More incredibly strange metal

Here are a few more of these oddball metal releases I've collected over the years...

First, two non-classics from the Metal Enterprises label. See this post and this post for more info on that fiasco...

Kalaschnikov, like the other artists in the ME stable, probably just wanted distribution for their mediocre album ('The Torture Never Stops') but got ripped off like so many others when the label did a fake 'follow up' record with their own in-house musicians/producers. Unlike the other groups (such as Killer Fox, whose original recordings were just unlistenable garbage) Kalaschnikov's sound was at least weird on its own.

The whole album kinda feels like it was written in a day, including the lyrics, which are so over-the-top 'evil' you have to hear them to believe them. It's like somebody told the vocalist to just sing about stuff that was the opposite of the Bible, so you get classics like 'Kill Your Neighbor' and 'Devil's Your Hero.' Despite the crappy production, it's a pretty good time, and you can't really hate songs like 'Rockin' By the Graveyard' and 'Video Monsters.' The lack of musicianship also seems to have resulted in some unusual guitar riffs in a kind of Voivod-ish way.

So, then, enter the ME staff's version of Kalaschnikov, present on their second (and final) album 'Desert Storm.' It sounds like they weren't even trying on this one. Two long tracks of obvious space-filling 'ambient' stuff, a few songs that sound a little too musically competent to be the ME staff...my guess is that they got hold of some Kalaschnikov demos for a second album, and dubbed their own awful vocals over. Then there are a handful that are obviously the same people responsible for the second Killer Fox and Thrash Queen albums. The ridiculous female operatic vocals and the snarly cartoonish male vocals, bad drum machines and totally non-metal guitar tones. Oh yeah, and whistling solos.

Yeah. Fucking whistling solos on what is essentially a thrash metal song ('Czarewitch').

Well...basically, if you're for some reason collecting all the Metal Enterprises releases, these will be of use to you. Otherwise, probably not? Oh well, the first album is enjoyably funny at least.

Kalaschnikov - 'The Torture Never Stops'

Tracklist:

1. Devil's Your Hero
2. The Haunted House
3. Rockin' By the Graveyard
4. Kill Your Neighbor
5. Chosen One
6. Demon's Rebellion (Instrumental)
7. Video Monsters
8. Hell's Runnin' Wild
9. Demon's Rebellion (Vocal)

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Kalaschnikov - 'Desert Storm'

Tracklist:

1. Czarewitch
2. Siberian Werewolf
3. Homage to the Holocaust
4. Headbanger
5. Stinking Shrine
6. Scull Scratcher

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Lastly, here's a release that might not be EXACTLY metal, but it definitely has metal influences (mostly from the doom genre) and it's certainly fucked up. While there are quite a few bands calling themselves Warning, this is the 1982 release by the German synth-doom group. Actually, the vocals here wouldn't sound too out of place on a Metal Enterprises release...they're like...death metal growls? I guess? But put through all sorts of effects to make it sound like aliens. The music is literally a head-on collision between OG doom metal (think Sabbath and Witchfinder General) and euro-disco synth stuff.

It's pretty goofy, but it's also very enjoyable, and occasionally really creepy. One review compares them to Rammstein, and I guess that's not far off, but WAY WAY more 80's than that description lets on. It really does sound like Kraftwerk playing satanic metal before that kind of metal even existed. If you read this blog, you'll like it I'm sure.

Warning - S/T

Tracklist:

1. Why Can the Bodies Fly
2. Magic Castle
3. Wild Roses for the Exit
4. Darkness
5. Out of Tune
6. The Door (Pt. I)
7. The Door (Pt. II)
8. A Message
9. Warning
10. Lost in Time
11. In the Crowd

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2 classics of 'incredibly strange metal'

Here are a couple relics from my days as a metal radio guy. Hopefully I will put some other stuff like this up here in the near future.

First up, an experimental death metal band from Italy called Trifixion. Apparently they only put out this one album, in 1995, although there is at least one other band with the same name.

It's way more varied than pretty much any other death metal release out there...atmospheric keyboard passages lead to psych-rock jams, which lead to trebly black metal guitar and psychotic screaming. I'm not really sure what kind of audience these guys were going for, and maybe that's why they only did one album.

I guess some of the experimentation could be called similar to Voivod (my favorite metal band) but basically if those guys were death/black metal instead of thrash. It isn't particularly well-recorded, but all the musicians are super-talented so you never really notice. The artwork is fairly creepy, too. Probably more out there than most experimental metal fans can tolerate, but outsider/weirdo music appreciators will dig this.

