Des_Ark

A few years ago(like 2006 I think) I had ordered some stuff from Crimethinc and they sent me some folk rock cd, I know I hated it because I generally hate folky music. However, it was a 3 way split with 2 dudes and the last one being Des_Ark. It was their Day of Prole ep and it was weird. Kind of chaotic with acoustic parts then a full band. I listened to it every now and then for a few months then finally found another ep on soulseek, Loose Lips Sink Ships. That contained some of the same songs and was pretty much the same style, with some softer songs. Well in 2007 Aimée Argote lost her band and recorded solo songs and put out a split with Ben Davis(Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker). That split had 12 songs, 5 of Ben's and the Jetts as his backing band and 5 of Des_Ark. The last 2 being collaboration's and they ruled. Those songs made me fall in love with Des_Ark finally and were on constant rotation. Now, I generally listen to Des_Ark when i'm in a shitty mood or alone and last summer every song was my life's soundtrack.

Her music is I guess what you could call depressing, but maybe in a good way, I don't know. I need to stop typing nonsense. But, if you like songs about failing relationships, being an alcoholic, etc then this is for you. Since the split with Ben Davis, Des_Ark has released 2 live solo radio show eps and is in the process of a 3rd one and I think a full length with a full band again possibly.

Some of the stuff is OOP and you can't buy it, but some you can and you should because it's great to own and Lovitt Records rules.

http://www.myspace.com/desark
http://desark.wordpress.com/
http://www.lovitt.com/

So here is almost everything Des_Ark has released(I can't find their split with Bellafea for the life of me)

Which contains :

Day of Prole EP
Loose Lips Sink Ships
Battle of The Beards (Ben Davis split, just the Des Ark songs though, and check this out first, it's fantastic)
Live on WXDU 88.7 : Volume 1 & 2

This link here is to a new song that will be on Live on WXDU 88.7 : Volume 3 and it's one of my favorite songs she's ever done.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/1pmt3s

So, sorry this was kind of a shitty post, but i'm not in the mood to write anything useful or entertaining (not like I ever am) so enjoy, and click on her myspace and go to her blog post for a video of another new song that rules.

Blood Has Been Shed

Blood Has Been Shed is Howard Jones and Justin Foley of Killswitch Engage fame. Before being hailed as metal gods amongst the world, they were in the heaviest metalcore band from Connecticut and maybe the east coast. Sharing members who were in Culture, Terror, Killswitch Engage, The Acacia Strain, One Nation Under, Terror, and a few others. They released 3 albums (could be a demo lurking around somewhere) and are all nothing short great. Their first release " I Dwell On Thoughts Of You" was released in 1999 by Ferret Records and is now OOP and it's pretty much impossible to find a copy that won't cost a ton. It's not quite as technical as their other two releases, but it's still great. Apparently they're writing a new record and should be out later in the year or next, I hope. Also, you can get their last 2 releases from the Ferret Records store for $5.

Blood Has Been Shed
I Dwell On Thoughts Of You
Ferret Records 1999

1.From The Outside
2.Timepiece
3.Immortal
4.Purify
5.Mediocrity Syndrome
6.Willful Ignorance
7.Miasmic

Mediafire Download

I re-uploaded the older files to mediafire that were down before, so get them if you would like.

Tarpit

First post in a long time. Making this short I guess. Anyways, this post is for Tarpit from Virgina Beach. I guess they get compared to Crossed Out and Infest a lot, which is understandable. Some say Agnostic Front as well, but you can determine that. Started in 2004 and played a last show in December of 2007 or January of 2008, somewhere around there. Tarpit managed to put out a demo tape , 2 7" e.p.s ,a split 7" with Victim from VA Beach, and a full length on Thrashed Records and defunct Collapse Records on both vinyl and CD format before they broke up.

Their demo tape and split with Victim are out of print so i'll post them both here for you to rock out (with your cock out) to.

