100
Mike Hill
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HEPTY SAG SNAKE PRINT
Fool CONSOLIDATED WAY SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92121
ANTHRAX
State Of Euphoria
Island
Anthrax may have grown up, but
it's more probable that the mature
themes addressed on their latest
Lp are a phony attempt to prove
their credibility to the press. On
their first album they were posing
with beers, on their second one it
was the finger. Now they're sing-
ing about racism, fascism and a
bunch of other-isms (on "Schism").
Still, ismic integrity aside, when the
Anthrax boys rock, they always rock
hard. They produce loud, chiselled,
polished American motal at its best.
Although State of Euphoria isn't as
thrash as the band's previous
material, the crunchy guitar and
tight, machine-like drums show that
they still have enough power to
grind metal with their teeth. Songs
to listen for are: "Out of Sight, Out
of Mind," "Anti-Social," "Now It's
Dark" "Misery Loves Company"
and "Finale." DO
FOETUS INTERRUPTUS
Thaw
Self Immolation/Some Bizzare
Let's face it, Clint Ruin (a.k.a.
Foetus) hates the whole damn
world with a passion. According
to him, there's virtually nothing in
existence that isn't shit. With his
beatbox from hell and a voice that
comes from somewhere even
deeper he attacks the world with a
raw intensity that only "The
Foetus" can belch out. Dirge.
raunch, filth and slime are all words
"FVK. "Reignition,"
IGO
RECORD
"Sacred Love,"
and I Survive" and
"Coptic Times,"
cause critics to
cringe at their broad
spectrum of influences.
Who'd have guessed that they
started out as a fusion band?
that have been used to describe
Ruin's past releases, which include
Foetus Uber Frisco, Scraping
Foetus Off The Wheel, You've Got
Foetus On Your Breath and Foetus
Art-Terrorism. I think his new name
carries on the tradition well. Thaw
is a monster which could be
described as the Butthole Surfers
meet Black Sabbath meet the
Revolting Cocks-all drunk as hell.
You might as well throw a little Tom
Waits in there, I mean, he's a poet
too. In other words, If Zodiac Mind-
warp has a long lost psychotic twin
brother, Foetus is him. With
distorted drum machines, raunchy
vocals and heavy gothic excursions
to back it all up. Foetus has suc-
cessfully managed to regurgitate all
of his hatred for mankind in one
black slab of vinyl.PP
BAD BRAINS
Live
SST
R3
COLLECTION
Anyway, their hardest hardcore
sentiments fit snug up against their
If you've seen the Bad Brains
live, you'll definitely dig this album.
If you've never seen them, listen to
this and you'll wish you had. With
a long-awaited live album. Bad
Brains prove that they can rock '
and I just as tight and intense on
stage as they can in the studio.
Songs like "Against "Al the
Movies," "House of Suffering,"
else to call it, and
the album has a
bug on its cover.
These guys have
been compared to
Hüsker Du and Neil
Young so many times
that I can't help but hear the Young!
Husker influences in their music.
At times, this band is really confus
ing. Just when they get a nice
RAK
WTAY
Anthrax. Busting out blazing riffe and bitchin' beach wear.
funky hard-rockin' rasta per-
sonalities. Aren't rastamen suppos
ed to be mellow? H.R. doesn't
seem to think so. He screeches and
growls like a possessed animal. Far
from being a sloppy cop-out live
album, Bad Brains Live is a choice
production and a must-have for
anybody's record collection. DO
PAILHEAD
Trait
Wax Trax
The Trait Ep from Pailhead is a
collaboration of the Wax Trax posse
and singer/producer lan (Minor
Threat) Mackaye. Whether they did
it intentionally or not, I have never
heard anyone try so hard to sound
like Killing Joke in my life. If you're
a Killing Joke fanatic, this album is
must for you. But if you think one
Killing Joke's enough, then save
your cash. With a clichéd low gothic
singing voice and a heavy
bass/drum combo that sounds like
your average 1984 post-punk
gloom and doom band, Pailhead
fail to make any progress. They
even add a distorted telephone
conversation that the Beastie Boys
threw out years ago. At least
Pailhead's first Ep, No Bunny, was
close to being innovative and made
lan look like he was going
somewhere. This one is five years
too late. MH
DINOSAUR JR.
