Supreme Brutality, part IV - D.R.I.

Because I'm feeling a bit punk/hardcore this weekend. Here are the fathers of crossover: D.R.I.









I don't care what anyone says - their later shit is awesome, too!

Supreme Brutality, part III - WOLFBRIGADE

We're gonna take a detour today and touch upon one of the greatest crust/hardcore punk bands out there: Wolfbrigade. These Swedes aren't your typical crust punks, as they have very metallic tendencies (think Iron Maiden), which mainly include lots of guitar melodies and such. Actually, I would say these guys are a much more aggressive Bad Religion! Personally, they're one of my favorites and I'm extremely happy to be seeing them among all of the other pristine bands on the bill. Anyway, here's a few Wolfbrigade vids to get you stoked.

Solid Gold

No words.

Supreme Brutality, part II - SODOM

Here's the second installment to Supreme Brutality, the MDF special: fuckin' SODOM!







And of course...

Supreme Brutality, part I - AUTOPSY

I purchased a ticket to the outrageous Maryland Deathfest a few days ago and I wanna use this opportunity to get all of you stoked. If you haven't bought a ticket yet, I highly suggest you do so in the very near future. Anyway, for the next few days I'm going to put up a few videos from each of the bands that are playing (at least the ones I'm excited for). Without further nonsense, here's Autopsy.

Post Apocalyptic Inquisition, part II

So here it is: part dos of the Post Apocalyptic Inquisition. Enjoy!

*****

Demonical - I first stumbled upon these guys after learning that they will be playing at Germany's Party.San Open Air Festival. I've heard of all the bands on that announcement but them, so I checked them out. All I can say is, wow, pretty much the only band now that can mix old-school Swedish Death Metal feeling with modern production! These guys are aggressive, ruthless, heavy, and make memorable songs... what's there to hate? If only every death metal band these days that can learn from them. I immediately passed these guys on to some friends and they're as hooked as I am. That has to say something. I ordered their latest (and second) album, Hellsworn, through Hell's Headbangers to cut import costs a bit. I still need the first one, Servants Of The Unlight, but it's not as good as their latest. I'm guessing it's for the (better) line-up and that these guys know how to progress. This band truly has it all!



Killer - These guys were passed on to me by a friend of mine who I believe discovered while in Europe. I remember it clearly: I was over at his place and he said, check out this band from Belgium called Killer. They worship Motörhead. Frankly, any band that worships Motörhead is good in my book. The album he gave me was Shock Wave, and if you like your heavy metal done right, look no further. I'm not exactly sure as to what else I should add about Killer other than they're great. You can order their CDs through Mausoleum Records, though it's a bit pricey. If you can find their LPs second hand (like I did, at a record fair here), grab 'em. If not, definitely order some CDs.



Dark Angel - Ok, these guys aren't the most "underground" band but they are definitely INSANELY overlooked. When one speaks about the Bay Area thrash scene, especially the second wave when the music got even more aggressive, Dark Angel is hardly mentioned. There's the first Testament album, Sadus, Exodus' first, and even Possessed (again, a shame). Well, let me reintroduce Dark Angel. A band so fast and insane that you just can't help but punch people in the face. I don't know what to say about these guys. Gene Hoglan on drums. Not convinced? Then get out. Just listen to Darkness Descends because that will make everything clearer.




Agent Steel - Let's be real here: Agent Steel is the Bret Hart of speed metal. They're the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. They are the excellence in executing speed metal. The early German scene is great, but Agent Steel's better. John Cyriis resembles a true front man. Here's a man who was an extremely talented singer, songwriter, and a true character. No one knows his true history. Some say he's actually an alien. Whatever the case may be, they will never be the same without him. I'm sure they don't suck now, but there will always be one John Cyriis. The first 2 albums and EP will always be highly regarded by me, and surprisingly, they're a bit hard to find. I lucked out, to say the least, to own them on LP (thanks Slipped Disc). Anyway, get into these guys!

