BEST DEATH METAL RELEASES OF 2019

(That I've heard...)

Infernal Conjuration (MEX) - Infernale Metallum Mortis
Blood Incantation (CO) - Hidden History of the Human Race
Black Curse (CO)- Endless Wound (demo)
Devourment (TX) - Obscene Majesty
Ossuary (WI) - Supreme Degradation (Demo)
Fetid (WA) - Steeping Corporeal Mess
Tomb Mold (CAN)- Planetary Clairvoyance
Gender Fluids (USA) - Different Ways EP
Faithxtractor (OH) - Proverbial Lambs to the Ultimate Slaughter
Pentacle (HOL) — Spectre of the Eight Ropes
Mephitic Corpse (CA) - Immense Thickening Vomit
Pissgrave (PA) - Posthumous Humiliation
Cerebral Rot (WA) - Odious Descent into Decay
Sanguisugabogg (OH) - Pornographic Seizures EP
Coffins (JAP) - Beyond the Circular Demise
Sedimentum (CAN) - Demo
Prognathe (FRA) - Homo Protognathus
Superstition (NM) - The Anatomy of Unholy Transformation
Desairologie (OH) - Desairologie Report
Lurid Panacea (OH/AUS) - The Insidious Poisons
Vastum (CA) - Orificial Purge
Fumigated (OH) - Composted
Mortiferum (WA) - Disgorged From Psychotic Depths
Nithing (OH) - Dark Triad EP
Lectularius (OH) - Parasitic Subjugation EP
Lectularius (OH) - Goru Grind Guignol (split EP with Sulfuric Cautery, Cannibalism and Endotoxaemia)
Putrid Liquid (OH) - s/t LP

BEST LOCAL DEATH METAL OF 2019!!!

These are the best death metal releases of last year from the area that I've heard.  If you're not on here, it's because I didn't hear your stuff or it got lost in the mess that was my personal life this year.  Sorry if that happened to your band, but this zine is something I volunteer my time to do without profit.  If you're entitled enough to give me flack about that (which has happened before...), I'm gonna snap at you.

1) Faithxtractor (KY/OH) - Proverbial Lambs to the Ultimate Slaughter LP*
2) Sanguisugabogg (Columbus, OH) - Pornographic Seizures EP
3) Desairologie (Dayton, OH) - Desairologie Report LP*
4) Fumigated (Lima, OH) - Composted LP*
5) Nithing (Cincinnati, OH) - Dark Triad EP
6) Lectularius (Dayton, OH) - Parasitic Subjugation EP
7) Lectularius (Dayton, OH) - Goru Grind Guignol (split EP with Sulfuric Cautery, Cannibalism and Endotoxaemia)
8) Putrid Liquid (Dayton, OH) - s/t LP*

* LP - full length; only Faithxtractor has a vinyl full-length, to my knowledge.  Sanguisugabogg's release is on CD and LP, but it's a demo.  I'm pretty sure Lectularius's split is a cassette...

2017 Best Releases of the Year

TOP TEN FULL-LENGTHS:

Carriers - Now Is the Time
Lung - Bottom of the Barrel
Soften - Seen/Unseen
Erectile Dementia - Rock N' Roll Abortion
Mardou - Cold Grasp
Smut - Return to Sam-Soon
Skeleton Hands -  Wake
Vacation – Southern Grass: The Continuation of Rock'n Roll Vol. 1 & II

Nithing – Thrown On the Pyre

Ledge Walker - Guided By Ripples


EP'S:

Flesh Mother - v2 EP 
Orchiopexy - 4-way split with Meatus, Sulsa, and Nasty Face

Landfill & Suppression - split EP


Treason - No One is Safe 12" EP
Slow Glows - Star Trail EP
Sewage Grinder - Social Shitstorm 7" EP
Sewage Grinder & Erectile Dementia - split 7" EP
Blakkr - Live at Ice Cream Factory EP

Liquidx420 & Hashgrinder – split EP



DEMOS:

Spear – 2017 Promo

Paradise Kittens – Demo Collection

Choking – Wretched Unmerciful Demo

Crypt Seeker - Demo

NTRNL VRTX – I (demo)Dario Valzer - self-titled demo

Pedalstrike - Demo

Kicked Out – Demo

Knife Rider – Demo

COMPILATIONS:

Sulfuric Cautery - Experiments With Sulfur (2015-2017 tape)
Erectile Dementia – Slaughterography

umin – double-ep tape

Various - Lo-Fi City Vol. 4


bold indicates a Cincinnati-area band or artist
italics indicate a regional band or artist

Best-of 2015 (if it's not too late for you to still care)

Btw if you have hurt feelings over this, you need to grow up.

