I originally posted about this release in late-2006, but I'm resurrecting and refining the post, because for those unaware, A389 Recordings has actually re-released this material on vinyl for the first time ever. "The War of the Sons of Light and the Suns of Darkness" was Gehenna's first full-length release, and compiles the band's early discography in chronological order, all recorded from 1994—1996: A three-song cassette, "The Pain of Life" split 7" with Apartment 213, and "The Birth of Vengeance" 7". And that raw sounding live track hidden before the first song on the CD pressing, which was allegedly recorded in a cemetery on Halloween night of 1995 and released as a one-sided 7" ("Unholy") limited to less than 100 copies? Apparently that was "Testimony/The Divine Rewards", as it's included here along with a previously unreleased version of "The Birth of Vengeance" recorded that same night (both are tacked onto the end of the tracklist as a bonus).
Besides being one of the most infamously insane and violent live acts in their day, Gehenna's musical/lyrical delivery was quite fitting of the "holy terror" banner that they were bestowed with on numerous occasions by their original label (for this release, anyway) CrimethInc. and the Inside Front crowd, among others. While tangible elements of raw, fast hardcore/punk were definitely evident in their material, the compositions were distinctly more over the top and aggressive than much of said genre, and the scathing intensity of the vocals combined with the occasionally chaotic textures of the playing and rugged sound quality were certainly more metal than not. It was a unique combination of influences, and one that was especially volatile in the mid-90's when there was more of a discernible division between hardcore and metal than there is today. Gehenna was always a one-of-a-kind outfit, self-imposed mystique and all, and even I often forget how great some of this shit really was...
Hell is now excruciation is this this very second in time the present tense spawned from this wretched dwelling bred from infectious filth until the final descent we all know so well when we're finally at peace and the cold earth surrounds no more of these useless limbs leave this worthless body behind leave this dead shell behind the pain of life is great and some will find it sweet to rot beneath the earth while we rot and live and breathe in this sick fucking world never did I forget existence is fucking pain and there is beauty in death.
Gehenna "83%"
Gehenna "Thirty Silver Pieces"
The LP comes on transparent green vinyl in a slick gatefold sleeve that maintains a good portion of the artwork from the original release, plus all of the lyrics and a new poster insert of the "Seven Crowns" artwork (which is also available as a t-shirt). Gehenna always seemed to appeal to vinyl junkies back in the day, in which case this release should have plenty of 'em salivating quite a bit, so... get to it.
Comments
hell yeah, Gehenna was in my opinion the best of the holy terror bands, up there with Integrity’s Seasons In The Size Of Days. i read one interview of Mike Cheese and he was all nihilistic and happy that Gehenna contributed to the death of the Catharsis guitar player. too bad their releases were so few… hey andrew, don’t quit the holy terror fridays yet, mention Length Of Time, Kickback (circa Forever War and Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres), Day Of Mourning and first Ringworm album!!!
11.10.2006 | By V For Valantis
no Andrew its not the end of autumn yet ya know ;)Im among the others who want (demand more precisley…) more holy terror bands! I would be glad if someone could order this CD from Gehenna for me, because I dont live in country which is supported by Amazon for used items. Yes, that is our great capitalsitic world… I can change for some other item if somebody is interesting, got tons of music…Did Gehenna put out anything else beside that?
11.10.2006 | By Anonymous
their cover of Tranylvanian Hunger was awesome…I think I was the only black metal fan who liked it.
11.10.2006 | By Eric
The other Gehenna full-length releases are:
“Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris” LP/CD
“Upon the Gravehill” LP
I actually never even bought “Upon the Gravehill” because I hate vinyl. I suck. I should do something about that… or someone should release a complete Gehenna discography CD, ha.
What’s this about the death of a Catharsis guitarist!? I’m out of the loop.
11.10.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
I too first time hear something about the dead of Catharsis guitarist.
And I also dont like vinyls much. I hate labels who are releasing music only on vinyls. Fuck that, is this music for “elite” or for fans all around the world. I stil didnt buy turntable because I simply spend most of my money for CDs, and they are way more practitcal, not to mention people fighting for color vinyl.