Trifixion - 'Abschurfungepoch'

Tracklist:

1. Fear, Is All That I See
2. Col Heaven
3. Litanie
4. World Called Truth
5. Immortal
6. You Breed
7. Abschurfungepoch

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Next is a release that isn't nearly as challenging or intelligent. Actually, it's not intelligent at ALL. You may remember me posting about Killer Fox and the awful Metal Enterprises label. Click that link, please, so I don't have to recap.

This is another outing from the producers of the second Killer Fox album, and it's just as awful, if not more so. There are some very distinct (and completely out-of-place) reggae influences, and it also has the WORST Beatles cover I've ever heard. The female vocalist who is present on the Thrash Queen album is on this quite a bit. Also, it seems like they included some demos by the original Godzilla band, as if the album wasn't inconsistent enough already. Just terrible, stupid, and entertaining.

Godzilla - 'II'

Tracklist:

1. Ingoz
2. Helter Skelter
3. Ass of the Prophet
4. I Followed the Zombie
5. Cinderella Rockefella
6. Halfbreed
7. Killing Joke
8. Foul
9. Outgoz

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Rap is gettin' fucked up

So yeah, there's some pretty interesting hip hop stuff coming out these days. Here's some of the stuff I've heard recently thanks to the internet and WIDR. It kinda feels like it's '91 with the alt-rock boom, except even weirder. I've been tellin' folks who aren't into rap for years that it'll have the same arc rock music has had...basically if you think that rock and roll started in the 50's, it was reaching its popular creative peak about 20 years later with 'album rock' and concept albums and the like, then all the heady creative stuff went underground for a while until the late 80's/early 90's when 'regular' music listeners were ready for a different sound.

Now look at rap/hip hop. It became a real genre about 30 years after rock and roll, with Sugarhill records in the late 70's/early 80's. So, the creative peak of popular shit should be about 20 years later. Right, you've got your OutKast once they dropped 'Aquemini,' Fugees, Wu Tang, etc. And we can't forget rap's '60's' period which laid the blueprint for all this shit...In rap's case, it'd be the early 90's, with Cypress, Beastie Boys in their slacker phase, KRS-One, Nas, what have you.

So 'regular' radio-hip-hop-listeners are probably ready for something different, if we consider the 00's to be rap music's lame 80's bullshit period. I mean, the stuff I heard coming out of cars and parties in those years was fucking really bad. Auto-tune is the gated reverb of modern day.

But it had to end sometime, just like nobody wanted to hear A Flock of Seagulls or Def Leppard in the 90's. That's what all this shit is...the backlash of years of shitty music being crammed down peoples' throats. And the best part is, most of these new fuckers are giving their stuff away for free.

ODD FUTURE

I'm not even gonna front. I love these guys. They can really do no wrong at this point. Tyler's 'Goblin' album was the shit, the TV show is hilarious, and the new OF Tape is their best work yet. Who cares if they're not self-aware, which is what all the indie folks want? So they don't like Antipop Consortium or Kool Keith. I think it's better they remain un-influenced by anyone. It's like the whole Nirvana 'fuck you, we just wanna write songs like the Beatles' thing. They just wanna rock out to some mid-period Eminem and do their own thing. Having listened to pretty much everything this crew has put out, here's my take on it:

Tyler, The Creator

The most visible member of the crew, but not necessarily my favorite. Tyler says it best in the opening track of 'Goblin'--he's not really a great rapper, but on the whole, he's pretty fucking cool. 'Goblin' was a terrific album, and 'Bastard' was really good, too. The most memorable cuts come from his releases, like 'AssMilk,' 'Yonkers,' 'Radicals' and 'Burger.' Honestly, what got me was how many times this kid says 'faggot' on record. Reminded me of the old days when Eminem actually scared people. What's scarier than some deep-voiced, possibly psychotic black kid calling you a fag and threatening to rape you?

Hodgy Beats/LeftBrain/MellowHype

Hodgy didn't really catch my ear til the new OF Tape, on which he totally steals the show. The 2nd MellowHype album is really cool if only because of LeftBrain's awesome production, which is totally fucking nuts. Some of his beats don't even line up properly and have this lopsided fucked feeling to them. Hodgy's solo output didn't do it for me, but he's definitely the most improved member of the crew.

