EUCHARIST-S/T LP(1996)

1.Plague
2.Born In A Mess
3. Exit
4.Promised
5.Splintered
6.Spoon Fed
7.Fangs
8.Praying For Failure
9.Body And Blood    
10.Frozen Minds
11.You've Been Had
12.Sensory Deprivation
13.Invincible
14. Fooled Again
          
Here is another obscure classic hardcore release from the 90's.  Eucharist were from Richmond Virginia, and put out this 12" LP, and another four compilation tracks.  Unfortunately the band never did a demo. The band did an entire U.S. tour with Suppression, and played the North East pretty regularly.  My connection to this is that one of my best friends, Mark Telfian formed this band after leaving my band Devoid Of Faith, and moving from Albany down south.  Mark played on many a records including, Conniption, DOF, Death Squad, By The Throat, Hail Mary and Limp Wrist.  This one is by far his most triumphant recording.  The songs are short, tight, and very harsh sounding.  Totally brutal stuff indeed.  I always thought the band was under the influence of Econochrist meets Citizens Arrest or Rorschach.  When I mentioned this to Mark he laughed and said "Negative Approach dude".  This came out on Mountain, a label run by Chris Jenson.  Enjoy!

A sample:





http://www.mediafire.com/?ebp0xkvxxhblvc9

FRONT LINE-Outside your window 12" (1986)

1.here to stay
2.fight back
3.new generation
4.your time
5.all i want
6.I remember

This is a band that while I was living in S.F. I think many of us took for granted, because they played shows in the Bay Area all the time. I saw these guys a lot, seemed like they were on every show. Sometimes I wasn't even paying attention to them. They always sorta reminded me of a younger, poor mans Adolescents. I bought the 12" before actually ever seeing them. The reason I bought it was because I noticed there was a song titled "fight back". I was pretty sure this must be a cover of the Discharge song with the same name. Nope, not even close. I was pretty closed minded at this point in my life, and really just wanted loud and fast, so this 12" sorta let me down when i plunked the needle down on the platter. It took me years to rediscover this. Its great.. melodic, and catchy as fuck punk rock. Pretty sure these guys were from San Jose(although the addy on the back jacket is from somewhere else). It was produced by someone from the Faction(not Steve C). Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6sgf8yawml2g9lj

DARK KNIGHT 12" EP(1984)

1.the grass is greener
2.cabin fever
3.when all else fails
4.return of the dark knight

I was in 11th grade when this 12" came out. I remember it came out a year or so after the first Queensryche 12". I recall being really stoked that there was yet another band from NY playing the style of metal these guys were doing. Most metal was coming from the other coast(or England). I was one who appreciated bands like Riot, the Rods, Talas, and Anthrax because of their proximity to where I lived. NY state pride... These guys all had made me realize that being in a band and writing your own songs was possible.
This stuff is pretty cool, but is seriously for those that love metal. Its so hard for me to describe this stuff. Sorta under the radar, cheesy power metal? I love this shit... unfortunately this was all the band ever released.

http://www.mediafire.com/?d28v4e35ker7su6

MEDIEVAL STEEL- Medieval Steel 12"(1984)

1.Medieval Steel
2.Warlords
3.Battle Beyond The Stars
4.Echoes

So I went to see the Rods at a record store last week in NJ. Before they played I started going through the stores used vinyl bins, and within 5 mins I came across this classic. I was stunned when I saw it...Its a 12" that I'd actually been looking for for a really long time. This has everything 80's written all over it. The sound, the production, the riffs, and the Vocals. I'd first heard these guys in the mid 1980's, as they'd been compared to a local metal band called Stonehenge from the area I was living in at the time. I was a huge Stonehenge fan as I'd seen them win a battle of the bands in Colonie NY in maybe 1983. I'd never been able to track this 12" down due to its limited pressing(something like 500 made). Back then we did a lot of tape trading, so thats how I managed to finally hear these Memphis TN metal heads. This isn't for everyone(its pretty traditional heavy metal). This stuff just really takes me back to high school. If you dig the likes of early Queensryche, Fates Warning, and Omen you might get a hard on for this stuff. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?84k55tii7eddae7

MORTAL SIN voyage of the disturbed 12" ep(1989)

1.voyage of the disturbed
2.voyage of the disturbed(live)
3.for richer for poorer(live)
4.terminal reward(live)

