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Showing posts with label Discordance Axis. Show all posts
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| Discordance Axis - Original Sound Version 1992-1995 2xLP+7" |
Remastered for vinyl by James Plotkin.
In stores January 14, 2014
Order now at
http://hydrahead.merchtable.com/
"I wanted to eclipse what NAPALM DEATH had done for me at that point. Not to make From Enslavement to Obliteration, but to make the record they would have made after. That was Ulterior for me."
Jon Chang doesn't set small goals. From day one, he was determined to make DISCORDANCE AXIS more than another pack of weekend warrior grinders content with emulating their favorite records. He understood the songwriting and performing prowess lurking in collaborators drummer Dave Witte and Rob Marton and he brought it out by every dictatorial means necessary.
The result was 1995's Ulterior, DISCORDANCE AXIS' first full length album. It was an album that maybe owed too obvious a debt to their influences, particularly the NAPALM DEATH records Chang was determined to top, but Ulterior hinted at the musical and lyrical themes that DISCORDANCE AXIS would perfect on their subsequent two albums, Jouhou and apotheosis The Inalienable Dreamless.
DISCORDANCE AXIS were finding their footing with Ulterior, repurposing grindcore's tropes and updating its lexicon to fit the 21st Century. Band visionary Chang jolted grindcore's stale infatuation with the politics of opposition with his fascination for science fiction and manga. DISCORDANCE AXIS would also make Witte's bones as the most in-demand drummer of the last two decades as he blasted and thrashed his way into fastest man alive contention. But the secret weapon in DISCORDANCE AXIS' arsenal has always been Marton. Unlike his more gregarious bandmates, Marton just quietly went about his business of redefining grindcore guitar playing. Rather than speeding up '80s hardcore, Marton wrote riffs that actually stood up on their own. His technically adept performance owes as much to jazz and VOIVOD as it does Scum and Horrified. DISCORDANCE AXIS distinguished themselves from the grindcore pack by having actual songs. Ulterior hinted at his prodigious talent, but Marton would stake his case for grind guitar godhood on the strength of Jouhou and The Inalienable Dreamless.
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The time has come for Hydra Head to shut down our LA HQ. It's been a long time coming, but that doesn't make the process any less of a heart breaker. In order to ease our pain a bit, we're opening our doors to the public for the first and last time on Saturday May 25th so we celebrate our disintegration with a Hydra Head Super-Power-Yard-Sale™. James O'Mara and Aaron Turner will be on hand to help serve you, and if you're nice, give you treats (sadly Sugar Bear aka Andrew Cox will be spending his last official paycheck in Mexico and won't be able to join us). We'll have tables set up with goodies in the office for your perusal, and snacks and refreshments available at random intervals. There will be some give away surprises to random customers and a free test pressing for the first five arrivals.
Some of what we'll have on had that day will include (but is not limited to) the following: $1 CDs, $5 t-shirts, office furniture (anyone need a desk? - we'll be giving away some of our office stuff as well), discounted copies of recent vinyl titles, Hydra Head Super-Rarities™ (original pressings of Cave In "Beyond Hypothermia" LP, Converge/Agoraphobic Nosebleed LP, Discordance Axis "Inalienable Dreamless" LP, Cave In "Jupiter" LP, Botch "We Are the Romans" 2xLP, Neurosis "Sovereign" LP, Pelican "The Fire in Our Throats..." 2xLP, etc), AND some other related treasures (ISIS test pressings and box sets, screen printed tour posters, random black metal t-shirts, and whatever other gems we can dig up). Our aim is to get rid of as much as is possible in our office, so if you see something you like hanging on a wall or sitting on a desk make us an offer and see what happens!
Here are the specifics:
Hydra Head Power-Blow-Out-Yard-Sale-Extravaganza™
Saturday, May 25th
Noon - 7 pm
4222 Santa Monica Blvd #104
Los Angeles
90029
Thanks to everyone who made our Los Angeles dreams come true. We'll miss you! Come on by to say bye, and take some treasures home - from our horde to yours!
xoxo,
Team Hydra
(Aaron, James, Andrew)
We are proud to announce
now available for pre-order in the Hydra Head Shop at Blue Collar Distro.
