SYMPHONY OF GRIEF-demo tape(1993)

01.infernal creation
02.assimulation of souls
03.cerebral hemorage

I bought this one on a whim in Long Island on a record shopping spree I was on with my buddies Artie and Ron.
The band as you could probably guess play a pretty awesome style of doom/death metal. Most the songs are played heavy and slow, with some sudden bursts of speed thrown in here and there. I'd say they are a pure mixture of Incantation and Grief. Semi Obscure shit for sure, these dudes were from Riverside NJ. This is their second demo, they also released a few 7"s, but broke up in around 1996. Cool stuff for sure.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5zemzzzz40e

TOKYO BLADE powergame 7" (1983)

01.powergame
02.death on mainstreet

Tokyo Blade were a second tier nwobhm band that were formed in 1982 in the UK. The band was wicked melodic, sort of power metalish, yet with a tinge of rawness(on the first 3 7"s at least). This is the bands third release, and third single. You definitely get a sense that these guys were influenced by the likes of Maiden. I'd say they heard them, and decided to form Tokyo Blade. I don't know to many friends that dif or dug these guys cept myself, Jeff Jellen, and maybe "dirty" Ron Gramaldi.
Another record I purchased at the Strawberry's records and tapes in Guilderland NY. I'm guessing the band photo on the back cover persuaded me to buy this ep. I think I liked these guys so much, that I bought both the LPs that followed this ripping single. This is the kind of stuff I'd blast on my shit little stereo after getting out of school. Blast a few songs of nwobhm, go out and burn one in the woods, come back in blast a bit more metal and then eat a box Coco Puffs, Captain Crunch, or Quisp.

http://www.mediafire.com/?m2wwvjwyl2i

CCM into the void LP (1986)

1. Feel Like
2. Enemy
3. Sterilized
4. Sorry
5. R.M.
6. Daymare
7. Romeo & Juliet
8. Strange Pain
9. Crushed By the Wheels of Industry
10. Into the Void

I feel like I should be posting some metal cause I'm going to see Saxon tonight. Fuck it, I've been listening to this hardcore tasty platter all weekend.
Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers were maybe the 3rd or 4th Italian Band I'd ever heard. I think my initial exposure to them was from the almighty "peace compilation" dbl LP in 1985 or '86. They were also featured on a number of tape comps that I recall being passed around and traded back then. By the time I was getting into these guys, the 7"s were already sorta hard to find, and long out of print. The singer was supposedly a maniac live, cutting himself up and shit. When I got this LP the pictures on the inside sleeve made the dude look seriously sick. This was the sorta band I wanted to see live. I had already seen Raw Power at the farm, but I was dying to see CCM, the Wretched and Negazione live. Italy was the shit in the early to mid 80's. As I recall many die hards were sorta let down by this LP, not me, It's fierce and noisy.
This album got pumped alot in Niskuyana NY in 1989. I had just moved back to Albany from SF and had made friends with a bunch of punks that actually "got it". Most the other people I'd met were like NYC moshcore fanatics that seemed more interested in the violence or fighting at shows rather then the community, and the music. I'm talking about my friends, NIck, Mike J, Damon Douglas, Steve Watts, Neil Grimmer, Luke, Roger, Adam O'tool, Josh Baker, and Kevin O Sullivan. These dudes actually "got it". We would party at Damon's parents pad, listening to good music, smoking the hookah, and planning on how we would "take over" the local hardcore scene. This album was a sound track to that friendship, and those hang outs. If I recall correctly Damon bought like three copies of this LP from Timojhen at Blacklist Mailorder? Any how that is how I ended up with my first copy.

Strange pain
It's here it's in my head
Something that's gonna kill me dead
STRANGE PAIN
Driving me insane
I'm already drowning in my brain
I hear faces playing dice in my veins
My head is gonna crack
So many things making me bleed from inside
Another door's slammed on my face
You know I'm trapped forever in this cage
CHORUS
Red lights blue lights
Flashing fear
"There's too much noise" and you don't bother to hear
Somebody else's kicking my face
Another suicide and not even a trace
CHORUS
I thought we were walking together
Fighting for our very life
I guess now something was wrong right from the start
And now the pain is tearing me apart
And it's too late
JUST DISINTEGRATE!

http://www.mediafire.com/?j2ngqymgmmh

RAVEN hard ride 7" (1981)

01.hard ride
02.crazy world

Raven were the shit to me in the early 80's. They were a three piece with two brothers playing bass and guitar(the Gallagher Bros.). They formed in New Castle I think in around 1976. They started off as part of the NWOBHM scene in the late 70's into the early 80s, and then moved more into the speed metal vein, even touring with Metallica(when they were still gods). I Definitely think these guys were underrated and helped to create speed metal. I mean come on man, the Rock until you drop LP was released in '81, and was crucial for the time period. I don't think Bands like Kreator would have even formed if it weren't for shit like this. Its hard to fathom why people don't give these guys the credit they deserve. I mean I get it...Unfortunately they put out a bunch of really bad records after the almighty "all for one" LP.
When I hear the screams during "crazy world", it makes me fucking happy, and I wanna lose it. Early on though, when they were on Neat Records and putting out singles, they really had a punk type attitude, and look to them. The logo was so awesome looking. This is about as as These dudes were one of those UK bands that made me discover, and kept me buying the Neat Records eps. I could usually find them at Strawberry's Records and Tapes in Colonie NY. I'd have posted the 1st single instead of this one, but its already on another blog I follow. These songs both later came out on Rock until you drop. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?14ykyy5oejz

the DETONATORS emergency broadcast system LP(1983)

1.condemned to freedom
2.crime and punishment
3.angry young men
4.cloak and dagger
5.life is hell
6.mindless control
7.we're waiting
8.black and white
9.push us in, push us out
10.open your eyes
11.not valid
12.guitars or guns
13.do you understand?

