Thursday, November 4, 2010

Blockade/ Wadge split 7"




Before our posthumous collaboration with Tupac Shakur drops let this beast whet your appetite.

Recorded in early 2007 and largely forgotten about the material on this split was written and recorded in the transition period we had between Turn Illness Into a Weapon and Primitive. Along with the Hatred Surge split these songs bridge the aesthetic gap between the two full lengths.

Earlier versions of some of these songs were on the Trapped in a Scene comp on 625. Most of these songs were originally ear-marked for the session that eventually became the Hatred Surge split. Not sure why all the changes occured; i'm sure there was a good reason at the time.

And much like the Hatred Surge split these songs were also recorded in our practice space.

Note to all budding home recording enthusiasts; if you tune to B and play at loud volumes you need to sit your computer on a large piece of foam so you don't keep getting disk errors due to massive amounts of vibration. Or try and move it out of the same room as the 8x10. Whichever's easier.

The lyrics to IPCR are printed incorrectly. They should read "Children call me Hungry Knife and creep silent with love for Earth" which is a line from one of many letters penned by Lynette Fromme and Sandra Goode in the wake of the Manson Family's demise. Quite which eco-unfriendly CEO or politician they were threatening to murder in that particular communique escapes me just now.

And speaking of eco-unfriendly, the first song, Pest Control, is the closest i'll ever get to writing something on a vaguely ecological matter.

For a long time i've personally felt one of the failures of the green movement to engage the general populace is its refusal to reframe the subject matter in more honest terms.

The bottom line is we aren't killing the Earth and we're actually unlikely to destroy it. The Earth however will destroy us at the rate we're going.

When we talk in terms of how we're killing the planet we're still engaging in this idea that human race is the be all and end all and that the universe revolves around our every act.

In a broad sense i believe you can tie this into the cult of individualism and some of the longer lasting destructive shifts that occured under Reagan and Thatcher's legacy in the 1980s. And in the same way that WWII is far more historically nuanced than "some bad man invaded Poland" i recognise that the "me" generation is not simply a result of the shift towards Third Way politics.

Enough. We'll see if that opens up a can of worms i'm utterly unprepared for on the comments page or not. It could go either way.

The idiotically named Regurgitated Semen Records from Germany released this one. They can call themselves RSR all they like but everyone knows they're really called Regurgitated Semen Records. I guess there's some kind of a lesson to be learned about not naming your label after a Meat Shits demo when you're a teenager in there somewhere.



On the A side of the record (we're definitely playing second fiddle here) is the incredible Wadge; Ontarios greatest video store owning Tiki grindcore one man band. Number one in a field of one.

Some people may take me to task here and say "i thought you didn't like humour in music?" Well, Wadge is deadly serious. That's all there is to it. Wadge rules; nothing more to be said.




Reading:

Tsawalk - Richard Atleo
Saints, Scholars and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland - Nancy Scheper-Hughes
Rabelais and his World - Mikhail Bakhtin
Violence in War and Peace
Only Death is Real - Tom G fucking Warrior

Listening:

Cloaks - Desolate Turves
Diocletian - War of All Against Y'all
Ride for Revenge - In the Spirit of Ultimate Sacrifice
Rudimentary Peni - Farce

17 comments:

Ryan Page said...

I know this sounds incredibly stupid, but when you mentioned tuning to B and playing at loud volumes killing computers, I went "holy fuck that's what wrecked the two sessions for the [perpetually forthcoming] robocop album." We're a band with two people who are currently finishing up technology degrees, and we didn't spot that. Hilarious.

I've heard that critique of environmentalism before. It's valid, but its hard to say whether catering to current cultural narratives is allowing them to get some kind of message out there, or whether it is, as you say, less honest, and people sense that.

Survivalist said...

I remember seeing Eyehategod around 2002 and everytime they hit a certain fret (i think it was the thirteenth on the E string) the whole room would vibrate and my lungs would hurt.

Same with recording; every time we'd hold a particular fret for more than a few seconds the resonance would make the hard drive start skipping like crazy and we'd have to start again.

It took a while to figure out that it happened at the same spot for a reason.

Anonymous said...

How would one get a copy of this without waiting for mail from Germany?