Domo Genesis

I really liked 'Rolling Papers.' Real laid back shit, some of the best OF productions. Plus, 'Grocery Store' is probably my favorite OF track. Domo gets shit for not being as interesting as the other fellas, but I think his more toned-down approach is easy on the ears.

Earl Sweatshirt

The youngest and most talented OF member. His disc 'Earl' is hands-down my favorite to come out of this group. Mind-blowingly offensive, but the 'Oldie' track on OF Tape Vol. 2 proves that he can bring the skills even without being gratuitously shocking. I'm excited for his new stuff to come out.

Syd tha Kyd/Matt Martians

I'm not really into The Internet, which is this girl/guy's project, but it's definitely different. Really laid back electro-pop. A lot better than other shit like this that's coming out.

Frank Ocean

I haven't checked out too much of his solo stuff because I'm not into R and B, but his track 'Pyramids' is pretty goddamn creative for 'mainstream' sounding stuff. Plus, he always brings good choruses to OF tracks.

Then you've got all the members who only really appear on compilation mixtapes...Taco and Jasper are both funny, while not incredibly great rappers. I haven't heard any of Mike G's solo stuff, but his verses on OF tapes are some of my favorites.

THE RAIDER KLAN

These are a bunch of southern kids putting out mixtapes that are directly influenced by the syrup-soaked sound of early 90's southern rap like Three 6 Mafia. I got into that shit a few years back thanks to Twankle and Glisten, and they're pulling it off how it should be done. First of all, there aren't many 'legit' hip hoppers who have a real sense of history, so this is pretty cool. Plus, whereas the originals did lo-fi because they had to, these kids do lo-fi to get a specific sound. To me, that's the exact same thing as Guided By Voices trying to make albums like Beatles bootlegs.

SpaceGhostPurrp

His new album just came out on 4AD, which is kinda weird. I really like his beats...they're creepy and slurry and atmospheric. DJ Paul would be/probably is proud. His rhymes are so-so, REALLY sex-obsessed, which doesn't do it for me, but when he's on point he's great. 'Git Ya Head Bust' is one of the coolest jams to come out. Like Tyler, it's more about the whole thing than just his raps or his beats.

Metro Zu

These guys didn't really do it for me. Too sex-heavy, and the beats are too mainstream.

Lil Ugly Mane

What the hell is this dude? I think (?) he's a white guy, and he comes off like some ghetto Leatherface, using the absolute creepiest beats this crew has to offer. He's a pretty good rapper, having mastered the southern 'triplet'-style verse, and he's clever as hell. 'Mista Thug Isolation' is a solid release.

Denzel Curry

I'm feelin' this guy's stuff. His production is a little more dreamy than SpaceGhost's, and his rhymes aren't quite as sex-obsessed. The mixtapes he's put out are definitely the most 'dirty south' sounding stuff.

Dunno much about the other stuff they're putting out, but it's probably quality. Except A$AP Rocky...didn't get into it...I got more respect for the guys who produce AND rap...Clams Casino's beats are pretty legit, though.

SHABAZZ PALACES

This stuff is pretty weird. Kinda like a slowed-down Antipop Consortium, only this is a comparison they probably wouldn't get pissed at. More 'underground' minded than the previously mentioned stuff. They're signed to SubPop, so that's cool, right? Plus, they got a dude from Digable Planets to work with them.

DANNY BROWN

Straight outta Detroit, land of horrorcore, comes this fucked up fella. A fellow WIDRite put together a mix of his songs, telling me that his albums don't hold up so well, but individual tracks are cool. I don't know, as I've still been digesting his CD, and haven't checked out full-lengths yet. The beats aren't really anything all that new, but his rhymes are refreshingly weird.

CURREN$Y

This guy was either a No Limit Soldier or a Cash Money Millionaire in the late 90's. Don't care enough to look up which it was. What's important is that now he's doing some really cool shit. This is a little too laid back for some people, but for a dopesmoker like me, it's perfect. Just commercial enough to turn some heads, but the beats he's using are really interesting, and he's developed a rhyme cadence that's half dirty-south, half New York in the early 90's. A really cool mix of flavors. 'Pilot Talk' I and II and 'Weekend at Burnie's' are both really solid...didn't like his recent release 'Stoned Immaculate' as much.

DAS RACIST

These guys are hilarious. I remember hearing the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell song from a friend a few years back, and thought it was stupid, but they've since proved themselves to be terrific and original MCs. I tried to hate 'Relax' because it's so big-budget sounding, but it's just too awesome.

