Gary Suicidal Kids Commando - 'Par la douleur, la joie' cd is now available via mailorder Rimbaud records webstore: http:www.rimbaudrecords.com/shop

We'll have a list of distro's shortly also throughout europe that will have the album.
This is a co-release via Rimbaud, The Left Hand DIY & SMYT Records.


..

From CRUCIAL BLAST:
French metallic hardcore
is some of the most emotive and dramatic you'll hear, as evidenced by
bands like Cortez, Tantrum, Metronome Charisma, Submerge, hell, pretty
much anything on the Basement Apes and Radar Swarm labels. The French
have an excellent knack for putting together crushing metallic riffage
and majestic, intensely moving melodies without resorting to throwing
in lame alt-rock choruses to try to come off as "sensitive". The second
album fron the French band Gary Suicidal Kids Commando is another solid
blast of epic, atmospheric hardcore that reminds me of some of the
other bands that they pal around with, but GSKC also add a bunch of
interesting stuff to their sound that's had me playing this album over
and over lately. At their core, GSKC play a super-heavy and frantic
style of metallic hardcore with complex riffing and amazing epic guitar
harmonies, and fronted by some really anguished, emotionally wrecked
vocals that go from layers of raspy shreiking to high pitched yelps and
bestial death metal roaring. Japan's Envy comes to mind when I listen
to this, and I'm betting that GSKC has been heavily influenced by the
impassioned hardcore/epic rock that Envy's more recent albums have
featured, but there are also huge apocalyptic dirges that invoke
mid-90's Neurosis, occasional samples of orchestral film music that are
looped over and over (which sounds vaguely like Morricone, but I'm not
sure if it's an original piece or something that the band lifted), an
entire instrumental track of nothing but gloomy cello, another track
that features a great extended sax solo over sludgy, propulsive
riffage, and songs that shift suddenly from cello-backed mathy
arpeggios and intricate drumming to manic thrashing metalcore, like
smatterings of Slint and Rachels heard alongside a freaked out,
uber-metal version of Envy.

Distros
..

AMERICA

ASIA

Indonesia
Riphids Rcds

Japon

Amputated Vein Rcds

Oblteration Rcds

Malaysia

Kayorga Rcds

Philipines

Bituka Rcds

EUROPE

France

Ok, eventually, this is out now.
Buy from www.rimbaudrecords.com/shop

It will be available from other European distros such as Vendetta/Blind date and a hord of others over the next week to 10 days.Just mailing packages out end of this week to those guys who've been waiting ages for these.Bless their patience.
But the record has definately been worth the wait.


---

THOU - 'Malfeasance / Retribution' 10 inch release via Rimbaud Recs and Feast of Tentacles.


One fucked up epic doomed out crusted out track per side -  'Their Hooves Carve Craters in the Earth' on the heaven side and 'The Bleeding Genitals of Every Rapist Hang Bleeding From These Trees' on the hell side.

Check out Feast of Tentacles other releases, Army of Flying Robots, Braindead, Rot in Hell, Moloch,...they ain't called one of the coolest DIY labels in England for nothing you know...

Meanwhile hear the two tracks from the release at Thou's website.


Doomed out epic psychedelic metal like Burning WitchPelican/Neurosis/Winter?
http://www.myspace.com/thouband
They're from Louisiana, United States.


MP3: Fucking Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean Tyrant LP track
Check them out here - killer band:
http://noladiy.org/thou


Additional version: Limited 10 inch Hexagon lathe cut by Peter King of this release will be released later in the summer of 2009.
It will be limited to 100 copies or so .....

DEC 08 UPDATE
..NEWS AS OF DECEMBER 6TH.

musical output:
we still have a few s/t 7"s.
we have a healthy amount of "the hate. the hollow."  Cd's
the LP's of the same name are getting a bit more scarce.
you should get one. NOW.
the "as dead as we look" Cd is still available as well. barely.

here's a couple recent reviews for "the hate. the hollow." LP/CD

FROM ATTACKFANZINE.NET
PROTESTANT The Hate. The Hollow. CD
(Rimbaud)
It
would be easy to write this off as another band doing the dark and
heavy hardcore thing and then write around that to get enough words to
make it a review. But to do so would not only be wrong, it would also
prove that I hadn't bothered to listen to the CD more than once or
maybe twice. Sure, there are the heavy and dark melodies over hard
rhythms and thundering beats, but Protestant are a lot more hardcore
than that with their speed and aggressiveness. There's more to this
band and there's another level of depth that many other bands that
could fit that first sentence lack. Where the main path here is in fact
dark and powerful hardcore the music takes more than one turn with the
occasional doom-laden riffs lurking around one corner and blastbeats
around another. The guitar work on here also brings forth thoughts of
black metal from time to time with their evil sounding harmonies.
Spitting
vocals, ravelling riffs, and an alternation and combination of the
crushing rhythms and rapid deliverances makes me, now that we're
approaching the end of the year, very seriously consider to enter this
nine-track CD on the "best of 2008" list. [Krogh - November 20, 2008]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM THEROCKBLOGGER.COM

PROTESTANT - the hate. the hollow.
The
Hate The Hollow is a killer crust punk/hardcore album from a little
known Milwaukee band. Protestant takes the grit and grime of early
crust bands like Amebix and infuses it with the technicality and raw
power of modern hardcore. The result is an intense storm of grinding
riffs, raging vocals and suffocating bass lines.

