TSUBO

"con cognizione di causa"
Year:  2012
Country:  Italy
City:  Latina
Label:  Eclectic
Format:  CD
Tracks:  24
Time:  30 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:        Grindcore

Just about the end of 2003, between Agropontino and the province of Rome, three lads start playing together. Their names are Fasano (guitar), Giorgioni (vocals) and Erkz (drums). After few months the four take up the name TSUBO and, despite the short repertoire, they make their first live appearances without neglecting the rehearsal room in anticipation of the band’s debut recording that’ll eventually happen in November: "Promo 2005". The band still keeps on playing throughout Italy as well as composing and taking part in various compilations... At the beginning of 2011, the bass player Gux leaves the band and Manuel joins it in October as the new bassist in its full capacity. In March 2012 TSUBO enter at "The Outer Sound studios" of Rome (Necrodeath, Ephel Duat, Hour of Penance…) to record the new album titled "con cognizimiento di causa", featured 24 tracks and many musician guests. The album was mastered in USA at the "Visceral studio) by Scott Hull and released at the end of October 2012 through record label "Eclectic Productions". During these years, TSUBO shared the stage with bands like: Agathocles, Brutal Truth, Fuck The Facts, Magrudergrind, Misery Index, Nasum, Rotten Sound, Birdflesh and many more. They sound some kind of metalized grindcore, with short and fast songs with inteligent lyrics related to social issues, politics, etc.

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THE ACCÜSED

"grinning like undertaker"
Year:  1990
Country:
City:  Seattle
Label:  Rough & Justice
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  36 min.
Lyrical themes:  horror, b-movies
Genre:  rock
Style:         Hardcore

Fusing hardcore, punk rock and heavy metal into a furiously thrashing hybrid, Seattle's The Accused invariably described to their style as "splattercore," a reference to their chief lyrical inspirations - b-serie horror films and comic-book violence. It was a far cry from the political leanings of vocalist Blaine Cook's previous band, the Fartz, but it gave them a definite crossover appeal among both punk and metal audiences. With their roots in hardcore, the Accused presaged the rise of the Seattle scene, but never fit into the grunge movement that sprang up around them. Some of their key personnel went on to join the "grunge metal" band Gruntruck, but in their own lifespan, The Accused were a different enough beast that they weren't able to capitalize on all the attention afforded the Northwest underground. The Accüsed disbanded in 1992 and come back in 2003 until nowadays.

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"Martha splatterhead's maddest
stories ever told"
Year:  1988
Country:  US
City:  Seattle
Label:  We Bite
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  19
Time:  39 min.
Lyrical themes:  horror, b-movies
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore

Perhaps not their best album but the most famous, and well know for the majority. Obsviously the artwork (cover, back and inside) are an excellents illustrations which have kept with the pass of the years. Musically this is a fistful songs of typical american hardcore punk from the 80's decade. Faster and crudest than other bands as Minor Threat or Black Flag, but simply hardcore. Good hardcore of course!

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BOYSETSFIRE

"tomorrow come today"
Year:  2003
Country:  US
City:  Newark
Label:  Wind-Up
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  39 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:         Post Hardcore

Despite BOY SET FIRE sound a little bit mainstream, the band writen lyrics and keep an attitude closer to politics, social issues, human rights, etc. They could be sound similar to some kind of mainstream post-hardcore, emo or even nu-metal, but they think as The Clash, B.A.D, Joe Strummer and similars, to mention few examples. The band worked next to label "Victory Records" but also next to "Wind-Up Records" which usual issue pop albums. Listenign to them and reading related them, everybody can got its personal opinion. The true is this album is not bad at all in its genre.

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FORBIDDEN

"green"
Year:  1997
Country:  US
City:  Sonora, CA
Label:  Pavement
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  10
Time:  40 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:        Thrash Metal

Forbidden was a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Formed in 1985 as Forbidden Evil, the group was founded by Russ Anderson and Craig Locicero, who were both ever-present members. Since their formation, Forbidden have broken up and reformed twice with numerous line-up changes. The most recent line-up of the band comprised Anderson (vocals), Locicero (guitar), Matt Camacho (bass), Steve Smyth (guitar) and Sasha Horn (drums). Along with Death Angel, Vio-lence, Defiance, Testament and Exodus (the latter of the two had featured original Forbidden drummer Paul Bostaph), they were one of the most successful Bay Area thrash metal bands and earned a loyal fanbase in the underground music community and critical acclaim, with their debut album Forbidden Evil (1988) regarded by critics as a classic thrash metal album and the follow-up, Twisted Into Form, as something of a masterpiece within the tech-thrash genre. Their earlier style was technical thrash metal, but the band later experimented with alternative and groove metal elements on their fourth album Green (1997). After some years of inactivity Forbidden come back to the scene in 2011 until nowadays.

