WEHRMACHT - Biermacht Reissue review

 

WEHRMACHT - Biermacht Reissue

Hammerheart Records

Here's a second fucking trip down memory lane for yours truly. For those of you who were not around back then. WEHRMACHT were a late 80's five piece hardcore act out of Portland, Oregon. They put out one important demo and two proper full lengths before essentially calling it a career. In other words they changed their name, started a side project and fell into obscurity up until thrash and speed metal made a resurgence back in 2006.

Biermacht was their second album which came out in 1989 on the New Renaissance Records. While their debut full length, Shark Attack, was fast and chaotic. Beirmacht is their fun album as well as being an obvious influence on future thrash bands who specialized in partying songs. It's shorter than their first album as well with a run time of only twenty six plus minutes. The musicianship quality is a step up from their first album as well. 

Now on a personal note, even though Biermacht was a fun album originally. There was always an elephant in the room which kinda took up space. I think about half of the songs on here were also on their 1986 demo Beermacht. Also these versions are polished up. Decades ago when I finally got the album (via a tape trade again) and compared it to the 86 demo which I had it was really like night and day. 

The 1986 demo had that same raw chaotic sound and fury which was on their debut. The versions on the Biermacht LP are decent and are probably comfortable to listeners who can't handle lo-fi recordings. But the fact is that in my not so humble opinion the demo was better. Still you're not going to find the demo reissued on CD, not that I know of. 

Still with all of that said this Biermacht reissue is a must have for anyone into those late 80's hardcore sounds which would also be part of thrash's fun band styles. Honestly MUNICIPAL WASTE must have been listening to this, as well as THE ACCUSED and SOD, when starting out. So once again a great reissue thanks to Hammerheart Records.  

https://www.hammerheart.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0naCl03EXRk

WEHRMACHT - Shark Attack Reissue review

 

WEHRMACHT - Shark Attack Reissue

Hammerheart Records

Well this is a fucking trip down memory lane for yours truly. For those of you who were not around back then. WEHRMACHT were a late 80's five piece hardcore act out of Portland, Oregon. They put out one important demo and two proper full lengths. Shark Attack was their debut full length which originally came out in 1987 on New Renaissance Records. That's the basics alright.

Now as far as personal history goes, I never had an original copy of this on vinyl back in the day. I do have it on CD, a reissue, now. But decades ago I had this (still do) on a cassette via a tape trade. Another cool band from back then ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT are on one side of the tape and WEHRMACHT on the flip. I also had the demo, Beermacht, from 1986 but that was a bootleg. I think I gave it to someone or the tape broke. I forget it's been a while. What's crazy is that I once saw this release in a used record store with a price tag way to fuckin high. 

Musically WEHRMACHT relied on pure unadulterated speed and chaos plus they weren't too bad at musicianship. Their guitar tone was like banging on sheet metal. But their song structures were simple hardcore stuff with the vocals hidden behind the music and they also had a comedic sense to boot. Their songs were all on the not so serious side as well. 

Now historical revisionism as it is has placed this band into the crossover or crossover thrash genre tag line. As I've said for years, crossover is a term coined by the major labels who signed hardcore acts (just a few by the way) who also appealed to metal fans. You're average music fan at the time didn't say crossover to describe a fast sounding band. It was either hardcore or metal (thrash). 

Another important note, if WEHRMACHT's debut album was influential in any way it was towards a burgeoning music scene back then which we would eventually call grindcore. With that said this reissue is a damm good release to pick up if you're into these old sounds. Why pay a huge sum of money for something sticker-ed "rare crossover thrash" when you just want the music. So this is probably one of the more important reissues of 2021 thanks to Hammerheart Records.

https://www.hammerheart.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg0g1roUH1g

IRON REAGAN / GATECREEPER split review

IRON REAGAN / GATECREEPER split 

Relapse Records




Here we have the traditional idea of split releases. You have a well known band, in this case IRON REAGAN one of the many side projects from the boys in MUNICIPAL WASTE. And of course they team up with label mates Arizona's GATECREEPER. They fit into the team up part as being the not so well known act. Sure GATECREEPER did put out their Relapse debut full length, Sonoran Depravation, in 2016. But the only people who gave a shit were those on the payroll. Ooops I meant to say received advertising money from the label.


