Kong Lives - Kong Saves

Kong Saves is the debut EP from new South Wales based doom metal / stoner outfit Kong Lives, featuring members of Tradish and the recently (sadly) defunct Desalvo. Kong Saves treads firmly on the ethereal yet groove-laden side of doom, rarely falling full force into the pits of sludgy despair. The trippier, more laid back parts remind me of Germany's Samsara Blues Experiment, whilst the more full-on, distorted passages are akin to The Inside Room-era 40 Watt Sun mixed with something altogether more Slabdragger (yeah fuck it I'm going with that statement haha).

Track 4 features backing vocals from Judas Cradle's very own Sam Wall, which is a nice addition to the nihilistic blast of doom. The fitting artwork was pen(cilled?) by long-time illustrator and once PUS vocalist Bvrzerk, and the amazing studio production was carried out by Newport's Rhys Bryant (who has recorded the likes of Grand Collapse and Pizza Tramp, among others). 

You can stream the whole thing at the group's Bandcamp page, so check it out below.

O.A.P. - Human Milkshake

O.A.P. (or Onanistic Anti-Peristalsis for short) were a death metal band based in Newport, Wales. I believe they finally kicked the bucket sometime around 2013/14 and Human Milkshake was their only album release. They featured members of death metal bands Necrocest and Cryptophile, as well as having local promoter / general all round good egg Sam Wall as one of the vocalists.

Human Milkshake gets better as it goes on; personally I find the opening track "Jeremy Kyle" hilarious yet a bit repetitive, but the guys quickly fall into a gurgling groove which should satisfy the nastiest of death metal bloodhounds. The inclusion of shouted vocals alongside the gutturals and inhales is an interesting choice but adds a fresh dynamic to a tried and tested formula of music. A tidy production job as well, rounds the whole thing off with a surprisingly heavy hit for a drum machine band. Top stuff!

I miss the O.A.P. shenanigans. Reunion tour?

Salt Bath - Uncomfortable Choices

Salt Bath are a new band from the Newport area of South Wales, playing an abrasive form of back-to-basics noisemongery distilled through the blunt force weapons of choice - bass guitar and drums (with Venom Prison sticksman Sheehy on the skins). Uncomfortable Choices boasts an impressively all-encompassing production sound, courtesy of One Louder Studios, again in Newport. Imagine Big Black meets Melvins or if you want to go all out; Death From Above 1979 meets early Mr. Bungle.

The meat and bones of the record is a series of under-two-minuters that really compliment the chaotic bass and drums combination (I might be biased here...), although there is a smattering of longer tracks too, which not only help to break up the chaos and offer something a bit more profound, but contribute an intense layer of atmosphere, which considering the mediums chosen for expressing such sounds, is no small feat. Case in point would be "Love Song"; a lurching - almost swaggering - minimalistic crawl that just gathers in tension as it clamours together its seven minutes.

What a beauty!

Necrocest - Prenatal Massacre

Wow this shit is brutal. Probably one of the best bits of death metal I've heard in a while, Prenatal Massacre is the third full length album from Welsh sickos Necrocest. I remember seeing these guys supporting The Berzerker in Newport many moons ago (2008 methinks) and I had forgotten all about them until I came across them on Youtube recently, because y'know, I'm an idiot, but there you go. All that matters is that I finally listened to them properly.

It took me a while to figure out that there may be a drum machine on the go here. If not, then those are some triggered-as-fuck drums. My hazy memory of their live show includes a drummer, but you know how things are on the production side of death metal; drum machines out the ass. Or, to make that more death-metally; drum machines out the ass, prolapsed cunt and bursting from your stomach like some shit from the Alien franchise. Either way, Prenatal Massacre is fucking awesome brutal death metal.

(Apologies for the image quality - it was very difficult to find a full sized version of the album cover, and Blogger crushed the life out of it during the upload.)

Atomçk - Never Work

Can you imagine how excited I was knowing that the next Atomçk record was gonna drop as a physical copy thanks to Hygiene Records? No, probably not. But I was pretty fuckin' happy, I'll tell you that. As much as I love sites like Grindcore Karaoke (seriously far too much good shit for one website) I am a total sucker for physical copies. Grindcore Karaoke could have a download link to 320kb mp3s of every single album in the world and I'd still want to buy my favourites in the flesh as well.

Atomçk are back with a new drummer and a professional studio sound (huzza!) that really makes Never Work stand out instantly as my favourite shit by them. You can expect the usual sci-fi grind nuttery, but there is a whole bunch of longer songs thrown in here as well. Opener "Desert Blast", which is also used to open live gigs, if my memory serves, is dangerously close to sounding like something altogether more Kyuss. That is, of course, until the vocals kick in. "No Sleep 'til Trutnov" is another long 'un, comprising of a simple drum beat and a wailing guitar repetition, before giving way to some nice 'n' nasty harsh electronic noise.

This edition on tape is fairly limited, and quite possibly even sold out already (June 2013 update: yep, all gone). Yikes! However, you can still stream and download the entire thing for free from Grindcore Karaoke and various other sources. Stream endless, baby!

Goldie Lookin Chain - You Knows It 1983

This is the Gold Dust Gramaphonics pressing of GLC's 2002 seemingly untitled EP. You Knows It 1983 is written on the back under the logo, so I've just used that as the name for now. All we have here is basically a collection of skits and old tracks, one of which would go on to appear on the 2005 record Safe As Fuck.  

Side a kicks off with "Roller Disco Remix", which is just that; a remix of the track "Roller Disco". That's all I can say about that really (ha). "Mike Balls Unofficial Soccer Anthem" is a really shit song if I'm a honest. Side b fares a bit better, the "Nan Jam" is cute at best although it does have some amusing references, but "Monkey Love" is fucking hilarious on all accounts. An auto-tuned ode to fucking a primate? Sounds good. "Shit Yourself" reminds me of something that Start! Start! would churn out, and that can only make me smile!

In all seriousness though, I wouldn't recommend this 12" to anyone, apart from maybe some close friends who find poo jokes hilarious.

Dub War - Mental

 

Before there was Skindred there was Dub War. I was always attracted to this band because of their awesome name. A war of dub? Sounds like my kind of party. Unfortunately I found Dub War a bit wet, not too shabby but very disappointing considering what I built them up to be in my head. My love for them sadly does not extend any further than this cheeky little single pressed by Earache (when they went off the fuckin' dial with signing weird shit) in 1994 on CD, 7" and 12". This here is the 7". The CD and 12" both contain more remixes and a separate b-side track, whilst this 7" only contains the title track and one boring remix that doesn't actually sound that much different.

Anyhow, die hard fans of Skindred should enjoy Dub War, and I'm sure they probably do. The song "Mental" is just that, Benji shouting a chorus of (i think) "absolutely mental!" over and over in a Welsh accent is very very amusing. That's about it. The rap is pretty awesome too. You can currently get one of these for £1 on Discogs, so if you like odd shit, get in.