mercoledì 15 aprile 2015

Bet On The Possibility

Last year during April I did some of the best scores of the year and 2015 seems not too different. I've indeed finally been able to cross off one of my major wants. Long story short, a japanese friend found a copy of Deathside second full length "bet on the possibility" in excellent condition for basically half the current amount of money people ask for it on eBay or discogs. As soon as he informed me he found it for that price, I immediately wrote back to secure it. Two weeks later, this jewel is finally in my greedy hands! I find it still hard to believe that I've finally got a copy of my main Selfish Records want. Of course I could have given up and get that bootleg that came out a few years ago (easily recognisable for darker cover and label as well as single sheet insert without lyrics in inverted colors), but I'm glad that I patiently waited for an original for the price I wanted to pay for it.
While there's an endless diatribe about which Deathside album is the best one, I got no doubts. As much as I worship their first full length "wasted time", 1991's "bet on the possibility" is their masterpiece. It has more diversity and each song is even more perfect than the previous one if that can be possible. Not to mention the incredible clean but still powerful production that makes it flawless. Not sure if it's true or just a legend, but I've heard that Selfish went bankrupt with the release of this album since they spent way too much producing it! For sure this is also the best packaged record that ever come out on Selfish. Gatefold cover with four different artwork and big double sided insert with almost unreadable lyrics since they are printed in inverted colours. Nothing more to add, this is indeed a genre defining record. Without it, burning spirits and generally japanese traditional hardcore wouldn't be the same for sure.

giovedì 2 aprile 2015

Euthanize Me

One of the most anticipated album of the last year (well, at least for me) was the Wetbrain "s/t" debut lp on Painkiller. I was totally sure that this was gonna rule that I even put it on my end of the year list even before actually listening to it. The more I played their 2012 demo, the more I got excited about this upcoming debut. Of course it's release date has been delayed for a few months. Then it seems like no euro distros was carrying copies and there was no way that I was going to pay overseas shipping. When I've finally found one that had it, it never showed up. After waiting for a month and a half, I gave up and ordered another copy. Luckily this time it took only 4 days to arrive here. Well, I can assure you that the wait was worth it and all my expectations were even exceeded. Featuring some of the usual clevo suspects (including Larry Darvocets with his trademark vocals style), this is more KBD oriented hardcore that sounds like a more straight forward version of, duh, Darvocets. Even lyrically it's full of sci-fi movies, mind control and time travel references that cannot not bring to mind a comparsion with the mighty Darvocets. If you were disappointed like me by Folded Shirt, Wetbrain are the answer to your unholy prayers. Half of the tracks are from the demo, the rest is new material. Cleveland confirms again to have the best and most solid scene in the whole US of A.