Various Artists - 'The End is Near' (Shire Records) 4.5/5

The End Is Near is the title of a series of highly successful punk weekenders held in the sleepy Wiltshire town of Trowbridge, that are rapidly becoming some of the most important events on the UK punk scene, having attracted the likes of The Sub-Humans and Rita Lynch in recent times. Now the organisers have put together this rather tasty 15 track compilation celebrating and showcasing some of the best acts that have appeared at the events.

Now this is a rather good un over all, kicking off with Disco, a rather neat slam and boogie cut from The Blunders, this CD is a great portal into the best punk from the English West Country and beyond. I'm not going to give you a track by track breakdown - far better you dig yourself a copy up and explore it for yourself. But I will point out a few of the highlights on offer...

There's Petrol with the driven and frenzied Feed Yourself, Hater UK give a glorious low fi rendition of the Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson classic Hey Santa!. Instrumental noise grind merchants We Are Romans serve up a groovy little cut entitled Heligoland and the irrepressible Rita Lynch gives the spin tingling Longing. Chuck in The Dynamite Pussy Club with Vampire Blues and nine other pretty damn god and infectious cuts from the likes of The Set Backs, Bite The Buffalo and A-Heads and you have a real treat for all those who like it a bit on the punk side.

There is an old joke that says 'punk aint dead, it just smells that way', well this gem not only shows that punk is alive and kicking, but it till has something to say and is laying waste to small Wiltshire towns in the process

Get a copy and pogo til you puke

For fans of... PUNK

Various Artists - 'The Ripple Effect Presents Volume 1 - Head Music' (Ripple Music) 5/5

Five years ago a couple of Californian music lovers set up The Ripple Effect, an online magazine where they could share their love of old school stoner and modern underground rock. To say the idea was a success is a vast understatement. Since the site was launched Ripple has grown into one of the most respected music sites in the world, has its own radio station and of course Ripple Music, a label that has rapidly become one of the most vibrant and cutting edge in the whole realm of underground music with such acts as Grifter, Stone Axe, Mighty High, Mos Generator and Iron Claw on their books. Now to celebrate the first five years of The Ripple Effect they have issued this twenty three track compilation album, representing the very best of the kind of stuff Ripple have been championing over that time.


Now this compilation is a real delight to listen to, most of the 23 cuts here are previously unreleased, and every track is of the very best of whats happening on the current stoner, retro and underground classic scenes.


I'm not gonna give you a track by track breakdown, this is a free download album, go get a copy for yourself and have an explore. However I will point out a few highlights. There's the glorious stonehead groove of Torso with One, the fantastically sleazy Swear It To The Sun from Voodoo Johnson, Dark Earths highly headbangable eponymous post Sabbath work out and Concrete Sun with the underground classic of Silver Tear... infact every track on this one falls somewhere in between the 'yeah thats pretty damn good' and 'fuck me sideways that was great' camps.


There is still a huge market out there for this kind of new wave old school rock, and with retro rocking bands like Gypsyhawk and Dear Superstar on the edge of the mainstream, the market for this kind of classic rock is only gonna grow, and I have no doubt that Ripple will be there to bring you the very best of it for many years to come. Whats more this is a FREE record, so download it NOW and expand your head with the effect of ripples of superb music


Get this album NOW


For fans of... Stone Axe, Mos Generator, Fen, Black Sabbath, the classic and the underground....

Get your copy here for FREE - http://therippleeffect.bandcamp.com/album/the-ripple-effect-presents-volume-1-head-music

Various Artist - 'Fear Of Fiction - 008 12" Vinyl Compilation' (Fear Of Fiction) 4/5

Fear Of Fiction is a Bristol based music magazine and record label that has been doing a lot in recent years to help raise the profile of music in the Bristol area and this is the latest of their long list of compilations show casing some of the cream of the current crop of up and coming Bristol talent.

And what an interesting listen this one makes. Whilst batting firmly off the old alt and indie rock bats, a quick pick through of this one soon goes to show not only the depth of talent Bristol has to offer but what a diverse fields those old genres are these days. I don't often give a track by track breakdown on these reviews, but here I think I will make an exception.

We kick off with an outfit called Scarlet Rascal & the Trainwrecks doing a rather interesting little cut entitled The Haunting, a sort of post gothic noise rocker that sounds not unlike Rock In Your Pocket jamming with Alien Sex Fiend - a very good thing indeed. Then we have The Hit-Ups  with A Turn At Twelve Paces, a rather tasty slice of punk fueled leftfield post indie that drips heart felt angsty vocals and sweet chiming guitar lines.

Archimedes contribution Orrey is a tad more traditional alt rock in the Radiohead mode, a sweet number, nothing too earth shattering, but good enough to pass muster. Contrast this with Encore Encore by The St Pierre Snake Invasion, a track that blends a post screamo vocal, a sub Sabbath doom metal riff and the spirit of Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages into a rather tasty little pseudo punk pasty. With Casimir and their track Lucid we return to the more mainstream modern indie vibe, whose dreamy vocals and a stammering guitar lines are sure to make this lot a big hit with the students.

Idles provide one of the real stand out cuts on here with Thieves, still very much indie, but here those chiming guitars are given an almost rockerbilly beat and the whole song drives on in an almost Cheap Trick pop-rock vibe. My Favourate track on offer is Grand Moff Tarkin by The Naturals, which features an almost prog rock signature riff and a wonderfully spacey atmosphere.

