PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[Human Larvae]

SWANS "Not Here/Not Now" 2xcd

This is much more enjoyable than seeing them live where you literally can hear NOTHING but a deafening hum and the sight of Gira prancing like a moron makes you leave the venue and wish you hadn't wasted $20 on such garbage. Yet still, this DCD is only fun for about 30 minutes. I don't think anyone is praise-worthy enough for me to want to watch them drunkenly write music on the spot for two fucking hours.

first time I've read someone bash them like that

[Dr Alex]

SWANS "Not Here/Not Now" 2xcd

This is much more enjoyable than seeing them live where you literally can hear NOTHING but a deafening hum and the sight of Gira prancing like a moron makes you leave the venue and wish you hadn't wasted $20 on such garbage. Yet still, this DCD is only fun for about 30 minutes. I don't think anyone is praise-worthy enough for me to want to watch them drunkenly write music on the spot for two fucking hours.

first time I've read someone bash them like that

I saw SWANS few months ago in Budapest. Amazing gig!! Loud as fuck but you can hear every single cymbal and everything else! Don't know why you didn't like it...

[eyestrain]

I can certainly see why some would like their live performance, but it just wasn't for me - at all. Saw them
at The Rex in Pittsburgh (was this the show you attended Mr. Hogra?). Horrible venue, horrible sound, napalm-worthy side of town. The fact that I'm quickly becoming crotchety in the presence of crowds can't possibly help...

Either way, I just really have the feeling that if this were anyone but Swans (!), there would be very, very little support. I might have stood out an hour of this performance in truth. Aside from the one decipherable "classic"  - Coward - the whole thing was close to not much else but drawn out, open chord intros with cymbals. The track with Gira going "yololololololololololo" caught my attention, mostly cos there was a pitch change, but when he started that again 40 minutes later, that's when I called defeat and left. I'm a Swans fan to a great level, and while the 80's were their heyday for me, I would also kill to see some Angels Of Light shows. Couldn't find a piece of pleasure in this though. To each his own. Just felt inclined to say something since there seems to be a certain infallibility surrounding the man - whether it's from the press or fans.

[Nyodene D]

I can certainly see why some would like their live performance, but it just wasn't for me - at all. Saw them
at The Rex in Pittsburgh (was this the show you attended Mr. Hogra?). Horrible venue, horrible sound, napalm-worthy side of town. The fact that I'm quickly becoming crotchety in the presence of crowds can't possibly help...

Either way, I just really have the feeling that if this were anyone but Swans (!), there would be very, very little support. I might have stood out an hour of this performance in truth. Aside from the one decipherable "classic"  - Coward - the whole thing was close to not much else but drawn out, open chord intros with cymbals. The track with Gira going "yololololololololololo" caught my attention, mostly cos there was a pitch change, but when he started that again 40 minutes later, that's when I called defeat and left. I'm a Swans fan to a great level, and while the 80's were their heyday for me, I would also kill to see some Angels Of Light shows. Couldn't find a piece of pleasure in this though. To each his own. Just felt inclined to say something since there seems to be a certain infallibility surrounding the man - whether it's from the press or fans.

I was at this show as well.  The sound was largely terrible and the venue was uncomfortably packed. I saw them in Buffalo with Pharmakon a few weeks later and the sound was much improved (everything perfectly crisp and audible) but ended up leaving about 90 mins into the set. I'm a fan of this current incarnation of Swans on record but few people merit playing for 2+ hours live, especially playing unreleased material.

[HOGRA]

I can certainly see why some would like their live performance, but it just wasn't for me - at all. Saw them
at The Rex in Pittsburgh (was this the show you attended Mr. Hogra?). Horrible venue, horrible sound, napalm-worthy side of town. The fact that I'm quickly becoming crotchety in the presence of crowds can't possibly help...

