out as what would be considered a more straight-forward black metal group, but that’s changed over time. Nowadays these fellas deliver a blackened death metal sound, which is fine by me, because I can still get my rage on to it.

Overall, I think this release is pretty solid. There are some songs that I think are great, and there are some songs that I could do without. Musically, Behemoth gives you a big, fat dose of what you’d expect from a blackened death metal band. Generally, everything is at a super fast tempo, and while bludgeoning, the listener still gets the opportunity to hear the amount of talent everyone has. Inferno is fantastic with his drumming, and all guitar work is pretty intense. Behemoth uses a lot of Middle-Eastern influences throughout the compositions, and although they don’t use it nearly as much as a band like Nile, it opens up a certain amount of dimension in a genre that can lead to extremely similar sounding bands. Lyrically, it’s no surprise that most subject matter deals with the occult, and the vocals are kept in a growl.

“Ov Fire and the Void” and “Lucifer” are the standout tracks in my opinion. The others on the album are all good, but they can suffer from starting to sound the same after awhile. I’m not necessarily saying the album gets boring, however; I’m more or less pointing out that you can forget a new song has started.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who’s interested in black metal, death metal, or blackened death metal, but I would slap a disclaimer on there that it’s not going to be the best out there.

Old Timers: Sleep - "Dopesmoker"

2009-11-24T19:27:00.005-05:00

Alright, I’m sure some of you out there are asking why Dopesmoker is coming up as an Old Timer, since it was released in 2003. First of all, I would like to point out that when we first started Old Timers, we explained that we weren’t positive how old something would need to be in order to qualify. So, this album was released six years ago, and since I’m an editor for the site, I say that’s fine.

But wait! Like an amazing infomercial, there’s always more. Turns out, this album has a past some may not know about. It was released in a slightly different form under the name Jerusalem as a bootleg and then officially in 1998 and 1999 respectfully. The label carrying Sleep was causing issues, and the band didn’t want to edit any portions. However, since the song was already tracked and whatnot, it ended up getting released as said bootleg split up into sections instead of the 105 minute single song as the band intended, and then was later picked up by a label. So technically, this bitchin’ tune goes back to the 90’s. The version I am yapping about in this post is the 2003 release put out the way the band had always wanted.

So now that I got all that information out of the way, you can set your dicks to hard and get ready for the actual reasons this record is getting a post. The main reason, of course, is that it’s fucking awesome. If you want to get into stoner metal or doom metal, this is a great place to start, and if you’re already into said genres and haven’t heard this, ask your mom to bring you to the mall to pick this shit up. The version going as Dopesmoker contains the epic title track and another called “Sonic Titan,” which is recorded live. “Sonic Titan” is much shorter and a bit faster paced, but it’s not the real reason to grab this record. It’s all about “Dopesmoker.”

Listening to over an hour and a half of metal is always gnarly as balls, especially if it’s uninterrupted. Although slow, “Dopesmoker” remains super heavy, and Sleep makes sure you’ll be nodding your head like a hippie at Woodstock. Plus, while the main structure is fairly repetitive, things are broken up nicely with guitar acrobatics and musical lulls in order to keep the listener interested. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll probably zone out from time to time, but that’s the point isn’t it? Every time you return to this behemoth you’ll remember why you’ve been listening to it for so damn long, and you’ll certainly be ready to continue on.

I definitely think this is an album to revisit or check out if you’ve never given a listen. Put it on in the car with your grandma; she’ll love it.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: The Belly Joins Twitter

2009-09-05T13:31:00.003-04:00

Go ahead... I'll wait while you collect your jaw up from the floor.

I know, I know, the Twatter is supposed to be the end of intelligent thought, and yea, yea, we're bending over to the digital social-networking/communication flavor-of-the-week... BUT... over much deliberation in the Belly camp, we've decided we have one thing to say to that... go fuck yourself, ya prick, ya.

This will be a good thing, you will learn to love this, you will thank us in time... Duh, gurl.

How could you not be totally jazzed to get bursts of news/info/pics/whatever-the-fuck-we-want all throughout your day? This is going to be splendid gnarfuck relationship. Trust us. We're professionals.

So! You can now find us on the Twitter here.

So don't forget! Follow the fuck out of us!

http://twitter.com/bellyfullofhell

GnarVideo of the Week: Every Time I Die - "Wanderlust"

2009-08-29T22:15:00.002-04:00

In the immortal words of Thin Lizzy... the boys are back in town.

The Buffalo Shitty Dudes Extraordinaire have just released their first video from their upcoming album, The New Junk Aesthetic... and upon watching it, I am perplexed. Earlier this year, all the articles about ETID's album in the works claimed that they were "going for heavy again, something between Last Night in Town and Hot Damn!, a sound they were unconsciously drifting from with the last two albums, blah bitty blah blah blah"... However! This song sounds strikingly and solidly still in the southern/hard rock/groove/core vibe they seemed to always be growing towards, not really changing the current formula... Although! I will keep a verrrrrry open mind and sit anxiously hoping and wishing that this new album WILL live up to the early descriptions... the descriptions that sent me from 6 to midnight in three seconds flat.

Anywho! The video lies just south of this mini paragraph, and decide for yourselves how you feel about it. Honestly, the film stock treatment to the video footage is pretty rad, I really can't complain... except for some cuts of Keith looking shocked and closing a door that look the same over and over (just wait. you'll see)... Oh, and an interesting sidenote, all the drawn animation portions of the video were done by ETID's own second guitarist, Jordan. He also did the cover art of the new album, which you can see at the end of the vid when Keith puts his hands on his eyes... watch for it! ... Now eat it, fatboy. Enjoy!

Every Time I Die - "Wanderlust"

Featured Live Show: Apocalypse Hoboken at Ronny's

2009-08-21T18:54:00.002-04:00

8.20.2009 - Ronny's - Chicago

If you’ve been following this site, you know that I love Apocalypse Hoboken. I’ve been into these dudes since I was in high school, and I don’t plan on getting tired of them anytime soon. So when I heard there was to be a “secret” show at a shitty venue like Ronny’s, I was super stoked. By “secret,” I mean they were added to a bill as “Plus Guest.” Everyone pretty much figured it out right away, especially because Todd posted it all over Spacebook. I figured this would make for a pretty large turnout, but surprisingly not as many people showed up as one would think. I suppose they are waiting for the upcoming shows instead. Why anyone would miss out on an opportunity to see the band play in a setting like Ronny’s is beyond me, but whatever.

Let me tell you a bit about Ronny’s, in case you’ve never been. This place is essentially a dive bar with a garage attached to it. The shows take place in the garage. They seem to have put some drywall up to deaden the noise, so now it feels more like being in someone’s basement. Plus, the sound is super shitty. So basically, seeing a band here is the same as seeing one at your friend’s house party. I like that. It reminds me of all the basement shows I’ve seen or played at. I hate places like the Metro or Congress Theater (both in Chicago). I want the band on my level without bouncers or anything like that. I want them to be able to give and take abuse. I want to pay only $7.

While other bands did play before Hoboken, I’m not going to comment on them because I didn’t really pay attention. I know everyone’s thinking that people who only show up for one band and ignore the rest are assholes. I usually don’t do that. But this night I did, so get over it. I’m getting older, and being close to the bar is important.

Of course AH’s set was fantastic. They played a decent amount of songs off of Now’s Not a Good Time, which is my favorite album. In general, they seemed to play a lot of stuff they don’t usually perform at shows. That works for me. Way to mix it up, guys. The same energy I expect from any Apocalypse show was present, and fortunately Todd kept all his clothes on this time around. I’m not sure how tight they sounded, but that’s because everything was all jumbled together. That isn’t their fault; it was just the room they were in. But really, it didn’t matter how well they sounded. The point is that it was an awesomely fun time, fueled by beer and music that makes my ass dance. Thank you, Apocalypse. I like it when my ass dances.

*Sorry about the shitty pictures. We walked to Ronny’s from my apartment, and it looked like it was going to start pouring at any second so I brought my crappy camera instead of my good one. Deal with it.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Welcome Back, Us

2009-08-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

I’m not going to give the usual return of the Belly stuff where we promise to update more and all that, because, let’s be honest, that is kind of turning into a Boy Who Cried Wolf situation. But I am going to put up some new stuff for everyone to check out, and we’ll try to stay on top things a little better. This isn’t a promise; it’s just a statement.

We know you missed us, but we want you to know that we missed us, too.

How 'bout an Interview, Dummy: Josh and Wolf of The Chariot

2009-06-03T15:29:00.002-04:00

So Sick It Hurts: Carnifex - "The Diseased and the Poisoned"

2009-06-02T22:23:00.004-04:00

It's been quite some time since we decided an album was gnarly enough to warrant a coveted SSIH spot, but I think this release truly deserves it. This album is seriously brutal.

When this album first starts playing, I'm assuming most will think it sounds like every other deathcore disc out there right now. I understand this feeling. That's what I thought, too. But then something starts to click, and the record begins to take off a bit. Things get a bit faster and the guitars start to shred like taco cheese. The growls intensify and the percussion sounds dead on. This is when the listener will probably start to get the idea that this album might be worth the time. It's pretty good. Solid. On par. Then comes the first breakdown.

Seriously, these breakdowns are fucking insane. At the first destructive chug, I was hooked. Carnifex essentially took the essence of real death metal and paired it up with beatdown/moshcore. So when that pit starts, I'm not talking some Norma Jean circle in the suburbs; I'm talking straight-up, terrorizing mayhem. This is the soundtrack to bloody faces and broken limbs.

Like I said, everything else is solid, as well. The band is technical enough to keep you interested and even has dueling screams/growls to mix everything up. When I first heard this, it sounded like a mix between All Shall Perish, The Acacia Strain, and old On Broken Wings with an extra pinch of death metal.

This record has been on constant repeat since I got it. Check it out, but make sure you are ready to rage beforehand.

Check out a live vid of the song "In Coalesce with Filth and Faith":

Old Timers: Dillinger Four - "Midwestern Songs of the Americas"

2009-05-21T19:02:00.002-04:00

I heart Dillinger Four. They are one of those bands you can always turn to when you simply want to break it down, especially while drunk. In 1998 they released what I personally believe is their best album. This album, of course, was “Midwestern Songs of the Americas,” and I’m going to tell you why I like it so much, gosh dangit.

This record had everything you could ever want. It was full of energy, yet remained catchy enough to have you pumping your fist to every track. Plus, D4 songs were made for sing-alongs. Or yell-alongs, depending on you look at it. While most of the other D4 albums are pretty good, there was something about this one that just sucked you in. Somehow, most of the songs seemed familiar, even if you had just heard it for the first time. Although, I guess a lot of punk rock could fall into that category, seeing as it is pretty formulaic. But I’m sticking with my statement. Plus, listening to this album would put you in a good mood faster than sucking down a bottle of cough syrup. Think of one bad time you had while listening to this album. You can’t. Unless you count throwing up on that cute girl you were interested in the first time you threw back a few brews in your friend’s garage while his parents were out of town trying to rekindle the love they never had in the first place. But you were having fun before the vomit assault, so I don’t know how much I want to count on that example.

What else do you want me to say? This was straight up guitar-driven punk rock. It was the stuff made for skate videos or for driving around with no point whatsoever. We all listened to Dillinger Four when we were younger. Every punk rocker was into them at some point. Knowing their songs was a prerequisite for punkness. So just play this thing and take a trip back to the time when your parents put a roof over your head, fed you, and your biggest responsibility was figuring out who was going to buy you beer each weekend. Ah, yes, the good old days.

Here's D4 playing "Super Powers Enable Me to Blend in with Machinery." It's a shitty video, but you would be surprised at how hard it is to find a decent video of these dudes.

How 'bout an Interview, Dummy: Trap Them

2009-05-12T15:48:00.002-04:00

Your own valiant Spleen Latifa tagged along with the lovable scamps at Metal Injection to help out with their coverage of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival way out in Worcester, Mass. Though we were barred from shooting any live footage inside the festival (which really blew massively hard cuz Trap Them and Municipal Waste's sets were damn near incredible), we managed to corral together close to about 20+ interviews with some of the bands on the bill. Below you will find one such encounter between myself and two parts of the wall of chaotic sound that is the mighty Trap Them. Enjoy the vid, and head over to Metal Injection for more of them...

