Meszenjah Spreads the Irie Vibe to Middletown

DJ Meszenjah puts on one of the sickest live sets I've seen a local kid spin. I was especially impressed with how deep he got during an all-reggae set I saw at Zen Bar. It's so rare that a DJ around here will dig into the reggae stacks, let alone navigate them with a degree of eloquence. Meszenjah has all the beats you could ever want and eloquence to boot. Check him out at Vibrations, a club night at Tommy's in Middletown. He'll be there October 6th and 20th.

Will Haven Signed

Bieler Bros Records, home to UK math-metallers Sikth, have recently signed one of the bands that got me into hardcore: Will Haven.

When I first discovered them in the late '90s, Will Haven's thick-chained guitars and relentless 3/4 time signature were quite possibly the heaviest thing I had ever heard. It was simplistic, reductive, and palpable. I grew up listening to alternative; in 1996 a high school friend turned me on to the Deftones, and from there it was only a short jump to heavier sounds. Snapcase came first -- they had just released Progression Through Unlearning, which I think to this day is their best album ever. But shortly thereafter, I found Will Haven's "Ego's Game" on a comp CD, and was thrilled to hear another band using the same kind of guitar style and rhythm. After investigating both bands' back catalogs, I have to say unequivocally that Will Haven's is the better of the two: it's more consistent, and while that certainly leads to a degree of predictability (Will Haven outside of the 3/4 time signature is almost impossible), it's definitely preferable to Snapcase's many failed experiements.

The official announcement:

"Bieler Bros Records is proud to announce the signing and return of metal-core pioneers WILL HAVEN. Will Haven will release their as of yet untitled Bieler Bros. debut in early 2007. The release will be the bands first since 2001's critically-acclaimed Carpe Diem."

Apathy Tears Collabos a New One

Check out Apathy's post on MySpace where he shreds one of hip hop's most abused institutions: the collaboration track.

The Conspicuous Willingness of Secondary Metal Markets to Commercialize/Market Themselves as Though They Were Primary

... or: You're All Fucking MySpace Sellouts.

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF OVERHYPED DEATHGRIND ARTISTS

Summer 2003: Daughters
Fall/Winter 2003: Between the Buried and Me
Summer 2004: Invocation of Nehek
Summer 2005: Through the Eyes of the Dead
Fall/Winter 2005: Job for a Cowboy
Summer 2006: Suicide Silence

Oh yes, motherfuckers: I see you. I see exactly what you’re doing.

You know what you are?
Coldplay.
Keane.
The Killers.
Editors.
of metal.

The "it" band until the next "it" band comes along.

Fuckin’ shame on you.

Spouse Hates Your Obnoxious Snore? Play Didge!

I saw this and thought it was freakin' fantastic. Didgeridoos are pretty easy to make out of PVC tubing or the like... Though nothing beats a nice one made from natural materials. I was pretty impressed with the stuff sold in the store section of this site. They go out of their way to seem pretty ethical and up-front about stuff.

But that's not the point. THE POINT IS PLAYING DIDGERIDOO STOPS YOU FROM SNORING!

http://www.laoutback.com/images/parts/SnoringPopUp.html

Bleach Transfusion Completed: Initiate Self-Termination Process

After an incredible 4 or so gigs, and with seven epic minutes of recorded audio under their belts, the boys of Bleach Tranfusion have announced their indefinite hiatus. Vocalist/synth player Ben Kohanski is beginning his college education (majoring in Gore, no doubt), leaving the future for the acoustic grind band open but uncertain.

While I wouldn't exactly classify Bleach Transfusion as good, they're certainly one of the more interesting bands* I've encountered, both in terms of setup (cheap drums, crappy synth, capes, gas masks) and artistic vision. (Their aborted album, Purging the Swarm, was to be an epic tale of Space Marines [think Doom, Halo] forced to annihilate a malevolent race of sentient insectoids. Not exactly typical concept album material.)

*(Note to readers: please do not call bands/works/artists "more unique" or "less unique." "Unique" means one-of-a-kind; there are no orders of magnitude. It's either unique or it's not.)

For those of you who never saw them live -- and let's face it, your number is legion -- it sounds like a DVD is in the works. If you enjoy B-movie kitsch, you may want to get a copy.

Relevant MySpace bulletin (from vocalist Brian Sierakowski) below:

---

Is this truly it for BLEACH TRANSFUSION?

As many of you probablly know, our beloved keyboardist/vocalist, Ben Kohanski, will be departing for college today. He was a great bandmate and friend, and truly the mastermind behind Bleach Transfusion. We've had a good run with our acoustic grindcore project turned synth led grind assault on the senses.

Is Bleach Transfusion dead?

No. We are just on indeffinate hiatus. Myself and my brother, Sam, will be part of two untitled bands, currently forming. Our first is an artsy hardcore project, and the second (which I am personally excited about) is a synthy gore grind project featuring Poop Sludge vocalist Chris Little and ex Revelations of Doom guitarist Tyler, whose name I embarassingly forgot this morning (sorry, man). Also, I myself might be playing keyboard for a local black metal project.

Bleach Transfusion does, however, plan to release a special DVD/EP CD set at Jamfest 07. This DVD will include their full live performances from Jamfest 06 and the 06 Dodgeball Tournament. Also, we will include the "basement sessions," which will show everyone what happened while we recorded our sick awesome tracks. We'll show you the laughs, and more laughs, because really, there was never any drama. The EP will provide you with all of our old tracks from The Lies That Grind, and the Purging The Swarm concept album. We will also include unreleased and alternate tracks. Whether we will actually make an appearance at Jamfest is highly doubtful.

...

It was a fun ride, guys. And hey, we might actually pick this up again, we still have Purging the Swarm to try and finish.

So thanks again, all.

And look forward to our DVD/EP release at Jamfest 07! It will be the best $7 you've ever spent.

Cute. Ridiculous. Awesome.

Have you seen the video for Welcome's new song "Dead Weight"?

CT DnB: Big Up for a Hot Summer

Maybe I blinked or something, but it seems like in the past few months, Drum 'n Bass in CT has quadrupled. All of a sudden there's a ton of ill events!

(WTF is drum 'n bass? Click here to find out.)

You hear that, house music? You don't own this town for much longer! Mu ha ha.

Naw, but seriously. If you want the scoop on what's going down week-by-week, I highly recommend checking out Miz-Eyesis' MySpace page. Aside from being a DJ, she's one of the scene's most ardent supporters right now. If an event is within driving distance, she's spreading the word about it -- if not attending it. And as much as it may seem like an explosion of brand new events, that's hardly ever the case -- it's almost always the result of years of hard work finally paying off.

So hats off to CT D'nB -- I hope this is the first of many years when you get (aka regain) your due respect.