KEN mode - "Unresponsive"

KEN mode releases harrowing new single "Unresponsive" from upcoming album, NULL; official music video now streaming

KEN mode has released harrowing new single, "Unresponsive," from its upcoming eighth album, NULL.

Stream the track, here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1LcpPUHJOYdIi8zLICMlnh

Stream the official music video, here: https://youtu.be/uTtpRmryLhY

Pre-order the album, out September 23rd on Artoffact Records, here: https://kenmode.bandcamp.com/album/null

A relentless dirge, "Unresponsive" features frontman Jesse Matthewson unleashing a tormented soliloquy that hits like Henry Rollins at his most confessional. "Forgotten, erased, unresponsive, replaced, abandoned," he chants. 

Matthewson recalls the origins of the song: "At this phase of the pandemic I had begun having dreams about my partner leaving me and my family dying, probably five nights a week, for several months. I sat there, writing the lyrics to this one while listening to a rolling storm come in, that never seemed to actually reach a crescendo. It all felt too apt for the way everything had been feeling for the last year at that point."

The track's sparse, machine-like pulse, peppered by hints of cello and clanking percussion, points to early industrial and No Wave influences, beyond the metallic hardcore and noise-rock for which KEN mode is known. Matthewson credits the COVID-19 pandemic with pushing the band to take new chances and explore new ground: "We felt like there was really no reason to do anything at all unless we were trying to push this into something new," he states. Recorded and mixed by Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Unsane), NULL is the first KEN mode release to feature collaborator Kathryn Kerr (saxophone, synth, piano, percussion, backing vocals) as a full-fledged member of the band.

Founded by Matthewson and his brother Shane, KEN mode has come to define intensity and dedication, via tours with Russian Circles, Torche, and Full of Hell, and releases produced by the likes of Steve Albini, Kurt Ballou, and Matt Bayles. Upcoming new album NULL sees this warhorse of a band emerge from the darkest of times with new energy, evolved and ready to carry on into its next chapter.

Among many other honors earned throughout its long career, KEN mode now occupies the highly coveted cover of Decibel Magazine (October 2022).

The band embarks on a US tour in October, with support from Frail Body (Deathwish Inc).

Oct 20 - St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Oct 21 - Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
Oct 22 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Oct 23 - Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing Co.
Oct 24 - Columbus, OH @ Big Room Bar
Oct 25 - Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
Oct 26 - Little Rock, AR @ Vino's
Oct 27 - Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Oct 28 - Austin, TX @ The Lost Well
Oct 29 - Houston, TX @ Black Magic
Oct 30 - Denton, TX @ No Coast Fest
Oct 31 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Nov 2 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Nov 3 - Charlotte, NC @ Snug Harbor
Nov 4 - Philadelphia, PA @ Silk City
Nov 5 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
Nov 6 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
Nov 7 - Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus
Nov 8 - Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
Nov 9 - Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary
Nov 10 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Nov 12 - Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium

Further info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/ken-mode-null.html

Photo by Brenna Faris

CLOUD RAT - "Kaleidoscope"

CLOUD RAT: progressive grinders release new single "Kaleidoscope" from upcoming album, Threshold: "our best work so far"

Cloud Rat has revealed new single, "Kaleidoscope," from the band's upcoming new album, Threshold.

As progressive as it is cathartic, "Kaleidoscope" is a perfect distillation of what makes Cloud Rat such a unique and powerful entity in today's metal/hardcore underground. Within two minutes, the song covers vast terrain, moving unpredictably through different sounds and emotions. From a swirling bed of guitar and synth to a breakneck blast attack, "Kaleidoscope" not only bridges the gap between Smashing Pumpkins and Discordance Axis, it does so in a way that feels genuine. Every note is delivered with passion.

In a new exclusive interview with Decibel Magazine, Cloud Rat drummer Brandon Hill makes this statement about the song: "We debated naming the album after that song, as the idea and visuals of a kaleidoscope were very much something we thought about and felt with the sheer amount of ideas and textures and changes in the album... I think the name and vibe of the track perfectly encompass what the record is all about. There’s moments of near-prog, synth-laden, odd-rhythm drumming and riffage in the beginning, some rather heart-wrenching passages and riffs, coupled with lots of (even to me) unexpected twists and turns, and perhaps some of the most difficult patterns I can recall playing, approaching the end of the song."