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Screeching Weasel to Reform and Play Shows

2009-04-04T10:47:00.003-04:00

In honor of this incredible news sent down from the heavens, I'm going to spare you the clever witty wordiness and let the man, the myth, and the legend, Ben Weasel tell you for himself... [editor's note: I am sooo getting the Weasel logo tattooed on my body... take THAT, uptight square society! ... and my mom.]

"I really want to give you the lowdown on the SW re-formation but there's honestly not a lot to say. Legal issues prevented me from doing my own band on my own terms over the past couple of years but thankfully those problems are all resolved now. The kind of stuff happens sometimes. I won't deny that those problems - which were really just the culmination of many years of a lot of other b.s. - left a foul taste in my mouth about SW.

But now that all the headaches are behind me I'm feeling great about it. I'm finally running my own band again and I'm really happy and excited to be back at it. I've got a killer line-up comprised of myself, Danny Vapid, Simon Lamb (the Ritalins), Justin Perkins (Yesterday's Kids) and Adam Cargin (Blueheels) (he's also the new Riverdales drummer) and we've got a great set list. And I'm thrilled to be playing in Texas - places like Houston and Austin were always great for Screeching Weasel in our touring days. We are only playing two other shows in 2009 (in the fall - they'll be announced next month) so we'll hope to see you at one of them"

.... How bout two live vids to wet your whistle?

"Slogans" - (live in Milwaukee)

"Supermarket Fantasy" - (live in some house, I'll put money on 'somewhere in the Chicagoland area')

Important Moments in Powerviolence: Ben and Greg Play with NIN Live

2009-04-04T09:57:00.005-04:00

I'm not going to debate the validity of posting about Nine Inch Nails here, cuz a) yes, it's true, I'm not a giant fan, but b) I respect them and their contribution to rock and/or roll. In other words, if I was riding in a car, say in Chicago, with a tiny little blonde girl who loves industrial or an eccentric grad school student jazz session-drummer dude, and one of them put it on, I wouldn't start vomiting all over the interior and clawing viciously at my ear canals. However, I also wouldn't be walking around jamming them in my diePod either... But Dillinger on the other hand, I would give my right eye to. And not only cuz I think I would completely gnarsick with an eye-patch.

So in saying that, I present you with a once-in-a-lifetime coupling onstage at an Australian rock festival. It's no secret that Ben of DEP loves the shit out of Trent of NIN, from his own experimental electronic creations, to covering "Wish" on their Plagiarism EP, and covering it frequently live. But the coincidental shared bill in Australia lead to an opportunity for Trent to pull Greg and Ben onstage to play/sing along with the rest of NIN on "Wish." ... Best fucking part of the whole video? It was shot on what looks to be the sexiest video camera I have ever seen... the Canon 5d Mark II... Enjoy:

Review Your Face Off: Mastodon - "Crack the Skye"

2009-04-02T19:01:00.002-04:00

When I got my hands on the new Mastodon, I was mega stoked. Who wouldn’t be? After seeing some of the reviews, I was getting myself ready to take in one of the best releases in a long time. Everyone was shitting themselves over this record. Well, friends, I am sorry to report that this album did not live up to my expectations. I know a million people out there are all going nuts right now saying that I don’t know something good when I hear it, but let me explain.

To begin, I need to point out that this album is a lot different than the albums of the past. Most of the edge from previous releases has been dropped in favor of what most people will likely call a more “focused approach.” Then again, remember how when Metallica started to suck, people said they were becoming more focused? I’m not saying that Mastodon is on its way to the world of suckdom, but I am saying that focus doesn’t always make for a better result. The ambition is certainly present on this album, and I give them all the credit in the world for that, but I am just left wanting more. On this release the band is purely progressive metal. The harsh vocals are completely gone, and there are obvious Pink Floyd influences present, among other heavy hitters in the progressive rock and progressive metal worlds. It’s also a lot catchier than anything they have done before. That can be good or bad, depending on how you want to look at it.

There is nothing wrong with Mastodon wanting to pursue an even more progressive sound than before. They do a good job of it. However, they do not do the best job of it. While all the major publications are going to be hailing this as one of the most important metal albums in some time, we need to remember that Mastodon is not an underground band anymore, and many of these magazines aren’t aware of what lesser known bands are doing. So to them, this is mind-blowing, but to a lot of people immersed in this type of music, other bands have already done much better and will continue to. While this record is an enjoyable listen, it doesn’t really hold up to an ISIS album for example. Perhaps an even better comparison would be to Between the Buried and Me’s “Colors,” which was fairly astounding in its progressiveness, but still managed to keep a huge amount of heaviness.

So while I was hoping I could place “Crack the Skye” into the “So Sick It Hurts” category, I simply can’t. It is by most standards a very good album, but it just lacked the punch I was hoping for.

Here is the video from "Divinations." You need to wait through some crap at the beginning. Another point, notice how this is shown on some TV Guide channel. What's the deal guys?

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Napalm Death, Toxic Holocaust, and Trap Them Tour

2009-04-02T13:53:00.001-04:00

Looks like Napalm Death, Kataklysm, Toxic Holocaust, Trap Them and Coliseum are going on tour together. If you are in the mood to get your face slayed off, then I would make note of when this tour hits a town near you. Righteous!

04/10: Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
04/11: New York City, NY @ Gramercy Theater
04/12: Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
04/13: Cincinnatti, OH @ Madhatter
04/14: Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
04/15: Sudbury, ON @ Serbian Center
04/17: Worcester, MA @ New England Metal And Hardcore Festival
04/18: Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon
04/19: Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
04/20: Virginia Beach, VA @ Peppermint Beach Club
04/21: Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox Laundrolounge
04/22: Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
04/23: Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
04/24: Raleigh, NC @ Volume 11
04/26: Austin, TX @ Emos
04/27: Houston, TX @ Meridian
04/28: San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
04/29: Fort Worth, TX @ Ridglea Theatre
04/30: Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre
05/01: Phoenix, AZ @ Clubhouse
05/02: San Diego, CA @ SOMA
05/03: Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
05/04: San Francisco, CA @ Grand Ballroom
05/05: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
05/06: Seattle, WA @ Studio 7
05/08: Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep
05/09: Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
05/10: Lubbock, TX @ Tequila Jungle
05/11: Tulsa, OK @ Marquee
05/12: St Louis, MO @ Fubar
05/13: Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
05/14: Cleveland, OH @ Peabodys
05/16: Ottawa, ON @ Babylon
05/17: Montreal, QC @ Fourfounes
05/18: Quebec City, QC @ Imperial

Coliseum also has some dates without the other bands, so you might want to check those out as well. For more info check Here.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Original Misfits Reunite w/ New Album and Tour in Mind!

2009-04-01T10:19:00.001-04:00

Get ready to crap yourselves, Bellions! It was announced a few days ago that the original members of The Misfits are working on a new studio album and planning a tour to support it sometime in late summer. By original lineup, I mean those present on Static Age. That makes Danzig, Jerry Only, Mr. Jim, and Franche Coma. Weirder yet is the fact that Glenn brought up the idea and set everything up.

Supposedly the album is almost done, and the band was trying to hide the fact that it was in the process of being recorded. Danzig has stated that the new record will be called “Wicked Nights,” which is a super lame name, but whatever. He also said that the tour with be with The Damned and HorrorPops. Think what you want about that.

That's all I know at this point. But sweet!

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Converge Reveal Two New Songs Live

2009-03-31T16:46:00.004-04:00

So fuckin... I got a camera into the Converge show this past friday... and fuckin... I totally filmed Converge's entiiiiiire set... and fuckin... The entire show was fuckin sick and shit... but fuckin... The totally coolest part of the fuckin night was when Converge played to two new songs in the middle of their fuckin set!!!

More true than funny.

But seriously... Converge/Coliseum/Genghis Tron/Ceremony/Rise & Fall/Pulling Teeth... Fucking righteous. Hands down will probably be this year's best non-festival concert lineup. Anywho, I put up the videos of the two new tracks from Bannon and Co. below, hosted by our good buds over at Metal Injection. This week I will be editing up and rendering out Converge's entire punishingly wonderful set, along with three Coliseum songs, and tossing them to Metal Injection to post up to their site. So be checking there throughout the week for more. As of right now, you can go check out the live vids for "Plagues" and "No Heroes".

Oh, also Cap'n Bannon said live that "these songs don't have names, so fuckin' make 'em up and put 'em on the internet, do whatever you want" ... So I did... And I liked it.

Song #1 - "Squanto on Thundercrack - Part IV (El Requiem Virtuoso)"

Song #2 - "Them Assholes Don't Know Shit About Dick!"

Photo credit - Justina Villanueva

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Coalesce to Release New LP

2009-03-31T12:55:00.003-04:00

In 2007, I remember getting wind of the mighty Coalesce getting off their lazy asses and reuniting and then being sooo hella pissed when I realized I would never be in the same city when they were, meaning that I would be missing any and all chances to see a band that I've never had luck catching... Obviously I was MEGA pissed. Pissed enough that I used the word "hella" up there... I honestly thought this was a cruel joke, dangling my potential last chance in front of me by having the Coalesce fellers swing by the NYC area the exact same weekend I was home in Chicago... Pig Destroyer likes to pull that same bullshit repeatedly.

BUT a juicy little detail just came down the pipe, and it's gotten me all sorts of excited in the swimsuit area again. I just got word that Coalesce has finished wrapping up their new album of all new material (their first new full-length in a fucking decade) and has the release date all set for a Relapse Records roll-out... (fuck yea, alliteration!) ... and not only that, but they also set up a European tour this summer to support the June record release. The album is titled Ox and will hit the places wherever people legally buy music these days on June 9th.

In the meantime, enjoy "You Can't Kill Us All" live from their 2007 Detroit reunion:

Review Your Face Off: Cannabis Corpse - "Tube of the Resinated"

2009-03-30T20:56:00.003-04:00

So what happens when you really love death metal and also really love the potweed? Well, you could just sit around getting high in your parents’ basement, or you could start a sweet band. Cannabis Corpse decided to do the latter, and I can just imagine the session that inspired the name.

Seeing as CC includes members of Municipal Waste, they already had an idea of how to get off their ripped asses and start making music. I bet a lot of pizza and snacks were involved in the process. But no matter what got them moving, the result is pretty great. I’m not arguing for or against the use of the happy plant, but no matter how you look at it, death metal songs with titles like “Mummified in Bong Water” and “Addicted to Hash in a Tin” are going to put a smile on your face.

More important than the song titles, of course, is the music, and this shit is pretty rad. Each song on the album had me tapping my foot. The band also has a lot of talent, stoned or not, so the record doesn’t get boring or repetitive. And the overall humor of what’s going on adds a nice spice. You know, kind of the way syrup adds to that tical blunt you’ve been saving.

While this is far from the greatest metal album I have ever heard, it is an enjoyable listen. I would certainly recommend it. Plus, I bet if you brought this over to your Bonnaroo-loving, corduroy-wearing, scooter-riding friend’s place, he’d totally respect you more. Actually, probably not, fucking hippie.

Here's CC tearing it up live with "Sentenced to Burn One" from the album:

Dispatches from Powerviolence: 1912 Records Brings the Rock (Cheap!)

2009-03-30T20:49:00.011-04:00

Since we aren’t Wall Street CEO’s getting huge bonuses on the government’s money, most of us are pretty broke right now. But just because the economy sucks doesn’t mean we can’t continue to rock. Our buddies at 1912 Records have put together some pretty gnarly deals to help out all those who want to rage economically.

The best way to go would be the $65 “Triumvirate of RockNRoll” package. Ok, so at first you are thinking 65 bucks is still a little steep. Fear not, friends. You are getting a ton of shit from three bands. Count ‘em, three. Which bands? How about The American Black Lung, Long Live the Smoking Gun, and Blues. Plus, you get some label stuff. Now I have your attention, don’t I? Included are albums, shirts, sweatshirts, pint glasses, beer cozies, posters, buttons, etc. Now $65 is lookin’ pretty cheap, ain’t it?

Don’t be a fool. Check this out, ya knuckleheads.

Just look at all that gnarliness you'll be getting!

You can order and get a full list of everything included here:
1912records.com
or
1912records.bigcartel.com

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Fox from See You Next Tuesday Needs Your Help

2009-03-10T19:31:00.004-04:00

Alright, it's been a while since we've seen you last, and I apologize from the deep, dark bottom of my cavernous soul. Life got wicked, shits needed to be taken care of... Except the damn apology!

