SHIT SMELL - "Wasted Life!" demo (Sweden, 1994)

This is a pretty obscure '90s Swedish fast and raw hardcore punk band I know next to nothing about. Sounds typically Swedish even though it's sung in English, and it's a little more diverse than your average d-takt / käng band — it could've been on just about any Really Fast compilation. With a name like Shit Smell and song titles like "Drunk Again", "My Dick Falling Off" or "Fuck Skinheads", don't expect super clever politically charged manifestos for lyrics… haha. Add to this a raw recording, tape hiss, and some of the ugliest and most minimal cover design ever… Aesthetes stay clear!

SHIT SMELL - Wasted Life! demo (Sweden, 1994)

MIDNIGHT - demo (Portland, 2002)

Not to be confused with the Cleveland metal band of the same name, this very Midnight was from Portland, OR and called it a day before they even got the chance to release the debut 7" that they recorded shortly after this demo. They had members of all the usual suspects and more (From Ashes Rise, Atrocious Madness, Hellshock, Warcry, Lebenden Toten, Limp Wrist…) and played catchy heavy hardcore/punk with Japanese HC and heavy metal overtones, topped off by super brutal female vocals (I didn't realize it was a girl singing until someone told me!) This 5-song tape still sounds great more than a decade later so do yourself a favor and check it out. A "discography" LP featuring this demo and the unreleased EP has been in the works for a few years, let's hope it sees the light of day soon!

MIDNIGHT - demo (Portland, 2002)

GERONIMO - "A Couple Of Words For You" demo (1989)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all I can remember about this tape is there was a member of the Danish thrash metal band Invocator involved, who I assume is the long haired dude in the Sepultura shirt on the cover. I mentioned Geronimo to some knowledgeable Copenhagen hardcore enthusiast a few years back and he had never heard of the band… Well… Not sure if they released anything besides this 20-song affair. The artwork is terrible and there's a couple of goofy moments (remember when every late 80s hardcore band had a shitty rap song?), but all in all this is high caliber, well crafted, super fast US-sounding hardcore/thrash, with sweet Dead Kennedys and Angry Samoans covers to top it all off. Very cool tape.

GERONIMO - A Couple Of Words For You demo (1989)

BOSTON STRANGLER - "Outcast" demo (2010)

There's been a lot of Boston media coverage in the past few days for obvious reasons so this seems pretty appropriate. Boston Strangler needs no introduction, they've been quite hyped over the past couple of years, paying tribute to the old hardcore scene of the city, and doing it well — bands like SSD and DYS immediately come to mind upon listening to them. For some reason the LP didn't totally convince me, partly due to a rather sterile/clean production. The rawer production on this demo suits them much better IMHO.

BOSTON STRANGLER - Outcast demo (2010)

MORTIFIED - "Drivel" demo (1991)

After the Kulturo live tape I posted a few days ago, here's another weird occurence from the UK. There's hardly any info to be found about Mortified on the internet, other than the fact they had at least another demo. Their music itself is hard to describe: slow, dirgy, heavy and dissonant — there's elements of doom metal, crust, industrial, noise rock, an early Godflesh / Pitch Shifter vibe maybe, a little Amebix, although this isn't a remotely accurate description. Download and judge by yourself I guess? If you happen to know more and feel like sharing info, feel free to post in the comments section below.

MORTIFIED - Drivel demo (1991)

OTAN - "Jodeles" demo (2003)

Otan was one of those bands that helped put Barcelona back on the punk map in the mid '00s. Not that the scene over there was dying or anything, but this new breed of angry anarchist hardcore/punk bands caught the attention of many punks abroad. They released two 7"s and this 11-track demo, which may well be my favorite of the bunch. I bought it at a show in Barcelona in 2005, the same night that I met their singer Teodoro for the first time, struggling to communicate in broken Spanish. A truly unique character, this hombre! Otan has featured members of Destrucción, Invasión, Firmeza 10, or Absurdo among others.

OTAN - Jodeles demo (2003)

KULTURO - Live @ Planet X, Liverpool, 13th April 1991

I don't know much about Kulturo other than the fact they existed from 1989 to 1991 and featured two ex-members of Antisect. They had a pretty experimental approach to music — loooong songs with elements of Hawkwind, Killing Joke, post punk, heavy metal… kinda like a prog version of Zygote maybe? They never released any studio recording. I've heard rumors of an unfinished demo but I have no idea if any of it is true… Or am I confusing this for the infamous incomplete 2nd Antisect album? Either way, I have 4 different live sets on cassette and picked this one pretty randomly as the sound is good (soundboard recording) and I happen to have the flyer for this specific show.

No tracklisting available so this is just one big soundfile.

KULTURO - Live @ Planet X, Liverpool, 13th April 1991