Mutha Records flyers

Here's some awesome flyers (stolen from the net) of one of my fave american hardcore label ever: the mighty Mutha Records! Also a couple of old articles/reviews of Chronic Sick masterpiece...

Severed Survival

I think I've already mentioned here the big metal records purge I did in 2001. One of my biggest regret ever. Anyhow, a dozen metal records that meant something special to me avoided it. One of them was my copy of Autopsy debut full length "severed survival" released by Peaceville around 1989. To be more accurate, a copy of the second press from 1990 with the different (and way better IMO!) artwork. One of my fave death metal album ever, that I bought in the early 90s' from the legendary Stiv Rottame's New Zabrinskie Point record shop in Milano. This record survived several minor purges until 2014. Had to sell it in order to buy a more expensive record. Regretted it immediately, of course. Recently I've decided that it was time for it to come back in my collection. Found a copy for the same price I had sold mine and it was even in better conditions!

 1989 was a crucial year for death metal. It erupted from the underground to become a recognized genre worldwide. And Autopsy debut album can be included for sure in a top ten of death metal album from that seminal year that had a huge role in shaping and defining this new way of playing metal. Like everything that came out in a creative and experimental period, it has its own unique putrid sound that makes it a masterpiece. Of course songwriting is not yet your formulaic and boring US brutal death metal formula. It's a mix of death metal and doom, all dressed with perverted gory lyrics. A masterpiece, all superbly packed in a sick artwork and a printed dustsleeve with one of the coolest collage of pictures of the band.

Latino America

I'm a dysfunctional record collector. Over the years, I've started tons of collections. But I've never managed to finish a single one. Usually, I get obsessed with something else and simply forgot about the rest. As the new year started, like everyone else, I made a list of goals for 2017. Of course most of these good purposes will be forgotten soon, but I'll try to achieve at least one: to finally complete my Medellin hardcore '89-'93 collection. I've been working on it for more than 10 years and at this point I just miss a few eps. But these records ain't neither easy to find nor cheap. So, when I found someone selling one of my colombian top wants on a messageboard for a honest price, I simply couldn't pass it. Few days later, Rasix "latino america" 7" was finally mine. I almost got another copy a few years ago but the seller retracted last minute. Glad it went that way. This one is a stock copy from an old distro, cover is in great shape and it comes with the rare insert. "Latino America" was released in 1990, just one year after their split 7" with Sociedad Violenta. But it marks a huge step forward, both in songwriting and production. Songs are indeed better written and the sound is way more powerful here. Yet, all these six tracks are catchy and memorable. If you're not familiar with Rasix, don't expect ultradistorted proto-noisecore a la Imagen or Restos de Tragedia. They're more meat & potato (or should I better say rice & beans) straight forward "vieja escuela" hardcore in the vein of I.R.A. Nonetheless, excellent band. 

According to the insert, this was released by a mysterious label named Lufer Records, even if everyone claim it has been self-released by the band. Maybe was it their own label? As you can see, the copy I got has pink labels. I've just seen another copy like this. All the others have orange labels. Considering that there are at least two presses of the Rasix/Sociedad Violenta split ep, it wouldn't be a surprise to discover that there were two pressings also of this ep. But that's part of the beauty of collecting south-american records: informations are scarce and rare, just like the records themselves...

Tales of a pretentious asshole#006

Last time I did a "tales of a pretentious asshole" post was more than 2 years ago! Time flies. And, honestly, I wasn't inspired enough to do another one until today. Anyhow, vol. #006 will be about a quite obscure mexican band from early/mid '90s, Revolucion X. Nothing cult or extremely rare that goes for big bucks in these days (indeed, you can cop both these eps for quite cheap!), but a very good & unique band that in my opinion deserves more attention. Plus, there isn't a lot of infos about them out there. I can't even figure out from which mexican city they came from (my guess is DeEfe/Mexico City) since there isn't a contact address in both eps to get in touch with the band directly. 

Their self-titled debut ep was released in 1994 by french label New Wave Records (same label that gave us Ataque Frontal ep) in collaboration with other french labels. It starts with a sample of the EZLN (zapatist army of national liberation) declaration of war from 1993 (also printed on the big fold-out cover) and has Pancho Villa on the cover. Yeah, Revolucion X was a very politicized band which is something you should expect from a mexican hardcore band. But instead of talking about the typical boring hc clichés, their lyrics were about the real political situation in mexico and south america. They also threw in a good dose of humour which is always a winning point. Also they don't sound very mexican: vocals are snotty & nasal like a californian band, few songs are quite melodic and the sound generally is more raw & sharp than dark & downtuned. Not sure how many were printed but it's easy to find for around 5 eurobucks.