Anywho, we're calling on you loyal Bellions to do some service for a good man... See You Next Tuesday singer Chris Fox requires some surgery, but like most of the ladies and gentlemen that make the music we so much enjoy, he's a little strapped for cash and is unable to afford the operation. Here's the word from the horse's mouth, so find it in your empty chests where a heart is supposed to rest to spare a little change if you can. The Belly has already fronted 20 bucks for the cause, now do your part. Take it away, Fox:

"Let me explain the story of what has been goin' on. The first day we arrived to Europe on this past tour, I noticed my right armpit was a little sore. I felt around and I noticed a hard lump about the size of a marble. Over time it kept getting more painful and larger. I saw a couple doctors while in Europe, and both of them wanted to cut whatever it is out on the spot, but, I couldn't do that because I was on tour and I would have been stranded in some foreign country.

"So, as soon as we landed I went to my family doctor here in Michigan. And he said the same thing, it needs to get cut out. Nobody seems to be sure what it is, the only thing they know it is not is a lymph node because it is too big. This thing is about the size of a golf ball now, so on the outside it looks about the size of an orange. It is very painful. It seems to be pinching off nerves or something because I get shooting pains across my chest and down my arm. Some days I can't even lift my arm up. And for some reason the back of my arm is always numb now. And it fucking sucks.

"Here is my problem. I tour with the band almost 80% of my time, therefore, I don't have a 'real job' to collect health insurance. So I'm pretty much fucked. I do have a job, I'm a tattoo artist, but it's pretty dead at the shop right now so I'm not making much. Not nearly enough to pay for this.

"So I'm on my hands and knees begging for help. I can't refuse this operation, it hurts so fucking bad that I can't stand it anymore. I've lived with this thing for almost two months now. I hate doing this shit because I feel so worthless, and I know times are tough everywhere for most everyone, but I have to ask for help from you guys. It is my last option at this point. I've set up a donation thing through Paypal, but of course the button isnt working. Please just go to Paypal.com and you can just send any amount to my email address, fabrfox@gmail.com from your account. If someone could donate a dollar or a quarter or anything I would be fucking stoked. It would be that much more than I have now. I would love you guys more than I do now and do whatever I can to make it up to you. If you can, please help me."

... How can you say no to a face like this:

GnarVideo of the Week: HeWhoCorrupts - "Master of Profits"

2009-02-16T16:37:00.005-05:00

I'm seriously beginning to smell a theme running rampant through this column of ours... and one could assume that this theme in question is probably that of this that probably is of what we assume would and could only be "brutal fucking comedy". Sorry folks. It appears we love to rage just as much as we love to slip into a comfy pair of gigglepants (and spaghetti-writing for comedic effect, apparently). So we admit it, we like to snicker a bit and maybe let loose a healthy guffaw while relishing in the violence and aggression of the shitshow that is our tastes.

So regardless, we present yet another exercise in the delicious comedy/brutality cocktail we do so much enjoy. This week's installment comes from the Homeland ("Chicago" for the uninitiated) by way of the sinister, evil, nudity and piccolo snare-friendly, money-hungry corporation parading themselves as a chaotic hardcore group called HeWhoCorrupts. As audience members, we get to take a front row seat to quite possibly the most amazing 9-5 cubicle world ever recorded on video... If only my workday could be so entertaining... I don't want to give anything away, for it needs to be seen to be believed, but I shall leave you with the drabbest (yet most poignant) summary of what your about to watch... from one of the corporations own PR agents: "Under pressure from CEO Tommy Camaro, the boys from Hewhocorrupts take to the office and discover an ingenious way of making money." Enjoy... Cuz I've got two words for you, and they aren't Happy Birthday.

Review Your Face Off: Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - "Living for Death, Destroying the Rest"

2009-02-12T17:02:00.005-05:00

The name of this band sucks. I mean, it seriously sucks. It's probably one of the lamest names I have ever heard. It would be one thing if you could tell the name was a joke, like Cannabis Corpse for example, but I don't think that's the case for these guys. I think they just have a shitty name.

Fortunately, even though the band name may be completely stupid, the music is pretty good. There aren't a lot of bands coming out with straight-up thrash albums anymore, but RSG thinks that shouldn't be the case. Because of this, they drop Living for Death, Destroying the Rest on us, and I thank them for it.

While this isn't the greatest record I have ever heard, it kept me thoroughly interested from beginning to end. It's got the sweet speed of thrash, but also manages to keep some melody. And of course the riffage is gnarlier than being in middle school and seeing your best friend's older sister having a naked pillow fight with her hot buddies. Those were the days...

I would say this album could actually bring some interest back to a genre of metal that is usually only looked upon for nostalgia. While your mind will always immediately flash to the Big Four when thrash is mentioned, I think RSG manages to update the style with a bit more technicality and ingenuity than a Megadeth album. Check it out!

Here's some ridiculous video I found by someone who thought it would be a good idea to put RSG's "Darkness Never Ending" over Braveheart clips. Whatever.

Old Timers: Immortal - "Pure Holocaust"

2009-02-12T16:22:00.004-05:00

Black metal is fucking awesome. Sure, it might need to be absorbed with a good sense of humor, seeing as it is so over-the-top, but then again, a lot of shit is over-the-top and still amazing. We all know the whole deal with what constitutes black metal: worshiping Satan, church burnings, face paint, goofy black outfits with spikes all over them, skulls on stakes and goat/pig sacrifices at shows, etc, but did you know one of the bands to help get all that started was Immortal? I bet you didn't. To be completely honest, I bet a lot of you don't even know who the fuck Immortal is. This is your wake-up call.

Before bands like Dimmu Borgir brought black metal to a more general audience, there were a ton of other bands lurking around Scandinavian countries laying the groundwork for this music. Bands like the Darkthrone, Emperor, and the murder-loving Mayhem were among the first to create the sound we would consider black metal today. And I know a bunch of you are going to be like, "Hey man, actually bands like Celtic Frost were first-wave, blah blah blah," but I'm talking about the solidified sound, not glorified thrash metal. Got it? Good. Let's move on.

Well, Immortal was one of those bands involved in the second-wave sound; the one we think of today. And they were killer. With Pure Holocaust, they also managed to create a genre-defining album. And let's get something straight: Although many black metal bands did infuse themes of National Socialism into records for shock value, much like the Sex Pistols, this album mostly contains themes about landscapes in Norway and the demise of the human race; it's not a Skrewdriver album. So don't get on my case about Neo-Nazi propaganda.

So what makes this album so great? Well, let me tell you! It's got everything one could possibly love about black metal. It has the progressions and speed, along with the ghoulish vocals. The imagery is dark and bleak, and we all love dark and bleak. Plus, just look at the cover! It has to be good! I remember trying to dress like Immortal in grade school, but my mom wasn't having it. Part of that last statement was a lie, but which part? That I tried to dress like Immortal, or that my mom wouldn't let me? You may never know.

But seriously, listen to this album. If you have never heard real black metal, this is a good place to start. It gives you everything you want. It's sexy in a demonic kind of way. It's also just plain terrific.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Feb. 6)

2009-02-06T19:39:00.004-05:00

What up, fools? That's all I got. To the Rotation!

The Hellion:
01. GZA/Genius - "Liquid Swords"
02. All Shall Perish - "The Price of Existence"
03. Nas - "Illmatic"
04. Tim Hecker - "Harmony in Ultraviolet"
05. The Assistant - "In the Year of the Dawg"
06. The Clash - "London Calling"
07. Flowers from the Man Who Shot Your Cousin - "Hapless"
08. Mogwai - "Mr. Beast"
09. Beastie Boys - "Paul's Boutique"
10. Unleashed - "Hammer Battalion"

Spleen Latifa (FAIL.)
01. Graf Orlock - "Destination Time: Tomorrow"
02. I Farm - "So My Kids Won't Have To"
03. Choking Victim - "Squatta's Paradise"
04. This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb - "Three Way Tie for a Fifth"
05. Combatwoundedveteran - "I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos"
06. Pink Razors - "Waiting to Wash Up"
07. Ghostlimb - "Ghostlimb"
08. Slayer - "Undisputed Attitude"
09. Sebadoh - "Harmacy"
10. Assfactor 4 - "Sports LP"

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

2009-01-30T16:41:00.004-05:00

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"

Review Your Face Off: SOS- "Adult Situations"

2009-01-28T14:54:00.005-05:00

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

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

2009-01-23T07:34:00.002-05:00

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

Get the Fuck Back Together, Idiots: For Science

2009-01-22T22:57:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-22T01:06:00.003-05:00

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!

Heavy Rotation: Best of 2008

2009-01-11T17:54:00.008-05:00

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)"

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

2009-01-09T14:01:00.005-05:00

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"

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

2009-01-06T10:50:00.004-05:00

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.

Old Timers: Swing Kids - "Discography"

2009-01-05T20:57:00.003-05:00

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.)

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

2009-01-04T13:19:00.005-05:00

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

2009-01-04T12:56:00.004-05:00

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...

So Sick It Hurts: Origin - "Antithesis"

2009-01-02T16:52:00.002-05:00

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)

2009-01-02T09:30:00.006-05:00

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"

2009-01-02T08:27:00.003-05:00

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)

Dispatches from Powerviolence: BRB During the Holidaze.

2008-12-23T07:27:00.003-05:00

Shits gonna be rough.

Lotsa drunk blackouts and unprotected sex. Maybe some needle drugs.

When will it end? ... We're not stoppin' til we're arrested... Or til Dec. 28th. Whichever comes first.

So enjoy your holiday, sharkfucks. See ya soon.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Dec. 21)

2008-12-21T22:15:00.004-05:00

Ahoy!

The Hellion:
01. Dimmu Borgir - "In Sorte Diaboli"
02. Heroin - "Discography"
03. Kite Flying Society - "Kite Flying Society"
04. Nile - "Ithyphallic"
05. Blues - "Snakepit"
06. Whitechapel - "This is Exile"
07. Misfits - "Static Age"
08. Oblivion - "Sweatpants USA"
09. Mogwai - "Mr. Beast"
10. All Shall Perish - "The Price of Existence"

Spleen Latifa:
01. Akimbo - "City of the Stars"
02. Bird Eater - "Utah"
03. Career Suicide - "Anthology of Releases: 2001 - 2003"
04. Reatards - "Grown Up Fucked Up"
05. Curl Up and Die - "The One Above All, the End of All That Is"
06. Cleveland Bound Death Sentence - "Cleveland Bound Death Sentence"
07. Pygmy Lush - "Bitter River"
08. Tusk - "Get Ready"
09. Victims - "Killer"
10. Pig Destroyer - "Prowler in the Yard"

Featured Book: Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music

2008-12-08T17:59:00.005-05:00

Ok, I just turned the last page on this little slice of gnarheaven, and seriously felt compelled to toss this one up here. If you faithful readers recall the last Featured Book post, on American Hardcore by Steven Blush, you might be thinking this column is developing into a one-trick pony. But bearfight with me here, kids, seriously... Though these two titles, on the surface, may seem like they're covering the exact same material, that statement gets a big, wet "yes and no". How quickly we forget that age-old cliche our elementary school teachers always tried to instill in us: "If you drop out now, you'll be dealing out H.J.'s like hurricane Katrina for a half-eaten eggroll and two broken cigarettes" .... err, i mean, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Right. That one.

What I'm getting at is this: sure, both books cover probably one of if not THE (Spleen's opinion) most important movement in rock music history, but they take two definitive approaches to the material. Where Blush's incredibly extensive interviewing, dissecting, and psuedo-mimicry of a tribal history lesson do their jobs very well, Silence instead focuses solely on the visual motifs, design, craftsmanship, and style of the movement. Furthermore, pumping the book chock full of incredible live shots and photography, album art and cassette sleeves, DIY tshirts and flyers, and accompanying notes and anecdotes to each one are the reasons to sink into this just as rabidly as you should Blush's book. But one giant difference between two two books is that Blush focuses solely on '80 - '86 American hardcore (most likely due to how detailed he approached the subject matter. If he would have continued in that manner, he woulda probably got to volume 12 before hitting the formation of Earth Crisis) and Silence instead, staying more with just style and visual history makes it all the way through late-80's metalcore, thrash-core, skate-core, post-hardcore, early-emo/screamo(?), and all the way to about Snapcase in '94, almost a decade after A.H. stops.

