Where were we? Down a different rabbit hole? There’s the blur of Napalm Death up there, on yer telly, wearing tasteful shirts long before you woke up and took against it all, don’t be coming around here telling me how to suck Polo mints on a Sunday morning. Here’s a slice or two of a heavier nature alongside a slice or two of something more hardcore street punk flavoured…

Qaalm – Grave Impressions Of An Unbroken Arc (Hypaethral) – Los Angeles-based “progressive doom” outfit Qaalm will unleash what we’re told is their “stunning second full-length”, Grave Impressions Of An Unbroken Arc, on November 1st via Hypaethral Records. A dense dramatic relentlessly intense extreme metal album, not hearing too much in terms of the doom they just mentioned, actually it does sound like something we might have found on Peaceville around about the turn of that century, an extreme metal onslaught laced with progressive colour and just a hint of light and shade in there with the piledriving of it all. Says here that “First single, Hangman’s Lament, serves as a powerful introduction to the album’s themes, inviting listeners to confront the complexities of identity and the roles we adopt within our lives. Vocalist Henry Derek Elis’ haunting melodies drive the song’s emotional weight, while the band highlights their more progressive influences, introducing tension and building to an epic, tremolo-picked, climax”, we can go with that, couldn’t have put it better ourselves, well maybe we could but life really is too short  to be chin-stroking about it all and here comes some more from aforementioned frontman Henry Derek Elis; “People wear many faces. Sometimes it obscures a hidden agenda. Other times, it’s a defense mechanism. But mostly, people like attention. They want to be heroes. I ask myself, ‘which character would I most likely want to portray within this masquerade?’ Certainly not the villain. But I am comfortable being the bad guy when I have to be. Then there’s the victim. In my opinion, the least flattering role. Give him enough rope and he’ll hang himself. That’s where you come in”.

Hey, look, Grave Impressions Of An Unbroken Arc, is an intensely relentless onslaught of extreme metal laced with an unexpected twist or two. Four tracks, the shortest just shy of ten minutes long, four full-bodied epics, each with time to unfold and take us down those musical side roads that so often reward, each one refusing to stop for breath even though there are (brief) quiet interludes now and again. At least 96% of the extreme metal things than land here bore the hell out of us these days, this one doesn’t, but then it isn’t quite so obvious and they might say it didn’t mean anything, it does though and sometimes we need a king of contradiction… King Of Contradiction is a properly proper blackwinds moving fast across the desert kind of epic, a classic piece of epic (extreme) metal, Hangman’s Lament closes the album in strident occasionally Voivodian style, those jazzy bits could be off Nothingface, that is of course ment as compliment. Impressive. Find more via Bandcamp

   

2: Septuagint – Acosmic Conflagration (Odium) – Septuagint deal in black metal and thankfully we’ve managed to cut through the bullpoop today and just let the music do the talking, the one thing I don’t like more than most things is music industry bulshit, put up with more than my share of it over the years, sometimes you just have to cut through it to get to the music, see what you’re working against! This time a very annoying PR company (this review some inspite of and not because of the the damn PR company). This is apparently Septuagint’s debut full length release even though they’ve been around since 2011. Interesting band name for a self declared Black Metal band (The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek so Doctor G tells us). Acosmic Conflagration is the name of their album, it sounds like a cut above the usual Black Metal stuff, of course we have no idea what they’re singing about (there is always a slight worry with some of these extreme metal bands in terms of where they’re coming from and where their politics might be sitting, I trust there’s nothing to worry about here?), do like the way Septuagint intertwine their aggressive riffs and their slightly complex arrangements (complex by extreme metal standards, we’re not talking Other Rock complexity here, it is all relative). Septuagint do have something a little extra, a bit more dynamic, something to do with evoking “the grandeur and chaos of ancient spiritual battles” so they say, they’re from Greece, did we say that already? You find it via UK extreme metal label Odium Records, here’s the Bandcamp. Septuagin, on this album at least, standout a little from the extreme metal crowd. Find it on Bandcamp

