BORN DEAD ICONS

I mentioned Born Dead Icons in my post on the members last project Complications (see HERE ) so i thought it was time for a  post on them! Born Dead Icons were a Canadian band who existed from 1999 to 2003 and were one of the best and most original bands to come out of the "crust" punk scene I actually hesitate to call them crust because they had quite an original sound, Debut album "Work" contained re-recordings of their debut EP "A Part Of Something Larger Than Ourselves" & songs from their demo plus a few new songs with much better production than those releases (I haven't uploaded "A Part..." EP as the production is terrible quality even the band were very unhappy with it and the re-recordings on "Work" are far superior) The album is just great rarely going above mid paced there's hints at all their influences on there touches of Amebix, Motorhead,Nausea etc with a thick and heavy production which really brings their sound together, whilst there are hints of other bands they really do have their own sound adding some unusual melodies to the powerful heavy sound they have and their vocalist has a unique style with his French Candian accent which also made them stand out.

So after purchasing the amazing "Work" album i was desperate for more Born Dead Icons so couldn't wait for a second album in the meantime they released the excellent "Modern Plague" EP 4 tracks of Born Dead Icons sound albeit maybe a bit cleaner sounding,one of which was a great cover of the excellent Wipers track "Doomtown". So at this time 2002 there was not so much easy internet access like there is now but one of my friends went to the US on tour with his band and came back with a copy of their 2nd album "Salvation On The Knees" which i had no idea was even out and I could not wait to snatch it off him and copy it which i did however I was initially dissapointed, even though the "Modern Plague" EP had hinted at a bit of a change in sound, the thick heavy sound of "Work" had been replaced with a much less distorted and much "lighter"guitar sound and the melodies had come more to the fore rather than the brutal riffage of the 1st album also the vocals had become a bit more pronounced and less growled (whilst still havuing the unique style) and overall i felt it had more of a "classic" American hardcore influence (think early Agent Orange, Adolescents,Wipers early Husker Du etc mixed in with the crust sound) anyway it took me a while to get into this album because i had loved the heavy sound of the debut album but I now see it for the utterly classic and original piece of music it is, they are no less heavy or chunky in their riffing style it's just that the guitars are cleaner and there is more melody and less ridin the "E" chord and they have obviously developed as musicians in the interim between albums as bands do with touring and practice I was just being a stubborn pigheaded crust fan at the time and wanted them to stay the same!!!

Third and final album "Ruins" was a bit of a surprise when i heard it because I had expected them to continue to become more melodic however "Ruins" whilst obviously even more musically accomplished than "Salvation..." combines the heaviness of the first album with the melody and musicianship of the second making for a refreshing and amazing listen, there are even more melodious parts on this album than the previous but the vocal style and production have got a little dirtier again leaning more towards the sound of the 1st album. however the short instrumental title track even reminds me of the melodies of good "77" era punk albeit much heavier! This really is the perfect combination of the 2 preceding albums and is a fitting end to a guttingly short history!

So your links, Firstly you get "New Scream Industry" ripped from my 10" vinyl this is the vinyl version of their first demo it's fairly decent quality for a demo and actually way better quality than the debut 7" . "Part of Something..." I mentioned before and contains 2 tracks not re-recorded for "Work" . I've then given you the three albums mentioned above and also the "Modren Plague" EP the first 2 albums are ripped from my own CD's at 320kbps the "Modern Plague" EP is at 320kbps but is ripped from vinyl it is VERY good quality though. "Ruins" I don't own on CD but the file is taken from a decent vinyl rip.

This is not a discography as unfortunately they did a split EP with a band called Coma in 2002 and another EP called "Unlearn" in 2003 but unfortunately I had no record player by then so I've never heard or owned them and they are unavailable for download anywhere! and i also haven't put up their debut EP because it's atrocious quality as i said above! But there's enough B.D.I. here to keep you happy!