(Sample from the album art index in the back of the book)

Regardless, check it out, it's wonderful. It gave me an old-school-hardcore-in-book-form boner, and I like those. Cuz way too often any punk books on the shelves always seem to skip over it pretty blatantly, jumping from the dissolving of the Sex Pistols and the Clash, to New Wave, to what the fuck, who's this Kurt and the Nirvanas, and why is no one listening to hair metal anymore? ... Also, best line of the book: "There wasn't time to mold your liberty spikes or shine your Dr. Martens. It was jeans and T-shirts, shaved heads, and worn-out sneakers." Fucking rad... Also the photos I included in this post are from the book too... Fuckfightrage.

Sidenote, 10 points to anyone who thought "Wow, Spleen's elementary school teacher musta been a modern-day fuckin Nostradamus or something to drop a Katrina reference in their stay-in-school diatribe about avoiding handjobs for Asian cuisine" ... Cuz you're right. I thought the exact same thing.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Dec. 6)

2008-12-06T18:45:00.005-05:00

The Hellion:
01. ISIS - "In the Absence of Truth"
02. All Shall Perish - "Awaken the Dreamers"
03. Baroness - "Red Album"
04. Metallica - "Kill 'Em All"
05. Kill the Client - "Wage Slave"
06. Xiu Xiu - "Knife Play"
07. Slick Rick - "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick"
08. War from a Harlots Mouth - "Transmetropolitan"
09. Cephalic Carnage - "Xenosapien"
10. Hot Water Music - "A Flight and a Crash"

Spleen Latifa:
01. The Acacia Strain - "The Dead Walk"
02. The Jonbenét - "The Plot Thickens"
03. Eva Chavela - Demos and Live Tracks
04. Pusher - "Pusher"
05. Kid Dynamite - "Kid Dynamite"
06. Gaza - "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die"
07. The Drips - "The Drips"
08. Architect - "Ghost of the Salt Water Machines"
09. Blacklisted - "Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God"
10. American Me - "Heat"

Review Your Face Off: All Shall Perish - "Awaken the Dreamers"

2008-12-06T17:21:00.003-05:00

All Shall Perish as always been fucking killer in my book. The Price of Existence was totally gnarly, and it accompanied many times while riding the L into work. Honestly, is there anything better than starting your morning off to blistering metal? Besides morning sex, the answer is no. Needless to say, when I got my grubby little hands on ASP's latest release, Awaken the Dreamers, I was pretty stoked. And while I don't think this album really pushes the band into any extremely new territory, it's still pretty solid and has some differences than past releases.

I'm not going to go through the album track by track, but there were some specific songs worth mentioning. The first track, entitled "When Life Meant More," ripped my face off right from the start. Seriously, I have no face anymore. It's gone. Although, in all honesty, I look much more pleasing to ladies now. So not only did I get a fuckshark jam, I also got more dates as well. Thanks, dudes! "Black Gold Reign" kind of stood out to also, because halfway through this bad mammajamma, there are some ridiculous Iron Maidenesque vocals that just made me smile. Nive homage guys. Toward the middle of album, however, some of the tracks are pretty questionable. They start to slow down and have more of a ballad feel to them. These songs include the title track and "Memories of a Glass Sancyuary," and they should have been left off the record. To be perfectly frank, these songs blow and are a disruption in relation to the rest of the release.

But don't fret, fellow readers. The band gets back on track after those shithole songs. From here on out, things return to just plain punishing, as we all would expect. The range of vocals that "Eddie" Hermida gives is more than impressive, and he does switches up styles a lot more on this release than those in the past. There are also a lot more backing vocals laid over each other, which gives a good amount of depth. As usual, the guitars slay and the drumwork is relentless.

Overall, this is a pretty good release. It may not be "So Sick" worthy, but it's still worth getting. Pop this baby in and rage, you rat bastards!

Performing "Never Again" live. Just skip the stupid "Mundane" bullshit at the beginning.

Review Your Face Off: The Acacia Strain - "Continent"

2008-12-02T00:46:00.003-05:00

Ever since I first heard ...And Life Is Very Long, The Acacia Strain has been one of my favorite bands. Each consecutive release seemed to destroy the album prior, and I because of that I was never disappointed. They just seemed to get heavier and more destructive as time went on, both musically and lyrically. This allowed me to get super stoked before each record dropped, and this time around, the same feeling washed over me.

But my reaction this time was much different than what I was used to. For the first time since I started listening to this band, I am not blown away by the newest release. There, I said it. I'm sorry. But here at the Belly we speak the truth, and I can't be more truthful than that.

Don't get me wrong, Continent is not bad by any means. But as soon as I heard that very first song, I could tell something was wrong. I think what hit me straight off was Vince's voice. He's straining on this album. A lot. His voice has always been pretty incredible, and I think this time he was trying to be more brutal than usual. But it just doesn't work. I can't get over it. It's like when your friend is talking to you, and he's got a huge hunk of chicken stuck to his beard, and you can't pay attention to a damn word he's saying, even though he's admitting he got drunk with your sister one night and now she's pregnant. Vince's voice just subtracts from everything else. It took me forever before I could finally sit and pay attention to music in the background, and even then, it was mediocre.

While the album's guitars remain crushing, a lot of cheesy riffage was added. I always loved the way these guys would straight out chug the shit out of your face until your ears bled, but I understand that bands want to mature, also. Problem is, the soloing on this record doesn't seem to sit well over the off timings the band is known for. It sounds forced at times. I don't know. I can't place my finger on it exactly. It just bugs me.

I wish I didn't have to say it, but there is a reason this album didn't make it to the famed "So Sick It Hurts" section. It just falls short of all my expectations. Sure, you can still tell it's The Acacia Strain, and it will certainly piss off your mom when you put it in the player on the way to church, but I just wanted more. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. It's worth the listen, but don't expect to be crapping yourself over it.

here's the band playing the album's opener Skynet:

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Nov. 24)

2008-11-24T12:14:00.005-05:00

Roundhouse your week into submission and jam to the wax (and/or digital media) of the deep cuts we've been salivating over for the past 7 days... Eat it, bearfights.

Spleen Latifa:
01. Lords - "Fuck All Y'all Motherfuckers"
02. Akimbo - "Harshing Your Mellow"
03. Trap Them - "Seizures in Barren Praise"
04. The Ergs! - "Hindsight Is 20/20, My Friend"
05. Young Widows - "Old Wounds"
06. Cursed - "II"
07. Dillinger Four - "CIVILWAR"
08. Botch - "An Anthology of Dead Ends"
09. Minor Threat - "Complete Discography"
10. Rise & Fall - "Into Oblivion"

The Hellion:
01. The Acacia Strain - "3750"
02. Slowdive - "Souvlaki"
03. Leatherface - "Horsebox"
04. Mobb Deep - "Infamy"
05. Avail - "Dixie"
06. See You Next Tuesday - "Intervals"
07. Left Hand Cuts the Right - "You Breathed Like Water"
08. HORSE the Band - "R. Borlax"
09. Billy Bragg - "Back to Basics"
10. I See Hawks in L.A. - "Hallowed Ground"

Old Timers: Avail - "Dixie"

2008-11-19T21:48:00.003-05:00

Remember 1994? Remember Avail? Remember when they dropped "Dixie"?! While I don't really remember 1994 as a whole, I certainly do remember this album. Avail is one of those bands that all your punk friends listened to and loved at some point in their lives. There's good reason for this. Mainly, because Avail was fucking awesome. The band was probably the only good thing to ever come out of Richmond, Virginia besides the Powhatan Indians. And you know that the Powhatan didn't rock nearly as hard as Avail did.

One of my first punk shows was Avail, and I can still remember how the crowd went ballistic whenever anything was played off Dixie. I'd put money on the assumption that this was pretty much everyone's favorite Avail record. It was the perfect mix of melody, politics, and good old hardcore. I like to call this mix of elements "The Trifecta," even though it has nothing to do with horse betting. (If you don't get that joke, stop using the word.) But seriously, songs like "Clone" and "On the Nod" were instant classics. To this day, when I hear them, I get giddy like a schoolgirl after her first makeout/fingerbang combo. And that's pretty fucking giddy.

So even though I've been giving Tim Barry's solo stuff a lot of airplay, I still love to go back and listen to him yell out the vocals for Avail. I also like the rest of the band; don't get offended guys.

Go back and listen to this. Or die. (Alright, you probably won't die.)

Here's Avail live doing "Clone." The audio sucks, but it captures the energy. I did my best.

Get The Fuck Back Together, Idiots: The Ergs!

2008-11-17T07:08:00.005-05:00

So a couple weeks ago, I got to attend one of the handful of farewell shows The Ergs! put on as a result of their surprising disbanding. And though it was incredibly memorable, I think it seriously didn't do their important career the justice it deserved... Specifically, due to having to stop the set two or three times to take care of a faulty stage rig that was falling apart (the show was put on at an old brewery/grain warehouse [fucking sick.], so everything seemed just thrown together to appear as a venue... but not in a bad way) and as well as being the direct support for Dillinger Four's release show/party for their much-anticipated long-overdue new album, the Ergs boys and their tipping of the hat to their legacy seemed greatly over-shadowed.

Fuckin' A, interweb. This was a travesty! ... We here at the Belly have three commandments that we live by, and three only: Drink, Fight, and Fuck. And sometimes we bend the rules and throw Rock, a second Drink, and a Get Radical into the mix as well.. But that's only on special occasions, which are pretty much any days that end in "-day". BUT a band like the Ergs! told us that it was ok to relish in the emotions we beat to a pulp and jammed back deep into a spooned-out divot in our spinal column just below the cavernous blackness that resides in our chests... By taking the good parts of heavyweights like Descendents and Screeching Weasel, then throwing them into a concrete mixer with self-deprecating nerd culture, a nasaly singer/drummer, and a penchant for broken-hearted love songs on meth, The Ergs! packed a hell of a wallop. Seriously, these guys made me believe again that there was a right way "pop-punk" could be done with merit and maturity, intensity and emotion. Not just the beat-down garbage old horse paraded around on TV and the radio for a bulk of the past 15 years.

Annnnywho, so Jeff was leaving the band and the other two Ergsdudes thought it wouldn't be right trying to keep the band alive without him. Noble. But there is a tiny bit of a silver-lining in this, us as fans of Jersey's best prancers get two posthumous releases from the boys in nerd frames. One coming by way of 7", of the songs they were working on right before the split, and the other as a massive 33 song collection of all rare tracks, split tracks, 7" tracks, and such of yesteryear. So go out and pick that shit up, listen to some of the old stuff while remembering that broad that took a massive shit on your life... oh, and tell the Ergs! if you see them, get the fuck back together, idiots.

The Ergs! - Most Violent Rap Group/Pray For Rain (live)

Important Moments In Powerviolence: Fear Does Commercials for Radio Stations(?)

2008-11-15T11:20:00.003-05:00

Yea, I know, sounds a little fucked up... And seriously I have no idea what the story is behind these at all. They were just a few little gems I stumbled across yesterday on the youtube.

All I can gather from the video content and descriptions is that Fear was thought of as a fucking insane entity threatening the moral fiber of America® (duh)... And some company who owned a couple top 40's only-the-hits radio stations across the country thought it would be a good idea to let them be crass as hell in a TV commercial to show what would NOT be played on that station (fucking brilliant). Even if for obvious reasons this ad campaign didn't hit its intended mark, we still have wonderful footage of Lee Ving at his combative and charismatic best, taking a giant steaming shit on the safe, corporate, family-friendly agenda.

GnarVideo of the Week: iwrestledabearonce - "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon"

2008-11-15T10:07:00.003-05:00

Can ya feel it, kids? That simultaneous tingle of the back of the neck and just beyond the balls? That one that starts the full body shiver shakedown? ... That's your central nervous system alerting your cerebral cortex that the Belly is back in full swing. Duh, girl.