And find more from Odium via this rather healthy sampler…

3: Stäläg 13‘s seminal (so it says here) Nardcore/Skate Punk album In Control is about to be re-issued. Now not once did I ever step on a skateboard, no no no, not for me (have painted on one or two, big up Skatepal), but the music had energy back there, that (mostly) North American hardcore punk thing, and I did love all the visuals, the skate zines that accidentally gave us a side-serving of esrly 80s American graff and street art. Never was that sure about that band name, it was a pretty generic interchangeable sound that Stäläg 13 had, that mix of street punk and speed metal, there were hundreds of bands doing it – and whenthe hell did people start talking of “nardcore” whe nthe hell did that become a thing? Hey, we need more boxes! – Stäläg 13 to these ears were another of many many bands and that’s really what it was avout, the moment, the time, the sound, the attitude, who cares if it mostly all sounded the same, it was mostly about being in the room with whichever band was in town this week at some sticky carpet place now long gone place like the Hammersmith Clarendon being staged dived on….

“Stäläg 13’s history can be traced all the way back to 1981 when original vocalist Ron Baird founded the band in Oxnard, California. Heavily influenced by East Coast Hardcore (Minor Threat, SSD, Bad Brains, DYS, among others), Stäläg 13 were arguably the first West Coast hardcore punk band to espouse Straight Edge themes in their lyrics. Along with Dr. Know, Agression, and Ill Repute, Stäläg 13 is considered one of the original Nardcore (Oxnard Hardcore) bands which went on to influence artists throughout the world with their unique take on fast and melodic hardcore.

Stäläg 13 are defined by two core hallmarks, their Positive Mental Attitude and their intense and high energy live shows. From its inception Stäläg 13 played live often, gathering a large and loyal following in Southern California, before venturing out on tours of the Western United States. Stäläg 13 recorded two early demo tapes in 1982 and 1983 before recording their highly influential album In Control in 1984, which was their only official recorded output during their brief, yet powerful career in the 1980s. 

Stäläg 13 were a band poised on the cusp of a big future when the band imploded while preparing for a large-scale, three month tour of North America to promote the debut’s release. The band broke up in early 1985 leaving behind a hardcore legacy that has seen In Control go from strength to strength. In Control has stood the test of time, due to the high quality of the recording as well as the prowess of the musicians playing and the insightful and thought-provoking lyrics.

In 2002, Stäläg 13 returned to live performances, with the full In Control line-up: Ron Baird – vocals, Blake Cruz – guitar, John Morris – bass, Larry White – drums and Dave Casillas – lead guitar. Over the years, they’ve toured intermittently with this lineup. The band wanted to continue playing, however with Baird living in Australia, this proved difficult. In late 2012, John Crerar (Missing 23rd, Stop Breathing and Head Cut) joined the band taking on vocal duties with the blessing of Ron. This version of Stäläg 13 went on to tour extensively overseas and recorded Fill in the Silence, an important contribution to the Stäläg 13 catalogue.  Fill in the Silence included a mix of new material and re-recordings of some classic tracks from In Control, as well as some unrecorded tunes from the band’s early set. 

Fast forward to 2024. Trust Records is proud to announce they’ve been working diligently with the band to reissue a deluxe 40-year anniversary of In Control, and it’s available today across all retailers. Vinyl will be available in stores this Friday, October 4 and includes a 16 page booklet with flyers, memorabilia, unreleased photos, and the history of Stäläg 13 written by vocalist Ron Baird. All audio has been remastered by Dave Gardner. 

Stäläg 13: Instagram, Facebook, Bandcamp

4: Converge – Live in Orlando, FL 03​.​14​.​22 – A live album, a download only thing, a blistering thing, a raw thing, Converge doing what Converge do, a thing of brutal beauty, and all money made from the sales go towards offering financial aid to those impacted by Hurricane Helene – “All proceeds will be donated to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. For more information, visit mutualaiddisasterrelief.org – blistering stuff and for a good cause, win win win….

“Converge have dropped an 18-track live album, recorded March 14, 2022 at The Abbey in Orlando, FL.  Recorded by Zach Rippy and mixed by Kurt Ballou, this release aims to offer financial aid to those impacted by Hurricane Helene. All proceeds from Live in Orlando, FL 03.14.22 will be donated to Mutual Aid Disaster Relief.”

And while we’re here, four much missed people…

The complete session recorded by Motörhead on 18 September 1978 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the 25th of that month.