If Converge had
pared back their more melodic moments and focused more on a DIY
aesthetic, they might have sounded something like Protestant. Its not
all blood and dirt here though. There are some slower tracks like
"Obituary" that centers on slithering math-rock riffs before the
chugging maelstrom kicks in. Moments like these add balance to the
fist-clenching madness of the affair and gives Protestant some ample
room to push their sound further.

Like most hardcore albums, The
Hate The Hollow passes by like a flash flood, leaving you feeling
abraded and disoriented in a very short period of time. It delivers
intensity in spades while still balancing things out with its
sophisticated compositions and doom-inspired atmosphere. For its
crushing density and piercing emotions, The Hate The Hollow is one of
the top hardcore albums to sneak under the radar. Keep your eyes open
for these guys.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FROM COLLECTIVE-ZINE.CO.UK
Protestant
do the whole d-beat hardcore thing in a particularly humourless and
unremitting way, but what really drags them out of the depths of
mediocrity are those great crunchy, catchy riffs and neat time changes.
It doesn't exactly pluck many surprises out the hat, but it is a
well-crafted, speedy and angry piece of work, plus you do get some epic
instrumental sections that mix some Envy in amongst the Tragedy. -
kunal nandi

tours/shows:
the last mini tour was a blast.
thanks to folks in muskegon, ft wayne, cincy and indy.
you know who you are.
it was fun and the cheapest gas we've seen in years. ha!


future (2009):
recording  in jan 09. for what we are not currently sure.
the split w/FALL OF EFRAFA is cancelled. we/they are very sorry.
labels are always encouraged to contact Protestant for release ideas.

touring east coast mar 24th - april 4th 2009
with FALL OF EFRAFA (uk) .
myspace.com/fallofefrafa   :::::   fallofefrafa.com

::dates/cities subject to change::



www.myspace.com/protestantmilwaukee

ORDER to avoid disappointment on missing the coloured vinyl version:
Order from the Rimbaud distro/store.

Coloured LP: 10 EURO + ppd  CD 8 EURO + ppd.

PROTESTANT Distros

Available here from these cool DIY people across Europe: ....

Dead Circus distro (France): http://www.deadcirkus.com/ ....
Ocinatas Industries (France): http://www.myspace.com/ocinatasindustries (....
Lawgiver (UK): http://www.myspace.com/lawgiverrecords 
Active Rebellion (Uk) - http://www.activerebellion.com/
Feast of Tentacles (UK) – www.feastoftentacles.com
Be-Part Records (Ger) - http://www.be-part.org
Alerta Antifascista(GER) – www.no-pasaran.org ....
Bis Auf's Messer (Ger) http://www.bisaufsmesser.com/store....
Sadness is Noise (Ire) - http://www.myspace.com/sadnessofnoiserecords ....
Knifethrower Industries (Ire) - http://www.myspace.com/cesspooldublin
Richter Collective (Ire) http://www.richtercollective.com/

more to come soon.....

....

SEVERE UPDATE!!
This 7inch is now available! Turned out super and we have some limited copies for you Euro kids on green vinyl too!
It will be available from the Rimbaud webstore on friday to buy(shop down today)....and from kool euro distros shortly after that.



..

Lycanthrophy split review from SFL #20

..

Kursk/Lycanthrophy split 7"

Canada's
Kursk play some fucked up, Discordance Axis meets the production values
of lo-fi black metal, grindcore. Damaged, swirling guitars over
completely buried, almost inaudible drums while a tortured, ghost of a
larynx hovers above. Amazing. Czech's Lycanthrophy squeeze out a more
straightforward grind with excellent production highlighting the rapid
fire drumming. A good split from two newer bands.
-------------------------


A thunderous split 7 inch is being planned for early 2008 with Canada's KURSK and Czech Republics LYCANTHROPHY.
Halo of Flies in the USA will be co-releasing the 7 inch.Possible a third label may take part also (tba).

Lycanthrophy (Czech Republic)

Lycanthrophy have been on the european scene with a good few years now nd have released some amazing vinyl via Insane Society Records and many other great labels - releases that have been my favourites for years.Recently they've released an amazing full on grind thrash masterpiece via the super Circus of the Macabre records in co-operation with numerous other labels, its a split lp with SAYWHY who also from the Czech Republic.Pick it up now!
Fast extreme hardcore thrash, its geared up and heavy as hell, killer vocals and powerful full on music.
Lycanthrophy myspace

Kursk (Canada)

Ex-Head Hits Concrete and Fuckmorgue.From Winnipeg, Canada, Kursk are definately one of the forerunners when its comes to keeping the music fresh and the ideas and values of punk/life/DIY/communication at the front.Previous split 7 inchs with The Defeatist, Think Don't Pray and (coming shortly on Level Plane recs) Digital Damage.
Intense as fuck, rampaging through weird hardcore motions.Check em out yourself...i'm crap at discriptions!
Kursk myspace

HOPE IS NOISE album 'Applaud Friends, the comedy is over' .

