Frantic Scratchings: Swirling madness by Cliff Green.
"Gosh. I can't believe I got a seat
A line had piled up alongside the
building three and a half hours
earlier, as an impatient crowd waited
for this premiere showing. It had
been a hot, muggy wall but now it
was quite refreshing being in the air-
cooled atmosphere and snug in my
seat. The cinema was huge, with a
balcony, high ceilings and over 50
rows of chairs, all full of people.
waiting for the start of the show I sat
about nine rows from the screen, but
I wasn't sure with so many heads in
front of me. I was seven seats from
the aisle, with someone sitting on 1
each side of me, both munching big
tubs of butter-flavored popcorn. The
lights dimmed, the crowd quieted
down as the tall crimson drapes
opened and revealed the screen and
the flicker of film projected upon it
82
Abresa
PUSSINE
To my surprise the movie was in
black and white. Two main characters
discussed a plot in loud Dolby stereo
which echoed a tad bit across the
theatre. The characters were
frightened, worried about a new
disease that was infecting their
town's population, quite rapidly and
with disgusting results. Sheering
synthesizer rhythms pulsed subtley
in the background as the dialogue
thickened. Something was threaten-
ing this town in great proportion. The
disease spread through the skin; if
you read a newspaper magazine or
book you could catch the disease
instantly. In fact, any object that had
something printed on it with ink
would spread it, you see, the ink was
the disease and, like fungus, it pro-
pagated quickly. I shook my head.
Whoa, what a concept, I thought
Pretty scary. I glanced around and
noticed that the person on my left
was acting quite peculiar. In fact, the
skin on his right hand-the hand he
was holding the popcorn tub with-
was peeling off. No way! I must be
Imagining this. I looked again and
was happening. I whipped my head.
around and noticed it was happen
ing to everyone. But how could this
be? Not everyone was eating pop-
corn. Then I thought. Yes, that's
it. the ticket stub. And I held one..
loo. I slowly looked down and I almost
threw up. My skin had begun to
deteriorate also. People started to
slump in their seats, as there was
nothing left to hold their bones.
together. The pain grow. I was dizzy,
barely holding on. The movie was a
blur as I was about to black out my
head smashed down onto my chest.
I saw the ink on my shirt smile. The
words on my chest would be the last
I would ever see. The thick black
silkscreened ink of Puszone.
HAHAHA welcome twice again ye
fellow mad people, into the column
of raging decibels. And for the fourth
time a flexi disc is available for only
$1.00. It's called WW Evil Win? and
features four bands of rambunctious
speedcare delight: Desecrators.
Anihilated, Lord Crucifier and the
incredible Civilised Society So give
it a try, eh. Or send three 224 stamps
tor Zone sticker and list. All at one
address: Pushead, PO Box 701, SF,
CA 94101 U.S.A.
Action-packed, face-flying aggres-
sion in mouth-watering appeal is the
new turbulent gem that rocks with a
vivacious punk metal slash from that
infamous San Francisco foursome
Verbal Abuse. How could you go
wrong? Rocks Your Liver is better
than I expected and is bound to
become a party anthem Lp with
twelve dice-throwing tracks that rip
up the aural atmosphere. The first
Verbal Abuse Lp was a classic and
is now a rare find, but since then
Verbal Abuse have had some line-
up changes. Fortunately it hasn't
tamed the V.A. assault, and the
momentum pours out hard and
heavy with raw edges giving it the
rat's bite, while metallic flashes
kerrang away with authoritative
control. Growling not too deep. but
nonetheless menacing, is throatman
Scotty Wilkins, who paces his voice
with the chords, thrusting his vocab -
at the right moments, hungry with
punch, effective with soul, talking.
shouting, moving, prancing with
each beat. Dave Chavez (ex-Code of
Honor) melts the strings with strong
bass work, strumming the frets in
thunderous wallops. Six string
mayhem comes from Joie Mastro-
kalos, who pursues each note with
a sonic slice, belting out extremely
potent iron rifts that rock hard and
chase the speed wildly. Beating it all
cut is drummer Gregg James.
