The Horrific Visions

After 3 years of silence, Framtid return with a 4 songs full ep titled "the horrific visions" and it's another masterpiece. This was originally released for their ill-fated 2016 US mini tour that unfortunately never happened. While the core of the band remains the same (Makino on vocals & Jacky on guitar), the main change here is the new rhythmic session. Instead of Ina and Takayama, bass is now handled by Toyo (Zyanose, Defector) and under the skins now there's Alladin (Last Sentence). Does this line up change affected in any way Framtid music? Hell no. They still remain one of the few crust bands worth your time. Framtid has indeed always been a step ahead of every other current crust/noisy band. That's because their tunes are always fucking memorable and not just a mere repetition of the discharge (or should I better say their swedish counterparts?) formula. And this ep continues exactly where they left with "defeat of civilization". Perfect band under every point of view. While this copy was released by Brain Solvent Propaganda, a repress on LVEUM has already been planned so keep an eye open for it if you missed the first press.

VIOLENT HEADACHE interview 2008

Great interview with the long running spanish grinders Violent Headache. Best grind band that ever came outta Spain! Taken from Short, Fast & Loud 'zine #19 from 2008.

Terrorismo Musical

Recently I've finally knocked off from my want list a record that was on it for the longest time ever. 19 years, to be exactly. Nor an extremely rare one, neither a particularly expansive one. But for some reason this one eluded me for almost two decades! I'm talking about the Warsore/ Unholy Grave split ep that was released by Mink Records back in 1997. At first I couldn't find it from any distro. Then it got less and lesser priority and, over the years, I ended up not putting enough effort to get a copy of it. Recently I've decided that this year I will finally finish my Warsore collection. Checked online and, surprise surprise, price has risen a bit in the last few years. Sent an offer via discogs and managed to get a copy for a fair price. I was very excited when it arrived and I got an extra surprise when I discovered that I am on the Warsore thanx list for an interview I did with them around 1996. A great surprise that adds extra meaning to a record that I already love a lot. Not only Warsore has their best artwork ever here, but their material is solid as always. This band is grindcore perfection in my book and, even if this is not their best material when it comes to recording quality, it's still an excellent dose of their trademark brutal grindcore with some of the best vocals and guitar sound ever! On the other side, Unholy Grave. Honestly, I've never managed to understand the hype that surrounds this band. Over the years I've of course ended up listening to some of their numerous releases. Some were decent, most were not. But none left me an impression. And this ain't different. Badly recorded and boring music. Worth for the Warsore side only.    

Les Nerfs A Vif

If with their debut ep I've been super slow, this time it went differently. I've indeed been fast enough to secure a limited version of Rixe second ep "les nerfs a vif", again on LVEUM. This continues exactly where "coups et blessures" left.  Again four trax, again four perfectly assembled oi hymns. The perfect soundtrack for your drunken sing-alongs skinhead nights. Perhaps the production is a bit dirtier this time & I would have turned up a bit vocal's volume. But the truth is that I'm just being way too anal. Perfect record again and for sure we already got a candidate for one of the best eps of the year. Comes with a big fold-out insert that has a poster on one side and lyrics on the other. First press sold out in few days, good luck finding one! 

888 Metal

When it comes to colombian bands, I usually go for the original only. But in this rare case I gave up since the original has been eluding me for years and I didn't even own it in any other format. Since Nuclear War Now! Records recently reprinted Reencarnacion double lp discography (well, "kinda of" since all the demos are missing), I've decided that it was about time to get this while still looking for an orginal first press of the lp. And I must admit that I'm quite satisfied with it since they've done an excellent work as always at the NWW!HQ. Comes with a huge poster, a booklet full of pics, infos and interviews all housed in a beautiful gatefold cover with both lp & 7" artworks. If you're not familiar with them, here we are talking about a legendary band that had a huge role, along with their townmates Parabellum & Blasfemia, in shaping the ultra-metal medallo trademark sound. It's a primitive and raw mix of speed, trash & death metal with a huge hardcore vibe that could be considered proto-black metal. Euronymous itself cited Reencarnacion as a huge influence in creating Mayhem, just to give you a vague idea on how important this band is! First lp contains their "s/t" lp from 1988, their best work in my opinion. Second one has the "acompaname a la tumba" ep from the same year (where Piolin played all the instruments) which is a bit inferior compared to the full length and a live recording. The appeal of colombian metal is that they used satanic imaginary as the easiest way for frustrated teens to refuse the rules of the uber-catholic environment they grew up in (something I can totally relate to), not just as a mere shock factor to impress their audience. It's not indeed a sheer coincidence that, when this scene disbanded, they all had a huge role in creating the medellin hardcore scene and went to form bands like Restos De Tragedia, Herpes and few others.

Promo pics

In the 90s', I've always used to get promo material for the crappy zine I did back then. Yes, labels sent you free stuff to review even if you were a 16 years old kid who printed 30 copies only of your shitty zine. Ahhh, the good ol'days. Anyhow, these parcels often included promo pics for the bands. Here's some of my fave that I've found online.

 

RECKLESS AGGRESSION interview 2010

Another good one taken from Not Guilty 'zine #3 from 2010. Sent my copy of this zine back to its editor Beau since it ended up without a copy for himself. Before packing it, I've scanned this great interview with Meatdog of the mighty Reckless Aggression.