THE BLOOD OF HEROES & SUBMERGED

(I couldn't find a picture of the band but I did like this piece of art from the inner of their latest album)

Ok so this post is a bit out of left field here and another one of those ones that I am putting up here more for the internet than just my specific audience! We have two artists that are linked so one justifies the other read on.....!

The Blood Of Heroes came to my attention because it was a project featuring Justin Broadrick (See posts On his remix work HERE & as Jesu HERE) who readers will know i am a big fan of however upon investigation I also found among others I hadn't heard of at the time Bill Laswell was also involved and as he is a MASTER of the bottom end i was sold! However when their first self titled album was released it was a real shock to me blending elements of Drum 'N' Bass, Dub, Industrial, Justin's Trademark Guitar and occasional vocals plus a serious bottom end provided by Bill Laswell's organic along with Kurt Gluck (aka Submerged) & Lynn Standafaer (aka Enduser) Electronic bass making for some serious speaker quaking!!! Most of the vocals throughout the album are provided by Dr. Israel who I know nothing about but who appears to come from the New York Illbient/Drum 'N' Bass scene and his rough mc/dub style vocals work well with the other elements.

I'm going to say right now that this is not the kind of stuff I would normally post on here and without Laswell & Broadrick's involvement this would be more of a  standard Drum 'N' Bass type album however the mix of the Organic and Electronic elements works in this bands favor and of course Justin's guitar work is stellar and heavy and he has never made a secret of his love of breakbeats (see some of Godflesh's later work and his side project for evidence) but if like me you are open minded and willing to give something new a try then these are definitely for you. Plus all the members of this band whether primarily or occasionally have been involved in making electronic music as well as playing in bands.

I have given you both of The Blood Of Heroes albums (their self titled album from 2010 and the more recent "The Waking Nightmare" from 2012) to date plus the Remix album "Remain" which accompanied their self titled debut which features remixes by Justin Broadrick, Bill Laswell, Enduser & Submerged (all 4 are members of The Blood Of Heroes) plus further remixes by the likes of Dälek (awesome producers/artists in their own right) and due to the involvement of 4 of the members is more of a de-constructing/re-interpretation of the album than a standard remix affair and works really well.

I am trying to broaden the scope of the blog and not just post heavier guitar based stuff all the time as i have said many times to say my tastes in music are wide ranging is an understatement and i do go through phases of listening to different music and if i like it enough it merits inclusion in this blog and i felt it was long overdue that some electronic based music was represented and the involvement of Justin Broadrick and Bill Laswell in this project made this an ideal starting point!

So I will can the chat and let you check this stuff out for yourself here's your links......

The Blood Of Heroes - Mediafire

Remain - Mediafire

The Waking Nightmare - Mediafire

So this leads me nicely to the 2nd part of this post which is what i was referring to at the start about this post about it being for the internet rather than readers of this blog so i shall explain further.... basically The Blood Of Heroes part of this post was put here because I actually wanted to a post on Submerged (aka Kurt Gluck pictured above) however i felt without The Blood Of Heroes part it would make less sense as to why I am doing this post!

As The Blood Of Heroes is made up of people who all have careers in their respective fields of music and i was already aware of the work of Justin Broadrick and Bill Laswell i decided i would check out the work of the other members as I liked the music behind Blood Of Heroes a lot so this led me to discover Submerged, now let me be clear Submerged are a straight up Drum 'N' Bass project and is the main moniker for the majority of Kurt Gluck's musical output now whilst i like most people who have had a lifelong passion for music, since it's major breakthrough in the late 80's/early 90's it would be impossible to have avoided dance/electronic music it seeped into almost every part of musical culture and still does even to this day and I was heavily involved in that scene through the mid - late 90's and still have an interest in it today however i am extremely choosy about what i like and rarely if ever check out anything new (most of the dance/electronic music I like is stuff i was into at the time and not really anything recent) however I did decide to check out Submerged as i liked the name and figured if Justin and Bill would work with him he must be doing something pretty good! and i was right although he does make Drum 'N' Bass/Breakbeat type music he does it with a wholly different and unusual approach and has a dark and nasty edge to it which appealed to me immensely.

When i started looking for some Submerged music I could only find "Pay" downloads (at the cost of $10/£6.50 an album) so i used this nifty little site I have as a last resort for finding individual mp3's if i can't find a rar of an album and i had to download almost all of the music in these links track by track from there then i had to pay for "Ghost Dope" (though at nearly 2 & 1/2 hrs long i think the $10 was justified) so as i said this is a "give it up for the internet" here's all the (digitally) available Submerged stuff free of charge so you don't have to spend the best part of 2 days like i did finding the mp3's compiling them etc....