Steam the track, here: https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2022/08/25/track-premiere-cloud-rat-kaleidoscope/

Pre-order the album, out October 7th on Artoffact Records, here: https://cloudrat.bandcamp.com/album/threshold

With more than 20 releases under its belt – a treasure trove of albums, EPs, splits, and seven-inches, released since 2010 – Cloud Rat is a singular force in the extreme music scene. Cloud Rat has been labelled a "grindcore" band, but the prolific Michigan trio is so much more. Cloud Rat's only rule is realness. Within its punishing songs, the band glides freely through a range of musical forms; underneath its full-throttle grind swirls a Lake Superior of emotion. Vocalist Madison Marshall's gut-purging screams and drummer Brandon Hill's hyperactive hammering meld with guitarist Rorik Brooks' epic riffs and synths, into songs that are equally bone-crushing and heartbreaking. 

Kerrang! Magazine's review of 2019's Pollinator album reads: "Their music is inexhaustible, spasming through elaborate rackets of heaving riffs, spit-flecked vocals, and berserk percussion without ever slowing down. At the same time, there’s an atmospheric creep to their music that gives it a hard menace."

Brooks describes new album Threshold as "our best work so far."

Photo by Luke Mouradian

NETHERLANDS - Kali Corvette

 

“I know when I listen to NETHERLANDS I’m listening to music that is created to shape our normal into something new. I think this band wants to flip normal on its head and for that fact I love them! Their new album Kali Corvette comes out on Sept. 9th via Three One G. Imagine if Sigue Sigue Sputnik was actually RAD and that Bow Wow Wow created music from an alternative universe, the outcome might sound like NETHERLANDS.”

--Cvlt Nation

In preparation of NETHERLANDS' upcoming album, Kali Corvette, out September 9th, the band has recently premiered videos for tracks "So Sick" on Cvlt Nation, as well as "There's a Glitch in Human Consciousness" with New Noise Magazine. Check them out, below.

See the video “There’s a Glitch in Human Consciousness,” via New Noise Magazine, here.

Witness the electro-noise-punk of Netherlands’ “So Sick” video, via Cvlt Nation, here.

Lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, compulsive creator, and unrepentant volume addict Timo Ellis (Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon, Joan As Police Woman, Spacehog) formed NETHERLANDS in 2010 in NYC. The band has since shared stages with Napalm Death, Melt Banana, Mutoid Man, Yob, Retox, Black Flag, Eyehategod, Flipper, Martin Rev, The Death Set, Moon Tooth, and Witch Mountain, among many others. Now with drummer David Keith (Rainbow) and synth-bassist Kelsey Warren (Blak Emoji), the band continues to reject restraint in favor of maximum impact: shredding chops, soaring vocals, and maddening hooks. Netherlands crushes decades' worth of bombast into psychotropic nuggets of evil sludge-rock bliss, with nods to the dirtbag rituals of 70’s acid rock and punk, the grandeur of 80’s arena rock, and the guttural intensity of 00’s posthardcore. 

Kali Corvette will be released on limited vinyl via Three One G Records on September 9th. Preorder, here.

KALI CORVETTE is Netherlands’ 6th full LP, and features all the hallmarks of Ellis’ work; blistering guitar heroics, primal drumming, and searing caterwauls. However KALI CORVETTE veers bracingly into the realm of electro-noise-punk, ratcheting up the intensity into a uniquely weaponized form of rock that reaches towards high art. The record features guest performances by Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Michael Kubacki (Car Bomb), Tim Dahl (Lydia Lunch Retrovirus, Child Abuse), Daisy Press (Steve Reich) and Suzanne Von Aichinger (The Suzannes.) KALI CORVETTE is another chapter in the book of a band that’s consistently released heavy music on its own terms and with its own undeniable personality. There’s a reason contemporary heavy luminaries like Joe Duplantier of Gojira and Bill Kelliher of Mastodon count themselves amongst Netherlands’ biggest fans, and KALI COREVETTE’s 7 tracks effortlessly demonstrate NETHrock’s potency once again.

NETHERLANDS Website   

INSTAGRAM         

SPOTIFY          

APPLE MUSIC

YOUTUBE

BANDCAMP

VIRGIN MOTHER - Mourning Ritual

VIRGIN MOTHER: meth. frontman Seb Alvarez faces bipolar disorder, channels Sonic Youth, on astounding debut solo album; new track streaming now

Mourning Ritual, the debut full-length album by Virgin Mother, will be released October 14th.