CONVERGE
Caring & Killing: The Early Years 1991-1994
- First time on vinyl ever!
- Converge's early recordings finally available again after being out of print for years.
- New audio mastered by Alan Douches.
- Packaging designed by Jacob Bannon with artwork by Aaron Turner.
- 2xLP in gatefold sleeve with 3 different colored vinyl versions.
For anyone remotely familiar with the heavy music underground of the last two decades, Converge needs no introduction. They are recognized as one of the most ferociously consistent, challenging and influential bands within and beyond their realm. Like other long-running institutions Neurosis, Sonic Youth, The Melvins, or Fugazi, Converge was born from the wellspring of punk and hardcore, quickly mutating into something all together different - an aural beast of their own design. Their sound has since fluctuated and evolved over a long and industrious career, but even in their earliest days the hallmarks of their sound were there - whiplash dynamics, floor-stomping breakdowns, brittle heart-rending melodies and a torrential sense of momentum.
The collection of Caring & Killing captures Converge in their formative years, spanning the timeframe of 1991-1994 . This period was extremely productive for the band, generating the debut full length Halo in a Haystack, a slew of compilation appearances and split EPs, as well as multiple demo sessions. The resultant tracks were unpredictable - rageful and delicate, catchy and obtuse. Despite the harsh juxtaposition of opposing elements, it was clear Converge possessed the will and the wit to construct cohesive songs from the maelstrom, ones that proved to be powerfully charismatic in their idiosyncratic nature. These early anthems are certainly more ungainly than those of present day Converge , but they burn with the same vitality and punishing drive for which the band is known and loved. These incendiary sermons are as utterly convincing now as upon the day of their first iteration, and from them a cult was born.
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DISCORDANCE AXIS
Jouhou
The mid-1990s were a pretty bleak period for grindcore. The genre's progenitors had either retired into their dotage or were aimlessly wallowing in creative bankruptcy.
A change was needed, and New Jersey upstarts Discordance Axis were about to upend 15 years of grindcore tradition and establish the template for 21st Century extremity. Where first album Ulterior owed obvious debts to their musical forerunners,Discordance Axis found their unique voice on 1997's Jouhou (Japanese for "Information"), turning in 18 minutes of sleek, cyberpunked grind that directly addressed human frailty and emotions rather than recycling the same political jeremiads and empty slogans.
Unlike the first wave of grind, which owed obvious debts to '80s hardcore, Discordance Axissounded fresh and modern, buoyed by guitarist Rob Marton's forward thinking playing, which melded fleet-fingered technique with streamlined, pinpoint aggression. Marton was influenced as much by Voivod as he was by Napalm Death, and he was one of the few grindcore guitarist whose compositions revolved around actual riffs that were driven by Dave Witte's frenetic, pinpoint drumming. Added to that, Jon Chang introduced a whole new lexicon that appropriated themes and images from manga, science fiction and cartoons and turned them into metaphors for loss, loneliness and alienation, topics that grindcore had never seriously addressed. Together, the trio were the first to make a bid for grindcore as a capital-A Art form. There was more to their blastbeating than a bunch of kids mouthing off at the world.
- Andrew Childers, Grind and Punishment
DISCORDANCE AXIS
Jouhou
Pre-Order - $23.99
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Tomorrow is the last day to order the Discordance Axis book before it is out of print forever!
The story behind "The Inalienable Dreamless", Discordance Axis' final 23 minute run for the sea recorded to tape in 1999 and apparently still of vague interest to collectors of obscure failed grindcore bands from NJ. Andrew Childers, writer and editor at Grind And Punishment, covers the making of the last Discordance Axis album through interviews with the entire band, engineer John Du'va, Aaron Turner at Hydrahead and a variety of artists who were impacted by the record.
