The Long Hundred 020/100: Extent Fanzine Silver Five Inch Collection Vol. 1

...in which I was given a preview of a new life.

The Long Hundred 018/100: Northcore: The Polar Scene Compilation

...in which I discovered there was more to Sweden than Entombed and At The Gates.

The Long Hundred 017/100: Blackend: The Black Metal Compilation

...cosmic keys to my creation and times.

The Ten Songs Every Metalhead Should Know

http://suan.fm/mix/SJaj9PNKE

As an addendum to the first part of my Hesher Canon - and a teaser for future installments - I thought I'd list the ten songs I think every metalhead should know, regardless of your age or what era of the genre you jumped in.

Mixtape 62 - J.R. Fritsch

Here is the 62nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with J.R. Fritsch of Seratus Ribu Records.

in a gadda da vida is awesome.

When I was 19 I bought Iron Butterfly's In A Gadda Da Vida on vinyl - partly out of curiosity, somewhat as a joke, mostly because it was only a dollar. At a time when I was swept up in noisecore and black metal, Iron Butterfly's (bell)bottom-heavy psychedelic rock was neither angry nor evil enough for me. Plus, due to its pop culture infamy, the song itself was something of a joke in 1998 - at 17 minutes, and with a built in drum solo, it represented the self-indulgent ostentatiousness of rock music prior to punk's cultural ascendance. "In A Gadda Da Vida" is simultaneously Iron Butterfly's signature song and an indictment of them.

in the nineties we loved feedback and arty record sleeves.

Almost completely forgot about this: Dragbody were a band from Florida who did the noisecore thing (a la Converge/Botch/Kiss it Goodbye) and recorded an EP at Morrisound (albeit with an engineer who was neither Scott Burns nor Tom Morris). I saw them at CBGBs and bought this 7" from them (and liked it enough to track down their full-length Flip The Killswitch a little while later).

My memory is a black hole of false impressions and mis-remembered happenings, but I vaguely recall talking with these guys after their set and their being nice to me. That's something that would stand out to a long-haired metal kid who had just started going to hardcore shows in the Nineties.

I'm not sure why Dragbody never caught on with a wider audience; I'll put it down to the innate tribal/lemming mentality of hardcore kids at the time. Most of my hardcore friends would rather listen to a mediocre band from their hometown than take a chance on an unknown band from out of state or another country. [To wit: No one I knew cared about Refused until after they had broken up and made their way to the "best of" lists of punk rock's cool kids. But I digress.] Dragbody's releases were certainly as good as anything else in the style released between Fixation on a Coworker and Jane Doe. I'm glad someone has made this available online; hopefully a Bandcamp release is in the works so their music can find its way to a newer, less boxed-in audience.

The Long Hundred 003/100: Catharsis - Samsara

…in which a group of anarchists created a molotov cocktail of death metal, crust, and doom, accidentally inventing metalcore as we know it.

By (sort of) Request: Doom Metal 101

Heavy Boots of Lead by Adrian Sol on Mixcloud

A close friend of mine is working on a comic book set in the world of metal; in the course of bouncing ideas off of me he asked if I had any recommendations of bands he should check out.

This is what an aneurysm feels like.

The Long Hundred 001/100: Logical Nonsense - Expand the Hive

…in which a group of metal-loving punks emerge from the New Mexico desert to announce the coming crustpocalypse.

Scooping the bottom of the barrel: Optimalinjia Fest

"Scraping the bottom of the barrel" is a questionable metaphor. "Scooping" is more apt; you don't have to reach too deep or look too long to find mediocre grind, metal or hardcore bands. They throw their lack of talent and ambition at you cheerfully, shamelessly. Most bands who form, record, and play shows probably shouldn't have bothered.

City of ghosts

Being back in NY has been a little strange this time around. On one hand, I don't feel the constant rage and alienation that I experience in KL. But there's also a sadness I never felt before as I walk down old streets that are rapidly changing and I sometimes can't recognize.

One of my close friends told me that seeing me back here is like seeing a ghost.

Symptom of the Universe

"War Pigs" was playing on a loop during jiu jitsu training on Friday. Specifically, the version from the sequel to 300 (or as I like to call it, "Pride Parade: the Movie"). Turns out, contrary to what I previously thought, Sabbath does not in fact give me super powers. Though getting slaughtered by my buddies didn't make me forget any of the words, so there's that.

Defender of the Faith

have your non-metal friends told you about Babymetal? don't worry, they will.

A good friend of mine sent me this article about Japanese act "Babymetal" (ugh). My friend is neither particularly interested in nor knowledgeable about this music, but every so often he runs across something that he thinks relates to metal and can't wait to share it with me. He's invariably disappointed in my reaction (or, as he puts it, disappointed in me).