Pre-order the album, here: https://virginmother.bandcamp.com/album/mourning-ritual

Stream the album's first single, "I'll Never Feel Like Anything," here: https://www.treblezine.com/listen-virgin-mother-ill-never-feel-like-anything-stream/

Once in a while, a truly remarkable debut album pops up out of the muck – a fully realized vision, jarring in the way it is crafted, so purposefully, so soulfully – and we scramble to find the backstory to explain how such a piece of art came to be.

Virgin Mother mastermind Seb Alvarez is in fact a prolific multi-instrumentalist who has helped birth a slew of music already over the past decade and a half. There is a long path leading to this "debut" album, but Mourning Ritual expresses Alvarez's talent and passion in ways never before documented. An extremely personal piece of work, lyrically, musically, Mourning Ritual is a masterpiece – the pinnacle of this creator's journey, so far.

Alvarez' best known outlet, to date, is the band meth., a sextet described with these words in 2019 by No Echo: "The six-piece monstrosity released their spastically heartwrenching EP, I Love You, early last year to underground acclaim... I had the chance to see meth. earlier this year on tour with their new Prosthetic Records labelmates and genre fellows Wristmeetrazor... and what a visceral performance it was." Metal Injection's review of meth.'s latest album, Mother of Red Light, reads: "It's an album that builds on anxiety and dissonance... a fusion of noise rock and grindcore." In the past year, the band has brought its chaos on the road with Chat Pile, among others.

With Virgin Mother, Alvarez has set out on his own and spread his wings. "I've always wanted to write and perform everything on a record and do everything completely on my own," he states. "I needed to prove to myself that I didn't necessarily need to rely on anyone but myself to make music."

The Virgin Mother project began with four EPs – It Is, Marrow, Dialect, and Woe – made with the help of collaborators such as Jon Karel (ex-The Number Twelve Looks Like You) and Nic Kuczynski (Frail Body). While the EPs saw Alvarez explore and experiment freely with noise, textures, and beats – a write-up in the Chicago Reader described it as a "glitchy maelstrom" – Mourning Ritual lays down a completely different vision.

Written and recorded almost entirely by Alvarez (with Shaun Ringsmuth of Street Sects co-writing one track, "Editor's Note"), Mourning Ritual is a moody, murky, haunting, thunderous version of rock – a fever-dream existing somewhere between Sonic Youth's blissful devastation, Xiu Xiu's cracked vulnerability, and Converge's metallic punk. Obscured layers of vocals, guitars, drums, and synths meld into tense anthems; songs like "I'll Never Feel Like Anything," "Blossoming Winter," and "Fault" are a glorious mix of horror and beauty. 

"Probably my two biggest influences on this are Sonic Youth and Swans, in regards to the chaotic, noisy elements of the songs and the dissonance clashing with beauty," states Alvarez.

He candidly reveals the project's origins: "I had been admitted to a mental hospital at the beginning of quarantine and diagnosed as bipolar. Before that I hadn't gone more than five days without drinking, since I was 20. When I was forced to be sober in the hospital, it was the hardest thing I'd ever really faced. I couldn't sleep well, I found myself drinking 14 cups of decaf coffee a day, just so I could feel like I had something. I looked forward to getting my night drugs because they would fuck you up if you could stay awake long enough after taking them. It was a super dark time for me and one that I felt I needed to spiral into even more to make this record. I had this urge to just make something authentic to myself. Everything on Mourning Ritual is a reflection of this."

He continues: "The album deals a lot with the heaviest issues I have in my life. Dealing with addiction, my childhood, grief and loss, self hatred and the weird euphoria of making yourself feel miserable to feel functional. There's things throughout this album that I just frankly don't know how to communicate with other people and this was the outlet for it."

Mourning Ritual was recorded and mixed by Adrian Kobziar at Ohmstead, and mastered by Pete Grossman at Bricktop Recording. The cover art was created by Eric Olsen.

With recent shows played with the likes of Kowloon Walled City, Alvarez will take Virgin Mother out on the road in October for its first tour. As a live performer, as in all other aspects of his creative life, Alvarez is known to give himself entirely to the task. He states: "In a weird way, I pull a lot of elements from professional wrestling, as far as creating drama through destroying your body. Whether it’s literally cutting myself open or getting shoved around by people watching our show when I go into the pit during a performance, I want people to feel submerged in the atmosphere I create and to feel as empty and emotionally depleted as I feel."

