As the title states here we have the eight-track demo from this female fronted punk unit (whose band name translates to "living dead") that features ex-members of Atrocious Madness. Let me just state right off the bat that, believe it or not, this material is about twice as raw and noisy as Atrocious Madness ever was, if not more so! I didn't think that was possible, but they certainly found a way. Muffled drums and vocals go nuts behind a complete wall of rugged distortion and feedback, and the solos cut through the speakers almost like a blast of sheer extreme noise (ala Merzbow, no kidding). You can only hear the bass on the rare occasions where the drums and vocals stop, though some songs do have a slightly thicker sound where the bass is just sort of there adding low-end without any real definition. The songs are short, repetitive blasts and since they're so noisy there's rarely a lot of distinction between them, aside from the screaming vocal patterns, which make a few tracks like "Ugly Money" and "Worthless" a bit more memorable. It's not bad, I can tell there's something here, but honestly? Without at least a slightly clearer recording this just isn't that hot, and I mean, the fact that the solos actually break up into straight noise and make it sound like the recording equipment was broken or something is more of a humorous novelty than it is something worth adding to your band's musical arsenal. They went the pro route with the cassette, opting for opaque black cassettes with four tracks on each side and the band name and song titles printed in green ink on each side. The cover is a xerox but it looks good, they made it double-sided, the print quality is good, the cover art is solid, they stick to the same aesthetic of using worn typewriter lettering and whatnot... I like that. Lyrically the content comes in short, direct bursts and attacks the media, television, greed and corruption, issues regarding nuclear materials and control, etc. "Missing ballots, racist zealots, this country of a million misled souls, Sold on the premise of a false identity, but there is no majority..." Potential exists here, but like I said, they need to do something with that recording. Raw is fine, hell, raw is good in some cases, but this band's aesthetic and general sense of intrigue doesn't stack up against the likes of Atrocious Madness or some of the other Portland greats. I know it's just a demo, so we'll see what the future brings... I'm curious, I'll say that.
[self-released]
Running time - 10:00 (approximately), Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Ugly Money, No Majority, Worthless]
Lebenden Toten, P.O. Box 40113, Portland, OR 97240 -