We now have the album available via Digital download / MP3 format from CD Baby (& subsequently itunes) for all of you who prefer to buy your albums in that format these days!.Of course vinyl still rules, but its all about the music.
CD Baby will also take care of anybody who wants to buy the album on cd format in the U.S.A., so please buy from them if you live there or want the MP3 album!.Handstand Records in New York and INTERPUNK will have copies of the album shortly also.




European customers - Buy the album now for 10euro postage paid online here at the Rimbaud store.

Reviews here!:
SicZine
Frequency Ireland
Organ Art
Mashnote

buy it now at http://www.rimbaudrecords.com/shop!!

REVIEWS!:


www.ninehertz.co.uk
Recording an album in December and releasing it in February is a mean feat, and who else could do it but Hey Colossus? Always purveyors of the most heavy and balls-out rock, they have gone into the studio to create what is their most direct and striking release yet (and those equal about a dozen now anyway!).

Starting with the staggering Melvins-on-cider 'Do They Ever Return' they play on a simple yet engaging riff that they carry and develop through the songs gargantuan fug of production. Always heavy anyway, the addition of a member playing not much bar a Kaospad, the overall cloud of sheer bass that consumes this release shows you what they aimed to do here, and that was to do what the merry hell they wanted.

Second track 'I Am The Chiswick Strangler' is a lightning bolt in the form of a stoner rock riff that passes by faster than any Hey Colossus track previously released, it really sounds like it was fun to record, you can almost see the classic rock poses and shit-eating grins. Onto the less paced, but focused '45 Pounds' this is where you can see how far HC have come as a band. This brings back echoes of their album 'II' but with a more thought-out groove and vocals that vary between throaty screams and stoner-like mantras. The bass again is so far embedded into this album that it takes over the whole feel of the music, and for me, it elevates and already fantastic band even higher, you can actually imagine foundations shaking and neighbours complaining. Melodic as it is heavy, instrumental 'Frozed' has shades of Pelican about it, but with that still-strong Hey Colossus identity, slow and lumbering, the fuzz of static over the top is atmospheric as it is claustrophobic.

With this set of songs, Hey Colossus are showing a much more dark, almost threatening side to their musical explorations, even down to the b-movie cover art, a dripping, bloody axe and the simple facts stated, where and how it was recorded, the song titles and that's your lot, a kind of two fingers to convention, nice.

'Rope Assassin' comes in with a crash and the patented scratchy production so common on HC releases rears its head again, sounding like the vocals are being screamed down an old, crackly phone line really adds to the pummeling nature of the riffs on show here.

Album highlight comes courtesy of the fantastic 'On The Pleasure of Hating' a frenetic and strangely, dare I say it, metal song? Its fast, it doesn't let up and is incredibly crushing. The last section, complete with more Kaospad tomfoolery plays out like a jam and dies in a slew of feedback and static, the way songs should.

Closer 'Grow Still At Last' is a slow-burning exercise in bubbling-under intent, as it dies down into electronic ringing you are left wondering where the hell they can go after this, an excellent introduction to the band for a newcomer befuddled by the vast back catalogue, and an excellent addition for fans of the band. Cracking.


www.music-dash.co.uk
The name of the band and the album title should really tell you all you need to know. Produced by Tim Cedar of magnificent UK rock pioneers Part Chimp, this is a noisy grind of hypnotic, crushing chord phrasing. There are tracks that take two minutes to gather pace, that build, burn and melt before raising an apocalyptic conclusion. "I Am The Chiswick Strangler" is a screaming rock song that's made up of various attitudes from an early QOTSA to a first album Damned. It's heavy stuff, splintered between lighter interludes, fuelled by mega watts of fuzz to blistering, slow motion rock riffs, sign posted by the previous work of the Melvins. The magnificently titled "On The Pleasure Of Hating" has the airs of progressive rock, bitten off and spat out as snarling sound bites and thrashing, bruising segments. "Project:Death" is an album to be heard in one massive sitting, each muscular chunk of music almost too big to chew, but it's a rewarding and sometimes hair raising trip.

http://pointedthreats.blogspot.com/
9 The problem with so much 'heavy' shit now is that really it is a load of bed-wetting hipster fags pretending to be something that they're not. Witness the rise of bands like The Sword. These guys are from London and are balding and wear glasses and they wouldn't really know what a hipster looked like so they've been able to craft behemoth sized riffs in a merry, maniacal vortex for a good few years now that consistently destroy audiences indiscriminately. Shit, if it didn't sound like Thor shitting thunderbolts the title wouldn't really fit and this sounds like Fudge Tunnel raping Kyuss so all good anyhow. One of the most overlooked UK acts out there, 'I am the Chiswick Strangler' is worth admission alone. Great artwork too dudes.