I would list Eugenius, eVOLVE, h.a.sp., Smothering Slumber, Gender is Gay, umin, L.O.T.I.O.N., Alex York, Aaron Moss, "Fuck You, Pay Me", MBD, Couple Skate, and more, but I can't remember who put what out and when and some of them I didn't listen to thoroughly enough (like FYPM and L.O.T.I.O.N.).  Managed to forget a lot of things, like Clouded’s epic fifteen-minute long song (also an EP), The Pillar of the Mind, Chinese Boy Love’s debut album, and the best power electronics album written so far this decade - Lebanon for Lebanese by Koufar. But I wrote this when I was really tired.

Anyhow, here we go...

1. Uranium Orchard (ex-Dry-Rot) - Lithophane Geisha (LP)
2. The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus - Beauty Will Save the World (CD/LP/CS/DL)
3. Stephen O'Malley - Gruides (LP)
4. Sunn O))) – Kannon (CD/LP/DL)
5. Minority Threat – Culture Control (CS/DL)
6. The Rita & Power Monster (collab) – Basque Into Tights -Odile (CS/DL)
7. Limbs Bin/Two Million Tons of Shit – Split EP (EP/DL)
8. Am Not - Unpunished (CD)
9. T.S.A. - both demos (CS/DL)
10. Power Monster – Single White Female (CS/DL)
11. Sulfuric Cautery/Metastasis/Butcher M.D. - Split (CS)
12. Exit Hippies/Lotus Fucker – Disgrace to the Corpse of Elmo - split 12” (LP/DL)
13. mewithoutYou – Pale Horses (everything)
14. Suppression - Rats In The Control Room (CS/DL)
15. Ethicist – II (DL/CS/LP?)
16. Ke/Hil - zone 0 (CD/DL)
17. Nest (KY) – s/t (DL/???)
18. Brody's Militia - Napalm Zeppelin Raids (7")
19. Essene - s/t (CS/DL)
20. Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria (???)
21. The Body/Krieg - collab (LP/DL)
22. Motel Beds – Glitter (LP/DL/???
    
23. Dendritic Arbor – Romantic Love (CD/CS/DL)
    
24. Rich People – the two digital tracks they released (“Dream Envy” and “Obscure”)
25. Cross Country – Breakfast EP (DL/???)
26. nanny– Wild Thing EP
27. The Fainting Goats – Head Medicine EP (digital only)
28. The Hockers - “Boats and Waves” b/w “Bad Machine” (digital only)
29. Everyday Objects – Ripper/Slasher (CS/DL)
30. Choking – 2015 demo
31. Shit Abyss – The Cycle (CS/DL)
32. Army of Infants & Shit/Storm – split (CD/DL/???)
33. Siberian Hell Sounds - ⍲⍕⍎⍱ (CD/DL/???)
34. New Strange – s/t (LP/DL)
35. Shadow of the Mountain - demo (CD/DL)
36. Vacation – Non-Person (CD/LP/DL)
37. TRTRKMMR - Avec La Souillure Nous Entrons Au Règne De La Terreur (LP/DL)
38. MDFL – Ubiquitous Parasympathiticoni (7" or CS/DL)
39. Negation (NY) – s/t (CS)
40. Pete Fosco – Citrus Oxide Dance (CD/DL)
41. D.S.A./Monitor Lizard – split LP
42. Cold Sore/The Light – split EP (7”/DL)
43. Flesh Mother – 2015 demo
44. Mardou – A Cold Grasp (Demos Collection)
45. Hate Face – s/t demo (DL)
46. Skin Graft – Man Made Body (CS)
47. Hateflirt – s/t demo (CS/DL)
48. Black Planet - Mild Discomfort (CS/DL)
49. The Slippery Lips – Do Less EP
50. Chinese Boy Love - ??? (CS/DL 
51. Birdie Hearse - Dose of Forever EP
52. Gaping Maw – Trike demo (DL)
53. Nak'ay/Pizza Hi-Five – split EP (DL/7”)
54. Pussy Ripper – 2015 demo (CS/CD/DL)
55. Sewage Grinder – Total Shit (CD/DL)
56. Grim State – Post Traumatic Social Syndrome

TOP LISTS FOR THE END OF 2014

Here are the top albums and shows of the year for me. They're the ones that I can remember while having a sinus headache right now.