Either way, I just really have the feeling that if this were anyone but Swans (!), there would be very, very little support. I might have stood out an hour of this performance in truth. Aside from the one decipherable "classic"  - Coward - the whole thing was close to not much else but drawn out, open chord intros with cymbals. The track with Gira going "yololololololololololo" caught my attention, mostly cos there was a pitch change, but when he started that again 40 minutes later, that's when I called defeat and left. I'm a Swans fan to a great level, and while the 80's were their heyday for me, I would also kill to see some Angels Of Light shows. Couldn't find a piece of pleasure in this though. To each his own. Just felt inclined to say something since there seems to be a certain infallibility surrounding the man - whether it's from the press or fans.

We are all entitled to our opinion, but the performers can't ever seem to escape fan criticism. People are either complaining that the band played way too long or that they didn't play long enough. That they didn't play enough "old stuff" or that they played too much classic material and very little of the newer songs. I'll admit, I am not a big fan the The Rex, but what does the part of town where the show was held have anything to do with the performance? I've seen loads of bands in awesome, great-sounding venues suck complete ass. As much as I am NOT a fan of Manny Theiner, he is probably the only guy in town who could/would bring SWANS here - and I am happy that he did. Yeah, Gira still acts like a rockstar, but if you don't want to deal with his personality or the long shows (which SWANS fans should fully expect by now), then stay home and save your $20. I feel that I got my money's worth, which is not very common these days when it comes to live shows...

[Nyodene D]

who are all you western PA nerds anyhow? I'm up here in Erie with my dick in the dirt...

[eyestrain]

who are all you western PA nerds anyhow? I'm up here in Erie with my dick in the dirt...

Travelled from across state - since they skipped Philly (closest city) - adding to the frustration.

Hogra, didn't mean to make you mad. I just didn't enjoy the music.

I've seen four shows this year. Swans was the least impressive. Wovenhand was fantastic. And ironically both of you gents above playing at Garfield Artworks on separate occasions are on the list - both of those being the highlights of the year for me. Just to give an idea of what I found successful. Either way, my trap is shut.

[emboscado]

The Rita - Scorting 3LP.
Worth all of it. Anyway my favorites at first listenings: C031 LP & CONCERN (side B).

Arditi - Standards of triumph
Arditi / Signa Inferre ‎– Statues Of Gods / Invictis Victi Victuri 10"
Anyone about most recent Arditi's LPs? These ones (and all 7"s) are nice... maybe not so good as DB martial-era which for me is the top of this genre since all the hundreds projects which came later were copycats in most of cases... maybe only Triarii being best of newcomers - even with all the I's and sun's plaguing his lyrics, heh

Orplid - Greifenherz CD
Great last album, not sure if it was the final word of this excellent project.

[burdizzo]

Dug out a couple of old ones this evening:
Decay of the Angel comp. LP (Grey Wolves, Ramleh, Con-Dom, White Hand, Terre Blanche...)
M.B. - Mectpyo Blut tape (Archival Series)
Ears still ringing from the raw, primitive power!

[eyestrain]

Boy Dirt Car Winter - F/I Split LP (Lexicon Devil): Ahead of it's time in many ways! This is my first time digging into the group - anyone got any recommendations or tid bits?

Trait Inspirationals (Arbeit Group/Sounds For Consciousness Rape/Industrial Recollections): Like an 80's tape-culture version of an otherwise bland death-industrial album; accidentally, of course. This is some tasty shit - as if Lunde ever disappoints (...much!).

Hands To Nazha (Animist/Manifold): The most beautifully cavernous and cold recordings I've heard in a very long time. I take back what I said earlier and do believe I'll be digging into Jerman's (at least early) catalog.

Hands To Artiment (Big Body Parts/Impulsy Stetoskopu): More variety, more cut-up-ish, but without some of the wonkiness that makes Brume or other similar projects sometimes painful.

Dissecting Table Human Qualification (UPD Org.): A wide range of Ichiro's styles covered here. Actually, I think maybe all of them from the past decade. A very, very varied set of discs. Insanely recommended!

Dissecting Table Twelves Limbs Of Dependent Origination (Psych.KG/UPD Org.): I feel drunk when I listen to any segment of this other immense undertaking. Normally, I wouldn't find much pleasure in a project putting out so many works, but Dissecting Table is always an exception to the rule. Some times I think about listening to the project for all of my 16-20 waking hours in a day to see if I'll be in some sort of LSD-like state by bed time.