www.organart.com
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
HEY COLOSSUS – Project:Death (a whole gang of wholesome scenester labels, go look on the band's site) – They say they set out to mix Can with Fudge Tunnel, they pretty much achieved that a couple of albums ago. These days they're Can and Fudge Tunnel and big lumps of sludge and Godflesh and St.Vitus and a filthy mushy sound and lots of low-end big big big big riffs and shouting and mud and more sludge and pretty much recorded live in their London rehearsal studio and oozzz and deadly psychedelic head messing hard rock sonic violence and noise and claustrophobic and black flags and on and on it rumbles and rolls and steamrolling right at you hey, very colossus and colossus and another fine album and rumble and roooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhhhhhhhhhh bluuuuuuurrrrrrrgggggg sssssssswwwwwwwis dooooooooooooooooom booooooooooooooooob sluuuuuuuuudge.

www.aquariusrecords.org
It's the return of British sludge bludgeoners Hey Colossus, whose prior releases, including a split LP with Japanese doomsters Dot [.], we've recommended. Rhythmic and rumbling, this band plays a heavy hybrid of noisy punk and post rock, clearly conversant with both the unlikely extremes of krautrock and death metal. On Project: Death, the influence of the latter results in parts of such tracks as "On The Pleasure Of Hating" for short stretches approaching the pummelling tranciness of the Boredoms' Super Roots 3 (to reference a reissue recently reviewed). Shouting vox and down-tuned guitars also put these guys in league with such not-metal-but-even-scarier acts as Burmese and Unsane, their grinding grooves awash with an almost psychedelic level of FX (someone in the band plays nothing but Korg Kaoss Pad, apparently!). Menacing, murky, massive, murderous.

www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=4733
Nightmarish music for your nightmarish ones.

London based Hey Colossus were formed in 2003. They have released two albums previous to this; 2004's vinyl only Hates You and You and You and You (catchy title) and 2005's II. From the opening rumbles of guitar dronage that brings us into Do They Ever Return we are unsettled. I am instantly reminded of chug heavy bands such as Godflesh or Isis. This record is certainly Justin Broderick territory. The songs ooze noise from every pore. Frozed sounds like an electrical storm, whipped up further by Bobs howling vocals. His deathly wailing haunts the tracks without completely overpowering them, like some demon digging its clawing its way out of the seventh circle.



Having toured with such behemoths as Comets on Fire, Oneida and Part Chimp the guys must have picked up a thing or two. They certainly know on how to make cavernous darkwave psychedelic rock with bite. The big long jam outs are good but the band really come to life when they rock out rather than sit in some stoner haze like on The Pleasure of Hating, a stand out track; fat grinding guitars with a seventies prog heart. Its all about the biggest noise possible on Project:Death. And they do make it loud, with blazing dynamics. Like having a bad trip in some introspective paranoid nightmare all you can think of is the impeaching claustrophobia as the walls of sound slowly encroach on your senses. Welcome to the nightmare.

www.roomthirteen.com
Hey Colossus were one of those bands who I'd heard of yet not 'heard' of, if you get my drift. I'd heard that they were pretty special live and they'd played with bands like Oneida and Boris, yet had never sought them out, so when my shiny 'Project: Death' disc arrived with its simple, clean effective artwork (nearly always a promising sign), I was looking forward to what it held.

Track One – seven minutes and fifty one seconds. Is that allowed? Does anyone other than Sigur Ros do that? I'm not sure if Sigur Ros even do that. Well it's a brave choice nonetheless. 'Did they Ever Return' smoulders on slowly like the dying embers of a fire. But it's the kind of fire that instead of the dying out, you hope it suddenly reignites and creates some bloody great big pyrotechnic display. Sadly this doesn't happen. Moody and atmospheric you will it with all your might, for all of the seven minutes and fifty one seconds to erupt into life but it moves at the speed of a brachiosaurus in a tar pit.

The hyped up frustration of 'I am the Chiswick Strangler' would probably have made a better intro to 'Project: Death'. Immediately exploding into action with its thumping bass lines, crashing drums and the palpable fury of singer Bob's voice; it is an opener that some bands would kill for. 'On the Pleasure of Hating' is in the same vein: an incendiary, nearly punk rock affair which begins at a breathtaking hundred miles an hour but later dissolves into a slow, sludgy grunge affair. But to start the album with either one of these pumped up tracks would probably be a bit of an exercise in misdirection as these are the only two tracks which have any real sense of energy about them.

Comparatively, the other tracks on the album move at a seemingly geriatric pace. There are flourishes of psychedelia at points and the influence of the 90s stoner metal scene is all too apparent on tracks like 'Grow Still at Last' and 'Rope Assassin', but you feel like this is a band with so much more to give.

I really wanted to love this album. I wanted it to make me go through my record collection and pull everything out in the same vein as this and listen to ad nauseam. This is probably a great 'mood' album if the mood strikes but it left me a bit cold.

www.zapbangmagazine.com
Project:Death creeps in with a deep droning wash of distortion before beefing into a healthy slab of Melvins-style sludge doom. This is a pervasive sludge and the opening track, titled "Do They Ever Return", sets a mood which the album continues throughout, speeding up and slowing down here and there, but generally wallowing in the dark swampy corners of the musical landscape.

