Soar - Discography CD

Here is another French HC band that were attached to Stonehenge Records... Soar featured folks from Cause & Effect and a future member of Amanda Woodward.  Soar was quite different from both of those bands, however... they played a more metal influenced hardcore that stood somewhere in the nexus of screamo, metalcore and grind.  While each song seems to traverse these genres, the constant emphasis is on heaviness and power.  This CD compiles their self-titled 7" and a split Ep with Grievance, seven songs that are effectively the entire discography of this short lived band.  Great stuff.

Soar - Discography CD

Triple Eagle - Blow 'Em Up Ep

OK, one more Richmond, Virginia band for you... Triple Eagle were only around for a minute in the early 2000s - just long enough to make a CDR and do an East Coast tour, apparently.  I saw them here in Georgia on that tour and was impressed with their live set.  Their sound was definitely representative of their time and place - to me they seem to mix post-hardcore like Kerosene 454 or Quicksand with more metallic HC like Eucharist or even Majority Rule.  Like I said earlier, they only appear to have released this tour CDR which contains 5 songs, but the material is pretty great and makes me wish they'd done more.    

Triple Eagle - Blow 'Em Up CDR

Eucharist - Self Title Lp

More mid-1990s American hardcore here... I don't have a ton of info on these guys but I do know that Eucharist hailed from Richmond, Virginia and that this self titled 12" was their only release.  These dudes played fast and heavy hardcore with some metal influence and intense vocals.  This record came out on the same label that released some of the Half Man material, as well as Ire and early Saetia.  Half Man is a good starting place for Eucharist's sound - other references would be heavy hitters like Rorschach or lesser known greats like Manchurian Candidates.  Sadly, they only released a handful of compilation tracks aside from these 13 songs...

Eucharist - Self Titled Lp

Conniption

Here's another 90's hardcore group from upstate New York... Conniption was fairly short-lived and released a couple of split 7"ers and one full Ep - one of the splits being with recently posted fellow New Yorkers Half Man.  Though they came out of the hardcore scene, their sound was very metallic and lay somewhere in the overlap between Hardcore, Grind and Death Metal.  At least one of these guys went on to form slightly more well-known straight edge grind band Monster X after Conniption's demise.  Here is Conniption's full Ep and the split with Half Man (including the Half Man tracks that I left out of the last post)... I still need to get my hands on the split Ep with Scapegrace.

Conniption - Self Titled Ep and Split Ep with Half Man

Half Man

This time out I'm returning to the U.S.A. for a band from New York state called Half Man.  These guys were around from the early to mid 1990s and played an interesting brand of metal influenced hardcore that, to my ears, sounds like it would have been at home on Ebullition records.  This post includes their two 7" Eps and their sole Lp, "As Everything Fell Apart."  Their sound transitions some from the Eps to the full-length, with the earlier material sounding more reminiscent of early Ebullition bands like Struggle or Downcast, while the Lp showcases a heavier, more metallic sound that brings to mind 90s greats like Rorschach, Ottawa and even Antischism.  While I dig the Eps, the 12" is by far their best material and a great slice of 90s hardcore punk.

Half Man - Lp and 2 Eps

Various - Holland Sux

OK, might as well stay in the Netherlands for this next post... this is a compilation I recently picked up while visiting friends in Portland, OR.  Holland Sux features a veritable "who's who" of 90's Dutch hardcore.  Each band has at least two tracks and several styles of HC are on display - from melodic punk of Funeral Oration to the thrashcore of Seein' Red.  This entire record rocks and the lesser known bands contribute strong tracks that stand shoulder to shoulder with the heavyweights.  My favorites include Catweazle, Human Alert, Seein' Red (of course) and a lesser known group - Absconded and their super melodic take on hardcore.  A great mix of bands and tunes.

Various - Holland Sux

Inward - Blind Ep

This time out I've got a crushing 7" from Germany's Inward.  Like many other German hardcore bands of the 1990s, Inward's sound was infused with metallic riffs, glass gargling vocals and chaotic rhythms, placing the band squarely in the musical vicinity of fellow Deutsche bands of the period Acme, ABC Diabolo, Corrosive and Golgatha.  Definitely recommended for any fans of the aforementioned bands or of metallic hardcore in general...

Inward - Blind Ep

Cavity - Human Abjection (Repost)

Cavity hailed from Miami, Florida and existed from 1992 until the early 2000s.  This is their first Lp, released on City of Crime records.  Definitely influenced by Eyehategod, Damad and Grief, these dudes were doing the mid-tempo, crushing riff thing before it got huge.  "Human Abjection" was their first proper record and featured Steve Brooks of Floor and, later, Torche on 2nd guitar.  Floor is a good comparison, but with more vicious vocals.  This record was eventually re-released by Bacteria Sour records on the "Drowning" CD but subsequently went out of print all together.  Those familiar with Cavity's later records will want to see where it all began with this group... others unfamiliar with their records will still dig hearing their heavy take on HC, before they moved in an even more metal direction.