VETERNUS

A lot of the new death metal bands coming out of Sweden are all great. No, really. I don't think I've encountered a single shitty death metal band from Sweden recently. However, these motherfuckers totally blew my mind. The reason consists of two words: Morbid and Angel.

Veternus probably listened to Morbid Angel a bit too much. Actually, who the hell am I kidding? There is never enough. "Morbid Destruction" even has the signature Trey whammy-bar-dive thing. Drummer P.Possessed definitely likes his blasts like Pete Sandoval.

I don't know what else to say. These guys are my new favorite death metal band. Get their demo tape at Detest Records now.

*****

Part 2 to Post Apocalyptic Inquisition coming soon. Blame these guys.

Post Apocalyptic Inquisition, part I

I woke up this morning sore as hell from carrying around a crate full of records, but it was damn worth it. Thanks to Tooth and Ryan for hookin' it up! If you haven't heard already, they're in a sick old-school heavy metal band called Natur. I wish they can play their own music on their own show. That would be something.

As for me, it was an experience DJ-ing for the first time. I got some pretty good feedback and allow me to use this post as a doorway to check out some of the bands I played. "Pick your poison" is the phrase but I say, "fuck it - pick 'em all!" You'll find some new bands, not-so-new bands, and everything in between.

*****

Ketzer - this is a band that Tooth was raving about when I played them, and he has every reason for it. These German youngsters play an insane style of blackened thrash metal that is as sinister as their debut album's artwork. You can get Satan's Boundaries Unchained on Kneel Before The Master's Throne's distro. If you're into Nifelheim or early-1349, you'll dig these guys.




Midnight - Here's a band from a few of Ohio's black rock n' rollers. Basically, these guys play 100% pure blackened rock/metal in the vein of Venom and Motörhead with some punk-feeling splashed on top. I blind-purchased their great EP Farewell To Hell a while back and it's still being spun around here. You can find it on Nuclear War Now! Productions' distro.



Skitsystem - Sweden's finest crust band! They broke up a while ago but thankfully reformed and will play shows again. Whew! These guys were the first crust band that I listened to back in like '05 and there was no turning back. Tomas Lindberg from At The Gates/Disfear and Adrian Erlandsson of At The Gates was in the initial line-up but have long since quit. These guys are as brutal as ever and you can get their albums at Havoc Records.



Ulysses Siren - These fucking guys! For those of you not aware of the glory that is Ulysses Siren, let me give you a heads up. These Bay Area thrashers only released 2 demos in their entire career and lasted for maybe 2 or 3 years total. Relentless Records just put them out in one package called Above The Ashes. You can get the super-limited vinyl version at The Omega Order. Do you like your trash fast? Look no further.



*****

Look for part II soon...

Metal Inquisition Radio Show

Listen up, ya punks!

So today I will be guest DJ-ing on the Metal Inquisition Radio Show on East Village Radio. All you have to do is click on that link at 8PM and stream the shit. What you will do in the next 2 hours is completely up to you.

Here's a preview for what's to come.

BLACK ANVIL

Just a few moments ago, I was informed that New York City's very own Black Anvil just got announced as the opening band for Norway's kings of northern darkness: Immortal. I've been following Black Anvil for quite some time now, and I'm more than happy for them for landing this gig.

For those of you who don't know these guys, let me fill you in. Black Anvil was formed after the demise of Deathcycle, and saw bassist/vocalist PD and guitarist GWB II get heavier and heavier from their Kill Your Idol days. If you know any of those 2 bands, don't expect Black Anvil to sound like them. Instead, expect a full-on blackened thrash attack with hardcore (think Cro-Mags) influences tastefully peppered in. That's a fact most idiotic journalists in the metal "underground" twist.

Listen to Time Insults Insults The Mind and you'll see what I'm talking about. There are Dissection-like passages, Celtic Frost tendencies and a good chunk of Motörhead-worshiping within their music. Stand out cuts with said things are "LTHLTK", "Margin For Terror" and "Ten Talons Deep".



Relapse Records just signed these guys and the album should be easily available at every independent record store. The LP version is on Monumentum Records and I'm pretty sure it's limited.