Hey Colossus are a Jonson Family (and ilk) staple, the label being owned by two of the band, alongside the likes of similar minded noisetars Lords, Cove and Woe etc etc. They formed in 2003 with a view to merge the styles of Can and Fudge Tunnel, an aim which after modification ends up now as Harvey Milk, Godflesh and Karp — a similar vein yet with that extra dose of deep and heavy. This album, their second after 2004's Hates You and You and You and You…, is produced by Part Chimp's Tim Cedar, and it couldn't sound like it any more than it does. The sound is meant to capture the live spirit of the band, and it does, in that it's so muddy it sometimes sounds like it could have been recorded at a gig. "Frozed" sounds like a Pelican track played through speakers which have taken an extremely sustained battering of high volume. Though the music doesn't necessarily need too much definition it could do with at least a hint more clarity — the added noise textures on this particular track dulling the bite even more. The dual-scream vocals however, work interestingly as a sometimes barely noticeable addition to the noise.

Production aside (it could do with being at least a little cleaned up in most places), this is a decent record — second track "I am The Chiswick Strangler" shows off the bands tendencies, as with those such as Boris and Part Chimp to switch between sludge and faster, frantic punk rock — albeit here muddy as hell — rocking out a track in less than two minutes right after one which nearly hits eight (see "On The Pleasure of Hating" for more of the rock). The band can certainly lash out a slow meaty riff when they want to — check out that beaten off after the verse chugs on "45 Pounds" — and they also pitch a decent battle between depth and tempo — specifically on the slow moving dirgey instrumental final track "Grow Still At Last".

The music does bear a huge resemblance to the Part Chimp wall of noise, seeking out new boundaries of distortion and even the sounds of Comets on Fire's muddied space rock (both of whom Hey Colossus have gigged with), but this comes alongside a more distinctively doom sound (a la Boris, Melvins, 5ive, Isis' early work, and some of Earth's too) and it unsurprisingly contains hints of the those groups that the band themselves name-check. Project:Death is an album sludge fans should enjoy sinking their teeth into, however, this is no doubt just a uglier and not as satisfying sister of the live show.

www.thecommunion.co.uk
I thought Hey C had been around longer than they have, feeling almost like the dads and uncles of UK heavy music (I'm sorry), but apparently they only formed in 2003.

After a few splits and collaborations this is their first full length, and as expected it brings us big riffs coated in an evil sludge and an especially fuzzy production. It all begins on a particularly stoner-y note with the stomping (note: not quite crushing) 'Do they ever return', which eventually builds up to a satisfyingly intrusive and heavy riff-fest.

At nearly eight minutes long, the first track doesn't exactly set the pace for the rest of the album, which condenses the riffs into bursts of intense cacophony, which finds grooves without being groovy exactly, and 'freaks out' without being wholly psychedilic. The result is quite a varied one which transfers a lot better live, especially with the muddy recording and vocals which get swallowed up by the noise, but all in all it's as solid as you'd expect. 7/10

www.blastwave.co.uk
Although London's Hey Colossus have only been around since 2003, they have enjoyed support slots with the likes of Oneida, Trencher and the mighty Boris, to name a few, and have a couple of albums and splits under their belt already. And if their third full length "Project: Death" is anything to go by, there will be plenty more to come.

Hey Colossus present a cacophony of slow, yet brutally heavy riffs and painfully distorted vocals throughout this album, and this is evident from the very beginning, as opening song "Do They Ever Return?" is quite simply the soundtrack to your worst nightmare. "45 Pounds" is another excellent example of Hey Colossus' relentless ability to overwhelm the listener with a big wall of sound and punish you with big chucks of repetition.

These guys are more than a one trick pony though. Listening to "I Am The Chiswick Strangler" will remind you of more upbeat Electric Wizard moments (if you could call them that) and even hints of Hardcore à la Iron Monkey. "Frozen" is a short instrumental number which sits nicely between the previous song and "Rope Assassin", a full on vintage Metal riff feast, although slightly let down by annoyingly quiet vocals, even if it was deliberate.

Hey Colossus continue to churn out painfully depressing, drowsy and heavy as fuck tracks before the 38 minutes of misery are over. It's not exactly the kind of thing that'll have you hitting repeat instantly, but it's still a sold album filled with plenty of punch. These guys are certainly not for everyone; their nasty brew doesn't carry much appeal and is certainly exclusively for fans of Metal of the heaviest and nastiest variety. 79/100

www.new-noise.net
"Noise annoys," The Buzzcocks once sang. Hey Colossus are just one of many bands to take this creed to its logical conclusion. Except whereas The Buzzcocks were more famed for their melodic pop-punk bands like Part Chimp, Todd, Lords and Hey Colossus, like musical alchemists turn this pure noise into gold. There is little room for compromise to be found here.

Londoners Hey Colossus came together in the summer of 2003. Between then and now they released two albums and a number of singles. According to Joe (bass), "we started three and half years ago, wanting to be Fudge Tunnel and Can, things have developed and moved on/backwards. We're pretty primal. We like the Nodding dog vibe."

Their forthcoming third album 'Project:Death' is just as loud, just as weird and just as nasty as those previous releases, maybe even louder, even weirder and even nastier. The opening track 'Do They Ever Return' is a shuddering juddering monster. It is a hauntingly hypnotic soul crusher. It is some kind of unearthly Frankensteinian experiment in musical genetic modification. Just imagine the consequences of some lunatic punk scientist crossbreeding Neu!, Black Sabbath and Black Flag. Hey Colossus are the horrifying result and as their name suggests this band truly are colossal.