Another cracker is Call The Doctor's Seventeen. Nice crunchy hard rocking punk inspired riffs, a Lauren Harris style vocals and the overall vibe of the great and much lamented SAL. Trials by Mayans is another cut that falls into the more traditional indie territory, but is still a sweet little cut overall with some wonderfully tripped out moments, some engaging vocals and a dreamy laid back feel.

The album finishes with Nightmares by Emma McNeill, a rather fetching soft rocker with some distinctive and compelling vocals wrapped around some rather deep and heart felt lyrics.

Over all this compilation is pretty good and shows a good insight into whats going on on the local indie and alt rock scenes, and maximum praise to Fear Of Fiction for all their hard work in getting local music out there and in the public eye.

Recommended

For Fans Of... Good music in the alt / indie vein


For more information on Fear Of Fiction and this album visit - http://www.fearoffiction.com

Behemoth - 'Demonica' (metalblade) 4.5/5

It's been a difficult year for classic Polish black metal merchants Behemoth, with main man Adam 'Nargal' Darski fighting off a potentially fatal bout of leukemia all things Behemoth have been put on hold for the past year or so. However the band have taken the opportunity to do a spot of archive raiding. Earlier this year we had the 'Abyssus Abyssum Invocat' compliation which resurrected a few lost gems and unreleased live archive material and now we have this double CD package that looks back to some of their earliest recordings.

Now this is not a new release as such, Demonica first surfaced in 2006 on the Swedish Regain label, but back then it was a very limited pressing of just a few thousand CDs and a few hundred vinyl copies and thus has become a bit of a collectors item. But now it has been re-issued through Metalblade so all of who missed it first time around can enjoy it.

OK I'll confess that I've always had a soft spot for Behemoths intelligent approach to all things doomy and dark and always admired them for the high standard of their music; and listening back to this collection of some of their earliest demo tracks, album out takes and other assorted goodies, I'm more than happy to report that even this primordial stuff from the bands earliest days still shows exactly why Gdansks blackest export are one of the world leaders in their field.

All the bands influences are proudly on show.  We get snippets of early Black Sabbath style riffage, hints of Venom, touches of St Vitus and Paradise Lost, a seasoning of Bathory and Celtic Frost... all the classic ingredients of the trade mark Behemoth sound are on show, and even on the earliest numbers, some dating back to early 1992 they are already being forged into something a wee bit special indeed.

The quality of the musicianship on show is remarkable; its brutal, raw, aggressive and as black as a black cat which has been dropped into a bag of soot; yet at the same time its complex in construction, perfectly controlled and as darkly entertaining as a classic Dario Argento movie.

There are 23 tracks on offer here and I'm not gonna give a track by track breakdown, but a few of my personal highlights are: the Bathory fueled From The Hornedlands to Lindisfarne (you gotta love songs about vikings), the deliciously doom laden Rise Of The Blackstorm of Evil, the Venomesque Cursed Angel Of Doom and the dark and riffy Deathcrush.

Things are thankfully looking up in the Behemoth camp now. Nargal is well on the way to a full recovery, and there is a new studio album and a full European tour in the offering for next year. But in the mean time if you need a black metal fix of the highest quality to keep you going, (or you've not encountered the band before and you fancy giving them ago) then this album (and Abyssus Abyssum Invocat for that matter) are more than up to the task.

Highly Recommended

For fans of ... Venom, Glorior Belli, Bathory, Novel of Sin etc....

Various Artists - 'Fest 10 Compilation #1 / #2' (fest 10) 4/5

Now Fest 10 is a very popular festival held every year around Gainesville in Florida that seams to specialise in in punk and all things related, and to help promote this years event, (at the end of October) they have issued a couple of free download compilation albums featuring a number of the acts who are booked to perform.

Now like all compilations these album are a mixed bag, and you do have to shift through the shit and the plain ordinary to find the real gems. But believe me the effort is well worth it for there are a number of great track on offer here. There are 46 songs on offer on these two albums, so you will forgive me if I don't give an in depth on every track and every band. But here's a taster of some of the nuggets to dig for...

We have the superb AFI influenced A Wilhelm Scream, a great all girl street punk outfit from Minneapolis called The Soviettes, the 'oi' filled Bouncing Souls, the wonderful Clash influenced Off With Their Heads, the New Model Army styled The Arrivals and The Brokedowns, The X-Ray Spex go emo stylings of The Candyskins, the infectious Banquets with the wonderful 'Sexy Ghosts', the country punk fusion of Good Luck, the plod and grind of Mood Ring.... and there are loads more, but you get the picture. and these are my picks, you may find something I didn't get into, but would be far more your cup of tea.

But there's something more interesting here than a mixed bag of young up and coming bands, it's rare that you can find a real cross section of a nations up and coming young talent all in one place, and for free to boot. so if that's not reason enough to download and explore these albums nothing is.


In Shot - well worth an explore.


The links to download these albums for free can be found here...
Volume 1 - http://fest10.bandcamp.com/album/fest-10-compilation-1
Volume 2 - http://fest10.bandcamp.com/album/fest-10-compilation-2