Bug
SST
So, why Bug? Apparently
vocalist J. Mascis didn't know what
M3 MG NH Michelle Hav, 00 Darey Omete, PP-R
melody going they mow it over with
a power chord. It's hard to tell
whether that ruins the song or im-
proves it. Bug is a bit more polished
than Dinosaur Jr.'s previous
release, You're Living All Over Me,
but that's only because they had
more money this time. This disc
changes musical colors more,
going from dark moody gray to soft
pastels to blinding while. Mellow.
acoustic guitars, flowing bass,
screechy distorted guitars and
booming psychedelic drums are a
perfect backdrop for J. Masois
nonchalant lovesick vocals. Bug is
an ideal mélange of dreamland
garage rock and muffled psyche-
delic noise. So buy it already. PP
ICE-T
Power
Sire/WB
drug dealers, but loo knows how to
rock the house and shows that he's
king of the West Coast. His brand
of hip hop is strong and soulful,
with some definite 70's influences,
as in "The Syndicate," which
sounds like something the Sugar
Hill Gang would have done. Ice-T
is a "hardcore radical rap rhyme
writer" who won't sell out. With one
of the most righteous rap records
of '88, he is destined for a damn
good '89. MH
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Till Things Are Brighter.
Red Rhino
Power is a perfect name for
Ice-T's second album. If power is
what he's after, power is what he's
got. Ice doesn't care to be "alone
like Stallone," so he's got the
Rhyme Syndicate backing him up
on this album. Working together,
Ice and his posse definitely know
what time it is. They know where
gang banging, crime and drugs
really belong. The man knows how
to open people's eyes with songs
like "I'm Your Pusher," which
disses drugs by rapping about
dealing music instead. Only Ice can
get away with all this harsh talk,
since he really is a former L.A.
gang member He may be con-
sidered a threat by the P.M.R.C and
Johnny Cash songs have never
sounded so good. Thirteen of the
Man in Black's best tunes are
covered in this album by some of
music's big names. Johnny Cash
is one of the only country music
performers to have played for a
variety of hillbillies, rockers, acid-
heads and mass murderers. I
guess it was therefore inevitable
that his songs would be covered by
hillbillies, rockers, acid-heads and
mass murderers. Names like Marc
Almond, Mary Mary (of the Gaye
Bikers), The Mekons, Steve Mack
(of That Petrol Emotion) and Pete
Shelley are a few of the Johnny
Cash fans who wanted to pay
tribute to their favorite living legend.
Some of these artists actually
sound better doing country than
they do their own songs. Maybe
they should move to Nashville. DO
CELTIC FROST
Cold Lake
Noise
Tom Warrior has a sick sense of
humor. With Into the Pandemonium,
the last product of his doom-laden
brain-child, Celtic Frost, he
stretched the limits of metallic
experimentalism by mixing in
generous helpings of hip-hop,
horns, strings, operatic wailings,
French poetry and even a Wall of
Voodoo cover. Expect more sur-
prises this time around. The back
cover shot of Warrior and his en-
tirely new line-up looks like a cross
between White Lion and the Vin-
nie Vincent Invasion. Primal cock-
rock? Well, there are a few stabs
at "Too Fast For Love" Crue-isms,
but the Frost remains as gutteral
and otherworldly as ever. Just to
throw us a curve ball, the disc
opens with a rap entitled "Human."
Then the bellicose, hook-laden
"Seduce Me Tonight" comes
steamrollin' down the track. It
sounds like WASP if Blackie
Lawless really meant half of the in-
sipia he spouts. Cold Lake is a tad
less schizophrenic than Into the
Pandemonium, with a more
cohesive sound that ties the album
together, but don't expect anything
similar in their next effort. Deliver-
ing the unexpected is Celtic Frost's
chilling, wonderful forté. MG