'I Am The Chiswick' is a cheap and swift hardcore head cruncher. The perturbing 'On The Pleasure Of Hating' sounds like the band having a fight with Kyuss in a tumble dryer. Most of the rest of the album is a doomy, dirgy psychedelic punk metal onslaught that is both haunting yet enchanting and yet strangely haunting.

They recorded their new album with Tim Cedar. A man who after stints in Penthouse, Ligament and currently Part Chimp knows more than a thing or two about noise and how to make a lot of it. "He's a fine gentleman. We recorded the whole album in about eight hours, that's what we like about him, he keeps it simple, let's the band play as loud as they want, sticks some mikes in the right places and hey presto."

The band our proud of their work rate and prolific nature. Something that might stem from their hardcore punk rock noise backgrounds.

"Two fifths of the band run the label (Jonson Family) that releases the band's records. There's something very satisfying about that. You can turn an album out very quickly; it can be recorded and released in a matter of weeks. We're always half way towards the next thing, it can move fast. We've released a lot of music over the past three and a half years. Too many bands dither, take too long between releases, record then re-record stuff. We recorded 'Project:Death' in December, mixed it in January and picked it up from the pressing plant in February on the way to a couple of gigs up North. This is what it should be."

And if you happen to like freaky wigged out noise-rock then Hey Colossus are exactly how it should be.

www.mashnote.net
Hey Colossus' sound is gigantic. With "do they ever return?" this records starts off with a wall of sheer impenetrable, slowed-down stoner rock/metal with long shouts. Hey Colossus changes their pace in the second song already. The atmosphere remains quit grim, but the transformation into an up beat, rocking song with one simple but effective riff as a basis and the bass distortion that crushes everyting in its path shows clearly the other side from the band. So far, so good. We've had the longest and the shortest song already. I really can't pick a favourite. Although I absolutely dig the drums in "I am the Chiswick strangler", the slow pulsating rhythm of a slumbering monster throughout most of this record makes this heavier than most of their contemporaries even today. The distortion on the vocals and the very raw textures of the bass makes "project: death" one of the more interesting stoner outfits today if you can handle the threatening intimidations. If you're not sure you can try by listening to "on the pleasure of hating". A song that has everything. Rocking riffs that are almost danceable, mean vocal attacks and abrasive bursts of contempt-filled sludge metal that erases the thought of dancing immidiately, replacing it by a final antisocial energy. I played this record multiple times in a traffic jam on a sunny day with my windows open, my sun glasses on and one arm hanging out of my stuttering Citroën Saxo and my god, I was king.

www.boomkat.com
Ooh nice, not only does this record sound like a can of whupass waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting masses, it also has a downright awesome cover featuring a blood covered cleaver. I'm somewhat partial to a blood-covered cleaver or two, so whether the music was good or not I'd probably have liked this, but thankfully the music is rather spiffy bonged-out stoner rock that sounds like it's been recorded on an old tape recorder. If that description hasn't got you salivating then you clearly don't know what's good for the soul – these guys rock, but slowly, kind of like Bongzilla or the Melvins at times but with an eye towards modern trends which could see them appealing to ISIS fans. The tracks also seem to have a tendency to go to almost Kraut-rock levels of percussive pounding, sort of like Finnish metallers Circle, but way way more submerged in SLUDGE. This is good stuff, one for the end of the night though, rather than the beginning of a new day…

Rocksound
Raw is good. But how raw is too raw? With their third full-length, Hey
Colossus set out to capture the spirit of their live show. What they
have ended up with is an album that sounds like it was recorded through
a mattress. It's worth persevering with though, as Project Death finds
the tinnitus-inducing quintet taking their catastrophically heavy
mash-up of metal, krautrock and hardcore to new heights (or should that
be depths?). Overall a less repetitive beast than '05's 'Hey Colossus
II', thick Sabbathian riffs collide with Harvey Milk-style sludgery and
random electronic noises courtesy of new recruit Duncan. Quality stuff,
but probably sounds better on vinyl. 7/10.

www.soundofviolence.net
De la pochette aux accents gore de leur nouvel album au nom même de celui-ci, Project:Death, en passant par l'imposant patronyme de la formation, tout semble indiquer chez Hey Colossus une orientation musicale puissante, sombre et violente.

D'emblée, Do They Ever Return? présente les bases de ce troisième opus des londoniens. L'ouverture est posée, presque lancinante, et la puissante batterie accompagnée de riffs stoner prend place après quelques dizaines de secondes. Là, des hurlements bestiaux viennent se greffer entre quelques intermèdes instrumentaux comme pour aggraver encore la brutalité de l'ensemble.
La finesse n'étant à l'évidence pas le point fort du groupe fortement influencé par la scène post-hardcore, une certain sentiment de linéarité se dégage à l'écoute de la majorité des compositions de l'album dont les structures paraissent peu variées. L'alternance entre des plages expérimentales et des envolées violentes, vocales ou instrumentales, devient ainsi presque systématique. On pense ainsi à certains instants, toutes proportions gardées, aux américains de Tool ou Isis auxquels toute notion de délicatesse aurait été enlevée.

