FOUNDATION "Purity" & "Triphammer" 7"s

This is an exciting first post for the new year. My awesome sister and brother-in-law gave me a great Christmas / B-day gift (I'm 31 today!). It is a USB turntable that plugs right into my computer. I am very excited about this as I hope my vinyl to mp3 transfers get even better! That will hopefully mean more frequent posts of killer hard to find stuff. Anyway, onto the music...

Foundation were a rather original band from Rochester, NY that had an interesting sound. It was a mix of heavy yet emotional stuff. Kind of like they grew up on Underdog and Gorilla Biscuits but decided to add some real slow and drawn out parts with a very emotional feel to it (note: i'm not calling this "emo" as i don't want to scare any of you readers away). I believe that both of these 7"s are from the same recording session at Suny Fredonia, NY in November of 1991. Fredonia is only a stones throw away from here in Erie, PA. Actually the "Purity" 7" was mixed by Fred @ Mark's Recording which is interesting to me because a few years later my band recorded there with Fred.

Foundation made the trip down many times to the central PA area and you would see their name on many flyers. I always really really liked these 7"s, some of the songs are really long but the playing on them is fucking top notch. All four members seem to be very proficient at what they brought to the table in the band. The line up consisted of; John Drenning on guitar, Mike Waney on vocals, Steve Korol on drums, & Bill Colgrove on bass. These 2 7"s might be over 15 years old but they still evoke a lot of the same feelings in me as the first time I heard them. Great stuff. I would love to get my hands on more material from them.



BOTH 7"S IN ONE ZIP FOLDER:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2b0elq5cx0lb6xa/Foundation_27inches.zip


FOUNDATION "Triphammer" 7"
Released 1992 on Significant Records
1. Down
2. Triphammer (instrumental)
3. Your Deception


FOUNDATION "Purity" 7"
Released 1992 on Round Flat Records / Fasthold Records
1. Disaster
2. Purity

B'ZRKER "self titled" 7"

I just know that a bunch of people are going to love this 7". This shit is hard and pulls no punches. Yet again another band that was introduced to me from the "East Coast Assault" Comp just like my Bricklayer post earlier this week. B'zrker who were also from Massachusetts play a hard metallic style of hardcore along the lines of bands like Zero Tolerance, Icemen, Merauder, and Dmize. That's why I just know that some of you readers are going to be all about it. The harder a band is the more downloads it seems like they get. Lots of double bass drums, chunky bass guitars, and plenty of guitar chugs. My favorite vocal line from this 2 song 7" is the following:

"You fucked with the system and got off scott free. You claim you've got your ticket BUT NO ONE RIDES FOR FREE BUT ME!"

On top of all of that the 7" starts off with a sample from Nightbreed based on the Clive Barker book Cabal that I was probably reading around the time I got this 7". Although not an amazing movie it's still fun to hear the aptly used quote at the beginning. Anyone know if any other material from these guys exists? I'd love to hear more. B'ZRKER was: Tom Habelt - vocals, Alan Fisher - lead guitar, Joe Keinberger - rythm (sic) guitar, Charlie Steeves - bass, & Chip Adams - drums. This 7" was recorded by Ducky Carlisle @ Room 9 From Outer Space in Boston Mass.


B'ZRKER "self titled" 7"
Released in 1992 by Exchange Records
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6hstnqq62ghwq0n/Bzrker.zip
1. Taking the Law
2. It Never Bends

BRICKLAYER LOCAL 630 "Thought Process '92" 7"

Too Damn Hype released the “East Coast Assault” CD which was a bad ass compilation in the 92-93 eras. It made a lot of smaller demo and 7” bands well known. I mean think about it, this is pre-internet so exposure was really hard. All I had to go by at this time was a song on a comp, a thank you list, or even just an ad in a zine. I think I tried to get material from every band on that comp. A local Harrisburg area record store called “It’s Only Rock N Roll” would have a little shoe box worth of 7”s up by the register with small and unknown hardcore band 7”s. One day while flipping through I saw this Bricklayer 7” and got excited as their song “Release” was fairly decent on the East Coast Assault. So I snatched it up and listened to it fairly frequently back then. It’s funny because I paid $3.99 for this back in 1993 and 7”s today are still only being sold for like $4-$6. Inflation has affected everything in the world except for punk rock I guess. Anyway… Bricklayer was a 5 piece heavy hardcore band from the Medford, MA area. Other than this 7” I do not know how prolific this band was. I always thought it was a good listen for the ’92 era. Give it a try. There’s some great lyrics in “Welcome to the Real World” like; “So much censorship you’d think this was the USSR.”, “Treat some fat junkie entertainer just like a fucking god, worship his statues and his songs, even want his face on a stamp WHAT?” Bricklayer Local 630 was: Scott Turner – bass, Karen Bagrowski – guitar, Ed Bagrowski – guitar, Donnie Ferguson – Drums, & Dan Stagliano – vocals.