Most of this holy terror bands was great, but I had lsiten the most Ascension: Year of Fire and Overcast: Begging for Indifference. The re-recorded songs from Overcast are pretty awesome, cant wait to get it…
What about Starkweather, their page is holyterror.com, but I think their lyrics arent so apocalyiptical…
11.10.2006 | By Anonymous
Starkweather’s still around, as is Ringworm, and I’ve posted about both of those bands in the past, so…
11.10.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
yes they are. I thought you will be posting holy terror bands in general not only those who were…However this holy terror fridays were great as are those reviews from “lesser-known” band. Especially Castle or bands like that, I wont probably heard from them if there wasnt you…Thanks!
11.10.2006 | By Anonymous
Gehenna also got a split lp with Catharsis in like 1998 on Wicked Witch. Gehenna’s side was a gig at CBGB’s and at Mike Cheese says “we’re Project X” haha. the Catharsis side is a radio set which also was on the split cd with Newspeak. the other releases by Gehenna were faster and thrashier but still badass. also Jensen Ward of Gehenna/Artimus Pyle/Iron Lung played in a band called Vae Victis which is very good and dark too. the Catharsis guitar player died after they released the Samsara album. he had psychological problems and took drugs to die says Brian D. if you have Inside Front #11 he mentions Dan’s problems. and Mike Cheese said they twisted up Dan Young’ heart and it’s Mike’s fault but that’s fine with him. anyway, i’m really hoping for a Length Of Time post as they were the most similar band to Integrity lyrically. and what about Mayday?
11.10.2006 | By V For Valantis
hey, i’m looking for the first 8 issues of Inside Front and also #13. if anyone has them, i can pay to get them, or would appreciate photocopies too, if anyone is kind to do them. and i’ll py for the postages and the price of photocopies…
11.10.2006 | By V For Valantis
ywah Iron Lung is shit. I just dont like so much noise parts, but songs are wicked. Powerviolence kicksass!
11.10.2006 | By El Diablo
HUGE Unbroken influences can be heard, like in Woodmaker, the songs can be compared to Unbroken during their Life.love.regret period.
It is somewhat weird that no one noticed that, after all they are from San Diego?
11.11.2006 | By Drmbr
hey don’t quit the holy terror fridays. I like it a lot… please write about MayDay and Lash Out(from Norway they was a shit in 90’s) and Ironside fom Uk ...
11.11.2006 | By Anonymous
plus, gehenna had the best mystique of all the holy terror bands (minus integrity, of course). homeless & borrowed instuments. mike cheese stabbing a guy in nevada (causing them to drop off the catharsis / gehenna tour). i was so bummed gehenna couldn’t play. p/u catharsis “samsara” that day & was literally all “holy fuck” this is a progression from that 7”... “in a world that smells of cunt”
11.12.2006 | By Anonymous
Is there any way I could get a hold of a few issues of Inside Front?
11.12.2006 | By Tyrone
Yeah, and I don’t want to take ANYTHING away from the awesome music here, but more than some of Gehenna’s little “rep” was sort of a figment of Brian D’s self-aggrandizing mind than it was of reality. The music was always good, like somebody else said it was like the San Diego version of Holy Terror, but at the same time it was nowhere near the level of some of the Clevo or Euro stuff. Just how far did their somewhat manufactured “image” carry them over the music? Food for thought.
11.12.2006 | By Johnny
often I had encountered music which achieved almost cultish status amongst people, but when I heard that music it didnt represent anything so special too me. OK everyone have its own taste (bla bla) but I think that some bands are highly overrated. There is something like this: “If you dont like them, you are a complete retard”. That is similar to people, often people who are not so perfect achieve status of an almost god-like icon…
11.12.2006 | By Anonymous
A Gehenna discography would be amazing. You could easily fit all of their material on a CD- “Negotium…” was only like 19 minutes and “Gravehill” was only about fifteen. Easily one of my all time favorite bands.
11.12.2006 | By Anonymous
tyrone, i can photocopy and send you my issues of IF (9,10,11,12,Reunion Issue). nowadays it’s very difficult to find them.