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This was a non-profit project with all money made sent to Japan Red Cross for Tsunami recovery.
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Order on Amazon
We released a super limited run of DISCORDANCE AXIS - The Inalienable Dreamless LP for Record Store Day 2011, which sold out immediately. We now have some leftover copies available (on both blue and black vinyl) over at RealTomatoKetchup, while supplies last.
If you missed out in April, here is your second chance.
If you missed out in April, here is your second chance.
Vinyl includes download code.
Decibel Magazine's #12 'Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade'! First time on vinyl since 2000! The Inalienable Dreamless is their defining and final album . . .and easy contender for Greatest Grindcore Album of Forever ;) Members went on to Gridlink, Hayaino Daisuki and Municipal Waste.
Decibel Magazine's #12 'Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade'! First time on vinyl since 2000! The Inalienable Dreamless is their defining and final album . . .and easy contender for Greatest Grindcore Album of Forever ;) Members went on to Gridlink, Hayaino Daisuki and Municipal Waste.
Track Listing:
1. Castration Rite
2. The Inalienable Dreamless
3. Sound Out The Braille
4. Oratorio In Grey
5. Vacuum Sleeve
6. Angel Present
7. The Necropolitan
8. Pattern Blue
9. The End Of Rebirth
10. Loveless
11. Radiant Arkham
12. Use Of Weapons
13. Compiling Autumn
14. Jigsaw
15. The Third Children
16. A Leaden Stride To Nowhere
17. Drowned
1. Castration Rite
2. The Inalienable Dreamless
3. Sound Out The Braille
4. Oratorio In Grey
5. Vacuum Sleeve
6. Angel Present
7. The Necropolitan
8. Pattern Blue
9. The End Of Rebirth
10. Loveless
11. Radiant Arkham
12. Use Of Weapons
13. Compiling Autumn
14. Jigsaw
15. The Third Children
16. A Leaden Stride To Nowhere
17. Drowned
Band website: http://www.studio-gray.com/da/
Wondering what the vinyl colors of the Hydra Head Record Store Day releases look like? Just look at these pictures. All five titles come on black, which is not shown because you should already know what black vinyl looks like.
Here is the color breakdown:
Oxbow - King of the Jews LP - black vinyl
Neurosis - Sovereign LP - Black vinyl, Clear vinyl, Red/Black Marble vinyl
Clouds - B Chuggas May Be Logging 12" - Black vinyl
Prurient - Many Jewels Surround the Crown 7" - Black vinyl, Greenish Clear vinyl
Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless LP - Black vinyl, Sky Blue vinyl
There are still some copies of Oxbow, Clouds and Prurient in our webstore. Neurosis and Discordance Axis are sold out in the webstore, but you can still look for them at your local independent record store on Saturday, April 16th - Record Store Day!
Here is the color breakdown:
Oxbow - King of the Jews LP - black vinyl
Neurosis - Sovereign LP - Black vinyl, Clear vinyl, Red/Black Marble vinyl
Clouds - B Chuggas May Be Logging 12" - Black vinyl
Prurient - Many Jewels Surround the Crown 7" - Black vinyl, Greenish Clear vinyl
Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless LP - Black vinyl, Sky Blue vinyl
There are still some copies of Oxbow, Clouds and Prurient in our webstore. Neurosis and Discordance Axis are sold out in the webstore, but you can still look for them at your local independent record store on Saturday, April 16th - Record Store Day!