BRICKLAYER Local 630 “Thought Process ‘92” 7”
Released on Foundation Americia Records
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bx04lrdcdl2kndn/Bricklayer.zip
1. Regret
2. Welcome (to the Real World)
3. Release
4. Last Words

DISMAY "In Doubt" CD

When Brother’s Keeper signed our first “contract” (I use that term loosely) in 1995 it was with We Bite America. WBA was to be distributed in the US by Victory and was a new venture for the European based label. The only other label mates we had at the time were 25 Ta Life and Dismay. When I first heard Dismay I had that young naïve approach to it. I thought “man this stuff is slow and boring, this ain’t hardcore”. Yeah I was stupid and totally missed what they were going for at the time. I quickly grew out of that mindset and honestly Dismay’s style of slow grooving hardcore is actually what I prefer rather than cliché mosh or old school. The guitar parts have such a thick sound to them and the beauty lies in the simplicity of their riff. The drums stick to a mid tempo and plod along most of the time and really get my head nodding. It’s this type of dramatic angst that gets my blood boiling. Bands like Burn, Beyond, Eye For An Eye, Quicksand, and Hard Response all had elements of this style as well and it seems like a lot of current bands are picking up on this vibe. I decided to post this album as a tribute to the band as I had recently read that the singer had passed away this past year. I never knew the guy or anything but here’s to you man, you made some good music and left a mark in the pages of East Coast hardcore. Rest In Peace.


DISMAY "In Doubt" CD
We Bite America Records 1995
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q7qs07tg9gr0do7/Dismay.zip

-----------------------------------
In other news:

Coregasm turned 2 mid november. I wanted to post something ridiculous from my past but never got around to it because life has been hectic. Anyway, happy belated birthday CG. I can't believe it's all ready been 2 years since I started doing my random posts. Thanx to all who read and check out the bands.

Also, if you remember I had posted 2 different Icemen posts (R.I.P. / Buried Alive). Turns out some of the old members of the band have been posting responses to each other and it's a little heated. This was rather unexpected and weird and I'm not really trying to fan the flames but it looks like after many many years there's still some hard feelings.

XCESSIVE FORCE video

FORCED DOWN "Mortal" CD

If you listen closely to track 5 on this CD you'll notice it was also featured on the Voice of Thousands Compilation we just posted. I always thought that was one of the more original songs on the comp and found this CD lying around in my collection. Looking back this band seemed kind of ahead of their time. It's got a nice mix of the rawness of a lot of early hardcore, screamo, crust type bands like early Ebullition stuff but it also has elements of solid heavy hardcore like Inside Out meets Downcast. Who knows?... maybe I'm talking out my ass. Either way these guys could actually play their instruments and we're on what seems to be their own level. A lot of it is mid tempo and has interesting and intriguing guitar riffs as well as a cool sense of heavy melody and lots of predominant bass work. Members were from notable bands such as Amenity (also on VOT comp), Heroin, Pitchfork, and a slew of others. I believe that the band themselves had a lot to do with releasing their own records in true DIY form. This CD features a range of songs throughout 1990-91 and a few different recording sessions. All of which are an enjoyable listen and I can hear a lot of elements and musical approaches that popular contemporary bands are using right now.