This is not as awesome as the debut from these Australian thrashers. This stuff is highly influenced by "master of puppets" and the fame and attention that Metallica was receiving at the time. Sort of disappointing back then... but I can really appreciate it more today. The riffing is really catchy and killer.
There are only 4 songs on this 12", and "voyage" is the only studio song, while the other 3 songs are supposedly live. All the songs later appeared on the "face of despair" LP. Any thrasher should definitely listen to "mayhemic destruction" first. You can find it in the archives of this blog.
I grabbed this one at Music Shack in Albany. It was somehow filed in the Rap/singles section. Yeah I know.. what was I doing in that section? Back then I was getting into P.E., NWA, Too Short,, the Ghetto Boys, etc. Finding this one probably snapped some sense into me that day, and got me out of the rap section.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nitjjznqmgk

STALAG 13 in control 12"(1984)

1. Conditioned
2. No Excuse
3. Black Stix/Silver Badge
4. Sometime
5. Clean Up Your Act
6. Black and Grey
7. What Are You Looking For
8. The Choice is Yours
9. In Control

This post is inspired by a comment(and e mail conversations)I had with scab R.K.L. bassist "Ricky", who played with the band after Vince and before Joe. Ricky informed me that he also helped form and played with Stalag 13, but left right before they recorded the 12".
This got me thinking about the record, and pursued me to listen to it again after more then a decade.
I think Its easy to tell they were influenced by 7 Seconds, and Minor Threat. Its also easy to tell that Uniform Choice must have been pretty influenced by Stalag 13. You know, The vocals being sung in that high pitched screaming manner, with the catchy, melodic, fast music just brings it all together.
I own two copies of this nowadays, but I bought my original copy at the Record Vault on Polk street in S.F. This was a record that Andy from Attitude Adjustment pushed on me. It didn't take much to push, I was already into the cover art work. I had no idea who the Hernandez Bros. were back then, so this was my introduction to their cartoony comic book style of art. I went on to follow their careers in the comic book industry, and their book "Love and Rockets" pretty much turned me on to other underground, or more Adult themed comics.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzbfwezryzq

BEDLAM-lost in space 12"(1986)

01.lost in space
02.mongoofy
03.burn one
04.knife in my back
05.rotting from the inside out
06.cutback
07.generation landslide

My wife and I have recently been looking at perhaps moving from Brooklyn NY to the wonderful state of NJ. I figured I'd pay some respect to the godawful state of NJ on this wonderful 4th of July by posting some bad, yet obscure NJ hardcore.
Seriously though... I now know where West Orange is because we looked at houses there, and the address where this 12" was recorded was in an area I'd recently been while driving around.
I just got a copy of this record after selling all my Bedlam stuff in the early 1990's, due to some song they had about A.i.d.s. Yup, I was sort of a pc dickhead for sure. The song was stupid, and isn't on this record, so I have no idea what I was thinking. I guess I took my hardcore pretty seriously back then.
I first heard these guys in maybe 1986, when a neighbor/friend in San Fran named Eric Meade made me the best mix tape I think I've ever heard. The tape featured at least 4 songs each by the likes of Jerrys Kids, CIA, Reagan Youth, the Bad Brains, FU's, Sacred Denial(the good LP songs), 76% Uncertain, Void, Beastie Boys, SSD, and yup... Bedlam. I liked the band for their dirgy style, and the harsh production that you could tell was recorded and mixed by someone that had no idea what to do with the bands sound, so hey, lets add some reverb!
This record has everything you need, fast parts, slow mosh parts, and some weird psych stuff mixed in as well.
I hadn't seen this Friend Eric in almost 20 years, and was wondering about what ever happened to him. I went to Amoeba Records with my pal Matt Average, and Average starts asking me, "hey man, wasn't that guy in C2D"? I looked and was like...holy shit!!! I walked up and asked him if he used to live off of Fell street in S.F, and told him who I was. It was so weird, and very cool. Eric had really made a huge impact on me 20 years earlier, and I'd been wanting to tell him that.

http://www.mediafire.com/?momztddibln

SODOM-ausgebombt 12"(German version)1989

01.Ausgebombt
02.don't walk away
03.incest(live)

There are only Three songs on this 12"ep, but they're all special if you're a die hard Sodom fan. Ausgebombt is done in German here, and the vocals done this way really make this sound punk as shit. The song originally came out on the agent orange LP, but was done in English there, so this is a little treat. Next up is "don't walk away" which is a Tank cover, and also sounds different from the LP version. Last up is an excellent live track, that is spot on, and sounds like a metal fueled blur. You know... a whirlwind, the way Sodom usually sound.
This Band were gods to me in the 1980's along with Destruction, and Kreator. listening to them gets me thinking about high school and how much I hated every aspect of it. Bands like this helped to create an escape for me.
RIP Witchhunter!

http://www.mediafire.com/?juwwyyznmaz