Demo: http://www.mediafire.com/?2wnwwjfnanz
Victim split:http://www.mediafire.com/?zemymkmz01z
Demo cover :

Victim split cover:

Here are the inserts for the split if you want them, and with special cover out of 50:http://www.mediafire.com/?ynyz3yo1ntt

You can still find their Wake Up 7" , Checkmate e.p. 7" and Vultures (full length) at the Thrashed Records store or the Rev HQ store. The vocalist is involved with Kingshead now and you should check them out here : Kingshead . Also here's the Tarpit page : http://www.myspace.com/tarpit.


I'll make another post about whatever soon if anyone looks at this. And I hurried this, tired and hungry.

108

I tried to think of something special or some lyrics to start this post off with, but that's a bit too hard to do. 108 is honestly my favorite band hands down. Even with all the shouts about Hare Krishna there isn't anything about the band that turns me off from them. Listening to Solitary over and over again in no way gets old(even with "OH KRISHNA!", no matter how depressing that song is.

I'm sure most of the people who read this know 108 has been around for awhile and that they are on tour as I right this. Releasing a new album very soon on Deathwish to top that off. 108 couldn't be doing things more right. This a bit of a heads up to that they're playing Cincinnati here May 1st, I couldn't be more excited.

In 2006 they went in Static Void studios in California and recorded their first songs in almost 10 years. Released as a demo limited to 1008, this was was before they put out "A New Beat From A Dead Heart" in 2007. They sold most of these on their European tour in January of 2007 and some they put up on their web store for a short time. 2 songs didn't get released on that full length, and this also includes a Bad Brains cover, a Black Flag cover and version of Blood where Vic sings, which I don't think is a whole lot different. Rob's voice sounds pretty raw and it just makes it sound even better.

You can buy their discography that was released before this demo at Revhq.com , Deathwishinc.com or any other distro really. You can download a spoken word tape from One Path and a live album + Curse of Instinct at Stuck In the Past. Also, i'm looking for their 1991 demo and the demo released before Three Fold Misery, if anyone has these songs and could upload them to me, that would super.

And you can download the 2006 demo right here.
http://www.mediafire.com/?wojwddjkgmk


Here are the scans for the front and back of the insert too, that's all that came with this release.

Horror Show

Horror Show were around from sometime in the early 2000's until 2005 in Philadelphia, PA. Their lyrics, in the vein of American Nightmare/GUTG, attracted before anything. Sadly I was probably going to my first shows around the time they broke up, thus never hearing of them until a year ago. They only managed to put out two 7"s on Deathwish and a demo before that, which I'm still searching for in mp3's(if you have them, hook me up!). Anyways, the music isn't anything new or special, even for when they were around,but it's not bad what so ever. Lyric wise reminds a lot of American Nightmare and Panic. So if you know those 2, then you what this band is all about. I really enjoy them all around, really great, and I never hear a whole lot of hype behind them. So I figured I would write this boring entry so you can check them out. I uploaded the 2 7"s , Our design and The Holiday EP. Everything they released is out of print but you can find their stuff on ebay every so often or trades, which I aquired a shirt and The Holiday EP 7" on white.

From what I have read, Nicky Money (vocalist) stabbed someone at a show and because of issues with parole, he couldn't tour, which I suppose caused them to break up. Which sucks, because I feel they could have done a lot more. I also read some where he's in XO Skeltons with Wes Eisloid of American Nightmare,GUTG, Some Girls, etc. Not sure how true that is, but what ever, cool if he is.


Here's the info on Deathwish's page:
"Horror Show were a poetic and powerful hardcore band from the streets of Philadelphia.

Their music cried out from the darkest of depths for someone (re: anyone) to listen to their hardcore anthems of sorrow, heartbreak and violence. Unlike many of their hardcore contemporaries, Horror Show truly lived the pain of their songs every day. Deeply rooted in late night quarrels and their city's urban decay, Horror Show were a sign of hope in an otherwise bleak and barren world.

After the release of their debut CD/7"EP, "Our Design", Horror Show toured the east coast U.S. in support of the release. They also played a number of memorable hometown shows and made an appearance at the memorable Deathwish/Bridge 9 Festival in 2003.

In late 2004, Horror Show released their "The Holiday" 7"EP on Deathwish, which came to be their final recordings.

Members of the band remain active in music today."


Our Design 7"/CD The Holiday EP 7"

Both are uploaded in this folder.
Click to download.

