Below - "St. Anthony's Fire"

Here is some ultra-crushing doom, once again from the hills of Kentucky, and this one is some heavy shit indeed, my friends. I saw them and Tombstalker at the Hideaway a couple of weeks back and they absolutely destroyed everything. These three guys, excellent chaps all around, lay waste to these four tracks, including a Saint Vitus cover, and any fan of bands like Noothgrush, Sleep, etc, would be wise to check this out. Did I mention that this is almost an hour long? Get real stoned for this one. I know I did.

Below - "St. Anthony's Fire"

Samurai John - "Integrity" EP

I'm delving way back into the local and regional archives for this post, folks. If you are from around the area I live and were into punk rock/hardcore or just going to shows in the mid-late 90's, there might be a chance that you remember Samurai John. If that name doesn't ring a bell, perhaps you'll remember Truth Be Known, the band that S.J. evolved into after releasing this tape, the "Integrity" e.p. This is six tracks of melodic, sing along hardcore with a slight Pennywise feel to it, and even if upon reading that sentence you don't want to check it out, you really should check it out and think to yourself that this is from Norton, Virginia, in the mid-nineties, and think about what a small, enclosed little town that is and think that a band like that could exist there. I have been to Norton many a time, and it boggles my mind. When asked about his reminiscences of Samurai John, vocalist Steve Shell, who is currently in a band called JUST DIE!, had this to say:

"SJ was a band that was all about doing the best it could given where it was from. With literally zero local influences, we wanted to be Pennywise and a few other bands pretty bad. We probably took ourselves way too seriously, but it was fun."

And in the end, why else would you be making music in the first place? Listening to this while I was ripping it was the first time I had heard it in almost 14 years, and I'm willing to bet there are those out there who haven't even thought of this band in that long. And for those of you just stumbling upon it for the first time, check it out. It's nothing life changing, but a great example of what the TN/VA/KY regional scene was like in the mid-late 90's. The tape insert is included with the file.

In case you were wondering why they chose the name Samurai John, well....

Samurai John - "Integrity" EP

Mannequin Hollowcaust - "Over Her Dead Body"

Mannequin Hollowcaust is my good friend Patrik, who has been involved in various local musical endeavors over the years, and this tape is a short little two song excursion into his world: noise, cults, serial killers, and just plain scariness. Track one is the title track, and it was recorded on July 27th, 2010, on the grave of Lizzie Borden, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Track two was recorded live in Blacksburg, Virginia, during the same tour. Patrik has been gigging under the M.H. moniker for a while now and sometimes I don't think he gets enough respect and credit where credit is due, but the dude is a staple of whatever little "scene" this area may have, and I intend to give him props. This tape was released by his own tape label, Head Destroyer Tapes. Hopefully sometime soon he will bequeath me a motherload of M.H. and other stuff, which I will then gladly share with you. If you are interested in older bands he was associated with, go here, as both bands in that post feature Patrik. If you like what you hear I'm sure he wouldn't mind you letting him know, and his contact info is included in the .rar file.

Mannequin Hollowcaust - "Over Her Dead Body"

Asadachi - February 2011 Demo

After months of weird weather, work, inactive social interaction, and spurious internet activity, I am back with the Asadachi demo, as promised. Asadachi are a four piece punk band from Lexington, KY, and while I have yet to see these guys rip shit up live, if this tape is any indication of their live set, then I bet they kill. This tape is 4 songs in just under 7 minutes, and the mp3 is one track with no divisions between tracks...I think it sounds better that way. cover and lyric scans are also included.

Pure Punk Mind, Pure Punk Spirit