11.13.2006 | By V For Valantis
V, That would be awesome! If you at all desire compensation for doing so, let me know and we can work something out.
My e-mail address is as follows: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
11.13.2006 | By Tyrone
Do some more of those bands Andrew. these features I like to read. If you’re tired of Holy Terror try something else “The Bremen sound” from around the same time was even more dark, stark, harsh and underground stuff
11.14.2006 | By stevhanTI
back in the 90s my band stayed in Reno with some of the guys from Unconquered. the house we were sleeping in was supposedly shot up in a drive-by from suspected Gehenna (or friends of) as they had a ton of crew beefs going on. Needless to say I didn’t sleep very well worrying about getting shot!
11.14.2006 | By EMS / COREGASM / SA MOB
This happened during your stay?
11.14.2006 | By Johnny
shoot, i meant to say the previous week. sorry about that. i prob would have pooped my pants if a drive had occurred while i was there.
11.14.2006 | By EMS / COREGASM / SA MOB
i live in one of the EU countries which isnt supported by amazon “used programe”. If somebody can order Gehenna: The War of the Sons of Light and the Suns of Darkness CD from Amazon I can make exchange for 1 or 2 cds from my collection or can send money via PayPal. Of course i hope if there would be somebody interested that he/she will be honest ;)
I had arround 40 CDs to give away, most of them are in near new (opened, without damaages) condition. On this list is also Overcast: Begging for Indifference CDep which is pretty rare nowadays.
info:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
please help me! im addicted to music! ;)
11.15.2006 | By farovc.records
Length of Time played a reunion show 11.11.2006. Who knows, they might be back for good!
11.15.2006 | By mike_
draw back the hammer
to write your name in hell
straight edge
i win again
11.15.2006 | By POI Nx16
check this out.
stevhan is damn right, a bremen feature would be awesome, or a seperate H8000 feature.
but there are still some bands that should be mentioned in holy terror (Mayday, Day Of Mourning, Kickback, Length Of Time-closest band to Integrity lyrics and artwork-wise, Darkest Hour circa The Misanthrope). mike_, let’s hope that LOT start playing the good stuff again and not the Type O Negative/ Life Of Agony crap of last LOT album and his side band Broken Clown. fortunately Kirby plays in a badass band like Arkangel (whose last album was the best deathcore album of recent years) because i would totally write him off for the last Deviate/Length Of Time/Broken Clown cds.
so many more will come and go and die and the worms in my heart rejoice!
11.16.2006 | By V_For_Valantis
i dont know for the rest but Arkangle wasnt anything special to me. Back then i played quite a lot
their previous album (something with angel) but I got so over the head this european metalcore, there is just too many band. Every new European band almsot play the same mosh, metalcore shit, with the same song structure than any more popular band. OK you can say that all grind songs are pretty much similar, but I like grind much much more than (mosh) metalcore…
11.16.2006 | By papa-razzi
for the people that want the Gehenna disco cd, i just saw this on ebay.
11.19.2006 | By V_For_Valantis
I’ve owned this CD for years & never knew about the hidden track. Thanxxx.
There should be some Gehenna shows coming up (not a reunion, since they never broke up) sometime in the next six months, or whenever Mike gets it together.
XVX
11.19.2006 | By xYosefx
Tyrone, I have every issue of Inside Front except for #1 & #6, if you want photocopies hit me up at xyosefx[at]gmail[dot]com & I’ll get those to you.
XVX
11.19.2006 | By xYosefx
actually there are two hidden tracks: the one is “The Birth Of Vengeance” live which comes up when you rewind it a bit, then rewind again until it reaches like 20 minutes if i remember well, and the other is “Testimony/The Divine Rewards” from the old CrimethInc. compilation lp In Our Time , which also had Timebomb, Congress, Systral, Final Exit, Damad and Jesuit. if anyone of you don’t have a copy of the lp and want lyrics of “Divine Rewards” (since “Testimony”‘s lyrics are in the booklet, or the page with the Gehenna writing and artwork which is badass, e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and i’‘ll scan it.