splashing and bashing with a
feverous hold. Together, these four
form the Verbal Abuse sound, which
is neither speed metal nor hardcore
but just in between, capturing a
whole host of audience response
with their motivated attack. Check
out the blast in "Set Me Free. "The
Chase," Ratt Pack" and the gut-
ripping smash, VA Beach Rocks
Your Liver" which throws it all away
in a titanic explosion. Verbal Abuse
roars out a fine slab; the hard work
pays off. On Boner Records, PO Box
2081, Berkeley, CA 94702.
First heard this brainbashing
album while eating udon in Osaka,
Japan. The sound blasted through
the walkman mini-phones shortly
after it was recorded. It was so
intense that I could hardly eat, as the
warfare sliced and diced my cranium.
Great Totally mind-boggling, insane.
speed thrash from S.O.B., who hail
from Osaka and Kyoto. Their music
stops at nothing and continues with
a frantic acceleration that is pure
disorder. Speed freaks, this is your
medicine. S.O.B. injects it fast and i
zooms with super distorted guitars
that are strong and crisp in the mix.
Tight, powerful beats rage from a
frenetic drummer, whose thrust is not
overpowering. As the madness
wreaks havoc, tonsilman Tottsuan
screams, bellows and blows his head
off in red-faced fury while he screams
out the wild vocals. S.O.B.'s debut
Ep, Leave Me Alone rages out nine
blistering cuts that are noisy but
polished. Produced by Outo guitarist
Katsumi, the sound delivers the
menacing yet well-produced blow.
Excellent stuff on Selfish Records,
Mac Seinan, Apt. #401, 4-8-20
Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
107, Japan.
The frantic cover scratchings by
Ben Brown introduces you to a new
Australian delight called Mass
Appeal, which is perhaps the best
outlit out of Australia since the
legendary Civil Dissident. Head-
strong thrash that pulverizes with
heavy thrusts and crazed riflings,
breaking down the barriers with
catapulting speed and rampantly
throwing forth balls of distorted
sound. One of the most clever thrash
bands I've heard out of Australia. Not
your usual run-of-the-mill, "plug it in
fast" here. There's more of a tempo,
with maniac sensations pulling the
stockings over the head and robbing
noise for all it's worth. Seven tracks
of rabble rousing onergy are featured
Slaughter, Extreme Noise Terror
and much more. Definitely not a lot
down! Get your copy from Phoenix
Militia, Thornwood, Tower Rd. North,
Heswall Wirral, Merseyside, L60 BRS
England UK.
A circus melody opens up a debut
powerhouse from Clown Alley,
which also starts off a new label
called Alchemy. This first release
smokes with a feverous fire. Hailing
from San Francisco, Clown Alley
dishes out a heavy meal of hardcore
mayhem, set on a progressive
metallic plate that hits the speeds, yet
remains calm enough to chase the
chords of some hard harmonies.
Heavy in parts, extreme in others.
Clown Alley really impresses with a
heavy drum mix, and a demanding
guitar that grabs your attention as it
I whines out sonic scorchings of
abrasive licks. Fast-paced action gets
the body flailing as the vocalist
thrusts a clear deep voice across in
a frenzy, shouting at breaks, pushing
anger through the notes, waiting.
then diving again. Most of the songs
feature complicated structures and
fast thrash blasts belted in with
slower heavy thump progressions
and raw iron power. Clown Alley hits
a level of creativity that should bring
notice to their powerful sound. It's a
Verbal Abuse: Scotty, Jole, Dave and Gregg.
on this 12" Ep entitled Nobody Likes
A Thinker, which gets a high award
for quick enjoyment. Mass Appeal
drive a mean sound, especially on
the graunched out track, "Pissed on
Life," a highlight with its blaring guitar
grinding. Check this out on Water.
front Records Write to Mass Appeal,
PO Box 338, Cremorne Junc. 2090
Sydney, Australia.
