I first became aware of Dark Times when I saw that they were supporting local-to-me act Gun Outfit in Oslo awhile back. That, in combination with their affiliation, ensured them a spot on my to-listen list. Actually, the latter would've been reason enough as Norway's current underground scene is simply ruling right now, but the Gun Outfit matchup is an interesting note because it implied a divergence from the Black Hole Crew's typically raw and brutal sound. Suspicions proved correct on listening: much like Gun Outfit, Dark Times are far more readily identifiable as an "indie" band -- more melody, less heavy -- but also very firmly rooted in punk/hardcore and easily matched with bands on either side of the spectrum. I've still yet to grab the band's self-titled cassette as I'm on a self-imposed record-buying moratorium (which is especially painful considering that I'm currently travelling abroad and seeing all sorts of stuff I could never ever find at home), but lucky enough, the band has made the entire thing available as a free download. No email required, just grab it. "Worlds away" in particular is a great example of the band at their best; a dark trudge brimming with resentment. Still raw like Okkultokrati and Drugged SS, but in a totally different way. I'm way into it.
Download the brand new, long-awaited Hell on Wheels single "Baby" right here: https://hellonwheels.se/
Is it just me, or does it sound weirdly like the Hellacopters?
has posted a preview clip from the upcoming Sexpistoltanten and Mockfjärdsvapnet 12" they'll be releasing in the not-so-distant future -- hit up their website and look for the link under the January 17 news item: https://skrammelrecords.se/
Last Days of April and Leaders Off at It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser! I'm almost tempted to hop on a train and come down, but I'm already scheduled tight as-is.
is streaming a couple new tracks from Danish heavy mathrockers Trust at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/playrec
The band's debut album "From light into mass" comes out January 31.
In just a few hours I will on a plane and on my way to Göteborg, Sweden to attend the P3 Guld Awards at the behest of Swedish Radio and Svenska Institutet. I won't be coming entirely empty-handed either: as a cultural ambassador of Olympia, WA, I have been entrusted with a number of copies of the latest Perennial Records sampler cassette featuring new material from HPP, Broken Water, Son Skull and Weird TV as well as a few issues of local zine Nuts! which includes a flexi disc featuring cuts from Milk Music and Carrie Keith of Gun Outfit. No idea what I'm talking about? Maybe you should pick up the latest issue of MRR to check out the massive Oly scene report! Want a copy of either/both? Get in touch and we'll figure out a place to meet up. Did I mention they are free? Yes, free.
The old-school Swedish sound made famous by Entombed and Dismember back in the day has come back with such force and in so many numbers of late that it's hardly fair to call it a revival. There's part of me that is wholeheartedly delighted to hear fresh songs surface with the HM-2 guitar buzz yet, with the vast amount of bands sporting the sound these days, there's another part of me that concedes the fact that nothing compares to the likes of "Left hand path" or "Like an everflowing stream" when it comes to the allied genius of that sound and song structure. Blood Mortized are one of the few modern bands that pretty much have both aspects nailed down. They have displayed in "Bestial" a thorough knowledge of what drove the scene and drew the masses into the hellish depths of Sweden's death metal darkside back in the late '80s and early '90s. It's a pity that there are only three tracks on offer here but, with this being a vast improvement on 2009's debut full-length, there's a glimmer of hope that their next full length will be a subhuman monster of an album. - John Norby
Blood Mortized