Life’s Trade by Samothrace and Buried Death by Coffins have, so far, cracked the Decibel Magazine Top 40 albums of 2008 list this year. Coffins also appears on lists for Pitchfork and Metal Edge?! We’re happy for those bands both of whom made crushing, though very different, LPs this year. Naturally we think they should rate higher than they did, but still… always interesting to be recognized by fairly mainstream media outlets. We’ll post our top albums of the year (besides our own) in the near future just for shits and giggles.

It’s sale time folks. Tough economic times demand it and we gotta make room around here for next year.

So, now through December 14th, all 20 Buck Spin titles are 10% off. Additionally any order over $50 will receive an additional 10% off the entire order for all products 20 Buck Spin or otherwise. And orders over $100 will receive 20% off the entire order.

To receive the overall discount enter the following coupon codes at checkout:

For orders over $50 use: 69KA8H
For orders over $100 use: 4R0P24

The order amounts do not include shipping and shipping will not be included in the discount.
20 Buck Spin titles are discounted 10% automatically and regardless of order total.

The sale ends on December 14th.
20 Buck Spin will be closed December 15th through the end of the year.
All orders placed on or after Dec. 15th, will not be sent until January 2nd, 2009.

The young label from Olympia, WA, 20 Buck Spin, surprised me before with their extreme groovy death metal from Japan Coffins and now they have done it again with an obscure drone/doom act Pussygutt. With the moniker like this one could have expected some “scream bloody gore”, yet Pussygutt lays down some of the most profound and somber music I have heard in a while. And they do it with only bass and drums, as well as low frequency manipulations and violins making an appearance about half way into this one monstrous 45 min long track.

My feeble mind is separating this work by Brittany McConnell and Blake Green (who reside in the remote location outside of Boise, Idaho) into roughly three parts-movements. At first, we have the climbing wave of distortion periodically crushing, almost in relief, releasing lower sonic frequencies and waves of flickering cymbals. Throughout all this the melody is there, only it is crawling somewhere so deep and so slowly, you have to make an effort to uncover its inevitable tidal wave. Later, things climb deeper, if that was possible, into a crusty dungeon, from which eventually violins pull out this giant, turning the track into one pensive crusher, which is both classical music and funeral doom in approach. Regardless of the description you pick, in repeating its violin motions, She Hid Behind Her Veil … will suck the joy of life out of you until the last dying vibrating detuned violin melodies disappear.

SunnO))) comparisons clearly can be made, but She Hid Behind Her Veil … is more than pure amplifier worship. A few other reference points which came to mind are Asunder and Nadja, but the latter is electrically sizzling drone, while Pussygutt on this album ventures into the funeral drone territory, if there is such a thing. If not, well, I just invented a genre.

This foreboding extreme music is obviously not for everybody, but if you think today is the last day on Earth and the sun will not rise tomorrow, sample She Hid Behind Her Veil … as this requiem will provide you with both soothing and crushing way on the way to the void.

Added the Stormcrow / Mass Grave split LP to the store. 2 killer, heavy as shit new tracks from the mighty Stormcrow!

Two new releases NOW AVAILABLE at 20buckspin.com

PUSSYGUTT – SHE HID BEHIND HER VEIL CD

Pussygutt consists of Brittany McConnell on bass and Blake Green on drums. The couple, both multi-instrumentalists, reside in the rural landscape outside of Boise, Idaho, where they create their dark, foreboding sounds away from the chaos of America’s large cities. Pussygutt takes many forms. Often in the live environment they add a guitarist and pummel through a set of blistering, Melvins-style low-end heaviness at impossibly high volumes. Other times they manifest as a dark, string-based doom duo. And occasionally, the pair collaborates with the experimental noise project A Story of Rats, as they do when performing material from their Sea of Sand double-LP debut.

Pussygutt’s new album, She Hid Behind Her Veil…, is comprised of a single track over 45 minutes in length. The sound occupies a dense space where the heavy, metallic drone sound of Black Boned Angel intersects with the minimalist string arrangements of Phillip Glass and the more ambient doom tendencies of Japan’s Corrupted. With its use of violin textures, the album sounds as much like a classical movement as an art-doom LP. Draped in a cloak of gothic black doom ambiance and eerie, unsettling moods, She Hid Behind Her Veil… is an apparition of ghostly vision from one of America’s more isolated environments.

Comes in a matte varnish digipak and includes 12 page booklet of photography and literary accompaniment.

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE – FIELDS / CHURCH OF BROKEN GLASS 2XLP

The theater of San Francisco’s Hammers of Misfortune return to the stage again with its latest performance piece, Fields / Church of Broken Glass. Master auteur John Cobbett (also of the blackened Ludicra) delivers a work specifically written for the double-vinyl format. Two distinct and separate albums, each with its own theme and aesthetic, joined at the spine. And with the its progressive and overtly ’70s sound, it recalls a time when the double-vinyl format meant a unique dual thematic experience rather than a single album that was simply too long for two sides.