So what you get below are his two "stand alone" albums "Before Fire...." and "Stars Lights..." plus "Ghost Dope" which is a 2 & 1/2 hour compilation of tracks culled from his vast back catalog of 24 12" vinyl releases (the 12" being the primary format for Drum 'n' Bass and dance music) then a further compilation from the vaults "Violence As First Nature" which has a further 15 cuts from his back catalog and also comes with a bonus DJ mix featuring all these tracks plus another 13 tracks seamlessly mixed by the man himself. However it does not end there purchasers of "Before Fire..." were given a free download from the label (Ohm Resistance) entitled "Before Fire...Supplemental Material" which has a further 2 tracks plus a 31 min track by someone called Robert Mariani entitled "Astral - Cassette Tape #01 (1985)" I cannot find any information about what relevance this artist or track bears to Submerged or the album but it's in there should you wish to check it out. And "Stars Lights..." contains a bonus remix of one of the album tracks.

So just quickly i want to say that there is a lot of regular if above average drum and bass type stuff here mainly on "Ghost Dope" which is not surprising as it is culled from 12"'s mainly targeted at a club environment however both his albums plus the "Violence As First Nature" comp contain some insanely nasty,grimy and intense stuff which puts me in mind of some of Aphex Twin's more crazy stuff and his cutting up of beats is just nuts as well as some of the intense bass,noise and just general electronic brutality that borders on the industrial. I have listened to it on my mp3 player this week and it was just great so that's why I decided it was worth blogging I really feel you don't have to be out of your head on drugs on the dancefloor to enjoy this stuff it is varied and interesting enough to stand listening to at home.

So here you go my first posting of purely electronic music I have spent more of this post justifying and explaining why i posted it rather than describing the music I guess that's just my personal guilt that i have posted so much heavy stuff here that I feel like I had to explain also i don't really know how to describe the depth of a bass tone or how good the TB303 waves and 808 beats are I only know i liked it a lot, it provoked a positive response and that's why it's here, In closing i will refer you to a qoute from the very 1st post on this blog .....

"The main thing is to have no expectations of this blog because even I don't know what I'm gonna put on here yet you can expect to find anything from acoustic and experimental music to jazz and grindcore whatever I'm enjoying that i think is worth sharing I'll put it on here I place no labels on myself or my music tastes."

So there you go more justification ha ha here's hoping i don't lose the majority of my readers and some people will enjoy this crazy music....

Ghost Dope - Mediafire

Violence As First Nature - Mediafire

Before Fire I Was Against Other People - Mediafire

Starts Lights The End - Mediafire

THE KOOLAID ELECTRIC COMPANY

SO this band were a bit of a surprise discovery for me I downloaded a compilation called "Reverb Conspiracy Vol 1" it was billed as "A European Psych collection co released by Fuzz Club Records and the Reverb Appreciation Society" I was mainly after the download for the exclusive Dead Skeletons track on it (See my post on Dead Skeletons HERE) however after downloading I had it on in the background whilst doing something and one song really grabbed me so I checked the track list and the song was "Dreams" by The Koolaid Electric Company so a quick net search and i discovered they had an album out called "Random Noises And Organised Sounds" and a further net search netted me a download of it but it was so good i managed to get in touch with them through their facebook page and i manged to purchase one of the very few remaining copies of it from them and as it's completely out of print and very hard to come by for a reasonable price I asked for their permission to upload the album for you guys and they were kind enough to let me do so.

It would appear that at least one member of this band is from the long standing indie/shoegaze band The Telescopes but I have to be honest I didn't pursue information on this further but i suspect the fella i've been in touch with on Facebook Dave "Rusty" Gryphon would be the one.