Be that as it may IRON REAGAN takes up most of this release then again their songs are shorter. Five short cuts from them all in that wanna-be DRI style of crossover. Look IRON REAGAN are good at what they do. For people who can't hold a conversation without saying "dude", they're looked upon as great. Personally I'm kinda bored with the whole retro-crossover thing. 


Now as far as this release goes I was looking forward to hearing GATECREEPER. They're a five piece death metal act who've been around for a few years now, five years to be exact. Their style owes much if not all to old school Swedish death metal. Now yeah I know not another retro DM act. Well fuck ya all! I like em. On this split the band delivers two cuts and an intro all in that ENTOMBED / DISMEMBER style. Frankly I was hoping they'd break out from their influences more. But hey they deliver the goods. 


https://store.relapse.com/

https://ironreagan.bandcamp.com/album/split-with-gatecreeper

PISSED REGARDLESS - Feed The Birds review

PISSED REGARDLESS - Feed The Birds 

Creator-Destructor




After so many years now listening to bands reviving the crossover / thrash era of the 80s I'm at that crossroads point of opinion. Either the bands are cool sounding and remind me of some good old times. Or they're just copying bullshit from the past thinking it had some shelf life when in fact it didn't at all. On this their five song EP, PISSED REGARDLESS captures both sides of my opinion.


Hailing from San Diego, California this five piece act has been around for a couple of years pushing their revival style to the masses. This is their second EP, I never heard their first one. On Feed The Birds this band combines some 1980's Southern California hardcore influences (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DRI) with that NYHC / metalcore silliness.


Songs like "Empty", "No Reprieve" and "Trust No Pulse" are cool representations of an era of West Coast HC music which I remember well. I still have a lot of that stuff. Were as the other two cuts remind me of the breakdown days from NYC acts.   

http://www.creator-destructor.com 

http://www.creator-destructor.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/pissedregardlesshc/

EPI-DEMIC - Malformed Conscience review

EPI-DEMIC - Malformed Conscience

Horror Pain Gore Productions 





Holy shit it's 1987 again? This sounds a like band I could've seen back in a club then and probably was in the pit while they blasted away. Ya know there's a lot of speed metal/crossover/metalish hardcore revivalism going on these days. So from the perspective of someone WHO WAS ACTUALLY AROUND BACK THEN I can say with experience that there's authenticity and some bullshit in this latest extreme music revival. Now as far as this Canadian act goes, whether it's by design or coincidence I will say yeah this is authentic.


I could take this release to a party and tell people it was some old Canadian band from the late 80s and people would believe it. EPI-DEMIC are most likely not waxing nostalgia for the sake of it. But fuck it I will. The more I listen to Malformed Conscience the more I think of a hardcore band from the 80s who had just heard SLAYER and decided to go with it. To me that's a cool thing. I will also say EPI-DEMIC could have easily fit on this old compilation LP I got back in the day, Them Boners Be Poppin from Boner Records.  


http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/indexmain.html

https://www.facebook.com/theplaguebegins13

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/malformed-conscience

POWER TRIP - Nightmare Logic Review

POWER TRIP - Nightmare Logic 

Southern Lord




Listening to this Texas band's second full length is a trip down memory lane. Let me take you back to the late 80s when people in the mainstream metal music industry started seeing slam pits breaking out at thrash shows. To some it was a shock but to those of us in the underground hardcore scene it was nothing new. Yeah people who liked thrash were also into hardcore. Soon you had thrash and hardcore bands on the same bill. It didn't take long for the industry to start signing hardcore bands, place them in the studio with a metal producer and pumping out releases of the new hybrid music genre Crossover. Talk about commercialization but hey it worked and it's legacy still holds to this day. I'll stay away of any mention of metalcore for now.

While some people are fine to throw POWER TRIP into the retro thrash bin I am not. Opener "Soul Sacrifice" is definitely on par with second tier 80's thrash but once "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" kicks in the riffs and shout out vocals take on the past with vigor. "Firing Squad" is a slam pit worthy rager. Hell I could keep going through each song but fuck that. The one factor that defines this all is vocalist Riley Gale. It's his vocals which has me thinking DRI more than say VIO-LENCE, for lack of a better choice. Either way it's a great release and I hate the fact that when they played locally. I had to work but hey DRI is coming in August.

http://www.southernlord.com/

https://www.facebook.com/powertripTX/