LIL B

This guy seems like he took way too much ecstacy. Kinda like he wants to love/sleep with everyone. Not as into it as some of this other stuff, but the 6Kiss mixtape was really cool. His newest 'real' release, 'I'm Gay,' has its moments, but he suffers from the 'not a producer/not the best rapper' thing. I do think his best work is worth checking out, though. The new-age stuff where he's freestyling over ambient background music is really really weird.

DEATH GRIPS

This is the drummer from Hella, who is absolutely nuts, with a loud, foul-mouthed rapper who looks like Kimbo Slice. The beats sample everything from Jane's Addiction to Black Flag, to Link Wray's 'Rumble.' It's like punk-rap...kinda...I dunno...whatever it is, it's cool, although 'Ex-Military' is wayyyyy better than their new release 'The Money Store.' New one sounds like they toned it down a bit and didn't use any samples either. Oh well, one amazing album is more than most artists drop these days.

So, all that, coupled with mainstream cats like Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa (who I don't really like, but appreciate what they bring to music) taking their cues from the underground, makes this a pretty exciting time for pop music.

I'm not posting any links because if you just do a little browsing, you should be able to find most of this stuff for free from the artists themselves.

Films 4

According to my 'stats,' people seem to like these film reviews, so here's a few more while I'm bored at work.

'The Groove Tube' - 1974

Maybe you know Richard Belzer from TV's 'Law and Order.' His character Detective John Munch has been on pretty much every cop show ever...even 'The X-Files.' So, perhaps it's surprising, then, that Belzer used to be a foul-mouthed, drug-fueled standup comic. This culminated in 'The Groove Tube,' an hour-and-20-minute sketch comedy film. Yeah, Chevy Chase is in it too. He's pretty good, but Belzer steals the show, especially in the sketch called 'The Dealers.'

If you dig 70's stoner humor like 'Cheech and Chong,' or 'Kentucky Fried Movie,' you'll definitely dig this. I don't remember much of the indivual sketches, but I remember Belzer being particularly hilarious as a black prostitute. Just some good, crude fun.

'Pink Flamingos' - 1972

If you like trashy, weird cinema, you're probably already familiar with John Waters' mega-offensive early films. Yes, 'Hairspray' and 'Pecker' are hilarious, but I've always been partial to the no-budget pictures Waters made in the 70's with the Dreamland crew. First of all, most of these actors are dead. One stepped on some glass while on PCP and bled to death. Another from AIDS. Divine him/herself died from obesity, basically. While working on these films, John Waters was expelled from college for smoking dope.We're talking about a pretty trashy bunch of people.

The first time I watched this film, it was with a roomful of people who had never seen it. By the end of the film, only three of us were left. It's pretty gross. But, if you can find the humor in a pervert tying a sausage to his dick or a white trash hair-farmer yelling 'Do my balls, mama!' then you'll be able to stick it out.

Basically all of Waters' films are worth checking out, if you're looking for something tamer than this, 'Hairspray' or 'Polyester' would work.

'Bubba Ho-Tep' - 2002

Don Coscarelli's 'Phantasm' tops many 'weird film' lists. This one is his lesser-known horror-comedy with Bruce Campbell. By putting this on here, I avoid the two obvious choices of 'Phantasm' and 'Evil Dead II.' You've read 1,000 reviews for those ones, I'm sure, so I don't need to throw in my 2 cents.

What's notable about this film is that, while it's about an Elvis impersonator (possibly the real Elvis) and a black dude who thinks he's JFK meeting in a retirement home and fighting a mummy, it's not really all that funny or cheesy. It's actually pretty serious. Leave it to Coscarelli to turn an unbelievably stupid idea into legitimate art.

While there are some funny one-liners, suspense is the most important mood here. It's low-budget, sure, but no more so than 'Phantasm.' Plus, it doesn't move quite as slowly as that film. And, it's got Bruce Campbell in one of his last respectable roles. 'The Man with the Screaming Brain' was just awful, I thought.

Anyhow, this is like the b-movie equivalent of a supergroup, so if you're into cheap horror, you'll wanna pick this one up.

'Repo Chick' - 2009

Alex Cox's 'Repo Man' is one of my favorite films ever. The only reason I haven't posted it up here yet is because it's one of the better-known 'strange' films, and I felt I could clue y'all into some more obscure stuff (I mean, this IS Obscuro, after all.) If you haven't seen 'Repo Man,' definitely check that out first. It's a punk-rock-action-scifi-comedy that's apparently an allegory for nuclear war. After seeing this in high school, I immediately sought out all of Cox's available films...the punk-rock spaghetti western 'Straight to Hell,' the slow, Jesus-story 'Three Businessmen,' and the historical work 'Walker.' Oh yeah, and 'Sid and Nancy.' All are good, but I was promised a 'Repo Man' sequel, right? I mean, Alex even wrote the script ('Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday') in the 80's.