So why all the fuss? well as you all should know i am a huge fan of the current wave of modern psychedelic music or "Psych" as it's referred to and most of it is borne of a similar template krautrock-ish passages and loud guitar freakouts however these guys were approaching the "Psych" sound from a completely different and altogether British angle whilst still having plenty of the hallmarks of psychedelic music these fellas are leaning more towards the sounds of Loop (See post HERE) Ride, (early) Jesus and Mary Chain etc and a bit of the style known as "Dream Pop" think Mazzy Star (See Post HERE ) etc and also there's hints of 60's garage/pebbles type stuff as well this is all wrapped up in loud effected guitars, and makes each song standout as different from the next and keeps things interesting whilst most psychedelic bands tend to slam you to the wall with intense builds and extended guitar freak out these guys happily drift along lazily and dreamily and whilst they still have great builds and are more than capable of some good loud guitar in the right places it's more of a shimmering guitar ride that whilst still plenty loud is a far more relaxing affair than their contemporaries and is just so lush it will melt your spine! I defy anyone to not be bowled over by the sheer beauty of this album. I know there is quite a bit of "Shoegaze" revival going on these days but the way these guys blend it with their psychedelic influences is just genius and this album has been one of the best things I've heard this year (although it has been out since 2011!!!)

So below I have a given you a fully authorised link to their album uploaded by me at 320kbps from my CD I cannot stress enough that you should check this album out I am listening to it right now as i type this article and the acoustic strumming and effected guitars of the intro to the track "home" just made me stop, go limp and go ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's a truly beautiful listen track after track of just great songs that are also completely memorable every time I hear a song I go"Ahhhh I remember this one it's great"  then the next one comes on and I go "Ahhhh I remember this one it's great" A truly terrific album 9 songs of utter aural delight and worth 50 minutes of anyone's time at least anyone with a heart and a brain and a love of great music... Enjoy!

The Koolaid Electric Company - Mediafire

LECHEROUS GAZE

This is a completely redone version of the old post I decided that it needed re-doing rather than updating because firstly they have had a GREAT new album out since it was originally done and secondly because I just them live!

So...Anyone who reads this blog regularly should know that i am a huge fan of Annihilation Time so when they broke up and 3/4 of the final version of A.T. formed Lecherous Gaze my expectations were high but at that time (2010) firstly I didn't like the name and secondly I just couldn't get into them to start with I had hoped they'd keep their Black Flag/BL'AST! edge and i just didn't hear it and found their new more rockin' style just a little too "rock" for what I had wanted/expected!

So though I kept up to date on what they were doing and thought they were kinda "OK" they were never really a favorite especially when they had a change of vocalists. However last year I dunno how it happened but after I heard they had a new album in the works and were touring I decided to have a re-visit and lo and behold the clouds parted the sun shone upon me and i finally "got it"! I have since purchased the EP and both albums on CD and decided it was time for a proper post! So the high praise this band receive in this post is a product of my re-visit!

Lecherous Gaze were formed by ex - Annihilation Time (See My Post on them HERE ) members Graham Clise (Guitar), Chris Grande (Bass) along with Noel Sullivan (drums) who played drums on the last Annihilation Time album "III - Tales Of The Ancient Age" Their original vocalist Lakis Panagiotopulos (Who bore an uncanny vocal resemblance to Glenn  Danzig) only appeared on their debut Demo/EP and was replaced shortly thereafter by Zaryan Zandi I mention this straight away because originally i couldn't understand how their vocalist had gone from smooth toned Danzig style to sounding a lot like a manic Captain Beefheart!! And thought it best to save you from the same confusion.

They released their "Audio Testament" demo (pictured below) with original vocalist Lakis Panagiotopulos in 2010 this would later get tweaked and re-issued as the "Lecherous Gaze" 12"/CD the only recording to feature their original singer. It's a cracking debut taking off where the last Annihilation Time album left off but a bit less on the punk side and adding a bit more garage and 70's rock which is pretty much sets the standard for everything to follow.

At this point I think there's little to be had from going through each LG release individually as whilst they have had a few EP's between the debut and 1st album and a couple between  the first and second albums they have been a fairly consistent unit there's been no groundbreaking changes in their sound since they started they have just continued to release consistently good records and just got better and better at what they do so in the spirit of shorter write ups more music here's a quick breakdown of your links.....

"EP's" this is the original link from the original post and it contains the debut "Lecherous Gaze" EP but also contains their "Bagagazo" EP "Born On A River" 12" "Animal Brain" 7" and their tracks from the 3 way split 12" with Danava and Earthless now originally I had thought that these were worth having but it turns out that apart from their debut EP ALL of the others contain mostly tracks that would later turn up on their albums and they are exactly the same versions as the album versions however there are 2 tracks in there that don't appear on the albums "Feathered Fish" from the "Bagagazo" EP and "Get You Some" from the 3 way split so if you, like me, want to be completist then these tracks are definitely worth having plus you most definitely NEED their Debut EP so don't skip it!.