Beyond his role as a musician, Alvarez has served as a tireless contributor to the Chicago scene. "I was introduced to the ethos of DIY, which has been essentially what I've lived by for the past 15 years," he says. "I've booked 98% of all of my bands' shows and tours. I've made the art for all my bands' merch and albums. I've run shows out of my house and given bands a place to crash. All things I still do. This is a world I truly just love with every fiber of my being." He currently works as a booker for iconic Chicago venues, Subterranean and Beat Kitchen.

Tracklist:
1) [promised end]
2) Traffic Stop
3) Vanity's Sake
4) I'll Never Feel Like Anything
5) Blossoming Winter 
6) House of Mirrors 
7) Fault 
8) Black Light on 16th Street
9) Parasite
10) Editor's Note
11) Field of Warmth

Lineup:

Seb Alvarez - vocals, guitar, bass, drums, synth, samples

Guests:
Dan Bretz - additional percussion
Adrian Kobziar - additional guitar, noise
Shaun Ringsmuth - synth, samples

Photo by Angel Tumalan

END OF THE LINE - "Burning Down"

 

"End of the Line was a hardcore band that burned fast and bright during the summer of 1991. Comprised of Matt Anderson, Scott Bartoloni and Aaron Montaigne—all of the influential band Heroin—with Cory Linstrum handling vocal duties, End of the Line was based out of the fertile San Diego punk scene. SSD, BL'AST!, and the Faith/Void split all served as the sonic blueprint to where the group launched from... Thanks to Three One G, the End of the Line is getting its proper due decades later with a forthcoming reissue."

Watch the video for "Burning Down," by visual artist Displaced/Replaced, via No Echo, here:

https://www.noecho.net/features/end-of-the-line-90s-hardcore-band

End of the Line, the short-lived San Diego hardcore band that was in the right place at the right time. Existing during summer 1991, its membership boasted Matt Anderson, Scott Bartoloni and Aaron Montaigne of seminal 90s band Heroin, who, for the most part, had switched instruments. Further intensifying this lineup was leather-throated vocalist Cory Linstrum. A mutual appreciation of Bl’ast!, Faith, Void and SSD acted as its starting point, leading the band down the left hand path of chaotic punk and hardcore. EOTL played a dozen shows during its brief reign. Its teeth were cut appearing alongside Aspirin Feast, Say No More, Struggle, Undertow, Downcast, Media Children and Blatz (among others), before obtaining an opening slot on a Born Against/Rorschach show. The display of raw pandemonium unleashed that evening saw End of the Line’s buzz spread to the East Coast as these bands returned from tour. Rapidly a bidding war began with EOTL in the middle. Vermiform offered a seven-inch deal, while Ebullition dangled the opportunity of a full length. The band chose the full length. Having previously recorded three tracks, EOTL now had the opportunity to record the rest of its set for posterity. The band was aware it wouldn’t last much longer. Heroin would be releasing its own LP and leaving for tour, while Linstrum would relocate to the Bay Area to front John Henry West. It was during these recording dates that End of the Line concluded with its final appearance, a September 1991 show with Fugazi and Jawbreaker. Without an active band to promote the release, Ebullition’s version of the End of the Line LP wallowed in obscurity, where it slowly became a cult classic of early 90s hardcore. Let End of the Line crush your eardrums like an artillery shell, leaving you in the mud with the rats, lice and dogs!

This record has been remixed and remastered by Tim Green (Nation Of Ulysses/The Fucking Champs) at LOUDER studios. Pressed on limited edition color vinyl with a screen printed 3D cover and accompanying individually printed 3D glasses, to be released by Three One G on September 16th.

MORAL PANIC - "Anti, Anti, Anti"

MORAL PANIC: NYC punks drop scorching cover of The Consumers' 1977 anthem "Anti, Anti, Anti" via No Echo

New York City's Moral Panic premieres its new single, "Anti, Anti, Anti," a scorching cover of the 1977 song by Phoenix punks The Consumers (whose guitarist Paul B. Cutler went on to form 45 Grave).

