Apator - Het Geluid Kruipt (1989)

So I can finally rip vinyl. Unfortunately, I can't scan covers, but nevermind. Here's the only 7" I own from the mighty Apator, as mentioned in my savant metal post. There's no metal here, just lo-fi electronic and vocal evil. Oppressive atmosphere. Worth listening. Noisebastard exclusive. Yo.

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Smokin' Willie - Smokin' Willie

Reverb-choked 'lude-rockers sing the barbiturate blues. The fuzz solos on the heavy tracks scyth through the murk and go straight for the back of your brain, struggling up from the leaden mire of the rhythm section, which pounds monolithically (this is of course a good thing). The lighter songs, covers of "Whiter Shade of Pale" and "House of the Rising Sun", while still maintaining the downer vibes, disrupt the flow of the sludgier pieces somewhat, and break up the album in a mildly frustrating way. Well above the biker rock/heavy psych average though.

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Slashing Death - Irrevocably and With No Hope (1989)

Vintage Polish savagery from this pre-Vader unit. Although ostensibly a black/thrash record, this is so raw and chaotic that the faster moments sound like 7 Minutes of Nausea on a metal tip. Plenty of splashing cymbals, manic guitar abuse and guttural vocals make for a thrilling listen. Parts of this bear comparison to Blasphemy and their progeny, but with a near-psychedelic looseness few war metal bands achieve. Some of it even made me think of Peter Brotzmann, for no good reason. The token "ambient" intro with Santana guitar and machine gun fire is a vintage treat, too.

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Skull Hell - Death Lust Demo (2009)

Something I finally recorded today that I've been planning for a long time. Unlistenably raw BM in tribute to all those 80s demo bands no one remembers (but I'll be uploading here). Let me know what you think.

1. Death Lust
2. Cruelty of the Grave
3. The Burning
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The Index - The Index (1967)

This is what you'd expect the first Velvet Underground record to sound like if you'd only read reviews from the time: raw, depressive, smack-addled garage rock for a degenerate, anomic civilisation. This record is bathed in an unrelenting cloud of grey noise, 60s reverb-obsession taken to its anti-logical conclusion. Their version of "Eight Miles High" bears about as much resemblance to the original as Husker Du's, taken the sweet out of the Byrd's bittersweet rendition and facing the horrors of Vietnam with blank resignation. The wintry doombeat excursions of "Rainy Starlet" and "Fire Eyes" remind me of Joy Division, with ahead-of-the-curve hippie disillusionment replacing post-punk angst. These guys were from Detroit, an industrial city in decline just like late 70s Manchester. There's definitely a similar noise-loving impulse to The Stooges, those other detroit pre-punk legends, but The Index are about drug-addled introspection rather than Dionysian release.

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Stephen David Heitkotter - Heitkotter (1971)

Ok, this is one of those records people like me dream about. An institutionalised ex-garage rock vocalist spilling his blues over loose, shambling jams that foreshadow Royal Trux 15 years early. Pressed as a single acetate copy with cryptic label scrawlings. You can hear the Thorazine in this, with the stumbling, ramshackle musicianship and production-free tape haze. Pretty much the furthest fringe of outsider music, and a bloody good listen!

The Acid Archives spake thusly:

"Intense real people/fringe LP popular among psych mafiosos, a 3-man band with guitar, bass and drums led by Steven David Heitkotter, presumably recorded inside the mental institution where the guy has been for decades. Track titles include "Hangin' All Night", "Quaker, Dog Got Away" and the 14-minute "Fly Over The Moon". The vibe is intense and feverish like a nightmare, unique LP that lives up to its reputation. This may have been a test press only and comes in a blank cover, except for the handwritten title. He was also in a garage band in the 1960s that released a few 45s. [PL]"

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Daybreak - Daybreak (1971)

Wasted* organ-heavy psych with endearingly muffled production and echoing vocals. Doomy, druggy vibe is maintained throughout, even on the uproarious version of "Rock Around the Clock" (Completely with distorted brass instrument of some description). "Nights in White Satin" is turned into a nightmarish Mandrax dirge, and "Down By the River" is smothered in the audial equivalent of confused, drunken remorse. The two originals shine bright too, opener "Can't get Down" ploughs a thrillingly nihilistic blues-rock furrow, while the twisted history of the US related on "Monster, Suicide, America" is just baffling. A definite juggernaut classic for fans of no-fi psych and outsider rock.

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*I use this word a lot, I know.

Semen of Satan/Evoked Doom

Uploaded this for Chris of Tenhornedbeast and his related blog, after a discussion of inept German metal (POISON). Semen of Satan are a band of legendary stature to me and about 6 other people, and it took me ages to even find mp3s of the demo.

I was expecting some inept, barely-audible proto-proto-black metal, so I was surprised at the amount of sheer ability on offer here. After a charmingly cheesy intro, we get a violent slab of proto-death doom crawl, which soon erupts into soloing that reminds me of vintage Pentagram. Listen through the tape hiss and you realise that this is actually an accomplished METAL band, rather than the quasi-noise I was expecting.

Semen of Satan later devolved into Evoked Doom, who are a lot closer to the sludgy hell I always search for. I'm pretty sure they use a drum machine, and seem a lot more chaotically-minded than Semen of Satan. Still, there's some great guitarwork buried in the slime, and the vocals are insane. If anyone can shed any further light on the history and circumstances of these bands, or has any recommendations for other 80s obscurities, let me know.

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