Check out Forced Down on myspace by clicking here:
http://www.myspace.com/forceddown


FORCED DOWN "Mortal" 19 song CD
Released on Downside / Vinyl Communications (VC-45)
https://www.mediafire.com/?f127q95882k87zh

BLACK FLAG interview

BAD BRAINS vid

V/A "Voice of Thousands"

You might remember my rant when I posted the "Over the Edge" compilation; although the "Voice of Thousands" comp was a bit older (ranging from the 88-90 era) many of the same things can be said about this amazing piece of history. Releases like this were just vital in spreading the sounds for a virtually unknown group. Resources were extremely limited and getting your name out there took a lot more patience where as everything now is so immediate and over saturated. Anyway, I'll spare you the history lesson on the value of a good compilation from "back in the day". There weren't thousands of labels back then, pressing records was a lot more expensive, technology was limited, and basically the only way to get your name around was through comps, zines, and word of mouth. All you really need to know is that releases like this paved the way for many of these bands to expand upon what they were doing. In fact if you've never heard of some of these bands there's a good chance that members of these unknown bands went on to form other groups you've probably heard of. So I'll let some of you other historians fill in the gaps on any of the bands featured here. I'd like a little bit more reader involvement anyway! So yeah, chime in and let's hear some info!

V/A VOICE OF THOUSANDS
Conversion Records # 6
Released 1990-91ish
https://www.mediafire.com/?ezmcjqrhengch2t

Side WEST
1. Amenity "I"
2. Refuse "Trust"
3. Intent "Step Back"
4. Outward "Question to an End"
5. Insight "Get It"
6. Outspoken "Look Beyond"
7. Forced Down "Escape"

Side EAST
8. Integrity "Live It Down"
9. Relapse "Warpath"
10. Round 2 "Begin the End"
11. Force of Habit "Your Decline"
12. Endpoint "Model"
13. Raid "Liberation"
14. Face Value "Help Yourself"

---------------------------------------

On a side note, please don't email me asking to re-up things if it is no longer available. I've had a few things removed due to copyrights (even though they were out of print, go figure) and some older posts just weren't getting downloaded so sendspace deemed them inactive. If you miss it, you missed it. I'm not trying to be a dick but I just don't have the time or desire to keep reposting old uploads. Thanx for understanding.

SNAPCASE "Self titled" 7"

Snapcase started out a lot different than what many of us think of today. Prior to bassist Daryl Taberski taking over the vocal duties was the unique voice of Chris Galas at the helm. With a different line up and an intense case of Zero Tolerance worship (can you blame them?) Snapcase had a bit more of a harder metallic edge to them with more of a "sung" style of vocals. This 7" was their first major exposure to others outside of their area and I loved what I was hearing on this. Shortly after this release you could hear their original version of "Fields of Illusion" on the Only The Strong 1992 compilation with Galas's vocals. Snapcase later redid this song on "Lookinglasself" but for some reason I still favor the Compilation version. It wasn't soon after this that Daryl put down the bass guitar and switched over to vocal duties. Michael Kimaid played drums on this recording and he had a nice metal influenced style with lots of double bass flare throughout his songs. He even played on half of the tracks on "Lookinglasself". The line up on this 7" was: Chris Galas - vocals (who reportedly showed up to a show in a boyscout uniform when they played), Scott Dresler - guitar, Joe Smith - guitar, Daryl Taberski - Bass, & Michael Kimaid - drums. It was recorded June of 1992. Check out that lead guitar work in the beginning of "Comatose"! That used to be a crowd favorite back then. I just wish a few years ago I didn't ebay my SOLID STATE Demo cassette (their previous band) when I was low on funds.


SNAPCASE "self titled" 7"
Victory Records 009 - 1992
http://www.mediafire.com/download/0w0uer9uc0u8rsn/snapcase_SelfTitled_7.zip
1. Crown Of Thorns
2. Comatose

Although Snapcase just officially broke up 2 years ago they are reuniting one night for a benefit show in NYC. Here's some info copied from elsewhere:

"In celebration of the November release of The Anti-Matter Anthology, author Norman Brannon is having a release party, but rather than showing up at a local Barnes & Noble Brannon is doing something much more fitting to the book's tone -- he is setting up a benefit show.

On November 24th at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg, hardcore visionaries and progressives Snapcase, whom broke up in early 2005, will reunite for one night only. Joining them will be fellow Anti-Matter subjects 108 and Triple Threat. The show's proceeds will go to benefit Callum Robbins, son of Jawbox frontman J. Robbins. Cal Robbins was recently diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, an incurable nerve disorder that is hugely expensive to treat.