La puissance ne fait malheureusement pas tout. Si la musique de Hey Colossus provoque bel et bien l'effet annoncé d'un « car crash », le manque d'inspiration et d'innovation sur les 8 titres composant Project:Death provoque une lassitude quasi-inévitable.

Violent Breakfast - Nient'altro che tempo lp will be released around February, its their first full lenght release and is seriously amazing.

They are from Pisa, Italy and already have some records/cds out in the past, including a crazy split 7 inch with Socrates that we have in our webstore.

You can hear a track from the forthcoming album on the Violent Breakfast myspace!

Violent Breakfast website.

More details shortly!!

 

TUNGUSKA/DE NOVISSIMIS - Split 7 Inch

Two of dublin's heaviest underground bands team up to deliver 7 inches of terror, Tunguska featuring ex and current members of Easpa Measa, Mongolia and Polish legends Silence bring you two tracks of their dark, tense d beat influenced hardcore.On the flipside De Novissimis lower the tone even further with a 6 minute journey through their psychosis inducing mixture of sludgey doom metal and bleak drug addled thrashing.

Comes in a sweet full colour cover and destined to be a landmark for the irish diy hardcore metal scene for years to come.First release for dublins new cesspool label in conjunction with the UK's Super-Fi Records and Rimbaud records, and the bands themselves.

You can buy it via Super-Fi Records in the UK, Cesspool Records in Dublin, Crucial Blast in the USA, Old Skool Kids in Russia/E.Europe and US HERE!!

REVIEWS:

Fucking great split single with two bands that were new to me, Tunguska and De Novissimis. Both bands share the same city; Dublin, Ireland. The side I put on first was the one from De Novissimis, which blew me away with some very grimm vocals on top of dark, powerfull, blasting sludgy metal riffs. When the song reaches its middle point, they crack down in some slow, meaty sludge core that has the right atmosphere: negative, evil and heavy. De Novissimis only provide one song on their side, but it's a ferocious one. On the other side we find Tunguska, who share two songs with us. Just like De Novissimis I have the feeling that Tunguska wants to let the world/scene know what they're capable of. Result: no filler, all killer. The two songs of brutal, metallic hardcore has the same powerfull blasting capacity as their compagnons on the split. Tunguska speed everything up though. Pretty fast riffing and bombastic, yet fast drumming. Sometimes the atmosphere from their two songs reminded me of Buried Inside etc. At the end of the second song they include some more melodic, higher pitched guitars too (yet they stay brutal). Awesome 7"."

Review by Rik Peeters from [Mashnote].



"Another blast of quality from the SuperFi Records stable, this time teamed up with Rimbaud records to bring some focus on the Irish scene. First up we have Tunguska's dirty, epic D-beat that over the space of 2 tracks bring to mind His Hero Is Gone and Reversal Of Man scrapping it out. All distorted riffage, nasty vocals and wilful dissonance. Class stuff.
De Novissimis follow with some quality sludgy, hateful hardcore, stomping all over the line between hardcore and doom. 6 long minutes of wretched riffs and vocals and it's all over.
A quality showing from 2 bands you should really give the time of day to."

Review by Oliver Turner from [Die Shellshit Die].

(Retards) new 7 inch 'Kicking against the micks' is only out a few weeks but is a typically amazing, genre defying release for them.Some people call em crazy and a bit sick, some people think their just plain weird.We think they're one of the most on the edge and best bands to come out of Ireland in years, hence our excitement about this release.

REVIEWS:

You can read a small bit about (Retards) on the Frequency Ireland blogsite where they talk indept about the classic (Retards) debut 'Sex is a Weapon' album and also give a brief insight to the new 'Kicking Against the Pricks' 7 inch. - Frequency Ireland blog.

'Weird little piece of vinyl this 7" by the (retards). Packed in an interesting cover, the record itself contains 4 tracks of no-wave influenced ..well a mélange of hypno floaty spacetunes a la excepter, noisy garage rock and they thrown in some blastbeats as well. Strange. "I will drum for food" is the opener of this 7". Like the title predicts, it's basicly all drums/percussion with vocals. Sounds a bit tribal, and it made my one-year old son dance to it. hey, if he likes it...i'm down too. With the next track they speed up things a bit. Going for a total blastbeat rhythm, with angular guitars and a quirky synth riff. I can hear some Ex-models in it, but this is a bit too all over the place. I know, how can you say that when you compare them with that band. Well, it is. At the end the song has changed into a noisy rock tune leaving all "the weirdness" behind. Then the b-side...The first song is the psychedelic song i referred to while pulling out the Excepter comparison. I like this a lot. Bit druggy and focussing on the percussion, with layers of synths, delayed vocals and shredding guitars. Quite nice... I can surely say it's the standout track from the 4. Yeah, because i'm not convinced by the last track. Based on a sleazy rock riff with basic drums it doesn't do much for me. They should've stayed along the lines of the previous one. Much better. So this is quite a strange record. I don't know what i should expect to hear on a next release from these fellas. A totally different sound, more blastbeats, more drug infused sounds, etc...? And that's cool, staying unpredictable of course. But it's difficult to get excited about too. Oh well, the vinyl i got laying on my turntable is nice for what it is. And Rimbaud is cool for staying outside pigeonholes etc.! Mad props. '

Review by jim faes from Mashnote.