Cavity - Human Abjection Lp

Cavity - Human Abjection Lp

One more slow, heavy record before I get back to the fast stuff... Cavity hailed from Miami, Florida and existed from 1992 until the early 2000s.  This is their first Lp, released on City of Crime records.  Definitely influenced by Eyehategod, Damad and Grief, these dudes were doing the mid-tempo, crushing riff thing before it got huge.  "Human Abjection" was their first proper record and featured Steve Brooks of Floor and, later, Torche on 2nd guitar.  Floor is a good comparison, but with more vicious vocals.  This record was eventually re-released by Bacteria Sour records on the "Drowning" CD but subsequently went out of print all together.  Those familiar with Cavity's later records will want to see where it all began with this group... others unfamiliar with their records will still dig hearing their heavy take on HC, before they moved in an even more metal direction.

Cavity - Human Abjection Lp

Stalingrad - Patty We Kind Of Missed You On Your Birthday Lp

Well, a new year and finally some time for a new post.  This time out we've got some seriously twisted HC from the U.K.  Stalingrad played very sludgy, metallic hardcore.  Not really "metalcore" so to speak, they had a sound of their own - plodding but groovy and heavy as hell.  This band featured members of Disaffect, Hard to Swallow and other UK HC luminaries of the time and guest vocals on this record include members of Doom and Voorhees.  This is Stalingrad's one and only Lp; they had a few 7"ers, splits and a final 10" before calling it quits in the early 2000s.  Amongst the heaviness, insane vocals and general vitriol, this record features a killer take on Lynard Skynard's "Simple Man" which may give you an idea of where this one is coming from.  Definitely worth a listen...

Stalingrad - Patty We Kind Of Missed You On Your Birthday Lp

Head Hits Concrete - Hope, Fear and the Terror of Dreams Ep

This week I've got another Canadian band, Winnipeg's Head Hits Concrete.  These guys play some brutal grindcore with a slight tech-metal influence.  Their sound reminds me a bit of Discordance Axis or fellow Canadians Malefaction.  HHC existed from 1999 to 2004, though there are rumors that they are back together and recording new material.  This Ep is from 2003 and came out on Intolerant Messiah records.   

Head Hits Concrete - Hope, Fear and the Terror of Dreams Ep

Abyss - s/t Ep

So, in the early 90's many of my friends and I were pretty much obsessed with German metallic hardcore... and there was plenty of to be had.  Bands like Acid Rain Dance, ABC Diabolo, Acme, Carol and the like became relatively known.  Abyss was a short lived, lesser player in that scene but their 7" left me wanting a lot more.  Strained vocals, bordering on "emo" over vicious metal riffs, blazing fast parts and crushing breakdowns made for a great debut.  This one lies somewhere between the straight-up metalcore of a band like Carol and the French style emo-hardcore of Fingerprint.  Unfortunately, beyond this sole 7" they only seem to have released a split Ep with Iconoclast (the NJ emo-hardcore version... an apt paring I must say).  If you are into any of the above mentioned bands, definitely check this one out.

Abyss - s/t Ep

Carol

Time for some more mid-90s German metallic HC... this time out we've got a group called Carol.  This band from Bremen featured members of the great Acme, Systral and Mörser.  I was discussing these dudes with a friend at a show recently and he hadn't heard this stuff, so this post will serve to get the music to him as well.  Like Acme, we've got a mid-tempo pace, crushing riffs and impossibly strained vocals... not quite at the god-like level of their predecessors but still absolutely vital.  Included here is their "Prefabricated" 7" and their split 7" with the almighty Stack.  Outside of these tracks I only know of their appearance on the "Cry Now, Cry Later #4" compilation.  Nevertheless, not a band to miss.


Carol - Prefabricated Ep and Split Ep w/ Stack

Luzifers Mob/Golgatha

 

OK, time to make up for some of the inattention to the blog with a big post... Here are 3 records from a couple of stalwarts of the German HC scene in the 90s.  Both were featured on the Plot compilation I posted a few weeks back.  Luzifers Mob played lightening fast HC with absolutely vicious vocals.  Golgatha were more on the metal end of things with mid-paced tracks focusing on breakdowns, leads and general heaviness.  Included here is the split Lp between the two, along with each band's 7".

Luzifers Mob/Golgatha split Lp, Luzifers Mob - s/t Ep, Golgatha - Ich Weiss Nicht.... Ep   

Various - Plot Compilation

Time for another compilation... this one is from Germany and was a benefit release for Plot fanzine.  It's simply entitled "Plot Comp." and featured some of the heavyweight of 90s German hardcore.  Here's the full track list:

Graue Zellen - Voice Your Opinion
Cwill - Ashamed
Ambush - Locuste
Ego-Trip - Here & Now
Golgatha - C.A.C.
Slumlords - Rainship
Zorn - Kranke Frucht
Acme - New Song
Systral - Pretending Judiciousness
Luzifers Mob - 5-19 (Und Der Bose Blick)
Stack - Armistice
Time to Suffer Power - Animal
Wounded Knee - Wake Up!
Mine - XXX
Corrosive - Rausch Des Irrens
Zelot - Lotzeyn
Dawnbreed - Menschmotorik
Bohren - Luder, Samba & Tavernen

Metalcore was really big over there at this time and a few of these bands lean that way (Acme, Ego-Trip, Zorn) but this release kept mostly to fast HC with a decent dose of heaviness.  Beyond the expected greatness of groups like Stack and Luzifers Mob, my favorite tracks are from Wounded Knee, Graue Zellen, Golgatha and Ambush.  The only disappointing tracks are the Slumlords and the final one from Bohren... some kind of lounge music outro thing.  Every other song on this comp. kills...

V/A Plot Compilation