:DETAILS:
Saturday November 24, 2007
The Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N. 6th Street | Brooklyn, NY

A Limited Edition Presale Package will be available on September 28, allowing the first 55 people to buy their ticket alongside a stamped, numbered, and personalized copy of the The Anti-Matter Anthology at a combined reduced price of $29.99. Tickets for the general public will go on sale October 5. Complete details and presale information will be released through the Anti-Matter MySpace page: http://myspace.com/antimatterbook"

BRAILLE demo cassette

This entry kind of goes along with the Knotwork post and was from the same era. Braille was a band whose demo I really enjoyed & reviewed in the second issue of Surprise Attack in ‘93 or ‘94. I only got the chance to see them once and they really delivered. They seemed like they were from the same age group as me (in high school at the time) but could actually play their instruments unlike the horrible bands I was in. They were from somewhere in the South NJ area just outside of Philly. Other than the demo and another great track featured on an amazing and diverse Food Not Bombs LP compilation by Inchworm Records from that same time, Braille didn’t have any other recorded offerings available.

If I can determine whether that comp is out of print I will most likely post it. That LP features a great lineup such as Ten Boy Summer, Swing Kids, Campaign, Indian Summer, Starkweather, Franklin, Finger Print, Braille, Half Man (I loved this band!) Premonition, Railhed, & Current. Pretty crazy comp! Anyway, I think that Braille was rather short lived which is a shame because this demo is pretty raging. It’s definitely got an early 90’s metallic hardcore vibe to it. The tempos are nice and the intensity is there. The slap bass on the instrumental before track 2 is a bit much to take and the metalzone guitar pedal sounding distortion is ever so prevalent from that era. Overall this is another gem from a local band that some of you from far away might not have ever had the chance to hear. Check it out & let me know what you think. – EMS 100%


BRAILLE "demo" Cassette
self released 1993?
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2561atfffa6bqjh/Braille.zip
1. Struggle
2. Instrumental / Torment
3. Absence

GG Allin on Springer

KNOTWORK demo + 7"

I finally had a chance to rip a 7” and even cracked out a new ghetto setup to transfer cassettes into mp3s. So with that said I give you KNOTWORK. Knotwork were from the surrounding area of Philadelphia known as Upper Darby. In 1993-95 I was heading down that way to catch shows very regularly. Knotwork played a handful of these and always gave an energetic, youthful set. This was the era of bands that were straight edge but had hope for changing the world and their selves for the better. Groups like Frail, Bleed, Lifetime, Policy Of Three, Iconoclast, Elements of Need, & Autumn all were doing well in the area and the first wave of Victory Records bands blowing up was starting (like Earth Crisis, Strife, and Snapcase). Shows were happening very often in the Philly area and always had a decent turn out. I always thought that Knotwork were really good but not too many people outside of the area got a chance to hear of them. Singer Jon Pepe eventually went on to play guitar in the infamous I HATE YOU. Listening back to these songs they definitely feel dated but bring back lots of good memories from many moons ago. I have included their 3 song 7” that was released on Kids Dream Records in 1995. It’s complete with construction paper layouts and all hand done cut and paste artwork that was popular for that time era. I have also included their 5 song demo cassette that came complete with a “It’s Okay Not To Drink” photocopied sticker. Musically the 7" is a bit more mature than the demo with longer guitar intros and a little more experimenting vocally. Overall I really enjoyed going back and hearing these again for the first time in probably 10 years. Wonder what some of these guys are up to these days?

http://www.mediafire.com/download/pa688iip6bdnmm6/Knotwork.zip



KNOTWORK “self titled” 7” (recorded at Why Me? Studios)
1995 Kids Dream Records 003
1. Distance
2. My room
3. When the Bough Breaks


KNOTWORK “demo” Cassette
Self Released 1994ish?
1. All Fall Down
2. Far Too Long
3. This Time
4. Fuck Your Drugs
5. Identity

KINGHORSE "s/t" & "too far gone" CDs

In the late 80s and early 90s I was an avid reader of Thrasher magazine / Puszone (Artist Pushead’s feature column). For a few months I kept seeing these ads for a new Caroline release. The album was Kinghorse “self titled”. I was a little unsure of what to think of the ad for this unknown band (to me at least), but some things just kept pulling me towards wanting to check them out.

1. The cover art was drawn by none other than the legendary Pushead.
2. One of the band members was wearing a Bad Brains shirt in the group shot. Back then this was enough to make me want to buy a record.
3. The album was produced by Glen Danzig.