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| 2011 Hydra Head Record Store Day releases |
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| Neurosis - Sovereign LP |
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| Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless LP |
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| Prurient - Many Jewels Surround the Crown 7" |
Saturday, April 16th, is Record Store Day. Its like a great big present for anyone involved with creating, making, selling or buying records. Stores get to sell a lot of albums, fans go bananas and labels, well obviously we're totally loving it all right about now! When else could we release five titles on the same day and not have a mild panic attack? Last year we put our toe in slightly (Melvins orange box set on black vinyl), for November's Black Friday we got in right up to our knees (Daughters 's/t' LP, Harvey Milk 's/t' 2xLP, Cave In 'Anomalies' LP), and this year we we're pinching our nose and going full on submerged. We've got 5 titles scheduled, all of which we have received an overwhelming response to. In fact, they are each oversold via our distributers to a degree where we're still having a hard time believing. So, for you diehards out there, here's the full rundown. Today at noon west coast time we'll be putting up pre-orders for the 5 titles via our online shop. Since RSD is about physical retail stores, we have limited quantities available of these titles through our online store. Over the coming two weeks, in advance of RSD, we'll put together a full list of US stores that have ordered, and will be receiving, our titles for April 16th. If you don't get in on today's pre-order for something you'd like, then go old school and get in touch with your local record store. You know, tell 'em how much you love Hydra Head Records, and how they really need to be carrying our records;) And, without further ado, here's the jams:
Waaaaay back in '08, after a year supporting the likes of Torche and Boris across the US, Clouds dropped these four jams to tape like it wasn't no thing. These perennial staff favorites hit us right where it hurts when they called it quits just after this session…but with sadness comes recovery…and so, thankfully, we've got these final four for all enternity. Still present here are the rumbling low-strung guitars, up-tempo drum blasts, and raw throated harmonies as showcased in the bands earlier recordings, but also apparent is a more complex layering of melody and focused composition. Includes free mp3 download. Limited one time vinyl pressing.
There are certain records that pass almost immediately into legend from the moment they are created. Discordance Axis' third full length album "The Inalienable dreamless" is one such record. Though previously heralded as one of grindcore's leading lights, this album sent the band sailing far beyond that horizon into the stratosphere of deities, to dole out punishment from on high to the puny mortals who groveled below. It was voted Decibel Magazine's #12 'Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade'. First time on vinyl since 2000! Members went on to Gridlink, Hayaino Daisuki and Municipal Waste.
Having built their legacy on a series of formidable full lengths that have garnered both critical praise and a level of success massive in relation to the world from whence they came, Neurosis' "Sovereign" EP has become something of a lost classic. Recorded by Steve Albini in the same sessions as the now classic "Times of Grace" album, this collection of songs could hardly be considered a set of cast offs from the album proper, but rather a succinct and powerful statement on par with, and perhaps even exceeding its counterpart. While the band had never shied away from experimentation and purposeful steps on a path of progression, "Sovereign" contains some of their darkest and strangest material, as well as their most melodic and spacious. First time on vinyl since 2001! Album artwork by our mainman, Aaron Turner!
Their long out of print sophomore release, available now in all its remastered and repackaged glory…and arguable even truer to the beast Oxbow had in mind when they recorded it two decades ago. 'King of the Jews' marks the second in Hydra Head's lovingly currated Oxbow catalog reissue campaign. This LP comes correct with a free mp3 download for the album as well as several recently uncovered (and lovingly mastered!) bonus tracks from the album's original source tapes. Limited one time vinyl pressing. This one may ship a bit late, just fyi.
Lead off anti-single from Hydra Head's favorite new obsession. Non-album version of first track from Prurient's Hydra Head debut, 'Bermuda Drain', backed with it's raw raw raw demo counterpart (recorded as a collaborative work with Cold Cave's Wes Eisold). We can clearly hear the echoes of Prurient's howling past, but are also faced with something perhaps even more unsettling - that being the territory of the unknown present and its indication of possible futures. Combining harsh strands of electronic noise and distorted vocals with more overtly melodic lines and forms, Fernow has not only grown beyond his initial set of ideas, but also beyond the confines of genre norms. Full length out July 2010. Limited one time vinyl pressing.
Jon Chang, of Discordance Axis, Hayaino Daisuki and Gridlink, sent us over his top ten list for 2009, so we thought we would share it with all of you... this post also marks the first in series of top ten posts compiled by Hydra Head artists..
