Party's over.

Back to work this week after breaking my foot last month. This video  made me feel alot better. Three years after the departure of Bobby Brown, New Edition awakens the rebel and displays chronozon force domination on the pop charts with the comeback single "If it isn't love" - unmercifully exterminating all doubters and critics.I'll find some free death metal and pictures of Dan in a little while. Til then keep it sick, and peep the new jack swing choreography.

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...