TOXIC HOLOCAUST-reaper's grave 5"

1.reaper's grave
2.death brings death

I met Joel grind, the man behind Toxic Holocaust through Yosuke of Nuclear War Now Records. Yosuke had released the "evil never dies" LP, and knew that I'd be interested in releasing a 7" from the one man band. I was totally into the idea and started talking to Joel about releasing the death master 7" on my label Gloom. I can recall talking to him, and being pretty shocked that he was only 21, as he'd pretty much been able to nail the metal sound of the 80's better than some oldies had been trying to do again. The stuff seriously sounded genuine and real.
I think Joel was really happy with how the death master 7" turned out, and the fact that my distribution was able to have it reach people he'd never reached before(mainly hardcore/punk kids)made him happy.
We later decided to release a 5" ep... A strange format that we were both super excited in putting out. Joel wrote the songs specifically for this ep, as they couldn't be over 2 minutes a side. Both songs he wrote were short, but you'd never really know it.
My favorite story from him was the night he'd gotten home from recording the vocals for the ep. He told me he was staying with his folks, and didn't wanna freak them out to much by recording them in their condo or whatever, so he drove out to an Applebees parking lot, and recorded the vocals there, in his car. The recording, and songs sorta are a throwback to the T.H. demo roots... raw and primitive. The 5" sold out immediately, as there were only 500 copies pressed.
I really loved working with Joel Grind... a great dude indeed. I was sorta bummed to get a cease and desist order from the people over at Relapse after he signed to the label. I'm happy that he's doing well, and getting to do what he loves to do in a larger scale.
I saw him twice last year, once opening for Gwar, the other time opening for Napalm Death


http://www.mediafire.com/?zl932ktl9603g24

IMPULSE MANSLAUGHTER burn one naked, and nuke it 7"(1986)

1.sack o shit
2.ratbag
3.slithis
4.nothing
5.sedation
6.chaos
7.contradiction
8.oatmeal

I was turned on to this band by my neighbor/friend Eric Meade when I lived in San Francisco, back in the mid 1980's. Eric turned me on to so much in the way of obscure music back then. He was one of the most open minded people I'd ever met.
I think I heard the LP first, and then later mail ordered this ep from the band directly(thanks MRR). These guys played some Some pretty Brutal crossover, that I could relate to in every way. It was a great merging of metal and punk. Listening back its so ahead of its time. This records been with me a long time now. The band was always pretty obscure, and really under-rated hailing from Chicago. The vocals are pretty harsh sounding considering the time period. Back in the 80's it was sort of a no brainer that a 7" was worth picking up if it had 8 or more songs on it. Still hard to believe that I used to order 7"s for $2.50ppd. Where have all the good times gone?

http://www.mediafire.com/?2yytjkkmywt

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

SEPSISM severe carnal butchery demo(1994)

1.Sadistically Mangled And Devoured
2.Sodomizing The Exhumed
3.Vulgar Strangulation
4.Removal Of Putrid Entrails
5.Blistering Burnt Mutilage

Sorry to the die hard punks that follow this blog... But I'm on a heavy death, grind kick lately. I'll post some hardcore punk soon.
In the early 1990's I did a 'zine called "Gloom". It later spawned my record label, Gloom Records.. My buddy/band mate Jim MacNaughton and I would at times do split zines... he did Dressed To Oppress, which was a really good read, and always got chuckles out of me. It was more a punk/hardcore zine, while Gloom was more a metal zine. At any rate doing the zine some how got me on a list where I was getting regular stuff for reviews from Metal bands/labels. It was actually over whelming, and had me receiving far to much crap. The zine had gotten good reviews in metal maniacs, and I became flooded with mail, and had to print up hundreds of copies of the crap 'zine. At any rate Sepsism were one of the bands that regularly sent me their tapes. I think this is the second one I got from them. They did a total of three demos before releasing a "legit" release. I loved the band straight away because of their gruff low vocals that made you just want to mimic what the dude was howling. This stuff is very tight, and low end sounding. Jim would make fun of this style calling it "cookie monster vox". This one is for fans of early 90's death metal. Enjoy..


http://www.mediafire.com/?d82o5r7jha2w2lq

PARADISE LOST lost paradise LP (1989)

1.intro
2.deadly inner sense
3.paradise lost
4.our savior
5.rotting misery
6.frozen illusion
7.breeding fear
8.lost paradise

I bought this gem at the Music Shack in Albany in 1990. My friend Roger Van Dusen who was a die hard, elitist type political punk guy who pretty much hated metal was eying this one because of the cool looking sci fi cover art work... and because the LP was on Peaceville(which started off as a crust punk label). Somehow Roger convinced me to buy it. Dude lived next store to me on State street so he came over and listened to to the slab. I think it was the first metal album he'd ever heard that he actually could admit to liking. The next time I saw Rog he had laid out the cash for this "import", and was admitting to becoming fond of certain types of metal.
This was another record/band that was highly influential to me and the music I was playing in the early days of Mx, and even DOF to an extent.
Paradise Lost put out a few records after this one that I dug, but after a while they sort of went the Metallica route of sucking ass. What was great about these guys was that they never really blasted, or played brutally fast... they just chugged along nice and slow in a doomy sorta way, that made it easy to nod your head to.

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

NAPALM DEATH the peel sessions (1989)

1.the kill
2.prison without walls
3.dead part 1
4.deceiver
5.lucid fairytale
6.in extremis
7.blind to the truth
8.negative approach
9.common enemy
10.obstinate direction
11.life
12.you suffer pt 2
13.multi-national corporations
14.instinct of survival
15.stigmatised
16.parasites
17.moral crusade
18.worlds apart
19.M.A.D.
20.divine death
21.c.s.
22.control
23.walls/raging in hell
24.conform or die/sob

Okay, I'm finally getting settled in my new castle, and have started to unpack stuff... this one popped up in a box, and got me thinking.
These were originally recorded in two different sessions in 1987 and 1988 with the almighty Lee Dorrian on vox. Everyone knows he was part of ND's best line up. I don't think I had heard these sessions until maybe 1990. My friend Devon Cahill who later went on to form Monster X with me, and then later played in Dropdead used to work at the Ben and Jerry's on Lark Street in Albany NY. You could be hanging out around Albany back then, walk into Ben and Jerrys and hear this master piece blasting loud over the stereo system. It was hilarious to see Dev behind the counter with a tie dye shirt on blasting this shit, smiling, and scooping ice cream. I can remember this one, and Some Bolt Thrower as well. Not sure how the regular customers stomached the tunes, but it was on heavy rotation for sure.
At any rate I've had this tape for almost 2 decades, it sounds great blasting loudly! This band def influenced stuff that Monster X did.
Enjoy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?udwtw32ktz0