Memories

(Dan Olivencia pushing ... I think Paulo. Let me know.) Classic shenanigans. Pretty sure this is from the Biolich/Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition/Kevorkian/Utopia Banished show in New Jersey - probably 2002 or 03 if I'm not mistaken. I remember SCD was touring in support of the "2" album and Andrew copped the big boy 12" vinyl. I got the more practical, but less cult, digipack cd version.

This is the Jam

1998 - Harlem rapper G Dep signs to a $350, 000 record deal with Bad Boy Records and subsequently is used for a few singles and dropped, as is the case with most Bad Boy artists post-B.I.G.

2010 -  After scoring over 25 arrests since 2003, G Dep turns himself in to the police for a 17 year old cold case murder that he otherwise could have likely gotten away with for life. He did so to "get right with god".

But before all that, he cut the obscure single "Head over wheels" (a clever play on words for a song about bagging girls with his nice car) in 1996. Like fellow Harlem natives Camron and Mase, his laid back flow lets the rhymes fall where they may - even though the rapid, multi-syllabic rhyme schemes betray a more serious writer. This is the drawn out DJ Premier remix - a hazy, relaxed groove that makes you feel like you're at a barbecue on the roof at Dan Olivencia's old place. Light something up to this hypnotic jam for G Dep behind bars tonight.

More amazing Polish tech death

I stumbled upon a group of ambitious young men from Poland who go by the name "Banisher". They have decided to release a full length album entitled "Slaughterhouse" for free online. The first thing that struck me about Banisher was how they managed to incorporate dynamic jazz and funk rhythms with vast progressive flourishes but stayed thoroughly death metal. The next thing was how guttural and brutal this was for such a diverse and musically adventurous band. In an unfortunate era where many "tech death" bands are just metalcore riffmeisters trying to out pick each other, Banisher retains a strong death metal front at all times while effortlessly shifting through the varied scenes of their accomplished repertoire. While listening to "Slaughterhouse" I was reminded very much of classic Cryptopsy, Atheist, Necrophagist and, to cite a more modern contemporary, Decrepit Birth. The guitar leads are particularly well executed and call to mind genre standouts such as Deaths "Human" and Pestilences "Testimony of the Ancients" albums. This is an amazingly tight, well produced, well written album of unique, progressive death metal.. It stands apart and hopefully will get more recognition in the years to come. Besides that its free so cop it.
Download Banisher
Banisher Myspace

True death metal folklore

On June 6, 2006 (that's 6/6/06), we sat in a sweltering hotel room in El Paso. We drank cheap rum with Antti Boman. It was here that he revealed to us that his main influence when starting  Demilich as a teenager was Bolt Thrower. Though I always appreciated Bolt Thrower, I never associated their raw, grindy crunch with the jazzy ambience of Demilich and did not see a connection. Almost 3 years later to the day, I had the chance to see Bolt Thrower live for their first two appearances in the U.S. in 15 years at MDF 2009. It all made sense to me in two separate moments of astral death metal synchronicity. Watch this video of "World Eater" from the first of two onslaughts at Maryland Deathfest 2009 and experience Death Metal that transcends time and space to conquer generation upon generation without compromising sight or sound. Find the Demilich in Bolt Thrower.

Free quality death metal all day

Torture Division from Sweden play very catchy, very brutal oldschool death metal. They are obviously veteran musicians and lifelong lovers of the oldschool underground death metal scene. At times the very throaty, pronounced vocals and "street level" lyrical approach (the first line of the new ep is "Fuck off!") remind me of older Malevolent Creation and many of the crossover death/thrash bands of yesteryear. Torture Division, however, are from Sweden and flex on what sounds like a very dominant early 90s Florida influence with state of the art European musicianship and a tendency to summon up thoughts of the whole Carnage/Entombed/Dismember thing before it got out of hand. What's more, Dan Swano (Edge of Sanity, etc.) produced their latest, ahem, 3 song demo (not album). These guys have committed themselves to giving their music away for free since they started, and have consistently released music in the short format of 3 or so song demos - talk about keeping it oldschool. This is fun stuff, don't sleep on it. Download all their stuff here.

 TORTURE DIVISION Website

Speaking of bros...

(L-R) Trevor and Lee (R.I.P.). Paulo just sent me a ton of oldschool photos, found this great shot from Demilich/ Biolich/ Funebarum/ Electro Quaterstaff at North Six in Brooklyn in 2006. Can you believe it's been 5 years already? Miss you, brother. Sigh...