WORK - Mediafire

MODERN PLAGUE - Mediafire

RUINS - Mediafire

DEMO 10" - Mediafire

SALVATION - Mediafire

SWORDWIELDER

I just discovered this GREAT Swedish band today I saw them mentioned on Misantropic's Facebook page (see my post on them HERE ) so went to see if they had a bandcamp page and they did, and they are offering their 4 track demo from last year for free. And the demo is amazing this is epic crust with the emphasis on EPIC I haven't heard the like of this since Axegrinder's "Rise Of The Serpent Men", Filth Of Mankind (See my post on them HERE) or the best of Amebix! It's only 4 tracks but clocks in at 26 minutes, it is a demo recording but the quality is really good! I cannot hurry you along to get this quickly enough it's an amazingly accomplished demo not a D-beat in sight this heavy and well written demo really takes you on a journey and with a song title like the near 10 minute "With My Dying Breath I Curse This World...Another Sun Will Rise" I'm sure you get the idea?? I'm really excited on discovering this as much as i love the full on fast heavy wall of brutality crust it's really refreshing to hear a band lower the pace a little and use dynamics so well in building the music up and bringing it down and building it again! as i've said I can only describe this as EPIC a lot of bands are compared to the likes of Axegrinder or Amebix and it's more often than not a valid comparison but these guys TRULY are the successors to that sound and bringing their own style to it as well and definitely streets ahead of all the other type of bands doing this sort of slow/mid paced crust type music!!!!! go get it free from bandcamp now or you're missing out on a REALLY fucking amazing band that I expect to be hearing big things from soon!

Swordwielder Demo - Bandcamp

*UPDATE* I emailed these guys for some more info apparently they have re-recorded all 4 songs from this demo and some new ones for a soon to be released album. I shall keep you posted!!!

*NOTE* in case you missed it you can now download their IMMENSE debut album from Bandcamp free of charge go see my post with link HERE

MISANTROPIC

Misantropic are a female fronted 5 piece Swedish fast heavy crust/metal band with a mini album and a split 7" out so far, their bassist was in another band called  Personkrets 3.1 who i have never heard of but they did a split 7" with Swede crust titans Human Waste other than that they would seem to be a totally "new" band which is pretty cool! I downloaded both their releases and it would seem that female vocalist Gerda is a new addition to the band because the 2 songs on the split EP are also on the mini album but in different versions, as from listening to the split it sounds like a male voice.
My knowledge on this band is lacking as though the split EP & Mini LP are from 2009 and 2011 respectively I only became aware of them this week because someone posted a video on my F/B page!(Cheers David Insurrection) I'm gutted because I have listened to little else since I got it! This is some RAGING fast crust but with a very slight death metal  influence (when i say "death" metal think old school like Entombed or Benediction and not the shit with corpse gargling vocals and repetitive drum blasts) plus some tight double bass drumming here and there and Vocalist Gerda is one of the best female vocalists I've ever heard in ages, the sound is Immense great production throughout everything is perfectly clear and level nothing is buried in the mix!
A good comparison for these guys would maybe be the Night Nurse demo I posted up a while back (HERE) which is also fucking raging, but these guys even leave the awesome Night Nurse in the dust!! I hate to keep saying this about female fronted crust bands but again this has Sacrilege written all over it especially in the vocals it's been wrecking my head while listening to it who Gerda sounds like and well it is Tam from Sacrilege absolutely no doubt in my mind! If you think I'm being lazy with the Sacrilege comparisons all the time and lacking female references then you're probably right but shit download it yourself and you'll see what I mean! I cannot recommend this band highly enough they absolutely fucking DESTROY! Every piece of the mini album the songs, production,vocals,guitar,drums & bass every single bit of it hit's the fucking nail squarely on the head for me utterly jaw dropping and the best "heavy" release i've heard so far this year! Go Go Go NOWWW!!!!

MINI LP - Mediafire

SPLIT 7" - Mediafire

BRIT METAL PT 2

Helvis were a UK band that existed from 1998 - 2002 they did one album "Reverend The Sacrifice" and one EP "Genocider" and featured future and ex members of Black Eye Riot, Urko, Iron Monkey, Geriatric Unit, Hard To Swallow, Acrimony, Sigirya just to name but a few! and featured famous UKHC stalwart Bloody Kev on vocals who i think has been in every UK hardcore and metal band! Anyway these guys are another overlooked gem I always avoided them cos of the name as I FUCKIN DESPISE ELVIS and cos i thought they'd be one of those rockabilly punk bands HA! how wrong can you be! This is some seriously fucking chunky rocking hardcore metal these guys would've fitted easily on the bill with the likes of Iron Monkey, Raging Speedhorn or Charger (Bloody Kev would later replace Frank Regan in Raging Speedhorn!) Featuring Rat from The Varukers on Helvis cover of their "Nothings Changed" you know this is a metal band with their roots in crust and hardcore! I'm not gonna blab anymore about this this is a great album that swings from Fast and heavy d-beat to great big slabs of monolithic Early Sabbath style riffage!Thick heavy guitars and great production throughout all of it delivered with agression and sheer bloody mindedness! If even one of the band names I mention in this post mean owt to you you should be on your way to downloading this right now! A BEAST of an album!