Finally, if you're from around New York, you've probably seen a flyer or two with them on it. They'll play any show that's heavy and they've recently finished a tour with Marduk on both coasts. With their upcoming album Triumvirate finished, expect them to play a lot more shows. The next confirmed gig for them is at the Scion Rock Fest in Ohio with Cannibal Corpse, Voivod, D.R.I., and a shitload of other bands and at S.M.B. Fest with NYHC stalwarts Merauder and Ringworm in Brooklyn on May 29. You know where I'll be.

Black Anvil on MySpace
Black Anvil in the studio

A real quick one

Here's a pretty good excuse for an update.

A cut from these fine gentlemen that no one seems to talk about around here.



Pretty heavy for '73/'74.

ENTRAPMENT

The underground is a small place, indeed.

The other day, as I was checking the MR MySpace, I received a friend request from these brutes: Entrapment. I mean, there's not much to say - you gotta hear these guys! As the logo suggests, these guys play death the old way and they do it right. Notice the Dismember-worship in the logo!

From what I heard on the MySpace, they have amazing vintage demo-quality recordings and don't fall short on the quality riffs. Adding a Nihilist cover is a nice touch, too.

Speaking of which, these guys worship Swedish Death Metal. The early-LG Petrov vocals, the tone... pretty much everything. It's almost nuts how these guys were probably hardly born then. Oh, they're from the Netherlands. Go figure (ahem, early Asphyx).

Be on the lookout for their upcoming demo tape on Detest Records soon!

New DEATH BREATH Track

Ok... this is big news: new Death Breath track! It's unmixed, but if they released this as-is, I'm pretty sure no one would know. For those of you who listen to this band, you know what I mean.

The song is called "Obsessed By Sodomy" - and it's a fast one. The guitars have noticeably more distortion and I can't help but assume the track is a tribute to Sodom(as in, Obsessed By Cruelty...?). Whatever the case may be, it's still a fucking awesome song. Can't wait for the new LP!

Check it out here, ya maniacs.

Upcoming Shows

For all of you people in the New York City metro area:

3 sick shows coming at ya this week. Tomorrow will be Jersey City's old-school grind/death poser-killing machine Grind Bastard at the Lit Lounge in the East Village. Tuesday will hold a pretty good blend of old-school thrash, metallic NYHC, and psych-filled hardcore with Total Social Suicide, Inhuman, and Iron Age (respectively). Finally, on Saturday, get yer fix of (even more) grind and power-violence at the Union Pool in Brooklyn for Misery Index and Magrudergrind, with zombified thrash/death practitioners Mutant Supremacy kicking things off. It's gonna be quite the week, so get off your ass and come down to these ragers!

Check out flyers (none for the Grind Bastard and Magrudergrind shows) and links below.



Grind Bastard @ MySpace
Inhuman @ MySpace
Iron Age @ MySpace
Total Social Suicide @ MySpace
Magrudergrind @ MySpace
Misery Index @ MySpace
Mutant Supremacy @ MySpace

ANCIENT SIN

If someone told me that these guys were from New York City, I would've asked how that is possible. Well, it's obviously possible. New York City's very own Ancient Sin is the real fuckin' deal. This is classic death metal in its most primitive form: think Autopsy and Massacre rolled into one insane mold.

The band posted 2 rehearsal tracks up on their MySpace and it shows a very promising future indeed. The tracks do not feature vocals, which I was kinda bummed about, but if anything, they'll probably be great. "Mayhem" Mike and co. surely seem like they know what they're doing.

Speaking of "Mayhem" Mike, you might recognize that name (along with bass player Evan Fishman's) from the now-defunct Savage Skull. It's great that these guys are wasting no time in spreading the brutality.

Watch out for these cats. When they release a proper demo/release, shit is gonna be nuts.

VIOLENT FORCE

This is a band that I've been raving about for a while now. Germany's Violent Force sticks out of the thrash scene over there in that they do not possess the early black metal vibe like the early Kreator, Sodom and Destruction releases. I guess this is why them and Tankard never got that same "recognition" as the "Big 3"? Whatever the case may be, those of us in the know have another band that we can all worship and glorify. Violent Force are truly a gem.