Even with all of these traits combined I was still hesitant. I’m still not sure why, probably because I was a broke ass little skate punk. Then a new skate video from Plan B Skateboards or maybe it was Girl Skateboards… either way the video came out and featured some amazing aggro segments of gnarly street skating accompanied by this raging unknown band. The songs fit the intense skating so well it made the video so much better and made me want to go wild in the streets “Thrashin” style. I checked the credits and wouldn’t you know it, it was Kinghorse. I was fucking stoked – time to go buy the CD. Their style of raw, balls out twist on punk, hardcore, and metal was right up my alley. All 4 members of this band have super strong elements that make them truly unique and powerful. Kinghorse started after Louisville band Maurice (who toured with Samhain) split up. 2 members went into Kinghorse and 2 other started the also legendary Slint.

I used to play this CD all of the time while I was on tour but no one else in the van ever appreciated it. In fact it got to the point where they thought I would just play it to drive everyone nuts but in truth I just loved it so much. It even came up as a discussion that I would no longer be allowed to play it in the van, Kinghorse was about to get vetoed which is just unacceptable. The tempo changes, hanging riffs, and dynamic vocals just made me want to go over the edge. But I guess the crazy vocals were a bit much for some people. Which ironically enough, I was in Brother’s Keeper who was notorious for our vocals, and no one in my band could stomach Kinghorse so go figure!?

Many years later I Stand Alone fanzine ran a very lengthy and in-depth interview with singer Sean. It was so long it spread through 2 issues. Adele I Stand Alone too had a soft spot for this Louisville, KY band. Louisville was one of those scenes were local bands could draw 500-1200 people a show and had a wide variety of talent & style unheard of throughout the rest of the US. Kinghorse were no different. Reading the interview it turns out that Danzig didn’t really have shit to do with producing their album, and I think he might have even chose the cover art more so than the band themselves. Kind of a bum out but interesting none the less. The band basically seemed like they weren’t into the album and the way it came out. Well I for one think it’s a great gem that more people should get into and give a chance. I purchased this CD probably in 1991 (I even have the CD longbox that they used to package CDs in back then – some of you younger whippersnappers will have no clue as to what I’m talking about) and it is still in heavy, heavy rotation here. I’ve always wanted to obtain a copy of it on LP but it’s been rather elusive so far. Turns out they had two 7” releases as well. After the Caroline CD local KY label Slamdek issued “Too Far Gone” which is basically all of their unreleased work from 1988-92. I have included both for your enjoyment as I believe both are out of print. I’m curious to hear some feedback on these guys, I’m guessing it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but that’s okay because I’ll always be a diehard listener. It seems that was always the case for Kinghorse, just never really fitting in anywhere in particular. This is probably why I like them so much myself. If I could get my hands on a Kinghorse shirt, now that would be something else! It's kind of crazy when you look back and think "Shit, I've been listening to this record for 15+ years!"

12 unreleased MP3s & homage to the band site: http://www.louisvillehardcore.com/bands/kinghorse/
Check out the Kinghorse fan myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/kinghorse502
Bio info here: http://history.louisvillehardcore.com/index.php?title=Kinghorse

DOWNLOAD:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/186yrjbb444ddre/Kinghorse.zip

KINGHORSE "self titled" LP/CD
1990 Caroline Records - Recorded by Steve Ett @ Chung King NYC

KINGHORSE "too far gone" CD (unreleased material from 88-92)
1994 Slamdek Records

KINGHORSE "brother doubt" video

One of my top, favorite bands EVER...
unfortunately, everyone I have ever played them for seems to not agree. Oh well, I still think they were amazing... more to come on Kinghorse.

BROTHER'S KEEPER "I Shot JFK" video

Filmed in 2000 this was Doug from High Roller studios first video that wasn't live footage from a show. It was fun to make. We filmed all of the newspaper scenes at the Erie Daily Times at about 2am. We brought all of the night crew a bunch of pizzas and sodas and they let us go at it in the plant. The noise of the machines was deafening and having a handful of salt of the earth types staring at you while you're acting like you're playing music was... well, rather strange. But fuck it, it was fun and we were always up for new experiences. Our one guitarist Scott almost didn't make it into the video. He was flying in that day from a trip to CA I think. (mind you this was before the whole planet owned cell phones) So we really had no idea how to let him know when or where to be as a lot of this was "on the fly" so to speak. Almost at the end of the shoot Scott just comes strolling in wearing his "uniform", puts his guitar case down, opens it up, and says "let's do this". It was very comical at around 3am and luckily enough for him, he's in the video because it would have been weird otherwise. Some of the other scenes were shot in NJ and you might recognize one of the secret service agents as none other than lead vocalist Anderson B. from Another Victim / The Promise. I know this video might be a bum out because it's not a tale of a guy whose heart was broken and he was stabbed in the back by a female, and there's no gratuitous mosh shots either. But hey, we tried.