So the one column that I think regrettably fell by the wayside (nobody's fault but our own... sorry, these brews had to be downed then these kids had to be driven to school. aka we got busy. assholes.) was the GnarVideo, and I am so happy to bring it back out of its coma, since everyone knows how I get a Voltron mecha-boner anytime a band I dig takes the time to put out something engaging that I can watch and enjoy during the time I spend daily, angrily looking at their myspace tour dates that never seem to list my city... Anyway, if you haven't already indulged yourself in Century Media and Heavy Hitter's new grind/ synth-metal/ dark-ambient/ hardcore-freakout/ sample-junkie/ technical prodigies iwrestledabearonce yet, consider yourself on notice. These asshats got their shit together and they're steamrolling at an incredible rate. Also, I am a firm believer in the power of marrying comedy and brutality (see: the Red Chord and Every Time I Die for further proof) and these kids bring it in spades. Whether using the theme from Inspector Gadget for the riff of a breakdown, choosing samples like a jalopy car horn to usher in a tune, or just the video below, they spare no expense in the department of just having a good time... while melting faces. Even their merch is fucking incredible (see here, here, and here)... Not to keep rambling, but sidenote, their singer is also a damn fox. And that is something the Hell Fulla Belly can always get behind... And that wasn't meant in a creepy sexual predator way... Or was it?

So..... What the problem is? Enjoy.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Trap Them Listening Party/Chugging Contest TONIGHT

2008-11-13T07:39:00.005-05:00

So in honor of our release from the shackles of self-imposed hiatus and laziness, I felt it necessary to alert you all to a wonderful shindig going down this evening out the Brooklyn way. One of the Belly's faves, the mighty Trap Them, birthed out their new album "Seizures in Barren Praise" unto the world two days ago (which sadly, the Spleen has yet to get his hands onto, but surely will soon enough, so expect a review in the near future... yes, I'm a douche. But you know that already.) and to celebrate this glorious day, the kind-hearted souls and merchants of destruction over at Deathwish Inc. decided to throw the NYC area a little hoedown... complete with a listening of the album and a chugging contest for prizes (fuck yes.) ... Hopefully we get to pick our poison of choice, cuz I'd rather not have to guzzle down pints of The Urine of Beers (fuckin' High Life), but if doing so could mean a cornucopia of Deathwish swag, mainline that shit straight to my gut.

Welcome back bruisers and losers to carnival of cacophony, and I hope to see all our east coast bare-knuckle bearfights at the Charleston tonight... Let's look at it as an unofficial welcome home party for your prodigal sons, The Hellion and Spleen Latifa.

Review Your Face Off: Long Live the Smoking Gun - "We Build Empires"

2008-11-11T17:34:00.006-05:00

It may surprise you to learn that this LLSG album was recorded with only two members. When you give this record a first listen, it sounds like a full on band with multiple guitarists. But, as I said, it’s not. Adam Taylor handles the drum work, and Rob Easter pulls off the rest. That includes vocals, all guitar layering, and bass. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself, especially since my version of a two man band would be me playing guitar and a friend playing triangle. In the end I’d probably kick that guy out anyway for not drinking enough whiskey and finding me enough slutty tang. So straight off, you have to give credit for the accomplishment of recording a record that certainly has more shit going on than most two-man ensembles, because we all know the White Stripes suck.

But more importantly, one should give these gentlemen credit for putting out a good record. As soon as you drop the needle on this thing, “Justice is a Ghost Town” comes out blazing with ripping guitars and the sense of urgency you feel when you realize your face is on fire. And guess what; that feeling pretty much sticks through the entire album. Except for “Goodmen,” which is more of a low key track, this thing is full of riffage and swagger. That makes for 4 songs of fighting music and 1 song to catch your breath in between. I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell am not complaining. Plus, this bad boy is tinged with some of that Southern rock feel I have been hearing so much about. Seems the Southwest, from whence these boys hail, is all about that these days. I say go for it, because it makes my butt dance, and that’s pretty much how I decide what I like and what I don’t like.

I mean, you can't really go wrong with this album. It's got a good amount of punch to it, so it's sure to have you rocking. It's also well executed. You can tell there is talent within these guys. Since 1912 Records (the label that released this album) has been putting out some great shit, you know what you're in for: a good time.

So check Long Live the Smoking Gun out. I’ll put money on it that you won’t be disappointed, because we here at the Belly only like good music and fast women. Unfortunately, only good music is generally accessible for us.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (11/11/08)

2008-11-11T17:24:00.004-05:00

The Hellion:
01. Austin Lucas - "Putting the Hammer Down"
02. Blues - "Snakepit"
03. I See Hawks in L.A. - "Hallowed Ground"
04. Drive-By Truckers - "Brighter than Creation's Dark"
05. Tim Barry - "Rivanna Junction"
06. Suffocate for Fuck Sake - "Blazing Fires and Helicopters..."
07. The Handshake Murders - "Usurper"
08. Mogwai - "The Hawk is Howling"
09. Red Sparowes - "At the Soundless Dawn"
10. Bats and Mice - "Believe It Mammals"

Spleen Latifa:
01. Total Abuse - "Total Abuse"
02. The Bronx - "The Bronx" (III)
03. See You Next Tuesday - "Intervals"
04. Swamp Thing - "The Youth Is Sick"
05. Fucked Up - "The Chemistry of Common Life"
06. Dillinger Four - "This Shit is Genius"
07. The Banner - "Frailty"
08. For Science - "Revenge for Hire"
09. Screeching Weasel - "Weasel Mania"
10. Ruiner - "I Heard These Dudes are Assholes"

Dispatches from Powerviolence: We are Fucking Back

2008-11-11T17:16:00.002-05:00

Hello, world. Ok, so I know we have been saying we are coming back for quite some time. And we had lied, because we really didn't post much. That's about to change. I know what you're thinking: You assholes are lying again. I don't blame you. But this time I'm serious. Shit, I'm even about to post a new review! That's right, not just a "Heavy Rotation," which I will also post, but a full-on review. That's dedication.

Speaking of reviews, I think we are going to implement a bit of a change in the way those are handled. We have decided to start doing normal reviews so we can cover more albums than those that we would murder for and those that we hate. Don't worry, "So Sick It Hurts" isn't going anywhere. But when we put an album up under that, you better believe that it's the hottest shit you've ever heard. We are talking 10/10, can't stop listening to it, would kill anyone who stole it.

So get ready to get back into the action, because the Belly is rising like a phoenix from the ashes of... laziness.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Aug. 22)

2008-08-22T16:45:00.001-04:00

Bellions! How have you been? It's been too long, eh? I agree. I wish I could say that we were out touring the country getting the hottest interviews and checking out the gnarliest shows music has to offer, but that would be lying. Honestly, we are just lazy. More effort was put into downing courage juice and smoking cancer sticks than anything else. It's true: we suck. Well, unless you were hanging out with us, in which case you were a lucky bastard, since we know how to rock the party into the 15th dimension. At any rate, we are back. And this time I mean it (probably). So turn up the volume on the Slayer album you're probably not listening to right now and get ready for the Rotation!

[Spleen editor's note: Fuck yeah, numbskulls. Turn up those Tommy and the Slayers records!!]

The Hellion:
01. The Misfits - "Static Age"
02. Aus Rotten - "Not One Single Fucking Hit"
03. Angelic Upstarts - "Teenage Warning"
04. Hot Water Music - "Forever and Counting"
05. Sworn In - "Sworn In"
06. Cursed - "III: Architects of Troubled Sleep"
07. Suicide Note - "Empty Rooms"
08. Small Arms Dealer - "Patron Saint of Disappointment"
09. On the Might of Princes - "Sirens"
10. Gaza - "I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die"

Spleen Latifa:
01. Off With Their Heads - "From the Bottom"
02. Celebrity Murders - "Time to Kill Space"
03. Bruce Banner - "I've Had it with Humanity"
04. Jon Cougar Concentration Camp - "'Til Niagara Falls..."
05. Graf Orlock - "Destination Time Yesterday"
06. Screeching Weasel - "Anthem for a New Tomorrow"
07. Heavy Heavy Low Low - "Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock"
08. The Curse - "The Curse EP"
09. Lords - "Swords"
10. Teengenerate - "Get Action"

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (June 19)

2008-06-19T19:42:00.002-04:00

Alright. I know we've been gone for quite some time. We apologize. I mean, it's not our fault that we were out of the country studying the newest way to mass produce hydrogen-fueled cars. Okay, that was a lie. I shouldn't lie to you. But in all honesty, sometimes shit comes up. But we are back and ready to bring the rock you all have been desperately missing. Am I right? I know I am. So to start the glorious return off, let's get to the Heavy Rotation!

The Hellion:
01. Joan of Arc - Boo Human
02. Bad Brains - Bad Brains
03. Gorgoroth - Destroyer
04. Morbid Angel - Blessed are the Sick
05. Ion Dissonance - Minus the Herd
06. The National Acrobat - For All Practical Purposes is Dead
07. Between the Buried and Me - Between the Buried and Me
08. The Dropscience - Dies Tonight
09. Shikari - 1999-2003
10. Jeniferever - Choose a Bright Morning

Spleen Latifa:
01. iwrestledabearonce - iwrestledabearonce EP
02. Spazz - Sweatin' to the Oldies
03. Plow United - The Dustbin of History
04. The Drips - The Drips
05. Kungfu Rick - Motivation to Abuse
06. Screeching Weasel - My Brain Hurts
07. Crimpshrine - Duct Tape Soup
08. Black Army Jacket - Closed Casket
09. Off With Their Heads - Hospitals
10. Assfactor 4 - Sports LP

[Spleen's Editor Note: When the fuck did we hit 13,000 and some views?? .... Awesometown.]

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Apr. 18)

2008-04-18T16:49:00.003-04:00

........ annnnnnnnnnnd we're back in Rotation!

We here at the Belly Full of Sorry would like to extend our deepest gnarpologies to thee and thine for leaving you in the lurch for a quite a spell. Sorry you probably had to spin the last Rotation ad nauseam, biting your fingertips into a bloody pulp of anxiety, worrying your hair out that another one might not show up knocking at your door again, and you'd have no idea what you should be listening to... but have no fear, bearfights... The shit is back. And this time it's sticking to the tile.

Spleen Latifa:
01. Whiskey Sunday - Maldecido
02. Los Crudos - Discografia
03. Backstabbers Inc. - Kamikaze Missions
04. Coliseum/Doomriders - Not of this World EP
05. This is My Fist - A History of Rats
06. Capitalist Casualties - Capitalist Casualties
07. Tragedy - Tragedy
08. Scared of Chaka - Crossing with Switchblades
09. Torche - Meanderthal
10. His Hero is Gone - Fifteen Counts of Arson

Featured Live Show: Converge / The Red Chord

2008-04-13T16:42:00.009-04:00

4.05.2008 - Reggie's Rock Club - Chicago

Alrighty. To begin, I need to say that the lineup for this show was fucking incredible. Here's the order of gnardeath appearances:

1. Hewhocorrupts
2. Genghis Tron
3. Baroness
4. The Red Chord
5. Converge

So let's do a little play-by-play so all you readers can get a feel for the destruction. As you already saw from the lineup chart I so generously provided, Hewhocorrupts took the stage first. And of course they were fucking awesome. Pounding through their sharkbite set of grind, these fuckers ended up in their underwear by the end of the set. Unfortunately, I missed the opening songs because I was bit late. You know how it goes; gotta get some of the drinky-poos in before you head out to the venue. Side note: I was wasted by the end of this show. Anyway, these guys tore it up from what I did see.

Next up was Genghis Tron. I love these guys. If anyone remembers, I did a "Found You, Asshole" on them awhile back. Made up of three members (a guitarist, a singer, and a guy that handles all the electronics), GT puts on a pretty interesting show. With a backdrop of these creepy, tall light things that flashed along with the music, the trio brought some killer cybergrind for the crowd. They obviously played a lot off of their new album, so a lot of their set was a little slower than the non-stop blastbeats I was looking forward to. But don't fret! They were still incredible. And, they were amazingly tight. I wouldn't have been surprised if they sounded a bit sloppy because of their goofy setup, but they weren't at all. Nice job, fellas.

After GT came the sweetness that is Baroness. With the booze kicking it and the sounds of sludge/psych-metal blaring, I was pretty much in greatest place ever at this point. I want to make note that our new writer GnarHammer was rocking out harder than fuck to these guys, so you know they have to be good. Baroness actually got a chance to play for a pretty decent amount of time. Unfortunately, as is the case with most shows these days, the crowd seemed a little too young to appreciate the complexity of this quartet, so it didn't really get too jumpin' during their set. Most of these little fuckers were just standing around waiting for their moms to pick them up. This was beginning to irritate Psycho Killa, GnarHammer, and myself, and all this would come to a head as The Red Chord took the stage.