Then, I heard that Cox was planning a sequel finally...nothing to do with the original script, starring only Miguel Sandoval from the original, and entirely shot on a green screen. Could be really shitty, right?

But sometimes you gotta just have faith that people don't get shittier at things as they get older. This shit is wild. Really wild. Totally maintains the spirit of the original, while doing something completely new. It reminded me vaguely of Mike Judge's 'Idiocracy,' but more colorful and cartoonish. And, Cox's token oddball dialog is still intact.

I think this is finally available on DVD, too, so you don't have to wait around for it to come to some tiny theatre in your town. I played that game for like two years to no avail. Basically, Alex Cox definitely hasn't lost his touch. This one's gonna be a classic.

'The Happiness of the Katakuris' - 2001

I see lots of Takashi Miike films on 'weirdest' lists...'Visitor Q,' 'Gozu,' 'The Audition,' etc. But not much love for this one. I saw this in high school before I knew about this guy and his reputation for completely fucked cinema. I'd still say it's ten times weirder and more enjoyable than any of the aforementioned titles. Like the tagline says, it's pretty much a horror musical. Lots of crazy violence, lots of catchy 80's-style songs, and lots of full-cast dance numbers. There's also a completely deranged claymation intro for some reason.

If you've seen any of Miike's other films, you know they can be uncomfortable to watch. This one is a bit more tame, and I think is a really good introduction to his work. Even better maybe than 'Ichi the Killer.' Whatever the case, it's a mind-blower.

Alright, I think that's enough for now. Enjoy this week's movies, and here's a tip: Veehd and Stagevu have most of these up. If you google the film title and 'Veehd' or 'Stagevu,' you'll probably be able to find them pretty quickly. Good quality, too.

Crazy bullshit-metal for y'all...

I don't know why more people interested in 'oddball' music don't explore the genre of metal at all. A lot of the websites i dig up my strangeness from don't seem to have any interest in it at all. Luckily, there are a few people out there unearthing the stuff, namely The Corroseum.

For such an 'outcast' genre of music (at least I think so...the majority of people won't have anything to do with metal or metalheads, and 'pure' genres like hardcore punk that helped spawn metal have completely disowned it) you'd think that the metal weirdos and outcasts would be pretty fucked, huh? Exactly.

Why am I telling you this? Mostly because this week's program will feature so-called 'Incredibly Strange Metal.' I did a mini-segment on this a while back, but now I've collected enough to fill a whole 2-hour show!

In celebration of this, I give you Killer Fox's 1990 album "Orgasm of Death."
First of all, what the fuck is up with that cover? Check out the article on The Corroseum for the full story, but here's a summary: A German record label called Metal Enterprises released a bunch of albums by REALLY shitty bands in the late 80's, then did 'fake' follow-ups with a studio band and whoever was around to act obnoxious (after most of the original groups had disbanded or been killed, in the case of Killer Fox, in auto accidents). Why? Probably because it was funny, and to make a few quick bucks. This is pretty standard(?) money-grubbing, I guess (some labels in the 70's were known for doing this, too) but the music is what's really interesting.

I really can't describe it...something like retarded parody-metal taken to a fucking ridiculous extreme. You'll just have to hear it...

Artist: Killer Fox
Title: Orgasm of Death
Tracklist:
1. Guardians
2. Vixen of Slaughter
3. Slayer
4. Dark Star
5. Cataracts of Horror
6. Running Blade
7. The Sign
8. Seventh Silence
9. Branded
10. Killer Fox
11. Pool of Blood
12. Monster Surgeons
13. Robo Return
14. Lay it Down

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What could top that, right? Let's see...
-MORE Metal Enterprises fake-albums than you'd ever want to hear
-Finnish kid-metal from the 80's
-Psychotic basement-metal from various countries and styles
-Shaggs-like girl-metal with songs like 'The Child Molester'
-White-power country-doom metal with more songs about dragons and fairies than white power...(don't worry...I'm not gonna play the whopping one white-power tune on the album...I ain't down with that shit and it's not even very good)
-Bizarre Russian opera-folk-metal
-Geez, do you really need another reason to listen?