Broquake

(L-R) Hock, Walter, T. Ander on bass, Danny B. (back turned) and me screaming with the haircut. Love you guys. Where's Walter? Tell him to holler at me.

COUCH (Ex - Biolich)

Just heard some rough mixes of Dans new one man project of noisy, lurching Doom metal, "Couch". Look out for the 3 song demo soon on a new tape label I'm starting just for the occasion. For those who don't know, Dan Olivencia has played bass in Biolich, Castevet, Copremesis, Omnicron, Omega Red, Ooie Gooie, and Two Fisted Law (guitar). When asked about Couch, Dan explained that it was much easier playing all the instruments himself because it gave him the creative freedom he feels he lacked in Biolich. In fact, the coming Couch demo will feature one song Dan wrote for Biolich but didn't get to record before the band broke up. Don't expect it to sound anything like bands Dan has been in though, Couch takes the relentless grinding death metal of his past and slows it down to a grueling, multi-layered wash of noisy black doom highlighted by occasional keyboards and metal lead guitars. It's been too long since this guy has unleashed his talent on the underground scene so check back soon for more info....  

Don't miss Dephosphorus

If you're not hip to these guys then get on it now - this is one of the most amazing bands I've heard in years. Hailing from Greece, Dephosphorus delivers a style of brutal, raw music that can be hard to pinpoint. Though backed by a solid engine of precise but relentless blasting and doublebassy stomping breakdowns that sound like the drums must have had pieces flying off, they often manage to take songs into a dismal, churning fury of doom just long enough for you to catch your breath for the next break neck speed ride straight to Hades. Though at times they summon d-beats, oldschool metal doom, and even the fury of speeding punk and grind, they manage to keep everything part of the same uniform, deathly atmosphere and no part ever seems out of place.Whats more, watch out for occasional flourishes of experimental electronics that don't overpower, but compliment said atmosphere. Instead of mishmoshing genres, they bring everything to a natural hybrid that embodies all of the strengths and leaves behind the trappings of genres. All that being said, I know Paulo is thinking "but Will, what do they sing about?". Well, fuckin' Paulo, the lyrics are amazing. These guys are on some next level space ritual shit and have the sweet artwork to prove it. They collaborated on a song with one of the guys from Unearthly Trance so get down with this shit before it's hot in Brooklyn. This is the metal of the future. Anyway, my future. They put out a big gatefold record that comes with a shirt, but decided to let everyone download it here for free.
DEPHOSPHORUS WEBSITE

Best death metal video ever

Animals Killing People with their video for "Humans Disgusting Species".

It is no secret in the New York City area underground scene that Columbian immigrants are some of the most true and dedicated Death metal warriors you will find. After Internal Suffering moved here and spent most of the early 2000s putting everyone else playing death metal in NY to shame, the gates were wide open for the newer breed of Columbian guttural grind freaks. Perhaps what sets Animals Killing People apart from many of their contemporaries is that they pair the obligatory relentless blasting and septic tank vocals with an aesthetic of fanatical extremist animal rights and vegetarianism. I was in a band with some of these guys for a short time, not only are they the real thing but they have huge cats where they practice. Like  25 pound cats walking around while they jam.

What did the Hairdresser say to the Cop?

Newly surfaced footage of Buckshot Facelift - 12/4/2010 at Don Pedros in Brooklyn. Shot by Pirran, thanks buddy.

Part 1

  

Part 2

Nocturnus

Ok, you always hear how the Norwegian black metal scene started rejecting American death metal because the guys in Florida dressed like skaters and rocked sweatsuits and sneakers. Peep this.

Ok? Not just the guitar and the drumstick-inverted cross, but my man right there has a mullet and a "Punisher War Journal" shirt with Spiderman on it. Not to mention metal fist on the left. The corpsepaint and swords and all that was hot but it just wasn't how they got down in florida in the late 80s/early 90s. Anyway, these metal bros are fuckin' NOCTURNUS, and in case you didn't know they changed the game for keeps big time when they threw keyboards and dual lead guitars all over satan and space on their classic Earache records debut album "The Key". I'll let them expound on some of the differences between the Florida and European scenes back in the day in this old video that mixes some very prophetic interview footage with live shots. This may be one of the few chances you ever get to watch a band with a drummer and keyboard player both doing death metal vocals.