Killer cover art welcomes you to
the latest issue of Phoenix Milia, a
well jammed 'zine of speedcore
mania. Lots of information, plenty of
good interviews, a real knowledge of
the underground speed scene and
an introduction to plenty of new
bands makes this seventh issue of
Phoenix Mitia an exceptionally good
one Stuff on Anthrax, Larm.
Desexult, Rapt. Napalm Death,
Mace, Discharge, Metallica, Cryptic
good thing that the name Clown
Alley comes from a S.F. burger stand
and not the circus Hate to see a
gang with all this aggression and
sweat while-washing their faces.
Alchemy, #428, PO Box 597004, S.F
CA 94159
Madcap insistency keeps blasting
back for more as this raw ram-
powered hardcore bulldozer streaks
wildly with combustive thrash.
Crazed mayhem from Belgium's
Heibel smashes outward with myriad
parts interspersed as chaos runs
amok. Quick, little melodies build up
into a blitz of power, grabbing some
speed, only to suddenly change the
rhythmn altogether without totally
losing your attention. Sometimes
silly, sometimes insane, Helbel break
out their distinctive style with wacky
mannerisms that catapult into rapid
plunges of distorted energy Con
tinual smashing drums dominate as
vocalist Bollie pumps out from his)
stomach with a whole slew of intense
lyrics that read like tongue twisting
jewels. Grinding guitars constantly
roar out like untamed beasts with a
tinny pitch, biting with sharp notes
Yeah, Everything's Great features
fifteen tracks that are fun and
bonkers. Check out Belgium's
Helbel on CO.R. Records UK.
Rectangular little boxes that hold
the sound of the underground are
one form in which we can get new
music There's a small tape label out
of New Hampshire called Bad Luck
that is putting out a fair amount of
interesting cassettes. Whether solo
bands or compilations, Bad Luck has
it. They started with the N.H. com-
pilation called Bombers Over
Durham, an all-live music sampler,
and since then have put out such
items as Die Trottel, a noisy.
Hungarian hardcore outfit, and a
Hungarian compilation called Paita's
Dalojunk. Most recently Bad Luck
released a jam-packed Larm project
called Untalented After All These
Years, which features way too many
songs to count, all 1,000 mph blurs
in the Larm speedster tradition. If
you're into cassettes, or if your band
is looking to appear on a sampler.
then give Bad Luck a write. Bad
Luck, 7 Bride Hill Drive, Hampton, NH
03842 USA
It's simply suberb for this band to
put out this excellent slab, entitled La
Tua Morte Non Aspettaf, on their own
when they are struggling so very
hard. But their dedication is to be
commended as is their brand of fren-
zied hardcore. The Wretched have
been around for quite awhile now
and they're still one of the best Italian
bands. This new six song 12" Ep
sees the Wretched not trying to keep
the pace with the new crop of Italian
speed racers but continuing in their
own direction, a bit calmer, yet still
raw as a saw blade and equally
effective. The Wretched have some
strong song structures that rap it out
musically. Gianmario's vocal exec-
ution helps to bring these selections
to one's notice. Tracks like "Sezionati
Vivi" and "Verso Il Tuo Orizzonte
scrape the wax with a vicious guitar
sound that sings out with high
piercing, distorted leads as a full
sound shows the power of this unit.
Comes with translated lyric sheet.
also Good international stuff on
Cheos Productions. Write to Gian
Mario Mussi Via Lodovico It Moro
179, Milano, Italy
PUSZONE
Rose Rose Skatehead 88 Ep
Lipcream -9 Shocks Terror 12" Ep
Condemned Humanoid or
Biomechanoid? Lp
Virus Thermonuclear Thrash demo
Mace Thinning The Herd demo
Pandemonium Are You The One
demo