After much search for their sole album, Malevolent Assault Of Tomorrow, I finally got it a few weeks ago through The Omega Order. Don't check there now, though. It seems that I've purchased the last copy and when a product is "on order" with them, it never comes. Sad, but true.



With that bullshit out of the way, let me discuss this album briefly. Basically, it's another "classic cult" album that's reissued by Metal Mind Productions of Poland and thank goodness for that. Violent Force's brand of thrash is more in tune with the way thrash first started out as in America - which was super punk and super Motörhead-like. The album's opener, "Dead City", could easily be a G.B.H. song had I not known any better. "Sign Of Evil" has a nice speed metal (sorta like Running Wild) edge to it while "S.D.I." shows the band's more "proper" early-German sound (which was all about SPEED!). The guitarist/vocalist, who's name is for some odd reason Lemmy, has what I believe is the ideal thrash vocals and I can put him up there with Paul Baloff of (duh) Exodus. It's harsh, but clean, and not in a James Hetfield-circa-1984 way (nothing against him, of course).


Violent Force performing "Dead City" in the 1986 German film Verlierer

All and all, a fine slab of Teutonic thrash attack. Not much is known about these guys today. Their official website is in German and their official MySpace hints that they are still active, though I don't see any hard proof. Well, whatever - just get this fucking album.

Violent Force's official website is over here and their MySpace is over here. I hope you know German.

Bored with nothing to do?

I know that feeling. While sitting here at my desk, I was floating around the world wide web and stumbled upon (again) this amazing post from my boys in the Metal Inquisition Radio Show.

What you see are two amazing videos from two of the best CULT heavy metal/hard rock bands from the late-70s/early-80s and late-60s (respectively): France's Dum Dum Bullet and England's The Gun.



You might recognize The Gun - both Judas Priest and Girlschool covered their only hit, "Race With The Devil". You can check 'em both below.

Unfortunately, I have no idea where you can find records from both bands. Dum Dum Bullet only has one record, their self-titled, and The Gun released a self-titled as well as a second album called Gunsight . I don't even know what their self-titled debut looks like!



Enjoy those 2 videos on Metal Inquisition Radio Show's blog - they're fucking awesome. After you're done, check Priest's and Girlschool's take on the classic over here. Personally, I think both are pretty great! Yes, I actually like Girlschool - I even saw 'em in Germany!

Heavy Metal Morning

Ain't nothin' like some Armour to start your day off right!



I love how Vince "Werewolf" Venom (yes, you might know him from Satanic Warmaster) has a bit of an Udo Dirkschneider thing happening. It's never a bad thing, if you ask me.

Be sure to get their self-titled debut LP at Hells' Headbangers when it drops later this month, ya metal maniacs!

New DARKTHRONE Track

Leave it to fuckin' Darkthrone to back up their beliefs with amazing songs!!!

According to the latest update on the Darkthrone blog, Fenriz has mentioned that a brand new track, entitled "Eyes Burst At Dawn", is now available. You can find the link via his blog above.

What can I say about this? It's awesome, of course! It's a bit different from the last 2 albums, F.O.A.D. and Dark Thrones And Black Flags in that it's much more traditional heavy metal in the sense of guitar melodies and the last riff - which sounds quite triumphant. I mean, I can get all pretentious and technical (not really, which is why I'd be pretentious) by making up all of these adjectives to describe how much I like the song... but I won't. Listen to it and we can discuss it.

Their new album, Circle The Wagons, can NOT come any sooner! All info for it can be found through the link on Darkthrone's blog.



*****

Be sure to check out Banished Force who Fenriz mentioned! I'm listening to them now and I must say, these guys must like Forbidden quite a whole lot. I never would have guessed that they're from Germany. Well done, kiddos!

