Getting Laid at Bandcamp VII
We sometimes may not enjoy what others enjoy musically but we should at least respect them for what they are passionate about. As a much younger, strapping Tyree I was quite the asshole when it came to judging other peoples taste in music. I still am sometimes, but I’m getting better. I’ve found that these days I can’t help but be enthusiastic when someone else is enthusiastic about something, and I think this site is a big part of that.
I’m driven by their passion, even if the music isn’t something I necessarily like. As I’ve gotten older and wiser I’ve learned to broaden my musical horizons and listen to some really amazing music that is not metal. It’s amazing the amount of great shit that I’ve missed out on from strictly listening to Metal and Rock for the past 6 years of my life. Don’t get me wrong though, metal and rock n’ roll are by far my biggest musical passions and I’d have it no other way, but there is more out there. Music is a powerful thing and when you hear something that clicks with you, there’s no going back. It does not matter what genre of music. You can fall in love with a piece of music that is completely opposite of what you would suspect that you would enjoy.
Sea Oleena is an example of an artist that I listen to almost everyday now and I would have never have found her music if I would not have opened up to different styles of music. So, lets start out with Sea Oleena in this weeks Getting laid at Bandcamp.
Sea Oleena – Sleeplessness 2013 (Montréal, Canada)
Sleeplessness is a solo mini album created by multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Loseth. Sleeplessness feels warm and comforting with haunting and beautiful reverb layered female vocals that are much like a lullaby. The euphoric feeling of these hummed songs are in swirl of piano and acoustic guitars that are layered over simple drums, odds and ends percussion, and bass plucks. I’ve read reviews of this album that say that there are no stand out track in this release which is baffling to me because there are stand out tracks; songs like “Insomnia Plague,” “Sister,” and “Milk” especially. Sea Oleena’s music is spacey, soft, and haunting, which almost comes off as shoegazey at times. There is really no chorus to any of these songs and they are certainly not catchy, which is why people may be turned away from her music. Sea Oleena is not about making a catchy song, she is about the atmosphere, warmth, comfort, and even sometimes darkness that burns deep within our souls. When I can’t find something I’m in the mood for, I always resort to Sea Oleena.
Sea Oleena also released a new song called “If I’m” on Soundcloud that has not been released on Bandcamp (blasphemy, I know). I get lost in this song and can play it over and over again.
Now that you made it through the soft stuff lets get heavy and mean.
Rort – Warpath 2014 (Germany)
Listening to Warpath while writing this makes me want to smash my laptop with my fists and then throw it against the wall. Rort bring out the rage in me and the key to this rage is their great blend of unrelenting hardcore and grind. This album is a never ending gasoline tank that just pours on top of the anarchist fire which rages on; there is no hope of it going out. The fire get’s bigger and bigger and engulfs everything into its flame; there are no fucking survivors left. Rort have the pummeling double bass and groove in the vein of Bolt Thrower with the Infest hardcore/powerviolence that brings the neck/breaking headbang. If your skull is still connected to your spine after listening to this LP then you deserve to go meet the guillotine.
Electric Funeral – Total Funeral 2014 (Jämtland County, Sweden)
Polished production anyone?… Get the fukk out now! This is 53 tracks of noise induced crusty D-beat that is enough to torture any sane person into madness. For punk degenerates like me and some of you, it’s euphoric bliss. Total Funeral is the perfect title to this LP because this is a funeral that us punks attend while we piss on the corrupt corporate CEO’s that ruin our world. What better way to say “fuck you” then to blast a crust album that has the energy and rawness that oozes hate for greed?
FIEND – Demo 2013 (Fresno, California)
While listening to this demo I can’t help but feel filthy and disgusting. It’s like a crackhead just walked up to me in the streets, projectile vomited all over my face and said “You are welcome, have a nice day.” I never thought I’d enjoy being vomited on from a crackhead until FIEND entered my life. Well done FIEND, and thank you. This is an incredible sludgy sounding grindcore demo that provides the filth and the violence. You are going to want to take a shower after listening to this.
Ash And Ruin / Iskra – Ash And Ruin / Iskra split 7’’ EP 2013
This split was a complete surprise to me when I found it broswing through someones Bandcamp collection last week. Ash And Ruin is one of my favorite new discoveries and I really want to hear more from them! They’re are a side project set up by members from Polish grinders Suffering Mind and one member of the Blackened Crust/Sludge punks Ceaseless Desolation. Ash And Ruin play blackened crust/grind very similar to Iskra. Prepare your selves to be blasted by a hail of gunfire. Ash And Ruin are a going to be a band to look out for.
2009 was when I first really started to get into crust punk and D-beat so when I heard Iskra’s Bureval that year, I was completly devastated by it. Iskra blends crust punk/grind with black metal. After listening to the hell out of Bureval, I worked my way backwards through their catalog of releases I found that they became more and more noisy the further you go back. Iskra’s more recent material, including their second full length Bureval, their split with Doom Siren, and their newest 2013 split with Ash And Ruin are by far my favorites. The playing style is much more blasting and punishing on these releases, with clearer production that really makes the band prevail. The song “Machine Infernale” from their 2013 split is like a hundred tanks crawling over dead corpses in the battlegrounds. You can hear and feel their treads crush every bone in their helpless, soulless, cold bodies.
OSK – We Will Never Change 2014 (Vancouver, Canada)
There are a ton of great grindcore/powerviolence bands this year, just filling up my Bandcamp collection and wishlist. OSK are a for-sure contender in this year’s grind race. We Will Never Change is a crowbar swing to the fucking mouth! OSK’s sound is metallic and gritty with a powerful magnitude of crush. The riffage and the drums are beefy and always intense throughout the 11:40 seconds of the EP. OSK are dedicated to destroying all of mankind with their grind, and no one will stop them. If you are feeling up for something pulverizing and angry, OSK will help you get through that feeling of going postal.
Corrupt Moral Altar – Whiskey Sierra 7” 2013 (UK)
Throw grind and sludge in a blender mixed with some razor blades and you have Corrupt Moral Altar! These lads keep their grindcore prominent but cover it with that nice, thin coating of sludge that adds the headbang (Bon Appétit!). We have a perfect combination of the blistering speed of grind and the groovier and filthier slower parts of sludge that compliment each other so perfectly. The vocals are glass shattering, high-pitched shrieks combined and layered with mid-ranged punk barks. The first song is super-rocking and catchy as all hell; almost mainstream compared to the rest of this release, which is sort of funny. The songs tend to become more grind and crushing throughout. The snare drum in this EP is glorious and brain-damaging in its intensity; that tone could probably pierce tank armor.
Guest Bandcamp Submission of the week: The first Guest Submission comes from our very own Toilet Ov Hell commenter, SheWölf.
Mammoth Salmon – Call of the Mammoth 2013 (Portland, Oregon)
Mammoth Salmon hail from Portland, Oregon, and their music is as dark and dank as the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Paul Dudziak’s rhythmic guitar riffs and grizzly bear vocals blend seamlessly with inspired leads, which when paired with Mitch’s Meidinger’s frenetic drumming and Alex Bateman’s solid bass lines becomes something verging on primal. I highly recommend listening to “Sacred Smoke” the next time you find yourself sitting around a campfire, or even just burning a bowl on the couch. It’s like, mystical, man…
Find them here on YouTube; or here for a great interview.
Be sure to check out their Facebook page for current info on tour dates and new releases!