Recently I've been helping a friend update a BROTHER'S KEEPER MYSPACE page that he had started awhile back. It features a lot of stuff if you'd care to check it out.

More SPUDMONSTERS & BIOHAZARD

The response to the Spudmonsters post was awesome! Seems like Coregasm was able to turn a lot of new listeners on to them. I was even able to get my hands on their in between full length "No Guarantees" so I'm gonna share that with you clowns since someone was awesome enough to share it with me. Many of you were emailing me desperately seeking this gem. The wait is over my friends.


SPUDMONSTERS "No Guarantees" 1995 Massacre Records
http://www.mediafire.com/download/usek33cpivno9e0/spudmonsters_NoGuarantees.zip

Also some other friends were awesome enough to share with me some more Biohazard "bonus" tracks. One of which is a sweet Cro-Mags cover that was featured on a version of "Uncivilization" that also had the "Sex & Violence" cover. I just pulled out my copy of this CD (sans bonus tracks) and for some weird pack rat reason I always keep my receipts underneath the CD tray... anyway check out the date of when I picked this record up. Weird. I think later that night we just didn't really know what to do with ourselves as my head was still spinning from the events of that day. My band was actually just about to head from Erie to Manhattan to record some new stuff in the city that day.


BIOHAZARD "Life of my Own" (Cro-mags cover) - Bonus tracks from "Uncivilization"
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2p4fci54d6d3uun/biohazard_lifeofmyown.mp3

BIOHAZARD cover tracks

It's no secret that I'm a huge Biohazard listener. I don't have "Down For Life" tattooed across my stomach for nothing. Here's a couple rarities that I'm guessing not too many people have. These were "B-sides" on a few singles released to help promote the awesome "New World Disorder" release back in 1999. First is the single for the track "Resist" followed by a single for "Switchback". I only included the cover songs from the singles because if you don't have the "New World Disorder" CD i dont really want you reading my blog anymore. Go away.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/x6dqfo8444u3niu/biohazard_covers.zip


BIOHAZARD "Resist" promo CD single
1. "Sex And Violence" (Carnivore)
2. "Friend or Foe" (Negative Approach)


BIOHAZARD "Switchback" promo CD single
1. "Power" (Agnostic Front)
2. "Not Worth Shit" (Rest In Pieces)

SPUDMONSTERS

I can vividly remember my first trip to Erie. It was my senior year of high school (94/95) and I had been corresponding with my friend Mike Ski from Sumthin To Prove. He had just started a new band (Brother’s Keeper) and told us to drive up for a show. The drive was about 5 and a half hours and I remember rolling into Erie thinking “What the fuck happened to this place?”There were 2 shows happening that day. First was an all ages matinée which featured Strike Three, Wargasm, Brother’s Keeper (pretty much still Sumthin To Prove at this point), and Spudmonsters. Later that night was a 21+ show featuring all of the bands minus Strike Three. I had never heard of Spudmonsters and the name left me not expecting much. Boy was I in for a shock.The night provided many insane experiences that definitely led me to eventually move up here to Erie, PA. The weekend consisted of tattoos, hangouts and meeting tons of straight edge hardcore kids (who all snuck in for the 21+ show), fistfights and people getting smashed in the face, low riders rollin' on 3 wheels, and the highly energetic lead singer of the Spudmonsters ordering the crowd to demolish the place. People were swinging from the rafters, ceiling tiles were being ripped down and smashed over people’s heads, and pitchers of beer were going everywhere. I loved every minute of it. The Spudmonsters put on an amazing show and the amount of energy the entire band put forth was more than impressive. To my knowledge they were really only known in Cleveland and surrounding areas, and were huge in Europe. I think the poor name and lack of US touring / CD distribution might have discouraged kids from checking them out and man did a lot of people miss out.