11.20.2006 | By V_For_Valantis
Gehenna was never a holy terror band, we only live for destruction….. say what you will people you will never know our lifestyle you will never know what has really gone on in our time and minds Look out for our new 7” and L.P. coming soon and thanks to those who support! SEVEN CROWNS!!!!!!!!!
12.8.2006 | By GEHENNA
Yeah, I’m late on this, but to whomover pointed out the similarities to Life.Love.Regret. - good ear. Stephen Miller, Unbroken’s guitar player, played guitar & drums (maybe even bass?) on the first Gehenna tape and it was recorded at the same studio (Doubletime) as Life.Love.Regret. Don’t know why this fact is so little known - in my opinion, that release (83%, Woodmaker, The Bottom Line) is the only thing thing from the 90’s that actually sounds like Unbroken, despite all the bands trying to rip them off.
12.13.2006 | By Los Chupacabras
Gehenna demo was out before life love regret dude from unbroken did play the drums on that recording…...
12.26.2006 | By Anonymous
GEHENNA WAS AND WILL BE THE MOST VIOLENT AND CONTROVERSIL BAND TO COME FROM THRASH AND HARDCORE! I have seen the brutality many times…....nothing could stop this band not even heavy jail time. it would be great to have some new shit from this infamous group of fuck ups! “HAIL THE SEVEN CROWNS!”
1.5.2007 | By Anonymous
Nothing could stop this band? On their European tour they were sent home after stealing from people…. civil - holy terror 1:0
3.1.2008 | By Peterchens Mondfahrt
Find the split with Catharsis here. This band fuckin’ slays, btw.
3.4.2008 | By svein
i remember Mayday from the Integrity split. What else did they do?
3.4.2008 | By greta
i love this band. i got the demo back in 95 or whatever and have listened to it on the regular ever since- it stood the test of time in a way that very few other records from that era did. great songwriting and vibe.
the clevo “holy terror” bands weren’t really scary or anything, they were just mildly sketchy suburban guys. not genuinely unhinged like gehenna.
3.4.2008 | By sergeant d
mayday had at least 1 other 7” (“lost in sabbath”) that was fucking awesome. very underrated band. look for the singer online, he’s around… i think he does tattoos in maryland or something. his name is lance.
3.4.2008 | By sergeant d
Wow I am way out of the loop on this I guess.
This Gehenna sounds good, but I thought you were talking about the Scandinavian band at first.
So Holy Terror is a reference to Integrity or something??
I only know of Holy Terror the (great!) Thrash band.
Didn’t the Integrity guys get into the reformed church of The Process? Whats the connection to (this) Gehenna?
If memory serves, the godhead was split in four and Christ and Lucifer were supposed to reunify or some shit. Orge and Genesis P Orridge were into it for a while.
Two years ago I found out that a neighbor of mine lost her Dad to the original “The Process”, which she said is ulta low-key now and running some little farm or animal sanctuary or some shit.
3.4.2008 | By Steve
I remember that dude from Mayday, Lance McCloud, right? He had a GRLYMON vanity plate back in the late 80’s when it was funny. Mayday was awesome.
3.4.2008 | By Marcus Garvey
someone needs to rip and post the Mayday discography pronto
3.4.2008 | By sergeant d
i’ll rip the Mayday disco one of these days and send a rapidshare link. around the weekend probably
3.6.2008 | By V_For_Valantis
I remember Gehenna getting banned from Koo’s Cafe in Santa Ana back in like ‘97, for excessive violence (usually Cheese punching people in the crowd). They used to sneak on at the end of other bands’ sets and announce themselves as a different name to get in a song or two before the Koo’s staff figured it out
3.6.2008 | By Jesse
I want re-release on CD and also all Mayday discography. Fucking vinyls.
3.7.2008 | By Anonymous
as i promised, here’s the ripped Mayday discography. i split their releases into two different .rar’s because of the size and also made a third one for the Sangraal lp (black/thrash band with members of Gehenna) for people who might be interested in it. i also scanned the covers. both the sound quality and the scanned pics quality aren’t the best because my sound and graphic cards are not very good, so i apologize. anyway.. enjoy
the links:
http://rapidshare.com/files/98263183/Mayday_1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/98283537/Mayday_2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/98296463/Sangraal.rar.html
3.9.2008 | By V_For_Valantis
V_For_Valantis, you’re the fucking man! Thanks so much! I hadn’t listened to that Sangraal LP in forever, I had totally forgotten how good that was. I’ll be jamming all this shit at work today. MANY thanks for the time on this!