I've seen The Red Chord a few times before, and they are always fucking amazing. This was no exception. How can you not get down with their crazy-yet-still-brutal technicality? It's impossible to try and fight it, or so I thought. Remember the kids waiting for mom? Nobody moved. Literally. Nobody. While the band tried to egg the crowd on, these jackholes just stood there in defiant silence. This is when a few of your favorite Bellions went into action. While I am not one who usually thinks hardcore dancing is all that cool, something needed to be done. So we broke that out to the horror of these 15 year old bastards. As complete confusion overtook most of the crowd (Are these kids actually dancing? Mommy!), some people finally figured out that it was okay to break it down to a band that you like. I lost my hat though during this, and that is the only sad part. Oh yeah, and Psycho Killa and GnarHammer BOTH fucked up their ankles pretty bad. That sucked, too. I made it out with just cuts and bruises, but that is because I am super-human.

Converge. What can be said? They are the godfathers of hardcore. They constantly reinvent themselves and push the boundaries of extreme music. Their shows are always top shelf. As expected, they exploded once on stage and put on a pretty good show. I do have to say, however, that I think they get a little sloppier each time I see them. Maybe I am just losing my excitement, since I have seen them about 5,000 times by now. I don't know. They were great, but it was nowhere near the intensity of the first time I saw them. Or the second. Or the third, etc. Maybe it was the venue. I know the crowd had a lot to do with it, as well, but still, I felt a little let down. There was no Jake grabbing peoples' heads and screaming in their faces. In fact, there was really no crowd interaction at all. I don't even know what to think about it. I think I am just going to blame this on the crowd, but I don't know how much I am just forcing myself to think that since I love them so much. I think I just need them to play in the alley behind my apartment before I make a full-on decision.

So all in all, the show was pretty damn good. My entire party of ragers got a little wounded, and the music was great. Plus there was booze, and booze is our lifeblood. I just wish that the crowds at these shows didn't suck so bad all the fucking time. I literally think I am becoming "that guy" that sits around and thinks about how things used to be "back in the old days."

So Sick It Hurts: Unleashed - "Midvinterblot"

2008-04-13T16:32:00.004-04:00

*Editor's Note: The following review was sent to me from a new writer who shall be worshiped under the name GnarHammer (now using Old Iron Blood). Hailing from Iceland, this sexy piece of man knows a thing or two about the metal that will have you thrashing into oblivion. Let's give him a warm welcome.*

Góðan daginn, one and all and welcome to my rant about the merits of Scandinavian metal as exemplified by Unleashed, the Lords of Viking Metal with their 2007 release: Midvinterblot. There will be NO arguing or whining about how "great" or "badass" American "metal" is in comparison because such things simply do NOT exist in the face of such UTTER sonic greatness that is Unleashed. It will be as if someone says to a meat eater that eating such fare is no better than eating fibrous vegetable slush. Complete lunacy! If you persist in your futile debate I will have no choice but to call upon Þór to smite you. No Valhalla for you, weakling!

There are few things in this Mortal world that bring happiness to a Norseman's heart besides bedding a fine wench, filling our bellies with ale in celebration of victorious triumphs over our weak enemies, breaking the skulls of said enemies, and doing so to the immortal slaying metal riffs of Unleashed. When the Valkyries themselves bang their long locks in reverence to such awe-some acoustic genocide then you know that you, pathetic weaklings as you are, should slit your wrists out of hopelessness for your so-called "metal" is nothing but the equivalent of sloppy feces. Your only hope is to give up all your ambition and pray, pray to Óðin that you may have a honorable death and not that of a peasant. All hail Óðin!!!

With such reverent lyrics as:
"Let's drink to Þór. The return of the Sun. And to our dead. Yes!
raise your horns. Hail Þór! Drink to remember our dead!
Midvinterblot!,"
the faithful legions of Pagans will start to stand and claim the pit. Watch yourselves, Christians, for we will take our revenge for your ravaging of our culture as described in SALVATION FOR MANKIND:
"YEAH, resurrect so I can vomit on the body of Christ!"
for ours is a culture that is proud and still strong as told in THE AVENGER:
"Upon this land his forefathers walked. The call from the past.
That warms his heart. Decades pass by, the changing of time.
Still there's a fire that burns inside. Óðin!...hear my call!
Óðin!...hear my call!!."
Metal and it's Lord of Lords, Death Metal, was born in the North and no imitation will stand. Eons have passed, but with such Metal Gods as Unleashed stoking the proud fires within with such war cries as:
"On the endless path of war
We may be torn or beat
but we have sworn to stand as one
In victory or defeat.

We are the immortals.
From hell we rise.
We are the immortals.
Death Metal-no compromise

Others follow the winds of change.
You came to swear allegiance.
No conformity at all.
We didn't come to reason",
we will rise in the face of our enemies and claim what's ours. All hail Óðin!!! All hail Þór!!! For Valhöll awaits! May we die in battle with our swords clenched!! All hail!!!

"The age of the commoner is over. The age of the warrior dawns!"

Here's a little video of Unleashed playing "Midvinterblot" live in Holland.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (March 28)

2008-03-29T17:40:00.004-04:00

A day late, but not a dollar short... It's the new Heavy Rotation... Now with more conflict! So dig in and be merry.

Spleen Latifa:
01. F.Y.P. - Incomplete Crap
02. The Suicide File - Some Mistakes You Never Stop Paying For
03. Buzzkill - House of Bad Touch
04. Jesuseater - Step Inside My Death Ray
05. Various Artists - Deathwish Inc: Fighting Music Vol. 2
06. The Company Band - Sign Here, Here, & Here
07. Trial by Fire - Ringing in the Dawn
08. Once Nothing - First Came the Law
09. Untitled Music Project - Untitled Music Project
10. Ceremony - Scared People EP

The (Really Late*) Hellion:
01. Leatherface - "Minx"
02. Dead Kennedys - "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables"
03. 13 & God - "13 & God"
04. Sixtoo - "Jackals and Vipers in Envy of Man"
05. N.W.A. - "Straight Outta Compton"
06. Fifteen - "Lucky"
07. War from a Harlot's Mouth - Transmetropolitan"
08. The Hope Conspiracy - "Death Knows Your Name"
09. Mice Parade - "Mice Parade"
10. Blood Brothers - "Crimes"

*Sorry I am so late. It was a shitty week.

So Sick It Hurts: Cloak/Dagger - "We Are"

2008-03-29T16:36:00.002-04:00

I'm about to throw out a statement that might shake a few of you uninitiated to the core, so prepare yourself... Ready?... I honestly think Richmond's blitzkrieg known as Cloak/Dagger have quite possibly made one of the best records of 2007, one of the best punk/hardcore records of the last two decades... and maybe even (and time will tell) one of my favorite records of all time.

I know, I know... that's three extremely heavy statements to just throw out there about a first full-length record by a band that's still earning their stripes on the road, pounding the pavement like good American hardcore purists. BUT seriously, go pick up this 14-song bomb-blast of energy and intensity and see for yourself. These cats will rock your fucking face off, then hop in their van and leave you in a cloud of sweat and dust. Just like when I found Career Suicide, there was instant shock to my system of that refreshing original hardcore sound I missed out on cuz I was born during its heyday. And I still think I'd give my left arm to be able to be 15 or 16 in 1980.

Follow me here, this single album makes me wanna yell along to the lyrics, kick random people who walk too slow on the sidewalk, rock out air-band style like there's no tomorrow, spit in the face of every physical incarnation that exists solely to keep me in a rut or cause frustration, smash anything that resembles authority, give the finger to meaningless existence, and just flat-out dance around like a nutbag... All the things that drew me into the '80s hardcore fold so wholeheartedly. This album is pure, unbridled angst and urgency, and it should not be ignored... "They Are" definitely powerful shit.

Cloak/Dagger - "Set the Alarm", ""Runways", "Bended Knee", and "Kamikazes" (Live at The Fest 6, Gainesville, FL)

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (March 21)

2008-03-22T00:31:00.002-04:00

It's March motherfuckin' 21st! Just kidding, there's no need to celebrate such an arbitrary date. Oh wait, you're getting the Rotation! Celebrate, ragers!

The Hellion:
01. Witch Hunt - "...As Priorities Decay"
02. The Clash - "London Calling"
03. Unpersons - "III"
04. Zann - "Three Years in the Desert"
05. Lords - "Swords"
06. The Vandals - "Peace Thru Vandalism/When in Rome Do as the Vandals"
07. NOFX - "Punk in Drublic"
08. My Lai - "Learn, Forget, Relearn"
09. Usurp Synapse - "Disinformation Fix"
10. Fifteen - "Lucky"

Spleen Latifa:
01. A Girl A Gun A Ghost - Through the Eyes of Ahab
02. Small Brown Bike - Dead Reckoning
03. Leatherface - Mush
04. Blues - Death and Taxes EP
05. Off With Their Heads/Four Letter Word - One for the Road EP
06. Whiskey Sunday - Maldecido
07. Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
08. The Misfits - Evilive EP
09. Career Suicide - Attempted Suicide
10. Eternal Lord - Blessed Be this Nightmare

So Sick It Hurts: Suicide Silence - "The Cleansing"

2008-03-20T22:14:00.002-04:00

Suicide Silence wants to destroy you. Go ahead, ask them. I bet they won't deny it. Do they achieve this? Well, if they didn't, they wouldn't be so sick they hurt, now would they?

These fellas really do bring a pretty brutal experience to the table. For that, I say nice job. I've listened to this album quite frequently lately because I have been in the mood for something punishing. I am never disappointed by letting this bad boy take care of that thirst. While there are sludgier/breakdown parts, most of the album tears through the speakers with aggression depicted through speed. It's nice because the sound of the overall music has a place outside most of the cliche shit that bands have been putting out lately. Plus, there are death vocals. I love death vocals. They make me feel good inside.

I would certainly say this album is one of the better metal records I've heard recently, so you'd be doing yourself an injustice by not checking it out. It will pretty much just bash your head in. I, for one, love having my head bashed. You may want to check out their self-titled EP as well.

Here's the official video for "The Price of Beauty." Rage on!

How 'bout an Interview, Dummy: Josh Scogin of The Chariot

2008-03-17T16:50:00.002-04:00

So the nice gentlemen at Metal Injection allowed your friendly neighborhood Spleen Latifa to help out on another juicy little bit of awesometown. And this time it was in the form of an interview with Josh Scogin -- the man, the myth, and the legend behind the always-entertaining bruisers, The Chariot. Check out the video below for the interview the Spleen conducted for MI's site, and also click here for a handful of live clips of The Chariot and Poison the Well from the concert, as well as a shitty sound-quality interview with Chris from PTW. Oh, and don't be frightened... that is the mighty Spleen in the video, MI just made him come up with the fake commoner's name "Sean" to avoid confusion with the Bellicus Fulleron of Hellicus!

Spleen Latifa interviews Josh Scogin on Metal Injection

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (March 14)

2008-03-14T18:39:00.003-04:00

Let's get ready to ride motorcycles and rock out!

The Hellion:
01. Slayer - Christ Illusion
02. B.B. King - Best Of
03. Apocalypse Hoboken - Easy Instructions for Complex Machinery
04. Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool
05. Mogwai - Rock Action
06. Between the Buried and Me - Colors
07. Killwhitneydead. - Never Good Enough for You
08. Cattle Decapitation - Karma.Bloody.Karma
09. All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence
10. Through the Eyes of the Dead - Bloodlust

Spleen Latifa:
01. Latterman - No Matter Where We Go..!
02. Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed
03. Dear Tonight - We're Not Men
04. F.U.'s - My America
05. Artimus Pyledriver - Artimus Pyledriver
06. Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
07. The Acacia Strain - The Dead Walk
08. Scissorfight - Jaggernaut
09. Smog - A River Ain't Too Much to Love
10. Suicide Silence - The Cleansing

Featured Live Show: Paint It Black (In-Store Performance)

2008-03-08T16:56:00.004-05:00

3.01.2008 - Generation Records - NYC

If you recall an earlier post about the sick deal Generation Records had going on (the one where buying Paint It Black's fierce new album from the shop gets your name on the list for an exclusive in-store performance by the band...) then this won't be shocking news to you... and frankly, is easier on me so I don't need to bring you all back up to speed again! Regardless, this Featured Live Show is about that exact appearance by the P.I.B. dudes in the basement of Generation.

