Free Metal Detector: One Last Hurrah From Handshake, Inc.

November 6, 2015

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Readers of the Toilet ov Hell and fans of forward thinking heavy metal probably caught the news that David Hall of Handshake, Inc was closing the doors and ceasing label operations following his latest two releases from Blacklisters and Twin Lords.

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Celebrity deaths don’t upset me, but I was stunned and a little saddened by this news. Over the last few years Handshake has released some of my favorite albums: Gridlink’s Longhena, Couch Slut’s My Life As A Woman, Blurring’s self titled album, and Pyrrhon’s Growth Without End, among others. In my limited interactions with David I found him to be engaging and awfully nice for a record label head, and he maintained a hilarious presence on social media. David was not afraid to take chances on outside-the-box acts, giving Pyrrhon a home after Relapse Records, even up to the end with Devastating Planetary Shift by the aforementioned Twin Lords (it’s a weird one!).

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Handshake announced yesterday that he had one more trick up his sleeve: a last hurrah, Handshake’s final album, from Philadelphia grinders Total Fucking Destruction, to be released for free digitally. To put the cherry on top of a free mini-album, the lyrics included with the album contain a link to their 2011 release Hater.

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I wasn’t familiar with Total Fucking Destruction before Handshake’s announcement (where do they find the writers for this site?!) but after a cursory listen to Our Love Is A Rainbow I can see the error of my ways. It’s freaky fast old school grind, and it’s obvious these dudes have a sense of humor. Lastly, it appears David Hall may be passing the torch on to an “interested party”. That sounds promising, but let’s be serious, the new owner(s) will have very big shoes to fill.