TRIBULATION

Well, well, well... what do we have here? Well, we have another fine band from Sweden and the one I'm gonna focus on now is Tribulation. These guys are in a very interesting state of affairs over yonder in Scandinavia, much like how bands like Bonded By Blood and Warbringer are over here in the States. The "interesting state of affairs" that I'm referring to is the "sudden resurgence" of the bands' respective scenes/genres. Over here, we have the thrash "revival" where many journalists (in some cases) lump any young band that sounds/looks thrash as "thrash revival" and the same rules apply in Scandinavia with death metal. Thus is the sad truth about the industry "know-it-all's"...

Tribulation are not, in any way, shape, or form, a "revival" band! There! I said it! So what are they then? A death metal band. I would also say they have some pretty strong thrash influences as well, which seems logical since the band evolved from Hazard. Again, I must reiterate the fact that these guys don't sound "retro" and even though they are from the same country that spew forth Entombed and Dismember, they have nothing in common with their Heavy Metal Pedal countrymen.



One good listen to the band's debut LP, The Horror, will make you aware of this fact. There's no shortage of speed here. There's also no shortage of insane riffs! I'm actually gonna stop right here and direct you over to MetalKult's review of the album. Why? I don't like to repeat myself.

I will, however, repeat one point that was touched upon in that review: the artwork. Holy. Shit. Two words, when put together, that means... you know - something awesome. Guitarists Adam Zaars and Jonathan Hultén apparently aren't just skilled at their instrument. They actually have their own art/design firm called Necromantic Art and if you're looking for something brutal for your band or whatever, be sure to get in touch with them (details below).



Another interesting thing about these guys are their other bands. Bassist/vocalist Johannes Andersson and Hultén are in another (excellent) death metal band called Stench and Zaars is in the traditional heavy/speed metal band Enforcer. Without giving too much away in this particular post about Tribulation: if you like either genre, you're most likely enjoy gonna both bands.

If you want to know more about Tribulation (though you probably won't since this band is pretty mysterious), head over to their MySpace. For Necromantic Art, check out their official homepage for contact info.

For the CD version of The Horror, go to Pulverised Records' webstore. For the super-awesome vinyl version, head on over to Blood Harvest's webstore. While you're there, you can also find their great 7" EP, Putrid Rebirth. Check out Detest Records for the EP as well.

*****

One last thing about the band: if you're in Germany around early-mid August, be sure to attend Party.San Open Air! Tribulation will be playing alongside the best of the best in the realm of death and black metal! More coverage on this later...

Entombed U.S. Tour!

Praise be to Satan! Here's the story, taken from Blabbermouth:

Swedish metal veterans ENTOMBED will play a week's worth of shows surrounding their appearance at this year's Maryland Deathfest appearance. Support on the trek will come from MERAUDER, with WOE OF TYRANTS appearing on the last five dates.

The details are as follows:

May 31 - Championship Bar and Grill - Trenton, NJ
Jun. 01 - Opera House - Toronto, ON
Jun. 02 - Gramercy Theatre - New York, NY
Jun. 03 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
Jun. 04 - Blondies - Detroit, MI
Jun. 05 - Reggies - Chicago, IL
Jun. 06 - The Rave - Milwaukee, WI

Appearing with:

May 31 with MERAUDER
Jun. 01 with OBITUARY, MERAUDER
Jun. 02 - Jun. 06 with MERAUDER, WOE OF TYRANTS

Tickets go on sale today at EnterTheVault.com exclusively until March 1, at which point they will be made available through all normal ticketing systems.

Personally, this is simply INCREDIBLE news since—as some of you may know—I totally worship this band and haven't had the chance to see them live yet.

For those of you not in the know (shame on you), check this classic footage of them playing "Left Hand Path" from 1992's Monkey Puss video:



And here they are playing "I For An Eye" in 2008 with the current line-up:




Some highly recommended LPs to have in your collection:












You can get Entombed's first three albums over here at the Earache Records Webstore and latest four releases (including Inferno and their second live album Unreal Estate) over here at Candlelight USA's webstore. Of course, if you want to know more about the band, check out tour dates, or whatever else, visit their official MySpace page.

