Rational Animals - Bock Rock Parade

Rational Animals - Bock Rock Parade

These dudes sound like the perfect blend of Black Flag and Black Sabbath. This came out in the fall on Katorga Works (which is one of the best labels going) and it totally caught me by surprise with it's awesomeness. Bock Rock Parade is a total fucking beast of an album; It's punk, it's hardcore, and it's fucking metal. There is some serious Ginn worship going on here. This is one of the better records I've heard all year. Do yourself a favour, pick this up and play it real fucking loud.

Best Song Ever

Masakari - The Profit Feeds

Masakari - The Profit Feeds

Masakari hail from Cleveland, OH and they play a brutal blend of punk and metal. These dudes are really pissed-off with religion and the government (among other things). Basically this band sounds just like Cursed circa the "One" album. Hardcore with just the right amount of grind/crust and d-beat thrown in. If you're a fan of His Hero Is Gone and Tragedy but wished they sounded a bit more like Ringworm then this is the band for you. The best use of sound clips I've heard since the "Intimacy" EP by Light Yourself On Fire. This is one sickeningly heavy album that any fan of Cursed, Early Graves or G.I.S.M. will absolutely love.

Lecherous Gaze - Audio Testament

Lecherous Gaze - Audio Testament

Lecherous Gaze are essentially Annihilation Time with a new singer. If you dig Thin Lizzy, Black Flag, Bullet LaVolta and Captain Beyond then you'll be totally stoked on these dudes. Some totally rad guitar parts are all over this thing, and on top of that the singer sounds like Glen Danzig (this dude has some serious pipes). This has just been re-released by Tee Pee Records as a self-titled EP, so go out and grab a copy you dummy. My neck hurts from head-banging and I suddenly want to consume large quantities of beer and smoke copious amounts of weed. I think it may be related to having this EP dime'd on the stereo. Party time.

SNFU

SNFU - ...And No One Else Wanted To Play

SNFU - If You Swear, You'll Catch No Fish

SNFU - Better Than A Stick In The Eye

SNFU - The Last Of The Big Time Suspenders

SNFU - Something Green And Leafy This Way Comes

SNFU - The One Voted Most Likely To Succeed

SNFU - Fuck You Up Like A Bad Accident

SNFU - Let's Get It Right The First Time

SNFU - Ping Pong EP

SNFU - In The Meantime And In Between Time

SNFU (Society's No Fucking Use) are not just one of Canada's best punk bands, they are one of the best punk bands of all time. They have done time on BYO Records, Cargo Records, Epitaph Records and currently are releasing shit on their own label (Rake Records). For the bulk of their history the three constants have been lead singer Mr. Chi Pig (A total madman who is a punk rock legend) and the Belke brothers, Marc and Brent, whose guitar work ranks among the best of 1980's and 90's punk rock. All their albums totally slay and you'd be a fool to not grab at least one of these, seriously don't fuck around here (you really can't go wrong with any era of this band, I'm particularly fond of their 90's Epitaph output). Mr. Chi Pig is a total meth head now (a shell of the man he used to be) who is toothless and suffers from schizophrenia. He was homeless for a while, but seems to be doing better now and can still put on one hell of a show.

Cryptic Slaughter

Cryptic Slaughter - Convicted

Cryptic Slaughter - Money Talks

Cryptic Slaughter - Stream Of Consciousness

Cryptic Slaughter - Speak Your Peace

Politically charged, super-fast and pissed off hardcore/thrash from Santa Monica, CA. These kids (they were still in high school when Convicted was released) were one of the first bands signed to Death Records, and subsequently one of the most popular. They played super fast crossover that somehow managed to be both incredibly technical and a little bit sloppy at the same time. From 1986-88 they released three full length albums. The first three albums all have the same line-up and totally rule, but Speak Your Peace was recorded with a new line-up after the band broke in 1988 (guitarist Les Evans moved to Portland and resurrected the band) and as a result it is their least rad album. A couple of years ago Relapse Records reissued Convicted and Money Talks with some bonus tracks and those reissues are still available so go out and get them.

Corrosion Of Conformity

Corrosion Of Conformity - Animosity

Corrosion Of Conformity - Technocracy EP

Raleigh, North Carolina crossover thrash legends who created an absolutely huge sound for being just three dudes: Mike Dean on vocals/bass, Reed Mullin on drums and Woody Weatherman on guitar. Metal Blade head honcho Brian Slagel signed them to Death Records in 1985 at the urging of Slayers' Jeff Hanneman who had passed along their demo tape. They went to L.A. and recorded five new songs with Bill Metoyer. Those five songs would make up the A side of Animosity, while the demo that got them signed became side B (there is a very noticeable difference in sound quality between the two sides on Animosity). The artwork for Animosity was also done by the legendary Pushead. For the Technocracy EP they added vocalist Simon Bob Sinister who at the time was the vocalist for The Ugly Americans, another great Death Records band (the version of Technocracy here is the re-release with three demos that have Mike Dean singing). After these two releases they went groove metal/hard rock (they still fucking ruled) but could never match the speed and intensity of these two releases.

Gang Green - You Got It!

Gang Green - You Got It!

Gang Green were a Boston hardcore band who went thrash on this release. Along with SSD, DYS and The F.U.'s they were part of the first wave of hardcore in Boston during the early 80's. This is their debut for Roadrunner Records after having released albums on Taang! Records. You Got It! came out in 1987 and it featured future Mighty Mighty Bosstones bass player Joe Gittleman. Lots of songs about partying, drinking beer and getting totally rad. Their two favourite lyrical subjects were Budweisers and skateboarding.

Sacred Reich

Sacred Reich - Ignorance

Sacred Reich - Surf Nicaragua

Sacred Reich - The American Way

Sacred Reich - Independent

Sacred Reich hailed from Phoenix, AZ and were around from 1985-2000. They were signed to Metal Blade Records who released these four albums (although Surf Nicaragua is actually an EP and Independent was co-released with Hollywood Records). Their debut album Ignorance is my favourite even though the follow-up, The American Way, is widely regarded as their best. Bill Metoyer (Slayer, C.O.C. and almost every Metal Blade act) produced the hell out of Ignorance and The American Way and they both totally shred. Like most thrash acts of the time their lyrics were about politics and social unrest. Well above average thrash metal. The video for American Way was also featured in the film Encino Man, which I believe was some kind of documentary about urban cavemen.

Annihilation Time

Annihilation Time - I

Annihilation Time - II

Annihilation Time - III: Tales Of The Ancient Age

Annihilation Time were a hardcore band from California with some serious rock leanings whose sound reminds me of Black Flag mixed with Thin Lizzy and Motörhead. They broke up a couple years ago, which is a total bummer. The guitar work from this band was fucking awesome and there is some serious riffing on these albums. Lots of songs about partying and getting totally rad, which I can relate to (full disclosure: I get totally rad). I'm not sure what the members are up to now but hopefully they're getting another band together. If you like RKL, Suicide File and Turbonegro then you'll no doubt be into Annihilation Time.