Here's their myspace: www.myspace.com/whoreshow

Enjoy.

Framework / Gatekeeper (written by David Agranoff)

So, first post of 2009 and I think this is my first one since November. This one is pretty special. I asked David Agranoff to write up something about Framework and the Gatekeeper demo, and I'm super thankful for what he wrote, it's fucking great. And I also want to thank EMS at Coregasm for making me aware of Gatekeeper a few years ago on his blog. Check it out here http://coregasm.blogspot.com/. There is a lot of good stuff and I found out about a good amount of older bands through that blog. The scans in the folder for the GK demo are from EMS as well.

I first heard of Framework from the Realization comp I got on ebay a few years back, only got it because I heard someone from Earth Crisis was in it. Good bands on it like Stuggle, Framework, Darkroom, Oversight and I think another.

Here's David's post, really great info


Framework/ Gatekeeper

Hardcore in 1992/93 was very different from hardcore today. The biggest and most popular bands playing in Syracuse were probably Shelter, Sick of It All and maybe integrity. Like today very few bands were striking new ground and inventing original sounds. That is what a young band from Syracuse did.

Framework was young militant vegan straight edge band whose debuted on the scene on three song 7-inch(Conquer the World records) before hardcore Legends Earth Crisis put the movement on the map. Framework shared more than beliefs with earth crisis it was almost the same band as the all out war 7-inch.

Scott Crouse and Ian Edwards who still play in earth crisis, Ben Reed (EXC, God is I) and Mike Riccardi (ExC, Path, Another Victim) were the musical core for this band. In the beginning Ben played guitar and sang. They picked up their vocalist Shane Durgee after band Oversight(who had a lost 7-inch also on Conquer the World records) called it quits.

When Karl of Earth Crisis was ready to re-boot his band he asked his friend shane if he could borrow his band to record a demo. The idea at the time was that Karl would use the band to record song like Ecocide that he had written on his own to record a demo recruit new band members.

It is not a surprise that earth crisis the more traditional sounding hardcore would be the band to take off and eventually Framework lost out to the legend that became Earth crisis. In Syracuse however, for the old school love for this important band still runs deep.

Framework was and remains unlike any other band in hardcore. Heavy hardcore with break downs but guitar melodies and melodic vocals give it that originality. Don’t think for one second that framework is a weaker version of EXC. The lyrics are just as militant. “A revolution is here to end the genocide, an army stands to stop the ecocide, anger we all hold deep inside it’s the final ultimatum, either change or die”

Framework only recorded 9 songs which were released on the now out of print Never Again CD from Lifeforce records in Germany. This release complies songs from the two 7-inches and one compilation they appeared on. The songs Deteriorate, Never again, and Struggle (recorded in the JC session) were not released before.

Their first release was the “Justice coming” 7-inch. This record featured the title track, hidden and the bands most classic song Broken mirror. The title of the song is sung in a back-up vocal by future Path of resistance vocalist DJ Rose. Hidden is a brilliant song about Animal Liberation and Veganism exploring the ways people deny the issues involved and bringing the issue back to a call for direct action. Broken Mirror is also about veganism opening with the line “I found the truth on the darkside and I can back for my soul,” The song explain what happens to animals and how the compassionate person cannot escape the knowledge without acting.

After the record snuck out to modest sales Earth Crisis took off like a rocket. Framework also recorded in that same session a song that would appear on a 7-inch comp called realization. The song ‘fuse’ was written lyrically by Karl of Earth crisis in trade the friends made. Earth Crisis in exchange used Shane’s lyrics for the song Stand by( whose contriversal use of “for the fetus” is still one of the band’s most debated lyrics).

While the original intention was to keep both bands going at the same time, Framework only wrote and recorded two more songs. They are without question their two best songs. Which Shane released himself on his record label Reflection records. The two songs Tear me down and Gatekeeper were longer than your average hardcore songs and were epic compared to the band’s other songs.