3.10.2008 | By Andrew Aversionline
a thousand thanks man. i think i just soiled my pantaloons.
3.10.2008 | By ENYA FACE!
shit man MAYDAY’s THE UNDERDARK 7” is the one i taped from my friend’s vinyl nigh on fifteen years ago… i totally forgot what it was called and everything, but the songs are STILL burned in the brain. thanks for uploadinit.
3.10.2008 | By marcus garvey
dude, thanks for the Mayday upload!!! this shit is even better than i remembered!!
3.11.2008 | By sergeant d
Thanks! Now we must find some label to release everything Mayday made on CD!
3.14.2008 | By Anonymous
Fuck the HATERS! Hail the Seven Crowns! Gehenna was NOT kick off ANY tours get it stright, and YES banned from many clubs but still play where ever and when even they feel like it. Look at their fifteen year history and passion for hardcore,thrash,metal and punk and you can see a group of people who truly make their own rules and lives happen. People are still talking about this shit. Love em or hate em they got under your skin like maggots, and now you cant live without the feeling of them eating away at your beliefs of what bands and people are supposed to look, act. and sound like. They say in this song “If I didn’t make this shit
You wouldn’t even exist” you know it true. Look at all the fucking biters and haters over the years! A BAND THAT TRULY LOVES HARDCORE / THRASH !
Gehenna’s
I Made You
Does it hurt to know
That I created you
I, the one you most hate
Gave you your mold and shape
Without your hate for me
You could never survive
By every word I speak
You will live or die
If I didn’t make this shit
You wouldn’t even exist
I made you this way
Rats and disease spread rapidly
And your kingdom is filled with both
Now your pride and my investments
Decay without hope
Yourself is your worst enemy
Envy gave you a reason to exist
Like a maggot feeding off rotten flesh
You’ll take what you can get
I am every word that comes from your mouth
I am the sun and moon in your everyday
I am the seed of your every thought
You’ll bow before me in praise
Be free and do what you will shall the whole of the law. Crowley
3.24.2008 | By Anonymous
Anybody get the “War Of The Sons…” LP yet? How is the quality on it?
5.2.2008 | By Cheese
sound quality is pretty good. the last 2 songs are live but I think the rest is remastered because they sound really good.
LOT is playing shows again, at least here in Europe.
A H8000 section would be fantastic since as of last week Liar announced they will be back performing!!
5.31.2008 | By michael
gehenna is amazing does anybody have upon the gravehill on cd!!!
5.14.2009 | By Khalil Boulos
Upon The Gravehill CD was supposed to be released by a French label. From what I understand Mike asked them to send some money for a new mastering and then stopped answering… fit with the rest of the “Tales of Gehenna”.
8.14.2009 | By Aramcheck
The best part of Gehenna was they were a total farce and lived off the hype machine. Have you seen Mike Cheese now? He is a fucking DJ and goes by the name Mike Apokalypse. He dresses like your typical upper middle class suburban white g:
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/10/l_301add318f534d3285948a0a31642260.jpg
Thats him on the right with the fucking baseball hat faded to the side with the hologram stickers on it like he is a rapper.It’s always funny to see how these people turn out, and that harcore and their “radical actions” where nothing more than a stage show and a phase.
10.7.2009 | By MachArson
Gehenna is still recording and releasing music, dude.
10.9.2009 | By Andrew Aversionline
I contacted that French label years ago when I was searching for a CD release of Upon The Gravehill. They basically confirmed what Aramcheck said. They sent money to Gehenna and never heard from them again.
It’s really hard to track down info on Gehenna. There are a ton of bands all over the world with that name. What are the releases from after Upon The Gravehill?