ANNUNAKI

It's pretty exciting to be writing the first real post for Morbid Rupture. I think that the atmosphere is just right: sitting in a pretty brisk room with one of the biggest blizzards to hit New York City in a long time. Actually, it's the perfect scenario to introduce (or re-introduce) New Jersey's Annunaki. I bet some of you are wondering, "what does Annunaki have to do with blizzards?"

Three years ago, I saw this band open for Immortal at B.B. King's to a sold-out audience. They went on right before the Blizzard Beasts themselves and I can assure you that the crowd was getting restless. However, when Annunaki went on, everyone there ate 'em up. They were that great. People still talk about that particular performance and they definitely won a number of new fans. This was one of them.

Annunaki put out their debut album, Throne of the Annunaki, in 2007 on the band's own Militia Records - a sign that this band is the real deal. Their sound can be best described as "death-thrash", with a hint of black metal. My personal favorite on the disc, "Blunt Scalpel Extraction", sums up the band quite well. Vocalist Tony Stanziano's raspy growls remind me a bit of the legendary Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg's (At the Gates, Lock Up, Disfear) and the riffs and solos brought to the table by John Blicharz are top-notch. The man can rip solos that puts the entire ESP roster to shame and can knock riffs that are, most importantly, cold, heavy and memorable - at the same time! On the other end of the sonic spectrum, cuts like "Dysphoria Delirium" and "Torture" display the band's fine ability to play a great blend of black and death metal while the title track and "March of the Militia Dead" shows the band's excellent execution of the two aforementioned styles thrown into a thrash metal tornado. Prepare to have your head BANGED!



In terms of production, they really pulled out all the stops. Throne of the Annunaki was tracked at the famous Trax East Studio and mastered by the even more famous Alan Douches. Expect the sound to be pretty clean-cut and modern, but don't worry: THE RIFFS BACK IT UP! The only complaint that I have is the length of the album, which clocks in at a little over 50 minutes. The tracks on their own stand out and shouldn't be seen as filler in any way. However, when everything is put together, it might feel like it drags on at first listen. I guess this is something to weed out the amateurs from the start. I typically like my thrash records to be a bit shorter, but every time I come back to Throne of the Annunaki I can hum back the melodies and it feels like I'm returning to familiar territory. If an album can do that to you, you know something is right.

Of course, for all of you underground freaks out there, you might recognize the drummer's name: the one and only Kevin Kuzma of the cult thrash metal legends Blood Feast. Yes, he is back and thank goodness for it. As you might have suspected, he took part in the founding of Annuanki alongside bassist Karl Odenwalder and John after the breakup of their previous band Lament.

Since that hot summer night playing with Immortal (ironic?), the band has played with countless bands legendary in their own right. To drop a few names: the Swedish Panzer Division Marduk, tech-thrash titans Believer, legendary Floridian brutes Vital Remains, masters of death from the Czech Republic-via-Chicago Master, Finnish black metal horde Horna and Norway's hellish 1349, just to name a few. Talk about impressive.



So where can you purchase this intense slab of brutality? Where can you listen to some tracks? Check the links below. After all is said and done, this band is the real fuckin' deal.

Annunaki @ MySpace
Throne of the Annunaki @ Abyss Records and CM Distro

Check out MetalKult's review of Annunaki's set with 1349 over here. Check out some photos from that show by Piercing Metal over here.

An Introduction

Morbid Rupture is an online 'zine that focuses on the underground metal, punk and hardcore "scenes". I'm not gonna wait for promos, nor do I even care about promoting your label or whatever shitty band you're in. I still buy records and I want it to be that way - for everyone. This is for the bands, labels and distros that I'm into. This is especially for the bands who are constantly being ignored by the "higher-ups" and I'm sick of seeing bands who are too good to be ignored. "Underground" and "extreme" music has become a full-fledged industry. This is my way of establishing a place for the true fans of our music. This is a place where we can trade bands/music. This is my FUCK YOU.

This 'zine was created by a fan - something a lot of "bloggers", "press people" and "journalists" forgot to be.

*****

I'd like to thank John Paul Lombari for inspiring the name and Angela Boatwright for planting the seed for this idea (or as they say, infernal hails!)