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"omega wave"
Year:  2010
Label:  Nuclear Blast
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Thrash Metal








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NEUROSIS

"souls at zero"
Year:  1992
Country:  US
City:  Oakland, CA
Label:  Alternative Tentacles
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  8
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Doom Metal         Punk

"souls at zero" is the third studio album from California-based post-hardcore band Neurosis. The same was taken from a chapter in the book The Great and Secret Show by horror writer Clive Barker. The album was released in 1992 under the "Alternative Tentacles" own of Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra. It was later reissued in 1999 with bonus tracks on the band's own Neurot Recordings label. On February 15, 2010, the album was reissued on CD and digitally with new artwork under Neurot Recordings. On February 14, 2012, a fully remastered version was released on vinyl via Relapse Records. Unlike their previous efforts, this album showcases the band's penchant for playing densely layered, folk-influenced music at radically slower tempos, a change in style, which too was evident on their contribution to the Dead Kennedys tribute Virus 100, recorded November 1991 and released the same month as this album. While this album likely alienated a large portion of their early fan base, it has become an important landmark for newer Neurosis fans. In an interview the band stated that the famous cover art was inspired by the movie The Wicker Man but since they could not acquire the licence for the image affordably, they created their own straw figure for the artwork.

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"enemy of the sun"
Year:  1993
Country:  US
City:  Oakland, CA
Label:  Alternative Tentacles
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  6
Time:  44 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Doom Metal         Punk

Neurosis is an post-hardcore band based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a classic fast punk band, but beginning with their third studio album Souls at Zero (1992) developed an experimental style which formed the foundation for what is now known as "post" or "avantgarde" hardcore. In total, Neurosis have released 12 studio albums, including a 2003 collaboration with Jarboe. "Enemy of the sun" is the fourth studio album from this California-based hardcore band and it was originally released on Alternative Tentacles in 1993 and later reissued several time on "Neurot Recordings", "Relapse Records" and more. The album was reissued with new cover artwork on August 20, 2010. On February 14, 2012, a fully remastered version was released on vinyl via Relapse Records. The album opens with a sample from the movie adaptation of The Sheltering Sky. The same sample also opens The God Machine's Scenes from the Second Storey, an album released in the same year as Enemy of the Sun.

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CONVERGE

"Jane Doe"
Year:  2001
Country:  US
City:  Boston
Label:  Equal Vision
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Metalcore

One of the most original and innovative bands to emerge from the punk underground, Converge were formed in the winter of 1990-1991, and after several singles, compilation appearances and the requisite growing pains, they released their first full-length effort, Halo in a Haystack, in 1994. The Boston-based metalcore and math rock pioneers were initially comprised of vocalist/visual artist Jacob Bannon, guitarist Kurt Ballou, bassist Jeff Feinburg, and drummer Damon Bellorado, with second guitarist Aaron Dalbec joining in 1994 (he later left in 2001 without being replaced). Over the years, the band also found time to lend out members to various side projects, including Kingdom of the Sun, Old Man Gloom, and Kid Kilowatt (the short-lived band that also included members of Cave In). Hydra Head issued Caring and Killing in 1996, which gathered tracks released during the band's infancy, followed a year later by Petitioning the Empty Sky, which was released by the independent label Equal Vision. Cave In's Stephen Brodsky replaced bassist Feinburg in 1997 as well, and by the release of 1998's When Forever Comes Crashing, Converge had proved themselves a force to be reckoned with in the hardcore-metal scene. Brodsky left the band that same year and was replaced by bassist Nate Newton; Bellorado likewise exited in 1999 and, soon enough, the band had welcomed drummer Ben Koller into the fray. A split with Japan's Hellchild appeared in 2001 through Death Wish, Inc. (which Bannon co-owned) before Converge's ever-growing reputation among fans and critics was cemented even further with the release of the band's fourth official full-length, the highly acclaimed metal masterpiece Jane Doe.

