As you noticed we reposted the
Abnegation discography from Path To Misery blog previously. Well after numerous members of the band had left bassist Dave Steele took over the vocal duties. They shed the vegan straight edge ethos and went for more of a death metal image. Some people loved it and a lot of people hated it. Regardless it was what it was and Doug, Chris, & Dave didn’t give a flying fuck what anyone had to say. In fact I think they loved the controversy. They released a full length on Good Life records from Belgium that featured some re-recorded older tracks and a handful of new material written by the 3 piece. After that CD came out they did one final recording. It was for a compilation called “One Hell of a Compilation” on Blasphemour Records. I personally felt like these two songs were awesome so here they are for everyone else to check. I feel like these were overlooked. One of the best dudes ever, Dave Steele, gave us a little insight to the recording of these two tracks.
“Ok so these last two songs of abnegation went far beyond anything and everything! It was one of the most fun recording sessions ever! We recorded at a house studio in Erie, PA called "HONEYBEAR STUDIOS". Honeybear studios was run by a minister of a Catholic Idealist church. So needless to say, we showed up and he had the look of fear… ha Dave Steele, Chris Leonard, and Doug Corey showing up with beer and instruments. This being right after Chris had gotten a pretty bad tattoo on his arm (no details as he covered it now but very shocking tattoo!) Chris was well known for his drumming skills and really one of the best! Chris was also known for his OCD patterns and made us go through the songs many times until he felt good and safe with the end product! Doing like the start 4 counts 18 times and taking drumming gloves on and off a few times in between! Amazing!
So halfway through the music recording one of the ministers people came in that he takes care of through the church and starts banging his head and yelling evil stuff at us and were all at a loss cause he looked like a preppie jock guy who turned out to be crazy drunk! Dude went upstairs to use the bathroom and then well didn’t make it cause he fell down the stairs onto the landing, then the minister runs over and talks to him and they start talking in the kitchen where drunk guy proceeds to cry on the ministers shoulder, pretty epic, troubled fellow we figured!
So that plays on for bout 45 minutes then we get back to recording, then vocals come into play during the next session and well, I think that scared the poopie out of the poor old minister, as I had to record in the sound booth, and once I opened up for the first time he cringed in his chair and put his head into his hands and started shaking his head a bit! All in all a pretty fun and amazing recording session for sure!
This recording:
Chris Leonard – drums, Doug Corey – guitar, Dave Steele - Vocals
Date of recording was like 1998 or 99 I’m not too certain but right round then! ha that makes me old! Holy crap!”
- Dave Steele
Abnegation "One Hell of a Compilation" CD
https://www.mediafire.com/?f7islos4swbgbjd
8. Drug Programming
16. Sample 1 / Pig Juice
You might remember Mother Ship who I had previously done a posting on. Well this is one of their other cassette tapes that I recently got a hold of (thanx Adam!). You might recognize the first track that was featured on the Erie Scene Report but on side B you will hear another hard to find gem called "CHAMP". Pretty cool.
Neverfall was a mid 90s Erie Hardcore band that had a good deal of success. They definitely got kids moving here in their home town with their fusion of metallic hardcore akin to Snapcase meets Strife. Alongside their friends in Brother’s Keeper, Disciple, & Digression these guys were the next up to really make some waves and were flying the Erie Hardcore banner. I especially liked their final release “Symbols of Inner Self” as I felt the song writing was at their peak and the intensity was at an all time high for the band. I can’t even remember if they really played a final show or anything. They definitely had a good run though that I think a lot of new Erie kids will appreciate hearing this stuff. Unfortunately as with most bands they were plagued by line up changes but we were lucky enough to get a few recordings from them over their years of existence. I’m pretty sure this is everything they had recorded and after many years of all of this being hard to find and out of print I offer it to you.