Blackgazin'

Recently, someone took issue with me referring to Deafheaven as a black metal band, stating that they are, in fact, "blackgaze"; the implication being that "blackgaze" is a separate genre from "black metal".

This is, in fact, horseshit.

Rocket Fueled (feat. King Diamond)

Rocket Fueled (feat. King Diamond) by Adrian Sol on Mixcloud

One of the best bits of editing I've ever done happened over the week-end when I realized that Heavy Cream's "Stiff Lick" ends with the same riff as "Come to the Sabbath" by Mercyful Fate. I was literally giddy with excitement over how well it came together (it happens at about 24:00). My next favourite part is the audio of Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force scatting "The Ocean" then leading in to the actual Zep version. [I cut out the cheesy bar blues ending; the song should end the way it is here, in my opinion].

Ize of Terror

Terrorizer (the magazine) turns 20 this month; that makes it a few years older than I was when I bought my first issue in the Fall of 1997. Terrorizer has been my go-to metal bible since I was 18. At 34, I struggle and fail in trying to think of a publication that has had as much of an effect on my life.

Disassociate, Heavyweight Champions of NY Grindcore

It's odd: kids in the local scene always ask me if I've seen such-and-such band, but one name that's never come up is Disassociate. They may not be a "cool" band these days, but they were one of the staples of my college years in NY. Their music, while not particularly inventive or unique, was heartfelt. In the years when OGs like Napalm and Carcass left grindcore behind until the late 90's when Relapse successfully revived the genre, bands like Disassociate proudly flew the flag for people who just wanted raw, fast, no-frills grindcore.

I've lost track of the number of times I saw Disassociate perform - definitely no less than three times, and possibly twice a year between 1999 and 2002. The first time I saw them, the band came out in psychedelic Jason Voorhees masks to the tune of Star Wars' "Imperial March". The last time I saw them (opening for Discordance Axis at their last ever show), they smashed an old PC with a sledge hammer while doing a noise/power electronics set. I attended that show with my girlfriend at the time and her friend from art school; neither of them were impressed by Discordance Axis ("All their songs sound the same!") but they were really into Disassociate and their performance art.

flyer taken from
GRIEF - The Band; An Online Scrapbook

Disassociate shows were always entertaining, mostly due to frontman Ralphie Boy and his pro-wrestling schtick. Thickly muscled and rarely wearing a shirt when he performed, Ralphie had a faux champion's belt and called his band "The World Grind Federation Heavyweight Title Holders" (never mind that their guitarist was barely five and a half feet tall). Ralphie was also a local concert promoter and booked some of the most exciting bands around for his Loud Az Fuck Festivals at CBGBs. In the summer of 2000 I attended both days of the second Loud Az Fuck, with Damad (who became Kylesa), Grief, Hellchild, Meatjack, Millions of Dead Cops, All Out War, Today is the Day, Anal Cunt, Dropdead and a bunch more that I can't remember. Til now, those two days rank amongst the best shows I've ever attended. If I had to go back in time and relive a day of my life over and over, a la Groundhog Day, it would be one of those two.

The last time I saw Ralphie was in Alphabet City in 2002. I passed him as he was on his way from making and distributing flyers for an upcoming show. I didn't personally know him, but he gave me a friendly nod (and probably a flyer). It's up in the air if he recognized me from all the times I saw his band at CBs or if he was just being polite, but it cemented my opinion that he was a down-to-earth guy who lived for the scene.

I moved back to South East Asia at the end of 2002; I think Disassociate broke up a few years after that. I don't remember seeing Ralphie when I was living in NY between 2008-2011, so I'm guessing he's not active in the area anymore. I can't imagine him moving to the suburbs and raising a bunch of kids; hopefully wherever he is, he's still got the belt from when he was the heavyweight champion of NY grindcore.

Moshpit Tragedy have made all of Disassociate's albums available to download for free:

Controlled Power - including their performance in Singapore in 1995 (?!?)

Symbols Signals and Noise

Imperfect World 

UPDATE: Moshpit Tragedy is dead, and so are the links. Sorry kids. - Adrian Sol, 04.12.2015

Tales from the Blast Furnace

My buddy Metal Mike found another one of the cassettes I traded with him back in the day: in this case, Nile, Suffocation, and Immolation. Apparently the other side was "Brutality North of the Border: CRYPTOPSY."

Two things:

1) Even back then, my metal friends weren't safe from my bad one-liners;

2) I wonder if these tapes could help score my dream job of working for the Colbert Report, the only other place I can think of that has multiple headlines apropos of nothing.

The Colbert Report
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