On Fields / Church of Broken Glass, Hammers of Misfortune continue with the political allegories and metaphors that were featured prominently on their previous LP, The Locust Years. As with all aspects of the band, a great deal of care was taken with the lyrical presentation of the album, avoiding the usual progressive and metal cliches. The sound goes further into the vintage sound of 1970s space travelers like Hawkwind, and the organ/keyboard/piano elements and female vocals feature more prominently then ever. Additionally, new singer Patrick Goodwin ably fills previous lead vocalist Mike Scalzi’s large shoes with a voice perfectly suited to the warmer, analog vibe of the newer songs.

A new Hammers of Misfortune record is always an event for the band’s vast worldwide following. Only one previous Hammers LP has actually been pressed to vinyl, and with the arrival of Fields / Church of Broken Glass on the deluxe double-LP format, the band is sure to sate the appetite of their vinyl-starved fans around the globe and attract additional converts to their theater of the politically absurd.

The colored vinyl edition was released in the amount of 100 copies, 20 of which were given to the band.

From a New Zealand zine:

1. First of all, who’s in the band and who plays what…
line up: Carroll. Edgar. King. Nolan

2. What would you say the influences are on this band whether it be music or other… ?
music:
· Autopsy
· Heresy
· Discharge
· SOB
· Grief
· Citizens Arrest

Other:
· Grigori Rasputin
· Baader Meinhof
· The Wickerman
· Spider Baby
· Thelema
· Throbbing Gristle

3. What releases have you made and what else do you have coming up?
· Three demos, first one pressed on to 7″ in 2007
· Come Friendly Bombs 7″
· Turn Illness Into a Weapon LP/ CD
· Split LPs with Warzone Womyn, Hatred Surge and Iron Lung
· Primitive LP/ CD

Coming up we have split 7″s with Wadge, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Shank, a collaboration LP with Bastard Noise, a noise remix of Primitive, a partial discography CD, possibly another 7″ or two.

4. Is there any reason that the song “The Endless Blockade” has appeared on all of your releases so far?
It’s on most of our releases, though not all. It’s basically in tribute to SOB but it’s also a nod to publically recognising traditions within this genre and strength being within the original foundations rather than experimentation for experimentations sake. It’s basically a ritual to keep us grounded in our roots.

5. What bands, whether they be current or old bands do you feel deserve more recognition? (feel free to list heaps)
Hard to say accurately who deserves more recognition in this day and age with the relative ease of access of the entire history of punk, hardcore, grindcore and what have you. It seems like anyone who released a demo in the 1980s of at least minor merit has someone flying the flag for them these days.

Of old bands i don’t feel Aspirin Feast ever got their due, Unruled from Montreal seem to be a forgotten classic and whilst hardly unrecognised i think bands like Svart Parad and No Security tend to get a little overlooked when people discuss the old Swedish scene.

For current less well known bands i really like The Process from the UK, SFN from Wisconsin, Grinding Halt from the Netherlands and Cold War from Germany

6. Besides music what else are members of the band into?
Nothing too earth shatteringly obscure i guess. Amongst the four of us you’ll find passions for motorbikes, barbecues, horror films, Gnosticism and a whole slew of other things anyone else is into on some level.

7. I found your song “Don’t Voice Your Opinion” quite interesting. When alot of punk/hardcore etc. bands sort of say ‘voice your opinion’ what are your reasons behind this song?
In the past a lot of bands have urged people to voice their opinions and this was probably the right thing to do at the time. As it stands currently we’re living in an age utterly saturated with information and commentary on that information.

Everyone has something to say these days and by god they’re going to shout it as loud as they can. Everyone’s absolutely convinced that they’re special and worth paying attention to. Everyone thinks their wit knows no bounds, their knowledge is second to none, they represent the pinnacle of moral development and their taste is impeccable.

“wah, wah, wah listen to me” they all seem to cry en masse. A parent can’t even post a video of their child learning to walk on youtube (though really, why would you even bother in the first place?) without hundreds of other people feeling they have to comment.

Just as being able to buy 43 different types of frozen pizza does not represent freedom of choice, everyone being afforded the opportunity to vent their spleen does not equate to a valid exchange of ideas.

You say more by saying less in this era. You say more by picking your moment.

Punk is a stellar example. We went from a politicised genre that was initially born out of bored teenage angst to politics being reduced to all the vibrancy of a shopping list as it became an expectation and cliché.

Songs about people on the corporate ladder? Who on the corporate ladder is even going to hear this shit and why would they care anyway? And why would a 22 year old university drop out even dare to have an opinion on life on the corporate ladder?

8. Are there any sort of themes to the band that you feel people should know? Or is it pretty straight forward listening to the music and lyrics?
We change constantly and we’re becoming more focused regarding themes. Primitive almost has an anti-Enlightenment period angle to it (though this is not necessarily our own personal stance)

9. Any big plans for the band?
Not really, we just do this band because it feels right. We’re not really interested in big plans or other people’s expectations. We take it as it comes

10. Ever plan to come to New Zealand?
Never say never but it’s unlikely.
11. If people wish to contact the band, find more out about the band, or get some music etc. where would be the best place to look?
If people want to buy music they should bug labels like Sound Pollution, 625, 20 Buck Spin, Fatalist, Schizophrenic etc. Most of our in print releases are available from the large DIY distributers out there. If people just want to download it then I’m sure you can find our stuff on a bunch of different blogs for free.

For contact we’re usually reachable at theendlessblockade@gmail.com