Also, tossing me another line, I did some snoopin' on the interwebs and tracked down some footage of the show. So this way, you can see exactly how it was, without me having to give you some snarky, cuss-laden rehash of how it went down. But I will go ahead and say that this show was definitely crucial to me for a specific reason: I finally figured out that I'm old. And I don't mean in the way like "oh, that show was so much fun, it'd made me feel like I was 15 again, cramped into a small room, climbing on top of and slamming into everyone around me, screaming along to the lyrics as loud as I possibly could, forgetting about anything else happening outside of the walls sweatily confining us in with the band" ... Sure that is all true, but I meant in a different way as well.

There was one quick moment when everything became clear to me... and it was when some red-faced teenager with a blond surfer-shag hairdo motioned "you goin' up?" (as in respects to crowd-surfing) to me, and I hesitated for a second, then waved him off. However, instantly after this exchange, I was subjected to an inner dilemma of sorts... because I realized the only reason I didn't boost myself up on everyone's backs, was because I was worried about losing the contents of my pockets(!) ... Don't get me wrong, stage-diving and crowd-surfing were among my favorite activities as a kid at shows, but this was the first time ever for my "sorry, I'm worried my phone, ipod, keys, and/or wallet may disconnect themselves from my person" moment... And I was ashamed... Not only was I ashamed, but I found myself at a crossroads. In front of me, a foot away, was a vicious pack of mosh-drunk kids going nuts for every powerchord, and behind me, ten feet back, sprinkled among the standers, were a couple gray-hairs and sensible older-punk types tapping their toes and bobbing their heads. And then it occurred to me... is the time just around the corner where i'll be stepping ten feet back and rubbing shoulders with a different group of show-goers?

Ah, fuck it... Who am I kidding? ... We here at the Belly never slow down... We fuckin' rage... And that's just the way it is... I probably just had a gas bubble or some heartburn... Cuz it's just like Dr. Yemin says, "We are invincible. We may bend, but we will not be broken."

Paint It Black - Live @ Generation Records NYC (three songs)

GnarVideo of the Week: Mastodon - "Seabeast"

2008-03-08T16:06:00.002-05:00

I noticed it's been a bit since we tossed you cats a zesty GnarVideo, and I know Wednesday is supposed to be the day for it, but F it, we missed it a couple times now, so here it is! It's also been a while since the Atlanta bruisers in Mastodon have showed their grizzled faces on the Belly. So breathe a sigh of relief Bellions, for the GnarVids are back... and the wooly Mastodons are ushering them back in.

Anywho, onto the real subject of this weekly column -- the videos. I forget how I stumbled back across this little gem of yore, but I am so fuckin' glad I did. I seriously had to watch the following video at least three times in a row to fully embrace it in all its glory. I would go on record and say it is absolutely gorgeous in most gnar way possible. From the film grain black and white stock, to the subtle skip of the footage, to the concept and execution, to the visuals and art direction... just simply flawless. Also, it manages to show the band jammin' out to the ditty without having to sully the video in some sort of cliche way... I'll stop here before I keep rambling and end up proposing to the video.

Take it for a spin, ace... See if you agree with me:

Mastodon - "Seabeast"

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Mar. 7)

2008-03-08T15:20:00.003-05:00

Sorry kiddies, we are a day late and a dollar short with this week's Heavy Rotation! However, the 'Tation steamroller cannot be stopped... and here it is for you:

Spleen Latifa:
01. The Ergs - Upstairs/Downstairs
02. See You Next Tuesday - Parasite
03. Fagatron - S/T
04. Jawbreaker - Bivouac
05. Give Up the Ghost - We're Down 'Til We're Underground
06. Born of Osiris - The New Reign
07. Meat Puppets - II
08. This Moment in Back History - The Cleveland Finger EP
09. The Germs - (MIA)
10. Beneath the Massacre - Mechanics of Dysfunction

The Hellion:
01. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
02. See You Next Tuesday - Parasite
03. Xiu Xiu - Women as Lovers
04. Ed Gein - It's a Shame That a Family Can Be Torn Apart...
05. The Locust - Plague Soundscapes
06. Terminally, Your Aborted Ghost - Inanimately Soundless
07. Logh - Every Time a Bell Rings an Angel Gets His Wings
08. God Dethroned - The Toxic Touch
09. Dillinger Four - Midwestern Songs of the Americas
10. Fugazi - The Argument

Psycho Killa:
1. The Red Chord – Prey For Eyes
2. Carbomb – Centralia
3. The Bronx – The Bronx
4. XXL – Spicchology
5. Whitechapel – The Somatic Defilement
6. Pastime: Roboting – Futuristic Ethnic Jam (single)
7. Converge/Agoraphobic Nosebleed – The Poacher Diaries
8. A Trillion Barnacle Lapse – The Elemental Gearbot
9. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (remastered)
10. Baroness – The Red Album

Featured Live Show: Dillinger Escape Plan / A Life Once Lost (Revisited)

2008-03-02T11:20:00.002-05:00

A bit back we threw up a post on the Dillinger Escape Plan / A Life Once Lost show in NYC. Which, if you didn't make it out to it, was nothing short of fucking brilliant. However, there was a little special addition to the punch of this monumental occasion... Your friendly neighborhood Spleen Latifa worked like a busy little bee for the month or so following the show to give you greedy Bellions something to righteously blow your minds on.

What is the fancy gift you ask? Well, early December, right before the show, the Spleen hooked up with the kind gentlemen at Metal Injection and helped them film the glorious show to make it a nice tri-camera affair, and then took all the tapes home from the live sets and edited them up all sexy-like. So below you will find two samples of these clips, and a link to where you can shoot over and see all the live vids we posted up (of DEP, ALOL, Genghis Tron, and Shat) plus two rad interviews with Greg from Dillinger and the nice boys of the Tron. So without further chatterboxing, have at these clips and follow the link to watch the rest!

Find all the clips here on Metal Injection's video player

Dillinger Escape Plan - "Sunshine the Werewolf" (live)

A Life Once Lost - "Pain and Panic" (live)

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Feb. 29)

2008-02-29T18:44:00.003-05:00

The Hellion: (bustin' out old records edition)
01. Shikari - Shikari 7"
02. 31 Knots - It Was High Time to Escape
03. Afrika Bambaataa - Looking for the Perfect Beat
04. M.D.C. - Millions of Dead Cops/More Dead Cops
05. Russian Circles - Upper Ninety b/w Re-Enter 7"
06. Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Kill the Client - Split 7"
07. Apocalypse Hoboken/Oblivion - Split 7"
08. Misfits - Collection II
09. Burnt By the Sun/Car Bomb - Split 7"
10. Placebo - Sleeping with Ghosts

Psycho Killa:
01. Acacia Strain – The Dead Walk
02. Lock and key – Pull Up The Floorboards
03. Pig Destroyer – Phantom Limb
04. Saetia – A Retrospective
05. Early Morning, Paris – Static Heart (single)
06. Arsonists Get All The Girls – The Game of Life
07. Bracken – We Know About the Need
08. Hot Cross – Fair Trades and Farewells
09. Doomriders – Black Thunder
10. Dying Fetus – War of Attrition

Spleen Latifa:
01. An Albatross - Eat Lightning, Shit Thunder
02. Defiance, Ohio - The Great Depression
03. Various Artists - Twin Cities Hardcore
04. The Bronx - Bats! EP
05. Coachwhips - Peanut Butter & Jelly
06. Whitechapel - The Somatic Defilement
07. Cephalic Carnage - Lucid Interval
08. A Band of Bees - Free the Bees
09. The Ruts - Something That I Said
10. Arson Anthem - Arson Anthem

So Sick It Hurts: Burnt By the Sun/Car Bomb - "Split 7""

2008-02-28T22:28:00.003-05:00

I picked up this limited pressing a few days ago, and I have to say, it rocks something powerful. Car Bomb is represented by two tracks on the split, but both are on their debut LP, so that kind of sucks. Of course, both songs (Pieces of You" and "M^6") are technical beauty though, and that is just special. Burnt By the Sun only has one jam on this thing, but it instantly became one of my favorites by them. It's called "Goliath," and it will shred your face off. The only thing that kind of sucks is the recording quality on the BBTS side. The Car Bomb side is crisp and clear, but the flip is not so much. It's cool though. The artwork is killer, and it's on red or orange vinyl. Whoa!

Check it.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Spleen has a Quarter-Life Crisis with Against Me!

2008-02-23T17:36:00.006-05:00

'Tis true... I am well on my way to becoming that creepy old man I have always dreamed about. And now today, a quarter in, with twenty five long ones under my belt, I shed one tear for the fact that I am no longer eligible for MTV reality shows, leaving my 18-24 demographic behind in a blaze of glory.

Against Me! was one of my crisis gifts... Check out this widget thing below to watch rad realtime footage and photos taken by the band and uploaded to their site instantly and wirelessly while they are currently on tour. If you do some descent slueth work, you can find me making an ass of myself at their photoshoot.

Also, if even more gnarspecial news... The American Black Lung descends on NYC tonight. We love them. Tonight there shall be true raging. Rage with us, or forever hold your peace.

Be excellent to each other... Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends.

Keep it wolf.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Feb. 22)

2008-02-22T17:29:00.005-05:00

Many apologies from the crew of this mastship known as the Belly! I know this week was kind of sparse on the juiciness you have come to know and love from us, and again, we are sorry. I for one had my place turned into a revolving door hotel for vagrants, transients, and NYC wayfarers, keeping me from expelling the awesomeness on the pages of the Belly. Expect us to be back in full metal jackets momentarily.

But even though we can sometimes get sidetracked and pulled away from the greater good, the Rotation must keep on rotating! So here it is, chokerazors:

Spleen Latifa:
01. Minutemen - Post-Mersh Vol. 3
02. Heads Will Roll - Heads Will Roll EP
03. Kid Dynamite - Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems
04. Superjoint Ritual - A Lethal Dose of American Hatred
05. Botch - Unifying Themes Redux
06. Alkaline Trio - Remains (don't ask)
07. The Nation of Ulysses - Plays Pretty for Baby
08. Caustic Christ - Can't Relate
09. The Detachment Kit - They Raging. Quiet Army
10. GG Allin & Antiseen - Murder Junkies

Rabble Arouser:
01. Against All Authority - 24 Hour Roadside Resistance
02. The Vibrators - Pure Mania
03. The Vandals - Do as the Vandals Do
04. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Twice Upon a Time
05. The Dropkick Murphys - Do or Die
06. Leftover Crack - Mediocre Generica
07. Bad Religion - Recipe for Hate
08. Social Distortion - Social Distortion
09. The Casualties - Die Hards
10. NIN - Pretty Hate Machine

The Hellion:
01. Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien
02. Sweet Cobra - Forever
03. Themselves - The No Music.
04. Dying Fetus - War of Attrition
05. Architect - All Is Not Lost
06. Anal Vomit - Deprivation
07. Racebannon - In the Grips of the Light
08. Mikkel Metal - Victimizer
09. Suicide Silence - The Cleansing
10. Hot Cross - Fair Trades and Farewells

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Keep Stopping By, Ragers!

2008-02-20T01:00:00.003-05:00

Over the past few months, there has been quite a surge in the amount of visits Belly Full of Hell has gotten. While a few thousand visits over a couple of months might not seem that big of a deal compared to some other pages, I would like to point out that the Belly is still fairly new and not sponsored in any way. Any visits we get are through our own hard work and all our readers' efforts, and to us, watching the numbers steadily climb each month as more and more people stop by is pretty rad. So keep it up, Bellions, and get some of your lazy rock and roll friends to check us out as well. The Belly makes everyone's life a little more worth living.

Thanks again, everyone.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Keep Commenting!

2008-02-16T21:30:00.008-05:00

I noticed we are starting to get a few comments on the past couple of posts. Keep it up, guys. We want to hear from the people that read this site. The point of it is to create musical discussion, and the only way that you can get involved is by leaving your mark. Say whatever you want: piss us off, agree with us, piss off others that have left comments, agree with others that have left comments. Put up your own heavy rotations under ours. Let us know what you think is kicking ass out there. Seriously, if we weren't interested in what anyone else thought, we could just sit around and argue with each other about music instead of taking the time to post our opinions. It would be ideal to one day approach some sort of community feel, but that won't happen without everyone's contributions. We know that our readers are probably just as gnar as we are and obviously listen to the same shit, or you all wouldn't bother to check the blog, so let it out. Say all that stuff that's been sitting in your mind. Do it to it!