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous

I'm working on getting some into my distro (located in BC), but Ebullition will probably have copies regardless if myself or anyone else gets them or not. Either way: the wait is on.

Survivalist said...

RSR usually go through Ebullition and Revelation . I think they trade with Rescued from Life, and some others as well

Anonymous said...

That Diocletian record is a ripper. A lot of bands doing that style, but they do it better. I haven't been following a lot of dm this year..what would you say are your favorites thus far? I thought the new Nominon was pretty boring personally. Terra Narcosis was a much better album. The new Interment album is a much better album, and also a much better example of how the Stockholom sound should be done. However, my favorite death metal album this year is tie between Encoffination cassette, or the Vasaeleth lp. Althought, the year is far from over, and with releases still due by bands like Necros Christos, Bastard Priest, Inquisition, Mitochondrion ,Negative Plane, and Vangheld, I have a feeling the best is yet to come.

Anonymous said...

That first Mitochondrion CD is terrible. Could be due to the quality of the recording but I couldn't even get through it. Saw them last year when they played with some friends and it again was terrible. Either they don't know how to work their setups or they really are just bad.

Anonymous said...

Is this Ride For Revenge-album the split with Goatmoon?

Survivalist said...

Diocletian are certainly doing something far more interesting than most in that intentionally limiting scene they're a part of.

Thus far their new one hasn't grabbed me like the earlier releases did (particularly Sect of Swords and the split LP), but it's early days and i'm still absorbing it.

I actually prefer the Monumentomb over Terra Necrosis when it comes to Nominon

Vaeseleth LP was definitely a highlight. Also really liked the Infinitum Obscure LP.

To be honest i've been really digging the Blood Revolt full length, vocals included. The whole thing reminds me of a letter from John Hinckley to Jodie Foster set to music(read them sometime if you get the chance).

On a Diocletian related note Witchrist and Vassafor are both bands i've been listening to a lot of over the past few months.

And yeah, that's the Ride for Revenge split with Goatmoon (who i don't really care for so far)

I think i'm already bored of the risible "D Beat Death Metal" bullshit. It's starting to look to me like the modern equivalent of classic Boston and Italian hardcore bands releasing shit rock records is people thinking they're now suddenly influenced by Entombed.

Anonymous said...

I guess if we're on the topic of death metal it's not too far out for me to ask if Slaughter Strike will be doing any touring? Or will it be similar to Blockade's expenditures?

Additionally, Diocletian seemed to come out of nowhere. All of a sudden I see people wearing their shirts and recommending them to everyone. Perhaps I should check them out. Chronological order a good idea?

Survivalist said...

Blockade managed to get out there at least twice a year, though we slowed it down in the last two years alot.

But yes, Slaughter Strike will be touring. Don't expect to see us as the tour buy on for the Dying Fetus and 1349 Scion sponsored Gore Drenched Blasphemy Across the Prairies Tour though.

I don't think Diocletian have come out of nowhere really, but more people know their name now that's for sure.

Check Doom Cult and go from there, it shouldn't be too hard to find that one

Anonymous said...

Vassafor sounds really good. Since you listed your favourite current DM-albums before, what are your favourite Black Metal-albums from recent years?

Survivalist said...

Hmm, slightly more difficult; i like a lot of black metal but often the records doesn't necessarily stand out enough to be put into a "favourites" list.

Some relatively recentish BM records that i've been into in a big way would be:

Revenge - Infiltration. Downfall. Death.
NIL - NIL
Nifelheim - Envoy of Lucifer
Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum
Baptism - Morbid Wings of Sathanas
Ofermod - Timatu
Leviathan - The Blind Wound
Ride for Revenge - Kingdom of Snakes
Horna - Envaatnags...

WADGE said...

Thanks for the kind words. Shocked this split actually came out but very happy to have finally shared a roundie w/ y'all. There is something more, but please she-male me for these infos.
Paul
wadgexotica [spat] gmail.com

Anonymous said...

another great one this year, hooded menace - never cross the dead

Anonymous said...

that cover looks alot like Banksy's
or am i wrong?

Survivalist said...

It's by a young Toronto artist called Tjie Tsang, and you've just reminded me i need to give him a copy for his portfolio