Released this year:

1 - Wovenhand - Refractory Obdurate CD/LP/DL
2 - Water Torture - Pillbox CD/LP
3 - The Saudades (LOCAL) - s/t EP CD/DL
4 - Brianna Kelly - (LOCAL) Download-only full-length
5 - P.L.F. - Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration LP/CD/DL
6 - Bastard Sapling - Instinct is Forever LP/CD/DL
7 - Sea of Bones - The Earth Wants Us Dead 2xCD/3xLP/CS/DL
8 - Brody's Militia - Napalm Zeppelin Raids 7"
10 - BABE RAGE - Object DL/???
11 - the body - I Shall Die Here LP/CD/DL
12 - Red Rot - s/t reissue CS/DL
13 - Blackfire & K2 - split LP/DL
14 - Teitanblood - ???
15 - Gnawed - the new one CD/DL
16 - Terror Cell Unit - Fear God, Hate Man CS
17 - Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire LP/CD/CS/DL
18 - MBD & Power Monster - split CS/DL
19 - Platinum Collar & Clavicula Solomonis - split CS/DL
20 - Eugenius - EVERYTHING HE PUT OUT (download only)
21 - Public Housing - s/t LP/DL
22 - Iron Oath - demo
+ all the noise stuff I've forgotten, like Alex York's project and everything Matt Boettke (Scant) did.

From other years:

1 - the body - Christs, Redeemers 2xLP/CD
2 - Black Tar Prophet & Crawl - split CD
3 - Hellnation - EVERYTHING OF THEIRS THAT I BOUGHT
4 - Some Japanese Shoegaze album I don't feel like look the name up of...
5 - Paradise Lost - Faith Divides, Death Unites Us
6 - Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

 Shows:

1 - Bastard Sapling, Faithxtractor, ALRAUNE, Beneath Oblivion @ the Drinkery on my birthday
2 - Sea of Bones, Grey Host, ??? at Three Kings Bar (RIP)
3 - Sewage Grinder, Scumbag Playbook, Bastard Feast, ??? at the Last House on the Left
4 - Ofir Klemperer, Joey Molinaro at the Comet
5 - TERROR CELL UNIT at the Pungent Dungeon
6 - Suppression, Forced Opinion, ??? at the Chameleon
7 - Cloud Rat, Victim of Circumstance, Forced Opinion, ??? at Fickle Ramps
8 - Pizza Hi Five, Morose (ex-PHF), Sorcerer Torturer, Total Hipster Crusher, Goodtimes, ??? at Pungent Dungeon
9 - Short Walk, Invertabit, Faction Disaster (FxDx), Forced Opinion at the Rake's End
10 - Pallbearer, that band from NH I can never remember the name of, Tombs at Cosmic Charlies
11 - Black Tar Prophet, Beneath Oblivion, ScumBag Playbook, ??? at Rake's End
12 - Smut, Useless!, ??? at the Comet
13 - Little Lights, ??? at the Comet @
14 - The "$1000 Man Show" with Christopher Feltner, Stephen Palke, Guillermo Pizarro, Self Surgery, and me @ Three Kings
15 - The one time I finally saw Death Sex Advocates (D.S.A.)... forget where and with who, but whatever... they fucking RULED it...
16 - Mala In Se, deafheaven @ the basement of that place downtown with terrible acoustics...
17 - Lark's Tongue, Grey Host, ??? at the Drinkery

Everybody who didn't make the lists can go cry in the corner. My head hurts too much for me to care. Mardou, Ethicist, and Sewage Grinder are my favorite local bands.  Black Planet and Sour Ground are awesome, too. Did the Tweens s/t come out this year???

 

Review: Beneath Oblivion, Scumbag Playbook, Black Tar Prophet and The Grayces @ The Rake's End - 10/11/2014

(flyer designed by Allen Scott)

Last night at the Rake's End (in the Brighton District) was Beneath Oblivion's best set that I can remember. And I've seen a lot of them. Black Tar Prophet from Nashville was sick as hell, too. They played some of the most vicious stoner doom that I've ever seen and it was all without a vocalist. That's a serious accomplishment. The Grayces (also from Nashville) were good, sort of made me think of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, but jammier. And last, but not least, ScumBag Playbook were freaking awesome. I rarely get into new hardcore punk bands, but these guys had it going on. Lots of youthful energy, tight live show, and an early D.C. vibe. Which is my favorite kind of that, but I don't see too often. Btw the drummer was the main vocalist, which is also rare. And incidentally, he's the the son of another talented punk drummer/lead vocalist - Albert of Hellnation. I guess it's genetic or something. Who knew?

Sunday Morning Afternoon Coming Down...

UNO:

PALLBEARER defies expectations in this song off their upcoming album.

http://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/foundations-of-burden

DOS:

Music video for the new EYEHATEGOD is boring, but the song is good.  SABBATH meets FLAG?  I dunno, but it's faster than most of their older stuff.  They haven't lost anything, but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet...

 

TRES:

Actually like this WEEKEND NACHOS EP better than the new EHG song.  Sludge as hell, but as a friend who loves hardcore above all else put it, "worthy of mosh."