Stream the track, here: https://noecho.net/features/moral-panic-nyc-band

Moral Panic's cover of "Anti, Anti, Anti" appears on the band's new album Validation, out September 9th on Reptilian Records (US) and Alien Snatch! Records (Europe). Validation was recorded by Joe Hogan (Ronnie Spector, Murphy's Law) and mixed by Jeff Burke (Radioactivity, The Marked Men).

Pre-order the album, here:
US: https://www.reptilianrecords.com/products/729524
Europe: https://aliensnatch.bandcamp.com/album/moral-panic-validation

It is rare that a self-proclaimed "punk" band can rock as hard as Moral Panic. This has been founder/frontman Daniel Kelley's cross to bear since the beginning. Kelley has been quoted in the past stating that his band was "too rock n' roll for the punks and too punk for the rock n' rollers." Middle fingers outstretched, he only leans further into this identity crisis on Validation and the results are thrilling.

With Hogan and Burke's larger-than-life production, Validation lands somewhere between Dead Boys, The Who, and KISS, capturing Moral Panic at its best yet: on fire, in its own sphere, oblivious to trends. Kelley's gloriously cranked guitars gnash and flail; his dueling tracks spar gleefully like freshly unchained pit bulls at play. The new rhythm section of Michael Dimmitt and Eric Robel – a formidable unit who made their debut on the "White Knuckles" seven-inch – plows down the rails with the momentum of a runaway train in alpine terrain.

Kelley states: "Our goal was to be a bit less lo-fi and get more of a big, loud, noisy, pissed sound! I don't really think that the influences have changed much, but the rhythm section is definitely stronger and has evolved the band into a bigger sound."

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/07/moral-panic-validation.html

Photo by Sarah Coulter

DR. ACULA - "Welcome to Dead House"

DR. ACULA premieres new single "Welcome to Dead House" via Revolver Magazine: "a genuinely ripping metalcore banger in the vein of early Every Time I Die"

Dr. Acula has revealed "Welcome to Dead House," the new single from its first new album in ten years. The upcoming, self-titled album was mixed and mastered by Moon Tooth drummer Ray Marte and will be released October 28th on Silent Pendulum Records (The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Heavy Heavy Low Low).

Revolver Magazine states: "Instead of rehashing the silliness of their early years, the band are now treating Dr. Acula like a serious project, and 'Welcome to the Dead House' is perfect for initiating any fan, old or new, into their refreshed approach... A genuinely ripping metalcore banger in the vein of early Every Time I Die, but with deathcore breakdowns that call back to the Dr. Acula sound that longtime fans will remember."

"The song's about watching someone who is your entire world, be ripped from existence," says Dr. Acula bassist Rob Guarino.

Stream the track, here: https://www.revolvermag.com/music/hear-dr-aculas-crushing-new-metalcore-reinvention-welcome-dead-house

Dr. Acula's first new album in ten years is a radical reboot that sees this comedic outfit reborn as a dark, focused, beast of a modern metal band. Once a messy, polarizing band, making noise for the fun of it, Dr. Acula has evolved into its next form. Guarino states: "This chapter of Dr. Acula is a 'party's over' vibe. When we started over 15 years ago, it was all fun and games. We weren’t really paying attention. Now we've grown, our fans have grown, and there’s a conversation to be had."

A recent article on BrooklynVegan concurs: "Their wiser, more mature approach is matched by music that's just as batshit as their early material but more focused and refined. I don't know if bands like this in the 2000s ever even thought or cared about aging gracefully, but Dr. Acula are proving that it's possible."

Upcoming shows include three Midwest dates with Varials (Fearless Records).

Oct 1 - Wallingford, CT @ Cherry Street Station

Nov 4 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen w/ Varials

Nov 5 - Lakewood, OH @ The Foundry w/ Varials

Nov 6 - Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary w/ Varials

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/07/dr-acula.html

Photo by Christina Fiorino

KEN mode + Decibel

The great KEN mode graces the cover of the October 2022 issue of Decibel Magazine.  

Buy it, here: tinyurl.com/decibel216

KEN mode's new album, NULL, drops September 23rd on Artoffact Records.  The band kicks off a US tour in October with Frail Body supporting.

More info: https://thechainworld.blogspot.com/2022/06/ken-mode-null.html

LIVE SKULL - US Tour 2022

LIVE SKULL: reanimated NYC noise-rock legends announce US fall tour

Iconic New York City band Live Skull will bring its singular sound on the road for a US tour in September.