I was turned onto the Detonators by the guitar player of Operation Ivy in perhaps 1986-87. The Dude was known as Lint back then, and was at almost every punk show in the Bay Area back then. I can recall him always buzzing around the audience at Gilman Street and just chatting it up with fellow punks. Lint had a true love for the scene back then, it was obvious when you talked to him. In one conversation I had with him about older California punk bands, he mentioned the Detonators. He gasped in aw when I told him I'd never heard them, and then went on to tell me that how his band was hugely influenced by them more than any other bands.
I later bought this LP at a record shop in Livermore California, and realized I had actually seen the Detonators at the Farm.
The Detonators started off as an L.A. punk band, then moved to Portland Oregon. When I listen back to this I can hear some skinhead influence on the band. Side 2 has riffs that really do seem stolen by op iv. Enjoy the core.

http://www.mediafire.com/?tj4vxvuiywj

HOLOCAUST live from raw & live tour 7" (1981)

1.lovin feelin danger
2.no nonsense
3.death or glory
4.forcedown breakdown

Holocaust and Mythra would be my two favorite "under the radar" New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands(meaning I'm not including the obvious Iron Maiden, etc). These kids really thought they were part of a movement, though this movement didn't have much of a social or political agenda(like punk). Dudes just wanted to bring metal to the masses, and have fun playing great music and partying hard.
This ep includes four songs recorded live in 1980. The sound is amazing, and one can see how people had become excited about these guys. You can also hear the influence these young gents had on the likes of Metallica. The guitar solos at the end of the ep on breakdown were ripped by Metallica for sure. People always mention Diamond Head when talking about Metallica, I hear Holocaust. I spin this one often as you can tell by the rip. There is also video from this show that is pretty amazing. Its available on Dvd, I've seen it on Netflix oddly enough. The lyrics to death and glory are simply amazing....Enjoy.

Death Or Glory

I get so bored
Going nowhere...pissed off with life
Don't need no girl to hold me...
I only love my knife
When it's night
And I'm out on my own on the street
There's murder on my mind

I don't hate authority...
They know I'm not all bad
I know that nobody loves me...
It don't make me sad
I'm gonna stand up
To the ones who bring me down...
Murder on my mind

I can feel it now
It grows stronger every day
And my hatred grows
More and more in every way

Sing a song of death and glory
Sing a song of spite
Sing a song of good and evil
I'm gonna win my fight
I just wanna flush the shit from the street...
Murder on my mind

http://www.mediafire.com/?jc2mtzbycto

SINISTER s/t 7" (1990)

1.compulsory resignation
2.spiritual immolation
3.putrefying remains

I really stopped paying attention to most death metal in around 1993. The production, and the sounds of most bands started to sound exactly the same, with almost no variations after a while. There didn't seem to be much new happening, 'cept maybe for the over use of drum triggers. I was turned onto early death metal through my early love of metal of course, but also it stemmed from the UK stench and crust scenes of the late 1980's, and was just sort of a gradual progression I think.
Sinister were from Holland, and definitely had that Possessed, Napalm Death, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse vibe going, but added their own twist to it. Pretty sure the bassist was like 15 years old on this release.
My old band Monster X was influenced heavily by this stuff. "cross the styx" blew our minds, and John def tried to sound vocally like this. Many years later, when I was recording a Oath record in Holland, I noticed Sinister records on the wall, and commented on them to the Engineer who went on to tell me they recorded there. I was stoked. I like to blast this in my headphones when I go to the gym. It pumps me up.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yi1m9wdbo40

SLEDGEHAMMER living in dreams 7"(1980)

1. Living In Dreams
2. Fantasia

Sledgehammer were of the originators playing that important first wave of the NWOBHM. They formed in 1978, and played their very first gig with almighty Motorhead. This record is this three piece bands second release, and isn't all that "heavy", but still through its roughness fits into that scene. The self financed ep was released after the hype the band got from their appearance on the Compilation "Metal for Muthas".
Through that compilation is how I'd heard of the band, and picked up this single. I don't think I went any further in uncovering any of the bands later LPs or anything because by this time I as looking to move forward into heavier/faster stuff. Maiden was already on my radar, and had developed speed, gallops, and heaviness(while still rockin). In "Livin in dreams" the vox sorta remind me of Roger Daltrey singing to some faster/heavier hardrock. The riffs in both songs on this ep are pretty memorable for sure. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mqm9ggmpt0y