Recent Playlist (May 20, 2014)

wolf alice - creature songs ep (UK)
sharp tooth - live @ club rectum
sharp tooth - position of trust
sharp tooth - we are nothing
scant - face without a name
scant - in simulating drowning
smrznik - the static astronaut (Bosnia)
happiness and something psychotic - they were so loud that the quiet couldn't die peacefully (Australia)
nihlist holiday/bigotry - split ep (Pakistan)
multinational corporations - jamat al-maut ep (Pakistan)
kafir-e-azam & Bvlghvm - split (Pakistan)
guerilla growing - 12-1413 (Turkey)
mayan ruins - temple of ancient dub
the body - i shall die here
the bringer of everything - dianus
parlamentarisk sodomi - de anarkistiske an(n)aler (Norway)
short walk - don't be one
wovenhand - refractory obdurate
zombie X incest - live demo 2014 (Nepal)
victim of circumstance - primal high ep
narsamhaar - genocide euphoria (Nepal)
the saudades - s/t? ep

Against Me! - "Transgender Dysphoria Blues" is the Most Important Punk Album of the Century

It takes an incredible amount of courage to come out as a transperson, even in punk rock.  They went from anarchist folk/punk to burned-out, reactionary, generic pop punk to intense, emotionally naked Motley Crue-influenced rock about the singer's experiences with gender identity (which even involved surgery and hormone treatment).  Say what you want about the lack of ideological consistency in their early days and reactionary nature of their first two mainstream album, but there's nothing more punk than what they're doing doing right now.  Even the content of Rise Against's mainstream albums pale in comparison to this.  No one has ever played songs about this on top 40 radio and The Tonight Show With David Letterman.  If you consider yourself a punk, but are unwilling to support them for being on a mainstream label and playing a different style of music than they used to, fuck you and your hypocrisy.

Here are the lyrics to the song linked above:


All dressed up and nowhere to go
You're walking the streets all alone
Another night to wish that you could forget
Making yourself up as you go along

Who's gonna take you home tonight?
Who's gonna take you home?
Does god bless your transsexual heart?
True trans soul rebel

Yet to be born, you're already dead
You sleep with a gun beside you in bed
Follow it through to the obvious end
Slit your veins wide open, you bleed it out
Who's gonna take you home tonight?
Who's gonna take you home?
Does god bless your transsexual heart?
True trans soul rebel

You should have been a mother
You should have been a wife
You should have been gone from here years ago
You should be living a different life

Who's gonna take you home tonight?
Who's gonna take you home?
Does god bless your transsexual heart?
True trans soul rebel

- "True Trans Soul Rebel"

Sweeping Generalizations About Cincinnati That Mostly People From the Local Music Scene Will Get

If you're a hippie in Cincinnati, chances are good that you grew up on the Westside (or far out on the Eastside).

If you have allergies, asthma, or are bipolar and live in Cincinnati, chances are good that you live in Cincinnati.

If you moved to Cincinnati for a job, you're probably from an economically depressed rust belt city... or a small Ohio town with nothing interesting going on. 

If you're straightedge in Cincinnati, chances are good that you grew up in Norwood.

If you broke edge in the past ten years, you probably ride a bicycle everywhere.
   
If you're graduating from DAAP or the Art Academy soon, chances are good that you're about to move to a major city far away from here.

If you're a metalhead in Cincinnati, chances are good that you have no friends. If you do, though, then you probably live in NKY. And are afraid of crossing the river.

If you've been into crust punk for over twelve years and lived in Cincinnati for a lot of that time, you probably write for Profane Existence.

If you're offended that photos of something as boring as vaginas were displayed on the grounds of your city's largest university, chances are you're from Cincinnati. 

If you live in Cincinnati and still listen to screamo, chances are good that you were or are in a band that plays it.
 
If you're a crust punk in Cincinnati and somewhere around 21 years old, chances are good that you went to SCPA.

If you listen to noise in Cincinnati and didn't go to DAAP or CCM (or are under 35), chances are good that your interest in it is due to Robert Inhuman in some way.
   
If you know what gabber music is and you live in Cincinnati, it's definitely because of Robert Inhuman.  And if you listen to deathrock at all and are under 25, it's for the same reason.

If you live in Cincinnati and got into grindcore and powerviolence in the past three years, chances are good that it's because of shows Justin Lakes booked and Forced Opinion plays. 

If you live in Cincinnati and got into black metal within the past year, it's because you saw Ethicist.

If you posted on the Neus Subjex a lot and don't go to shows anymore, you probably listen to WLW, play fantasy football and lost your faith in punk when Against Me! signed to a major.

If you live in Cincinnati and reminisce about local metalcore shows, you're probably friends with me.

If you've been online almost every day of your life for the past 19 years, are always complaining, spazzing out, and pissing people off online, and ramble constantly about metal and grindcore, chances are good that people call you "Treebeard."