During 1995 Lengua Armada and Armia Records both from Chicago joined forces to release the best Revolucion X effort: "Politica Y Esparcimiento..." 7". Housed in a folded cardboard with logo stamped in front and a beautiful artwork glued in the back cover, songs included here are simply perfect: 10 fast, brief and direct nightstick hits of pure hardcore madness. Vocalist seems to spit a thousand words every second. Guitar sound is abrasive, drummer plays fast for all the time. Yet, every song is still catchy and memorable. Awesome release. It includes some great hits like "I love mexican tv", "salinas asesino" & their mastepiece "julio iglesias disecado"! Again, they mixed political lyrics with dummie ones perfectly. This goes for something around 10€, so I think they printed no more than 1000 copies...

The band was supposed to record another EP but unfortunately it never happened. I've been told by a reliable source that also a tape (demo?) exists but it's super rare. Here's a RX discography that I've put together. Considering the lack of informations that surrounds this band, feel free to share any other infos in the comment section!

-"Canciones Electorales" tape, 199?, self-released?

-"Revolucion X" 7", 1994, New Wave Records

-"Politica Y Esparcimiento" 7", 1995, Lengua Armada/ Alarma Records

BOLT THROWER interview 1991

Bolt Thrower is the band that I've probably listen to the most this year (well, along with The Saints & Radio Birdman). Especially "...for victory" & "the IV crusade", perfect albums! Anyhow, here's an early interview taken from the legendary Putrefaction'zine #5 outta sweden!

Tu Vida

And now for something completely different...a bloody cd! As a record collector, I usually go for the vinyl version but since all the bootlegs looked like shit, this time I choose to buy the official cd discography. Anyhow, M.E.L.I. (Muerte En la Industria) was a quite obscure band that released only a demo in the golden age of mexican hardcore/punk, the late 80s. But unlike Xenofobia, Masacre 68 or Atoxxxico, they never released anything on wax. But their 1988 demo tape titled "Tu Vida" is on the same level of the aforementioned mexican hardcore legends: simple yet very intense music played with a lot of rage. All recorded with the trademark raw but brutal production that makes mexican (and generally, south american hardcore) unique and very genuine. Really solid band worth your time if you're even vaguely interested in mexican bands. I'm quite sure that if they lasted more than 2 years, we would have more people talking about them. This discography cd was released in 2005 by Speedstate Records outta japan. I scored it for cheap thanx to my japanese pal Jum. Apart from the demo tracks, it also features live tunes captured around 2000 when they briefly reunited. Comes with a booklet full of rare pictures, flyers, band history and so on. Unless you are ready to shell out big money for the original tape, this cd is the best way to get into this band...

Disgrace To The Corpse Of Sid

With my recent reborn obsession for early Earache catalogue, when a couple of months ago I've spotted an OG 1989 press of Sore Throat "disgrace to the corpse of sid" lp at the local record fair for a good price, I simply couldn't pass it. I'd love to say that I was way into them as a teen in the early 90s' but it would be nothing but a lie. For some unknown reasons I've discovered this band way too late. But I still enjoy a lot their brutal noisecore. These pommie bastards assembled some of most primitive & controversial aural butchery back then. Especially with this one (their second album), they incorporated to their  decimation of your ear canals some harsh noise & weird stuff. While side A has 90 sharp noisecore outbursts, side B features 11 slow & doomy tracks in the vein of Amebix. I must admit I'm not a big fan of side B. But the artwork itself make this record worth owning even if the music sucked (but that's not the case). Lyrically, as almost all english bands, they took themselves way too serious and made fun of bands like Napalm Death, DRI, Sex Pistols, Sucidal Tendencies etc...for being sell outs. Aaaaahhh, I miss the 90s! One of the earliest band doing the noisecore thing, this has also been repressed recently by FOAD so go and get a copy!

Love that Dig/Earache included band instructions for the artwork/backcover/insert in the dustsleeve, expecially since he didn't follow them at all, ahahaha!