The lyrics combine the earth liberation message with inner struggle. “A final decision which decides the earth’s existence/ internal war you must not lose/ you moust become unsubmissive.
Gatekeeper

After the band broke up Shane continued to do his record label releasing the classic Green Rage 7-inch. After that record was recorded GR changed line-ups. They added Pete Spielman who had been in the skinhead hardcore band Flackjacket and would later play bass in Beta minus Mechanic on Bass. Drummer Chris Fuller who had pissed off GR Vocalist Justin O’hare so much he refused to print his name on the record, so he replaced him with hardliner Matt Bullard on drums. Justin and Dave from the 7-inch remained.

They wrote two new songs, which Justin thought were two metal before he decided he was into it. Dave, Pete, and Matt like the songs they wrote. They intended to start a hardline band because at they all claimed hardline. They were also framework fans. So they asked Shane to sing, even though Shane didn’t consider himself hardline.

They recorded a four song demo that they self-released, before it was briefly re-issued by Militant records in Indiana. The last two songs on the demo(Flames of Salvation/ Vigilante) were written to be Green Rage songs. The demo is a brilliant work of lost Vegan Straight Edge metal with a few ground breaking moments. Most important musically is the first blast beat down by a vegan metal band.

The lyrics to Filth are kinda off the wall compared to anything at it’s time. Sure we have heard lots of militant sXe and Vegan songs but militant defense of the virgin youth? “Vigilante justice will save the virgin youth!” Perhaps more classic is the line “Kill the judges and rapists alike” The second song One million incisions is second only eXc’s deliverance is tackling the subject of Vivisection after the gut wreching almost impossible to listen to sample of a monkey screaming.

The four song demo was self released with a hilarious cover. When the band was at kinkos laying out the cover they found a drawing in the recyle bin of a cat monster. Shane, who is a gifted illustrator added a dying hunter into the Cat monster’s hand. Pete took the picture of palestian militants with rifles and ski masks out of a newsweek and added the words “the revolution has come.”

This package was great and enough to get them a “deal” with a kid name Brian in Indiana who was starting a record label. Militant records had one 7-inch by locals named Warcry. He repacked the demo making it look slicker but less interesting. He distributed the demo and was going to do a Gatekeeper 7-inch.

The band started writing material for another record. They added a guitar player named Kris Weichman who had been playing in another local vegan sXe band named Solstice. After writing two songs and playing as many shows Kris was offered a spot playing guitar in Earth Crisis. Soon after Pete’s other band Cross Section started to play more shows. Matt who had never really established roots in Syracuse moved back to the south. That was that.

Pete has claimed that the break down in Situation Degenrates by has Earth Crisis sounded familiar. Written for a later Gatekeeper song, and re-positioned by Weichman. This is of course only rumor.

Shane went on do a band a few years later called Farthest Man. Sounding a little Quicksand inspired the band recorded two songs for split and broke up when guitarist Eric Edwards replaced Weichman in Earth Crisis. Sensing a Pattern? Always a bridesmaid never a bride?

Shane is now a Novelist and an illustrator.

-David Agranoff

David Agranoff is a Novelist and activist. Check out his blog at:
http://www.Davidagranoff.blogspot.com or find out about his book with cover art by Shane Durgee at:
http://www.myspace.com/screamsfromadyingworld





Here's the Framework "Never Again" cd.
This cd contains everything they released I believe.

Download - Framework "Never Again"





Download - Gatekeeper "Demo"

Breathing Fire

Breathing Fire are the result of xFilesx breaking up. And you can really hear the fact they were trying to continue on with the same style. I believe it's all the same members of xFilesx except one, and assuming they added a new vocalist(?), or changed around the line up with one new person. I don't exactly know.


It doesn't seem they're playing shows right now and I think they're on a hituas but hopefully not for good.
So, if you're a fan of xFilesx or just fast heavy hardcore, then check this shit out.







Breathing Fire:


Breathing Fire Demo 2004

1. Tetra-Grammaton
   
2. Mouth
3. Plant
4. Exhale
5. Gates of Ivory
6. Sequence
7. 40 Hours
8. Agent
9. Cease
10. ( ? )
11. Deny Everything (Circle Jerks)

This demo was released as a Cassette and a 7'' (maybe CD?) by Painkiller records.
They also have their LP Titled "Years of Lead" you can buy from them, which is better than this demo.
So pick it up.














Click to buy "Years of Lead"