So that being said I have given you their 2012 debut album "On The Skids" which is a great debut and is a non stop rock 'n' roll wild ride I have to be honest as i said near the start that it took me a while to get into the new vocalists "croaky" Beefheart style but the music is just unbelievably great there are not enough bands blending the best of 70's rock with a healthy dose of Stooges/MC5 craziness and a dash of grimy early USHC and these guys by far are the best at it I said in my original post on these guys that i figure even if Annihilation Time had kept going this is what their next album would have sounded like anyway. This is tight and well played, the musicianship is impeccable and it shows that the core of this band have been playing together for quite a while and it can't be said enough how great a guitarist Graham Clise is he is a non stop hot rock lick machine! Whilst this is an excellent debut their latest album from this year "Zeta Reticuli Blues" takes the template and just makes it even better the songs are even more rocking and memorable and they even do a cover of old blues rock standard "Baby Please Don't Go" and their version is just scorching all i can say is if you thought "On The Skids" was good then this will blow you away! As far as I can tell this is the only place this is available for free on the net because I tried for months after hearing it was being released and after it was released and in the end had to give in and buy it ha ha!

So there you go the complete story so far and having seen them live recently it's obvious these guys LOVE what they do as they certainly looked like they were enjoying playing as much as we were enjoying watching them so i doubt this is the last we will hear from them and personally I can't wait for more! Enjoy!

EP's - Mediafire

On The Skids - Mediafire

Zeta Reticuli Blues - Mediafire

And just for fun here's some pics me and my Girlfriend took with our phones of Lecherous Gaze live at the Blade factory Liverpool....

SNAKEBiTE

I Have often mentioned the fact that I had a renewed interest in Hardcore in the early millennium and it led me to discover a lot of great bands who were either short lived or just disappeared completely without at trace one of those great bands was SNAKEBiTE. I have often used them for reference in other posts but i never really thought about the fact that having only had 2 x EP's about 13 years ago that most folk wouldn't have a clue who they were. I had often wanted to rectify this but i only had vinyl rips of their 2 EP's and they were fairly atrocious quality but recently I came across a bandcamp page which had both their EP's uploaded and from what I can tell the source wasn't vinyl and they sounded a lot better than my own rips. So here I present you the "discography" (does 2 EP's count as a discography??) of this great short lived and overlooked band!

These guys were, if memory serves me, from New Jersey in the USA I got interested in them because they had an ex member of Down In Flames but then discovered one of them went on to be in Forward To Death and another member was in a short lived but excellent Hardcore band called Survivors who again did one EP and that was it. I also mentioned in various posts that the internet was in it's infancy/dial up era back then and often labels would have small websites and they would offer 1 or 2 tracks from each release they had for download and i used to download everything and make mix CD's of it to listen to then decide what stuff I wanted to buy and that's how i came across these guys, they were on Don Giovanni records who started out releasing mainly hardcore but have become quite a big underground/Indie type label but at the time their current releases were SNAKEBiTE, Kamikaze, Talk Hard and a couple of others and they were all so good I bought all the EP's.

So I got these 2 Ep's mainly on the strength of the Down In Flames connection however I was quite surprised when I heard them because instead of the Fast thrash i expected what i got was some GREAT mid paced/Fast hardcore with more than a nod to the likes of Poison Idea. What i like most about these guys is tho they have quite shredding and Intense vocals the music is nice and chunky has a classic old school feel while still managing to sound contemporary rather than retro also the songs they wrote were very memorable with great riffs that get your head nodding and just stick with you for days!

So in the link below you have their 1st EP "Every Bad Idea Is A Good Idea" and 2nd "Feel The Buzz" there's only 4 tracks on each and the total playing time of both is a mere 15 mins however it's a seriously great 15 mins and i find it criminal that these guys never did anymore music as although according to discogs.com all of the members are in other bands SNAKEBiTE were one of those frustratingly short lived bands that just make you go ARGGGGHHHH why did you break up when you were SOOOO good!

I Hadn't listened to these in a while before i got this post together and it has struck me that these guys are in quite a similar vein to recent hardcore revivalists Obliterations so if you like that sort of thing then these guys are definitely for you. So now anyone who follows all the posts on here can download these EP's and make sense of the comparisons I make when I mention these guys! Both EP's are high bitrate not quite 320 but high enough I have separated them into individual folders for each EP withj the correct artwork etc so go download and enjoy this GREAT band.



SNAKEBiTE EP's - Mediafire