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"no heroes"
Year:  2006
Label:  Epitaph
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  40 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Metalcore







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"the dusk in us"
Year:  2017
Label:  Epitaph
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  13
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Metalcore







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GWAR

"America must be destroyed"
Year:  1991
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  60 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore

GWAR is a satirical heavy metal, thrash and punk band formed in 1986 by a group of artists and musicians at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The band is perhaps best known for their elaborate sci-fi/horror film inspired costumes, raunchy lyrics, and graphic stage performances, which can consist of scatology, sadomasochism, necrophilia, paedo-necrophilia, beastio-necrophilia, fire dancing, fake pagan rituals, mock executions/mutilations, and other controversial violent and political themes. GWAR was, for a long time, on the leading edge of shock rock, going as far as appearing on Jerry Springer in character and in full costume during the mid-1990s.

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"This toilet earth"
Year:  1994
Label:  MB
Format:  CD , LP
Tracks:  16
Time:  44 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:         Hardcore

Different than the rest of GWAR discography, these two albums here don't sound heavy metal but a kind of hardcore, punk and hard rock. "This toilet earth" sound more or less similar to "America must be destroyed" but here we can also hear saxos, flutes and simillar instruments. It seem few ska or soul touches. About lyrical themes and aesthetics the band continues with its original parody. Great album too.

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"ragnarök"
Year:  1995
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  42 min.
Lyrical themes:  social issues, politics
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore

Do not to confuse GWAR use to record music more Metal oriented, but the true is these three albums are in fact closer to hardcore punk than Metal. Apart this mixture or "crossover" GWAR use also to add another elements, influences or just little touches from funky to reggae to classic rock, to mention some ones. About lyrical themes, GWAR are neither the typical band, so they write songs completly oriented to parody, absurd humor or just for laughs, but also some songs are more hardcore in the sense of social issues, politics, etc. Finally they add to this mix of things their spectacular performace which can to remind some kind of gore with sense of humor or even some experimental  tribal bands as La Fura Dels Baus or similars. Sure they merit to see them in live concert.

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"carnival of chaos"
Year:  1997
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  18
Time:  60 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Heavy Metal







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"we kill everything"
Year:  1999
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  17
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore        Heavy Metal







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"violence has arrived"
Year:  2001
Label:  MB
Format:  CD
Tracks:  13
Time:  40 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore        Heavy Metal







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"war party"
Year:  2004
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  10
Time:  36 min.

Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore        Heavy Metal








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"beyond hell"
Year:  2006
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Heavy Metal







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"lust in space"
Year:  2009
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  11
Time:  50 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Thrash Punk







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"bloody pit of horror"
Year:  2010
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  11
Time:  37 min.

Genre:  rock
Style:        Heavy Metal






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"battle maximus"
Year:  2013
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  15
Time:  60 min.

Genre:  rock
Style:        Heavy Metal






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"the blood of Gods"
Year:  2017
Label:  MB
Format:  CD, 2 x LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  60 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Heavy Metal







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"the new dark ages"

Year:  2022

Label:  Pit

Format:  CD, LP

Traacks.  13

Time:  45 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Hardcore        Heavy Metal

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STIFF LITTLE FINGERS

"inflammable material"
Year:  1979
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:         Punk 

This is the debut and best album ever by the political punk band STIFF LITTLE FINGERS. Most of the album's tracks are about the "troubles" and the grim reality of life in Northern Ireland with the songs containing themes of teenage boredom, sectarian violence, police oppression, unemployent, etc., urging people to "grab it and change it, it's yours" in what became their signature song "Alternative Ulster". The song "Rough Trade" is about the band's view of the music business as being dishonest but have since claimed it is not about the record label which happens to have the same name. In 2001 the major EMI made a CD reissue added two tracks. The reissue also includes the first part of an interview of Jake Burns by Alan Parker (the second part is included in the reissue of Nobody's Heroes. Strictly musical STIFF LITTLE FINGERS is very influenced by bands near to classic rock or Mod music like The Clash, The Jam, etc. making songs not fast or agressive but more classic 1977 sound.