10.28.2009 | By Stymie
Nowadays Mike Cheese is spot on, also who the fuck even remotely related to hardcore is NOT a middle class suburban white boy? I’m sitting on a couch made outta Wonder bread right here to EXEMPLIFY.
Aside from this, there exists on the internets an mp3 rip of Upon the gravehill that CAN NOT have been picked from vinyl, so some digital variant does exist. Spend the rest of the day looking for it!!! Also Mr. Cheese posted a brand new track on his motherfucking blog the other week and you’d be the opposite of surprised to hear it sounded like goddamn Gehenna. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
10.29.2009 | By 1939 book about Hitler being poisoned to death in
gehenna is playing in baltimore jan. 9th. with ringworm,starkweather,pulling teeth,vegas (their first us show ever),seraphim and integrity i can’t wait bow before the seven crowns, from across the great sands come gehenna
12.16.2009 | By khalil boulos
what was the name of the french label that was supposed to release upon the gravehill on cd??? does anybody know????
12.16.2009 | By khalil boulos
The French label was Exutoire, http://www.exutoirerecords.com , the site is still up, but I am sure the label is not active anymore…
12.16.2009 | By Aramcheck
thank you i’m gonna check it out right now thanks
12.17.2009 | By khalil boulos
Exutoire records is still active, but they aren’t gonna release any Gehenna’s stuff.
Their last release is a sludge band from Bordeaux (France) called Aguirre, great music, check it out.
12.17.2009 | By Fred
i will thanks
12.17.2009 | By khalil boulos
Hey MarchArson Faggot,hahah you’re still talkin bout they way mother fuckers dress! What grad are you in? GROW THE FUCK UP MAN and get off our dick you bored loser. Dont have much to say bout your own life eh? Because you dont fuckin have one…... a waste of fuckin food and air. Keep pullin your pud on the internet you halh of a sissy!
We give you something to live for….... you fuckin haters!!!!!!!!
FUCK OFF !!!!!!!!!!!
4.4.2010 | By GEHENNA
Anybody on here have scans of old issues of inside front magazine? I’ve found issues 9 and 10 floating around on the web, but would love to get all of the rest. Help me out here!!!!!
email me at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
4.14.2010 | By grayson
i wish i did i’m gonna start doing my hunting for them soon
4.14.2010 | By khalil boulos
just love how many false rumors ar thrown around here. very entertaining. mr cheese is a sharp dresser. get real.
7.8.2010 | By xpatx
MachArson fucking called it. Mike Cheese? Mike Apokalypse? It don’t matter, dude is all hype. Middle aged loser that works at a gay bar in SF. Put out a half decent record years ago. End of story.
7.17.2010 | By S. West
your bored bro he creates music do you like bands like infest and crossed out
7.18.2010 | By khalil boulos
I’m all hype?
You should try to say things to my face and test the hype and find out what I’m all about. Find out if my hand skills are as good as you heard. Find out if this middle aged loser will fuck you up. Why don’t you test me you pussy assed bitch?
Oh wait I know why. Because you’re scared.
I tell you what you fucking cunts… Anytime you want to come test me, stop by the “gay bar” I work at in San Francisco and see if I’m all hype.
10.6.2010 | By Mike Apocalypse
mike apocolypse will knock you the fuck out i met him i know and gehenna ain’t nothing to fuck with one of the best bands in the world
11.28.2010 | By khalil boulos
G is the best group of all time
2.17.2011 | By virus
yeah that’s right your awesome
2.17.2011 | By khalil boulos
Well, steven miller from unbroken was the songwriter and guitarist for their first three songs…so ... makes sense? Also, when they recorded that demo, they literally used the exact same studio equipment, instruments, and set up from when unbroken recorded LLR. so sonic quality should sound very similar to LLR.
7.13.2014 | By Anonymous
Dan Young did not take drugs to die. None of you cheese dicks can take credit for his demise. He got drunk and relied on his shitty friends and band mates to watch his back, but instead they left him for dead in a shitty Van on a hot Texas day, August 1, 1999.
He was who he was because of who he was. Which NONE of you could ever aspire to be. Too good for this shithole.
8.1.2015 | By Anonymous