Iron Fist Of The Sun Tears Royal (Unrest): Haven't pulled this out for some time. The last two full-lengths have only gotten better over time, but I think this is a bit too traditional in comparison. A really excellent album, but tends to not hold my interest for the whole length. Still, a project holding the limited throne of PE-loves for me.

Cosmic Church Ylistys (Kuunpalvelus): In a sense - a fantastic black metal album. In another sense - just a really great DLP of rehash. Thinking of Paysage D'Hiver, Burzum and a little too much Rahu (without a lot of the gravity that makes the project so damn good). Good. Expensive.

White Medal Blod O T'North Seeur/Yorkshire Steel/Guthmer's Hahl (Legion Blotan): This though...just what I fucking love! Great blend of that classic rehash sound, a faint sense of NSBM (if that's a sound...), and those great, low-end vocals that were missing from the debut(s). Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat...

[deathcamp]

MANIA - Grim Conditions - Excellent as usual.
PAIN NAIL - Magneettinen Koutalo - Love it, despite the fact that it's different from previous releases, now more into rhythmics and drone elements. Great layout and pictures. 

[FreakAnimalFinland]

MANIA / HAL HUTCHINSON CD
Phage
Damn! I remember tape was good, but now listening from CD, it appears even better. HEAVY sound. Brutal clatter of metal junk, ultra deep bass frequencies, some vocals, feedback... yes yes, I admit it is like 1+1=2, meaning M+HH = this cd. No surprises, but it is not needed when it is simply good.

[dmkerr]

A batch of Hogra 7" - superb!

Working through the 50 disc Merzbow box set.  I'd kind of drifted from Merzbow a bit but so far this set is nothing like what I heard from Merzbow a decade ago.  Really nice but doesn't elevate itself (so far - I've only just begun) to Venerealogy or Pulse Demon levels.

A slew of discs from Grunt and Mauthausen Orchestra, two artists to add to my "Get All You Can Find!" list.

[ConcreteMascara]

Gnaw - Horrible Chamber LP, This Face LP - saw Gnaw last night open for Pelican of all bands. Their performance was great, especially when the guitar player used some type of homemade string instrument with springs and such. Not quite as awesome as when I saw them at Apex Fest, but still very enjoyable. Digging the new album, and re-listening to their first.

Khanate - Thing Viral CD, Clean Hands Go Foul LP, S/T CD - but as good as Gnaw is it had me reaching for my Khanate albums. In my opinion Khanate stands as the greatest of all the bands Stephen O'Malley has been in, are anyone else in the band for that matter.

[eyestrain]

Pogrom Degančios Suros, C64 (Unrest Prod.): Would appeal to the F&V lovers out there'd I'd say...played like a low-end, but just as lo-fi Xenophobic Ejaculation. Very well done, just not in my league of pleasures.

Helm Silencer (Pan): As riveting as all Younger's previous works. A lot of similar moments to Impossible Symmetry, but there was definitely more rhythm work going on - hand drums, I think.

Trait Acephalia (N4300 W8752): Less moody than Inspirationals. Moreso, this is just in your fucking face. Lovely.

Eric Lunde How Close One Is To The Center... (TraitMediaWorks): All the madness and variety of any Lunde album, without getting too weird.

Mlehst This Pain Does Not Belong To Me (Self Abuse): A real clusterfuck (in a good way) of styles and atmospheres. A little dark ambient, a little electro-acoustic, a little harsh. It's all over the place - i.e., it demands your attention - and will reward you greatly.

Crawl Unit Stop Listening (Ground Fault Rec.): Shit, this is awesome.

Crawl Unit Everyone Gets What They Deserve (Crippled Intellect Prod.): More drone, but ditto to the above.

Joe Colley Lonely Microphone (Senufo Editions): And once again, but like a molding of the Crawl Unit works, mixed with some Brume-esque moments.

Der Stürmer A Banner Greater Than Death/Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (Deathrune/Death Squad): Listening in anticipation of the new EPs arriving. If you love 'em - they never dissapoint!