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"Nobody's heroes"
Year:  1980
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  10
Time:  38 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:         Punk

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"go for it"
Year:  1981
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  10
Time:  38 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:         Punk

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"flags and emblems"
Year:  1991
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk Rock








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"get a life"
Year:  1994
Label:   Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  13
Time:  40 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk Rock

When these venerable Irish punks joined the early-'90s reunion parade, few gave them any chance of going the distance, especially after a decidedly iffy comeback album, Flags & Emblems (1991). However, a funny thing happened four years later: singer-guitarist Jake Burns figured out how to make those shopworn pop-punk chords ring true again, yielding one of the band's finest outings. The title track's martial denunciation of apathy sets an appropriate back-to-basics tone. Topical pop-punk is the blueprint, with Burns slinging blasts against social complacency ("No Laughing Matter"), police corruption ("Forensic Evidence"), anti-immigrant bias ("Harp"), and the end of Communism ("The Night That the Wall Came Down"). Studio-wise, former Jam bassist Bruce Foxton plays an effective foil to Burns, while drummer Dolphin Taylor's unflagging rat-a-tat-tat keeps the proceedings taut and focused. The production is as crisp and business-like as the songs themselves. Rounding off matters are "unplugged" remakes of the standards "Silver Lining," "Wasted Life," and the later-era fare of "Listen" -- as well as live versions of Foxton's major Jam credit, "Smithers-Jones," and "Alternative Ulster," the single that launched the band's career. Solid melodies and performances enable Get a Life to outstrip the rickety material and execution that usually dogs most returning bands. In this respect, Stiff Little Fingers' story parallels that of the Buzzcocks, who've aged equally well, even if the chart hits don't follow anymore. (*Review by Ralph Heibutzki )

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"tinderbox"
Year:  1997
Label:  Universal 
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:         Punk Rock








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"hope street"
Year:  1999
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:         Punk Rock

we ignore the reasons but this album was issued firstly in 1999 as double CD, next to the live compilation "Greatest hits live in the UK" through the own band under the "false" record label "Oxygen Records". Later in 2004 was Universal Music (EMI) which issued the twelve songs studio album plus two interviews, with Jake Burns and Steve Grantley.

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"guitar and drum"
Year:  2003
Label:  Universal
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  38 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk Rock

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"no going back"
Year:  2017
Label:  none
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  44 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk Rock

There has been much talk of a new Stiff Little Fingers album during the past eleven years ("Guitar and Drum" 2003) and after not being happy with their dealings with potential labels, the band eventually took matters into their own hands and decided upon asking fans to fund the recording and production of their first new album in over a decade. Using PledgeMusic the target was reached within 12 hours, showing that even after 35 years the band still has a loyal fan base eager to hear new material and willing to do something about it.

The result of that fervour is now here via the initial download released to those that pledged and it has to be said that it's a very good album indeed. Now then, I will fess up here and say that Stiff Little Fingers are my favourite band and have been for over thirty years during which they've provided me with more than any other artist in terms of enjoyment etc. and yes, I pledged cold hard cash on day one to help get the project off the ground but this review is still written with a degree of objectivity – there are no scales over my eyes, or ears.

A number of these tracks have featured in live shows over the past few years and it's two of these which kick off No Going Back. First is "Liars Club" a song Jake Burns wrote about politicians and second is "My Dark Places", a poignant track which deals with the Burns' battle with a depression; a song which has struck a chord with many of the band's fans on hearing it performed live. What is evident from "Liars Club" is that although musically the band might not have that musical edge from the early days, Burns and Co. (for the record the "Co." is original bassist Ali McMordie, and the long standing pair of drummer Steve Grantley and guitarist Ian McCallum) still have a fire beating within them which needs to address what they see as being wrong in the world these days – so really, it's the same as when they started but delivered in a slightly different way, all of which remains Stiff Little Fingers to the core.

The album features the distinctive guitar playing of Burns and it's always a delight to hear his work, with trademark punchy riffs and chords to drive songs like "One Man Island", "Good Luck With That" and "Trail Of Tears" along with ease. Beyond Burns' contribution one other moment that stands out for me and that is McMordie's bass on "Full Steam Backwards" which gloriously propels the song from start to finish, underpinning Burn's spirited vocal performance as it goes. It has to be said that as good as Bruce Foxton was in the band, no-one can hold a candle to McMordie when it comes to laying down bass lines – his return to the band seems to have had a massive impact. Despite the members of the band being long in the tooth there is no lack of passion throughout this album with targets being the banking institutions, selfishness and record labels/managers amongst others, each one deservedly chosen (*Review by HERE ).

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