Okay, well I'm going to go get drunk now, so have a bitchin' Saturday.

Heavy Rotation: Fellas of the Belly (Feb. 14)

2008-02-15T00:44:00.003-05:00

Here you go, Bellions!

The Hellion:
01. Mice Parade - Mice Parade
02. Disfear - Live the Storm
03. Propagandhi - How to Clean Everything
04. Suicide Silence - The Cleansing
05. Ghosts and Vodka - Precious Blood
06. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
07. The New Bomb Turks - Scared Straight
08. Ratatat - Classics
09. Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing
10. The National Acrobat - For All Practical Purposes, Is Dead

Spleen Latifa:
01. Paint It Black - New Lexicon
02. The Chariot - Unsung EP
03. Banner Pilot - Pass the Poison
04. Blues - Death and Taxes EP
05. Witches with Dicks - Manual
06. Heavy Heavy Low Low - Courtside Seats...
07. The Arrivals - Goodbye New World
08. The American Black Lung - And They Rode Their Weapons to War
09. Tuesday - Freewheelin'
10. My America is Watching Tigers Die - Narratives

Review Your Face Off: Horrorpops - "Kiss Kiss Kill Kill"

2008-02-13T11:57:00.008-05:00

This review started out as cheerful work banter via email. But as suggested by the Hellion, I have relocated it here for you all to see.

Summary of the new Horrorpops for your reading pleasure:

Song 1 – Thelma And Louise: You hear the title of the track said maybe about 5,000 times.

Funny Point Of Song: Just painful to hear the words ‘Thelma and Louise’ about 8 million times.

Song 2 – Missfit: Sounds like a 15 year old girl wrote it screaming about how she’s a ‘Missfit’ by someone else’s standards cause she wants to dye her hair and she’s from the wrong side of town.

Funny point of song: A breakdown of the music to ‘Our House’ but replace lyrics with “my fist, in the middle of your face.”

Song 3 – Boot To Boot: Just boring

Funny Point Of Song: None, just boring

Song 4 – Disco: Not that bad but not really that good either.

Funny Point Of Song: 80’s toms being used and her singing “I don’t know why anyone would want to dress up like an 80’s whore” after she goes on to sing in second song about tired of people oppressing her and not understanding her.

Song 5 – Kiss Kiss Kill Kill: This title track sounds like they were trying to make it epic for their sound. It’s not that bad again but I think we’ve found two more words she likes more than Thelma and Louise.

Funny Point Of Song: Wasn’t paying too much attention to the songs at this point, actually reading an article summary on how bear’s guard Roberto Garza met the Mexican president or some jazz.

Song 6 – Everythings Everything: Another love song in their arsenal of horror rock love songs.

Funny Point Of Song: At several points in the song it sounds like a track from an 80’s movie like 16 candles, breakfast club, etc. Funny after taking the time to make fun of 80’s music in “disco”

Song 7 – Hitchcock Starlet: Kudos for the title and thunder & lightning in intro (we can assume there’s lightning, although all audio, because thunder and the ol’ boltz go hand in hand). Here is where I notice that they really have an indescript sound except for at a couple key points where they strum a chord and you go oh there’s what they’re going for.

Funny Point Of Song: ‘She’s Like A Curry. I Want To Tell Her How Hot She Is, But She’ll Think I’m Being Sexist. She’s So Hot She’s Making Me Sexist. Bitch.’ Flight Of The Conchords is better.

Song 8 – Highway: I’ve given up 6 songs ago at finding a decent song on this album. So I turn my attention to something else after the first 15 seconds of a song. I’ve got nothing.

Funny Point Of Song: Thelma and Louise have gained a new partner, Lucille. Cool…

Song 9 – Horrorbeach Part 2: Is an instrumental surf rock-esque jam that I spent more time thinking about sea creatures during. It would be easy to write something about being glad about not hearing part 1 but it’s not even worth it.

Funny Point Of Song: I noticed on a previous funny point of song I wrote Poiny instead of Point. What? I don’t have much left I’m being bored by this album and the song. I’ve started this now I feel I must finish. Feel has the word eel in it. They’re in the deep cavernous areas of the water.

Song 10 – Refugee: I wonder if she consulted Wyclef (spell check yields Wycliffe which is much better) Jean on the lyrics of this one? No, I don’t think Wyclef has an interest in Copenhagen nor their refugees.

Funny Point Of Song: Writing Poiny instead of Point again. Also, hearing the words ‘Copenhagen Refugee’ and it being earnest attempt at being patriotic.

Song 11 – My Picture: Was on the covers of some magazines so now I will decide to suck it up. That’s what she was thinking. She’s also thinking ‘why did I get involved with a guy who likes to fuck dead chicks? I’m alive and sexually frustrated cause of my decision.”

Funny Point Of Song: Thinking about huffing on the dust off that’s sitting next to my CPU and hoping the song passes by the time the buzz ends. It’s funny how when I don’t like a song of theirs it’s really grating to me.

Song 12 – Private Hall Of Shame: Thank goodness it’s the last one and I don’t have to really do anything at work right now.

Funny Point Of Song: I skipped through it and 4 of the 5 spots I stopped at were ‘la la lada da’. Also noticed that section of my amazing review of this album was originally intended to be a positive section for the album but turned out to just be more goof juice* on their faces.

And just so you all know, the this album is available via Amazon for 2 terds, a kite, and some ants on a log (celery, peanut butter, and raisins). But my advice to you is flush the waste, fly the kite while enjoying a fun lunch time snack possibly reminiscent of your childhood.

*Thanks to Bernat, Kenny for the use of the words ‘goof juice’ together to form a funny way to say ejaculate.

Featured DVD: Flight of the Conchords - The Complete First Season

2008-02-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen this show, I feel sorry for you. It is, in my opinion, the funniest show ever besides Arrested Development. That's saying a lot, I know, but I stand by the statement. The show is about Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords trying to make it big in New York after moving from New Zealand. For the uninformed, Flight of the Conchords is a folk-comedy duo that writes some of the greatest songs known to man.

The show is set up so we see the two trying to go through daily life, but it is interjected with faux music videos. These can be seen as actual videos the band is making for a particular reason in the episode, as daydreams, or even hallucinations. Either way they come in, they are hilarious. The show itself is really fucking funny, too. The humor is kind of dry and subtle, and that shit is my favorite, so I'm down till I'm underground on this one.

This comes with two DVDs and a total of 12 episodes. I was a little disappointed to see that there weren't any extra features, but it's totally worth it anyway. Go buy this shit.

Here is one of the musical interludes. It comes up as Jemaine and Bret are about to be mugged.

Dispatches from Powerviolence: Exclusive Paint It Black Show... With a Twist

2008-02-10T11:48:00.000-05:00

And this bit of news is for the NYC kids on this homefront... So as we all should know, Dr. Yemin and his pummelers in Paint It Black are unleashing their third full-length in just a tiny bit, but the band has decided to pull a little suprise parlor trick for their big apple fans who are chomping at the bit for it. This trick in question is the releasing of their album, New Lexicon, a week early, but only at Generation Records, a block or so below Washington Sq. Park... And shitdamn, fellas, that ain't it! The week-early album will hit Generation on Tues, Feb 12th, and the first 50 people to pic up a copy of it will be "put onto a guest list for an exclusive in-store performance with the band on the afternoon of March 1st".

But don't fret, if you don't pick up one of those first 50 golden-ticket copies of New Lexicon, the PiB dudes will be at the Knitting Factory with Strike Anywhere, a little further downtown, in the evening after the in-store, March 1st... However, I seriously push jumping through the hoops to get the early album and the private show tix, cuz the reviews pouring in about the new LP are fuckin' sick and you know Yemin will be cutting off a piece of the ferocious for ya at Generation... Fuckin' bearfight.

Oh, also, a word to the wise from Generation Records: "You MUST bring a driver’s license or some form of ID with you when you purchase the CD. The guest list spot is NON-TRANSFERABLE. No excuses will be accepted. There will be further details on the show (start time, etc.) next week. Generation Records is located at 210 Thompson St. (between W.3rd and Bleecker St.) in Manhattan."

And check back on the Generation myspace page for any more news and info, jackfucks.

Paint It Black - "Cannibal" (live @ ABC No Rio, NYC)

Dispatches from Powerviolence: You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977-1984

2008-02-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

This one goes out to all my Chi-town homefront bruisers, with many apologies for being two months late on breaking this news... I recently stumbled across info that a documentary was put together on the crucial (yet fuckin' vastly overlooked) Chicago punk scene of the late '70s and early '80s. Though I'm currently and vehemently trying to scour the web on how to see this potential masterpiece, I'm having a little trouble. But that's not gonna stop me from twelve-gauging the news of its existence straight into your frontal lobe.

So anywho, do yourself a favor, dial into the interweb of dreams and do some research as well to find out how you can get a glimpse of this one. With the new trend of docs delving into glanced-over parts of the annals of music history (like American Hardcore, Punk:Attitude, Kill Your Idols, The Future Is Unwritten, Four Years in One Gulp, etc etc) it makes me wanna wet myself to hear that one is being put out about a topic that is usually thrust waaay off the radar. And maybe I’m a little biased at the same time, judging my place of birth, but fuck it. Shits’ll be rad.

It appears the premiere of the film was on Nov. 24th 2007, but I haven’t figured out yet what’s happening with it currently. Is it going on the festival circuit? Straight to DVD? Limited engagements? Are all copies of said film going to be burned in a pile in Grant Park? Haven’t figured all that shit out yet… But if you know anything more, and you’re holding out on us, then comment that shit so we can get the damn word! Also, here is the film’s myspace page if you wanted to keep checking back there for updates…

You Weren't There trailer:

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

2008-02-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

Booyah.

The Hellion:
01. Disfear - Live the Storm
02. Mice Parade - Mice Parade
03. God Dethroned - The Toxic Touch
04. Car Bomb - Centralia
05. Regurgitate - Sickening Bliss
06. The Faceless - Akeldama
07. Russian Circles - Enter
08. Hatesphere - Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes
09. Trash Talk - Plagues
10. Beirut - The Flying Cup Club

Spleen Latifa (mega into fanning flames this week):
01. hewhocorrupts - The Discographer
02. Refused - Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent
03. DRI - Dirty Rotten LP
04. Jawbreaker - Unfun
05. Corn on Macabre - I & II
06. Circle Jerks - Group Sex/Wild in the Streets
07. 7000 Dying Rats - Fanning the Flames of Fire
08. The Broadways - Broken Star
09. Poison the Well - Tear from Red
10. Millions of Dead Cops - Millions of Dead Cops/More Dead Cops

GnarVideo of the Week: The Chariot - "They Faced Each Other"

2008-02-07T10:33:00.000-05:00

All hail the concept video that actually fuckin works!

I just imagine when a band sits down with a director for a chatterboxing about how they are going to accomplish cookin' the rad with their new video, a lot of bullfuck ideas get thrown into the mix. That's why videos with horrendous CGI green-screen work, asinine car chases, and goofy theatrics that sully the original song exist in the music world today. But every once in a while a concept comes around that is executed in such an airtight manner that you can't help but wonder why the damn nobody has tried to land it before... This video is one of these said cases... Fuckin' tenfold.

As you can gather from the preview-still on the video player below, the gist of what lays ahead is sprawled out on the kitchen counter for ya. By all accounts, a simple premise, but as youtube has shown us time and time again, the sequential ordering of still images is an unforgiving bitch. However! In this video, The Chariot scamps bring the snazz and blur the brutal like we all knew they would. Having a photographer snap away 10 grand o' shots of the guys sledging away at their chosen track while sprinkling in the always necessary melee as well, and then assembling half of these pics into a flipbook of destruction(!) ... Not sure if that warranted an exclamation or not, so you get a subliminal one that you can utilize if you see fit... Oh, and also, this vid is honor of The Chariot show next week with Poison the Well... Be there cuz we're squares, jerkcity.

The Chariot - "They Faced Each Other"

Important Moments in Powerviolence: Oh Shit, The Mark Shows Itself.

2008-02-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

....... The end is nigh.