The band has a heavy mix of Cro-Mags, M.O.D., meets early Biohazard influence to them. In fact many different members of the Spudmonsters went on to play in bands such as: Run Devil Run, Biohazard, Pro-Pain, Bloodclot, Among Thieves, FVK, & Sons of War. I’m not really sure what led to the demise of the Spuds but I still regularly listen to their CDs. I had been planning on posting these albums now for awhile. Coincidentally enough, just last weekend during a trip to a Cleveland Indians game a tattooed gentleman wearing a Ringworm jersey walked up to me outside asking me if I had any tickets for sale. After getting a good look at each other and realizing we knew each other it was none other than Don Foose singer of the Spudmonsters. It was pretty funny running into him there. Spudmonsters just did a reunion show in May 2007 and due to my wedding and obligations I wasn’t able to make it. I heard it was amazing though.

I encourage all of you to check out these two albums featured from here. The “STOP THE MADNESS” + “ACE OF SPADES” ep were released in 1994 (recorded at Mars Studio) and have a great early 90s crossover vibe to them. I can vividly remember certain tracks from this album when I first saw them. “Garbage Night”, “Beer”, & “Death Sucks” are all stand out tracks. There’s even a cover of “Ace of Spades (bio monster remix)” Featuring Evan and Billy from Biohazard singing with them. The “MOMENT OF TRUTH” CD released in 1997 (recorded at Normandy Sound) has a bit more of a modern sound to it with a fabulous Biohazard meets Bad Brains vibe to it completed with a cover of “Right Brigade”. The opening track “Isolation” will immediately want to make you jump through a wall its so balls out. "In Check" & "100%" are other favorites of mine. Tons of crew chant backups and amazing guitar riffs make this album an unfortunately unknown gem. Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/w5ajzp3dgudb43m/spudmonsters_2albums.zip

SPUDMONSTERS "Moment of Truth" CD (1997 Century Media)

SPUDMONSTERS "Stop the Madness + Ace of Spades EP" (1994 Massacre Records)

FACE VALUE "The Price of Maturity"

Yeah yeah, everyone is writing and saying “are you ever going to update Coregasm again?” Well the answer is yes. I went off and did the whole wedding / honeymoon thing for most of May and now I’m home trying to get caught up on life after a killer cruise. So that’s my excuse.

I played my first real show in July of 1995 with Brother’s Keeper. Location: The Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH. Other bands on the show: Ignite, One Life Crew, Integrity. Yeah, quite an intimidating first show for an 18 year old kid. Regardless I went out there and did my thing and all of the skinheads moshed it up for our blend of new school hardcore and I’m sure my pants were way too big for me. Sad thing is that I probably actually wear that size now. Ignite ended up never showing up for whatever reason so on went One Life Crew (pre-Crime Ridden Society) and kids went nuts and it was so cool hearing the Meanstreak/Confront songs I was familiar with. I remember after they played I was still coming down off of the buzz from playing my first real show let alone that it was with one of my favorite bands Integrity. I was sitting outside on the curb as I could hear the sounds of Integrity’s set beginning. Not too long after they started the whole club started pouring out onto the street gagging and coughing. Apparently someone had pepper sprayed the whole room. I was fortunate to be standing outside and didn’t have to deal with any of the consequences. The gossip was that it was Tony Erba who sprayed the crowd that night. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. I just found it to be amusing. You could never really tell with any of the Cleveland guys whether or not they were friends or enemies because they all kind of treated each other like both. Either way, that night was just the start of many amusing and exciting nights spent in Cleveland.

I first heard Face Value on Victory Records Only the Strong 1990 7”/CD and thought they were pretty good. It wasn’t until I picked up “The Price of Maturity” CD that they recorded in 1991 at Mars Studios that I really started liking them. The CD was fast, aggressive, yet still kind of had a posi feel to it and a lot of heavy moshy sing along parts. Tony Erba had a very memorable voice and I felt like the songs were memorable musically and lyrically. Here’s the full length in it’s entirety for you to enjoy. There's 22 tracks!
PS: Check out the cover art done by the Human Furnace of Ringworm fame.


FACE VALUE "The Price of Maturity"
released on Conversion Records (CR12) 1991
http://www.mediafire.com/download/xk89r2dswzjrpdb/facevalue_theprice.zip