Pioneers of the Downtown Manhattan scene of the 1980s, alongside bands like Sonic Youth and Swans, and amidst artists and filmmakers like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Richard Kern, Live Skull resurfaced and reformed in 2019 after a 30-year hiatus, releasing two albums: Saturday Night Massacre (2019) and Dangerous Visions (2020). 

The new lineup, led by founding guitarist/vocalist Mark C and the last drummer to occupy the Live Skull drum throne in the '80s, Rich Hutchins, will deliver the band's violent hymns to the people, this fall, via a two-week run across the East Coast and Midwest. Flanking C and Hutchins are Kent Heine on bass and dAve Hollinghurst on guitar and vocals. It is the band's first US tour since the onset of the pandemic. 

The official tour poster was created by longtime friend and collaborator Gary Panter, also responsible for the cover art for Live Skull's newest albums, and known to many as an avant-garde cartoonist and the Emmy Award-winning set designer behind Pee Wee's Playhouse.

The tour dates are as follows:

Sept 20 - Pittsburgh, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls

Sept 21 - Chicago, IL @ The Hideout
Sept 22 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
Sept 23 - Lincoln, NE @ Lincoln Calling Music Festival
Sept 24 - Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
Sept 25 - Cincinnati, OH @ MOTR
Sept 26 - Detroit, MI @ Small's
Sept 27 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Sept 28 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's
Sept 29 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro
Sept 30 - Brooklyn, NY @ No Aloha

Stream an official teaser video, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfr1FbrEvqE

Mark C states: "On the heels of an exotic tour of Norway and the pandemic release of Dangerous Visions, I have to say, Live Skull is revved up and ready to roll. The new band features an explosive lineup. Rich has taken his drumming beyond the next level and grooves seamlessly with Kent’s driving bass lines. dAve – whom Bob Bert calls “our secret weapon” – and I just take off from there. We're all inspired to push harder, the energy in the performances is just so high. And though the sound is tweaked and updated, we can still rip through a classic song or two with confidence... Since re-forming the band a few years back with Rich, I have been protesting the same decadent forces that continue to haunt our politics and culture. Deja vu, all over again! But I’ll be cranking up the volume, to drown out the noise machines with my heavy racket, while Live Skull rocks to make some sense of it all. Watch out, our original motto from 1983 still stands: 'Harnessing Chaos for their own Beliefs!'"

Live Skull defined the term "noise-rock" in the '80s, spearheading the post-No Wave underground music scene in NYC with a series of legendary live performances and eight groundbreaking records (recorded mostly by Martin Bisi at B.C Studio) released over the course of that decade. Live Skull's sound was influenced by British post-punk – Joy Division and Public Image Limited, in particular – but was located squarely in the depths of Downtown Manhattan. The band's '80s recordings buzz with the danger, depravity, and creative freedom that defined NYC in those years.

On songs with titles like "Mr. Evil," "The Corpse Also Rises," and "I'll Break You," Live Skull chiseled out its style and its worldview. Dual guitars chimed and slashed; basslines drove; drums pounded and hypnotized; male and female vocals intertwined to conjure serial-killer imagery to match the intensity of real life in '80s Gotham. Live Skull put its stamp on the NYC scene, playing venues like CBGB and Danceteria, but also toured the country with the likes of Jane's Addiction. 

A review in The New York Times declared Live Skull's importance in no uncertain terms: "Live Skull's music – a high-wire act played for keeps, without a net – is as challenging, as spiritually corrosive, and ultimately as transcendent as Albert Ayler's mid-60's free jazz or the implacable drone-dance of the early Velvet Underground. It's one of the essential sounds of our time."

Its 1989 album, Positraction, was its last, until 30 years later in 2019 when founder Mark C made moves to reform the band. Stream Live Skull's newest album, 2020's Dangerous Visions, here: https://liveskull.bandcamp.com/album/dangerous-visions

Discography:

Live Skull EP (1984, Massive Records)

Bringing Home the Bait (1985, Homestead Records)

Pusherman EP (1986, Homestead Records)

Cloud One (1986, Homestead Records)

Don't Get Any On You (live) (1987, Homestead Records)

Dusted (1987, Homestead Records)

Snuffer EP (1988, Caroline Records)

Positraction (1989, Caroline Records)

Saturday Night Massacre (2019, Bronson Recordings)

Dangerous Visions (2020, Bronson Recordings)

Band photo by Michael Jung