Blood Spit Nights "Complete" CD
[Hardcore Holocaust]
Wild hardcore/punk from this defunct Portland act with members of Religious War and Defiance (most of whom have now gone on to form Dog Soldier out of the ashes of this band). This does not sound a god damn thing like any other Portland band, though. Sure, it's pretty raw, but other than that? It's definitely got a different sort of ring to it. The songs are simple and pretty straightforward, there's nothing particularly innovative about the music per se - though it does run the gamut from slightly more pissed and in your face tracks to faster and more memorable rhythms, but the vocals... holy shit, the vocals are awesome! Completely insane and indecipherable screams that are very much in line with what you'd expect from the Japanese as opposed to the US, but mixed together with a bitter sneer that I'd classify as bordering on early Scandinavian black metal. No shit. As the title would suggest this is the band's complete discography, including the seven tracks from the yet to be released "Despot Butchery" LP. Also included are the "Full Metal Jacket", "Only for the Hardcore", and "Ghoulish Reminders" 7"s, plus an unreleased track called "Sliced Ham" and unreleased remixes of the "Ghoulish Reminders" tracks. As a whole the songs are pretty consistent as far as being fairly fast and using few changes within compact timeframes averaging around two minutes each, and it's often the varying degrees of vocal intensity that affect the atmosphere of the songs the most. The "Ghoulish Reminders" 7" is slightly more straightforward as far as drawing from Japanese hardcore influences, and the "Despot Butchery" LP features far less maniacal vocals (opting for more of a chaotic yelling approach with some effects and lots of doubling for added intensity, sometimes leaning more towards growling or screaming), but the material still has its own thing going on, and I actually think the LP is among the strongest of this work from a writing standpoint. Overall "Consume" and "Absence of Empathy" are somewhat "catchier" than most of the other tunes; "W.O.M.D." is among the longer tracks, topping four minutes with a few slower breaks and a little more repetition, not to mention a solid intro; "Kroeker SS" offers a ton of vocal variety that adds nice energy to the piece; and "Straight to Hell" has some of the noisiest lead work of the entire collection (rivaled only by "Reaper" in its use of complete dissonant and sloppy solos, as it drags things out for more than five minutes), but once again the awesome vocal performance is what seals the deal for me. The sound quality is fine in my opinion. For something that's clearly trying to be rugged and acerbic I think it comes off as extremely tolerable and effective. The guitar tone has a bite to it, but the bass is right behind it picking up the pieces, the drums sound okay, and the vocals are all over the place without dominating the mix. The sessions are pretty consistent, with the early EP's having the most bite, the LP coming off as the most balanced, and the original "Ghoulish Reminders" session a little flat by comparison. The remixes sound very similar, but just a little brighter/punchier, so... they might as well have just replaced the original mixes on the CD and kept it at 20 tracks total? The layout looks pretty good to me, with the front cover split between the original cover art for the four records included, and everything else consisting largely of the back covers of the original sleeves. No lyrics are included, but they do state very clearly across the center spread, "Write your own fucking lyrics." So, yeah, there you go. I wouldn't be surprised if there are no words in certain areas, as the vocals are just that crazy at times. Of course most of the art is sort of crudely collaged with high contrast imagery and classic styled punk aesthetics, but I'm all for that. They definitely have a really strong visual presence working in their favor. This is a killer release. One of my favorites of the more recent Hardcore Holocaust output. It's cool to hear another band that's going way over the top and trying to have fun but coming up with something a little different and still powerful in the process. (7/10)
Running time - 55:46, Tracks: 24
[Notable tracks: Consume, Absence of Empathy, Raw Christ Puncher, W.O.M.D., Kroeker SS, Straight to Hell]
Hardcore Holocaust - http://www.hardcoreholocaust.com

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