I have given you a 320kbps rip of their one and only album "Reverend The Sacrifice" and I've also stuck debut EP "Genocider" (Pictured above) in the file as that's their entire discography. "Genocider" is taken from a vinyl rip but it's good quality and you have to hear the utterly nuts closing track "Alright Boys" which features cut ups of answerphone messages from 2 insane Venom fans left for someone involved with Venom i assume cut up and laid over some music the guys making the calls are nuts and need locking up it's hilarious! Anyway enjoy this as it's another overlooked GEM if you're not grinding your teeth and smashing your head into the stereo by the time you're through the first song you're defo reading the wrong blog! An any band who puts Johnny Cash givin the finger on their record is fucking cool END OF!

HELVIS - Mediafire

Note you can get the CD of "Reverend..." on amazon for around £3 if you want a proper copy!

BRIT METAL Pt 1 - DUKES OF NOTHING

                                                            

So to start my Brit metal post I thought i'd give you one of my favourites Dukes Of Nothing, These guys were a short lived band formed by 3/5 of the mighty Iron Monkey : Doug Dalziel, Dean Berry & Stuart O'Hara and featured current Turbonegro vocalist Tony Sylvester (Pictured above L Before? and R After? DON i did the pictures for a laugh as i was looking for a band photo but came across these and well it was an "organic" process!) he's been a regular fixture on the scene for a long time and I've see him manning the merch desk all 3 times I've seen Neurosis in London so he's obviously supplementing his income from Turbonegro! 

Anyways Dukes Of Nothing did 2 singles and a mini album and that was them done but these guys seriously fucking rocked they play some of the dirtiest biker/beard/trucker/ metal you're ever likely to hear take a slab of Motorhead speed and aggro a chunk of redneck rock ala Nashville Pussy or Antiseen throw in some seriously dirty sludgy sounds like Saint Vitus, Crowbar, Melvins etc add some lyrics about Trucks, Sulphate & broken relationships sung by an angry bear and you come out with Dukes Of Nothing! These guys are great and despite my comments on "sludgy" that is definitely a nod to their sound not their speed! This is great raw HEAVY loud and fucking dirty M-E-T-A-L! just how it should be done by hairy ugly gnarly tattooed bastards! You get the picture....

So they did a 7" called "Saxon Action" then a mini album "War & Wine" and finished with another 7" on Southern Lord called "Half Evil" (Backed with a cover of G.G. Allin's "Bastard Son"). The mini album originally came out on defunct British label Eccentric Man but was later picked up and remstered/reissued by Tortuga Records (Hydra Head sub label home of the likes of Old Man Gloom & 5ive) with the  "Saxon Action" 7" tacked on as bonus tracks and that's what you get here I've seprated and retagged "Saxon.." 7" and put "War & Wine" back in it's original running order both ripped from my CD's at 320kbps. the  "Half Evil" 7" however has never seen release on CD (Except for on a dbl CD british comp called "Louder than The Crowd" which i bought to get "Half Evil" on CD turns out they had sourced it from a vinyl rip anyway!!!) so  I've given you it here ripped from my own vinyl version it is a little crackly etc but like i said it's fucking dirty gnarly metal so it doesn't detract from your enjoyment one bit! They are all wrapped up in the one file but when you extract it it you'll find seperate folders containing the 7"'s and the mini album all tagged with artwork attached! Enjoy!

DUKES - Mediafire

BRIT METAL!

So I'm starting a little series of posts here which I'm gonna call BRIT METAL because in the early 2000's there seemed to be an explosion of great British (Insert your own pointless genre splicing here) metal and in a lot of cases the bands i'm featuring either languished in obscurity or maybe only did one album and dissapeared so I decided even tho most of the stuff i'm posting may well be cheap & easily available to buy (some of the albums i got from amazon for literally a couple of quid including the postage so if you like something go have a look) and i definitely think the fact that a lot of these bands were british is what held them back if they had been american I'm sure the metal crowd here would've propelled them to stardom (!!)
Anyway it's all gonna be headered BRIT METAL I'm not breaking it down into subgenres as theres a theme to it that is that we have and do have some of the best bands in the metal genre and we fucking well invented heavy metal so it's about time some of these bands had some recognition! I'll be doing my usual rambling blurb for each post so try reading some of it to find out if you think it will be your kinda thing!

*NOTE* I am SCOTTISH not English however we have never been exactly overwhelmed by great metal in Scotland! Just in case anyone thinks i'm coming over all patriotic and shit for England!!!