Chang's Top Ten:
District 9
Mephistopheles "I'm Getting Ready for the Fight"
Cat Shit One Trailer
Torchlight
Scrapyard in Modern Warfare 2
The Wrestler (movie)
Slayer "World Painted Blood"
Liturgy "Renihilation"
Star Trek
Avatar IMAX 3D
Revenge of the Fallen IMAX
In other Jon Chang related news... The Hydra Head staff located a significant amount of Discordance Axis-"The Inalienable Dreamless" LP print in storage the other day, which means we may have some "TID" LPs in stock soon! Also, don't forget, the new Hayaino Daisuki CDep "The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?" is available on February 23rd!!!
Watch The David Witte go!
KHANATE "CLEAN HANDS GO FOUL"
"Clean Hands is the somber recollection of tragedy. Straying from the more forceful and downright violent nature of past releases like Things Viral and Capture & Release, the last dissonant emissions of Khanate are downtrodden and teeming with regret. “Wings From Spine” is a sobering affair, every bit as cold as one would expect from the band, but with a remorseful tone. On “In That Corner” Stephen O’Malley’s crashing, sparse chords shatter upon the ground like the dreams of the innocent fallen. Alan Dubin’s tortured wails resonate over the jagged shards of guitar and percussion"- The Oberlander
HELMS ALEE "NIGHT TERROR""The desire for categorization sometimes comes as a ridiculous meeting. It is rather obvious that humankind has created knowledge from this effort. Not only discovering things but above all giving them a name and an independent existence isolated from its form. Language is the ultimate catalogue machine. Is there not a form? Well then there is language to invent it! Things may exist or not but as long as language is there then they exist. Think of this after listening Helms Alee and its curious musical concoction. Can we subtract from our impending necessity to give nominations to something we experienced but we are not sure how to call it? But the thing is we need these odd distinctions if we want to remain social, because as sooner we need to communicate our findings to someone else we should have to get the ability to describe what we tested. We would get rid of our fanatic attitude for categorization the moment we remain hermits, then things would just get reduced to its nominal character."- HeathenHarvest
Discordance Axis "The Inalienable Dreamless""A far cry from your average grindcore band, Discordance Axis boasts gratifying harmonic variety along with crushing weight from guitarist Rob Marton, plus exceptional power and intelligibility, courtesy of one of the best grind drummers ever born: Dave Witte, who has also played for Human Remains, Burnt By The Sun, Phantomsmasher, Melt-Banana and Municipal Waste."- HoustonPress
He's been teasing us for YEARS that he's got new projects in the works. As singer of Discordance Axis throughout the 90's Jon Chang made a name for himself by fronting (and, notably, designing everything for) one of the undergrounds leading, and most enigmatic, grindcore outfits. Their final full length, 1999's "The Inalienable Dreamless", simply owned...and still does after 8 years. The 8 years thing is where the problem lies for DA's and Chang's die hard fan base...they've waited that long for something new from him. In 2005 he gave 'em all a taste , if only a small yet very satisfying one, with one track from Gridlink, his internationally assembled project with members of Japanese outfits Mortalized and Disconformity. And then nothing more was offered...there were sporadic updates through his production and animation company, Studio Grey, but it seemed most of his time had been regularly devoted to his plethora of animation (Scratch Trigger Era) and gaming design (Black Powder Earth) interests. That is until he unexpectedly introduced yet another new band, Hayaino Daisuki, earlier this year...where Gridlink is in many ways an extension of his work with DA, Hayaino Daisuki is an extension of what presumably drew him to his genre in the first place. Much to our disbelief and content, Gridlink and Hayaino Daisuki both entered the studio last month and, in punk rock style, completed two new records in a matter of days. Needless to say, we are pleased to announce the debut releases from both bands in early 2008...Hayaino Daisuki will likely come first...the tracklistings, artwork, and all the gory details for both releases will be announced as they are confirmed. Stay tuned.