'Another new 7" platter from Irish imprint Rimbaud, this one fell into my lap from outta nowhere but thank the Goat it did, 'cuz these mutants mash up four jams of brutal industrial punk clang, sort of like Einstürtzenden Neubauten colliding with a No Wave outfit, a joyous orgy of scrap metal rhythms and skronky guitars slithing along the edge of potential pop hooks, stoned sex moans and blastbeats blindsiding squalls of amp noise, prehistoric horror movie synthesizer music scuttling through freeform junkyard ritual. The last jam 'Michael Caine' is a hardchargin' stoner punk beating that rolls along in a fug of fuzz and fucked up guitar bleating. Totally messed up and amazing cyborg avant-core that leaves no doubt that the future is right fucking now. And like all of the 7"s we've been getting in lately, this one is a limited edition of 300, in a full color glued pocket jacket with full color insert card.'

Review by Crucial Blast in the U.S.A.

 

(retards)
Kicking Against the Micks 7" EP
(Rimbaud)

'Irish no-wavery with loads of drums, trebly guitars and a charmed synthesizer lay temporary waste to an odd, unsettling bas-relief of noise and atmosphere. Skilled drumming is offset by heavy klingklang vibes (courtesy of a beaten milk churn) and sheets of wavering guitar, feedback and electronics pulsate underneath. One loud track called "Michael Caine" comes straight from the Japanese school of heavy groove-grunge (a la Captain Condoms or early Hanadensha, complete w/ affected noise underlays) and another lifts heavily from Crash Worship, but these guys are young and seemingly just learning how to deconstruct themselves into something that may or may not become their own. I applaud the effort and think that you'll get your kicks out of this varied and uncompromised release. That their one-sheet claims their best moment as a band was opening for Les Georges Leningrad worries me, but they'll likely snap out of it. Edition of 300.'

Review from Dusted Magazine, USA.

(Retards)
Kicking Against The Micks 7"
Rimbaud Records
Jeff Karbow

Unfortunately, I am not well versed in this genre, so bare with my sub par descriptions, for I cannot reasonably compare this band to any others. Which for me, is a good thing. This Dublin, Ireland trio (who sometimes morph into a quartet when need be) play a experimental noise sound, and for about 95% is completely devoid of any musical tone or stringed instruments. The only thing holding together the chaos is the tribal like rhythms played by the percussionist who uses not only a traditional kit but other means of percussion. There is loads of electronic sampling, various drumming mediums, whistles, saxophone, a guitar used sparsely and loads of droning feedback. Throughout the four songs their isn't much vocal activity, there is really only one track that has a good amount of vocal activity.

Talk about some hellish lyrics, but what else would you expect from a band titled bracket.retards.bracket. While checking out background info on these guys, I noticed one of their previous releases came with a short story. It was some of the most tripped out shit I've read, these guys definitely go for the shock value, and their wordplay is quite good. With this album the band only has one song that has coherent lyrics. "I'll get some viagra and duct tape. I'm calling up to your house. On the kitchen lino dance floor I'll throw shapes just to get you aroused...then you'll look into my eyes and say 'Frank; oh I've missed you so bad. Come back to me and I'll admit you inside me' and then you'll stab me in the back. AGAIN!"–Will Drum For Food. In the song Michael Caine, the vocalist pretty much just repeatedly chants the name. X Equals One features electronic droning vocals, and to my knowledge have no lyrics.

Considering how harsh and abrasive the actual music is, the record has a nice warm tone to it. The recording was done on a analog tape deck for that big fat sound. The drums sound bombastic as hell with loads or reverb, the ear piercing electronics were mixed in for maximum dissonance. The saxophone and whistles sounded good whenever they were used. They controlled the feedback extremely well. The vocals have a eerie tone about them that fits what he is doing. The perfect recording for making the listener uncomfortable.

This one has a really colorful and busy layout. There is certainly no shortage of odd miscellaneous images scattered throughout. The front cover is dominated by a blue silhouette with loads of people masquerading around with masks on. Ironically, the only person that isn't masked is Paris Hilton, who is smack dab in the middle. There is pink bar that displays the title of EP and the name of the band. Inside of the glossy cardboard sleeve is a dizzying array of band flyers and previous album artwork. All credits, lyrics, song titles and thanks are displayed on slithers of orange pasted onto the background. I especially liked the bars that said "plays best at 33rpm, plays faster at 45rpm". All 300 of this album come on high quality black vinyl.

Rating: 3.4/5

Songs Worthy of Replay: X Equals One and Will Drum For Food

Synopsis: If these guys set out to make the listener as uncomfortable as possible they have succeeded by leaps and bounds. If you turned this shit up to full max and put on some headphones, it may very well make your ears bleed. If you like different and adventurous music that travels down it's own unique and horrifying avenue, this band is for you.

Review from Siczine, USA.

 

You can buy the 7 inch - which is  limited to 300 copies, and a split release with Squint and Draw records - at the Rimbaud webstore here.