Copremesis first show

I don't condone what these perverts do with their spare time or their stage show, but Jon Berg once said "always rep your friends", so that's what I'll do here. Having been down with these guys for as long as I have, I can't give an objective opinion. I can, however, attest to years upon years of slugging it out as the underdogs in the high priced revolving door of the NYC death metal scene. Blood, sweat, debt and tears has brought these boys through the deep south and back only to literally wallow naked in vomit on hot summer nights of death metal. I can not even begin to describe the depths to which live performances have sank. Whereas guitarist/vocalist Alex favors a more sarcastic, dry approach to stage presence, he works perfectly as the understated straight man to other guitarist/vocalist Paulo, whos antics over the years have included multiple incidents of nudity, vomit, and questionable sexual gestures and implications. However, behind these 20 to 30 minute outbursts at shows  that have been known to clear rooms and require mops and disinfectant, there is a very deep and calculated type of music that comes from living and breathing brutal death metal as a way of life and even at times a salvation. Copremesis is not for everyone, but for those who can look through this explosive and often self deprecating ugliness and see the depth to which these guys feel what they are doing, it is a bastion of truth. This is what happens when the brokenhearted children of Morbid Angel and Nile descend into a mix of G.G. Allin and Antimo from Disgorge. They have a bunch of free releases for download on their deceptively subtle website here.

FUCKIN' GROSS

Extreme Scene Records

Waaay back in the 90s, before mp3s and home studio computer setups, one man drum machine grind bands were actually a rare novelty. In the early nineties, a band called Slough from Illinois released a series of limited edition homemade death metal tapes with extremely disturbing perverse lyrics and imagery. At the same time, Catasexual Urge Motivation from Japan was doing something very similar with a more dark and artistic take on the genre. They inevitably hit it off like champs through the thriving pre-internet global tapetrading scene and together with other bands like Libido Airbag, gradually broke down misconceptions that you need drummers to make death metal. Alot of drummers are dicks. Have you been to a Buckshot Facelift or Biolich show? Keith from Arti. Brain and Pete from Dimentianon are solid bros, but so far alot of these double bassy drum bastards have rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, this guy Tyler Gein was in Slough for a few releases and eventually did his own thing with a whole slew of different projects under the umbrella of Extreme Scene Records. Of all the different projects, I think it is safe to say that The Secret Life was the figurehead of the label and the "Murder may just be part of my secret" cassette in 1997 was the manifesto. Tyler performed and wrote most of the material, with a guest appearance by his label mate Colon Pete on the song "My soul divided into the stars". Tragically, Tyler died 8 years later. To listen to that song, with its eerily foreboding title, as well as the impressive one man cover of Incantations "As our souls roam horizons lost", is to witness the epic and beautiful poetry of life and death play out in a perverse lofi one man goregrind project.
R.I.P. Tyler Gein. A goregrind artist.
free downloads are all over the place at
EXTREME SCENE RECORDS
Warning: Extreme Scene is very explicit and, um, extreme

(Pictured is the Slough side of the Slough/Gonkulator split 7" from 1996, as well as a photograph of Dan Olivencia.)

Polska!

In honor of last weeks Polish festival here on Long Island I'm going to urge you to check out Beheading Machine from Poland. They put out an EP called "Psalm of the tripping god" for free download and it's really good. These guys are top notch musicians and tend to bookend complex tech death excursions with very solid, machine like grooves that remind me at times of old Dying Fetus if they had listened to more Meshuggah than Internal Bleeding. The vocals are very brutal and range between a throaty roar to a very angry guttural voice. Over the years I've noticed a certain tone to the guttural vocals of alot of Polish bands. As opposed to a low gurgly type of voice, they often use a very throaty, almost raspy type of guttural voice that at times sounds like a Giant or ogre. I first and most distinctly noticed this tone in the unpitchshifted vocals on Dead Infection's classic "A chapter of Accidents", and have since noticed it in the vocals of various Polish bands such as Damnable, Incarnated, and even in some Squash Bowels songs. If you listen to later Vader albums also, the vocals often sound hoarse and have some of this strained sounding quality. Don't get me wrong, I like the tone and have tried to emulate it in my own work many times, but it is something that I have mainly noticed in Polish bands. Download this, and stop by for some Kielbasa and cabbage anytime.
Download it

Castevet signs to No Limits records for new album "Mounds of Cash"

Sorry guys, Pepper Camp is dead. I know, it's a bummer.

But I decided to start a blog again and entertain all 3 of my friends who visited the old Pepper Camp blog.

 I'll get the links to free music up again and probably start talking a bunch of shit and making jokes. New tape label coming soon and watch out for news about Buckshot Facelift and Artificial Brain, the two bands I currently do vocals for. If you need me I'll be listening to Averse Sefira and making vegetable juice. Holler at your boy.