The OFFENDERS were formed in 1978 in Killeen, and after relocating to Austin in 1980, became known worldwide as one of the premiere hardcore bands out of the Lone Star state. Raw and rabid but more than proficient in the delivery of their musical rebellion — alongside friends and scenemates D.R.I. and M.D.C. — OFFENDERS completely ruled the hardcore scene throughout the infamous Reagan-era. Southern Lord is honored to present all the band’s official recordings harnessed in a weighty 2xLP collection, with the audio fully boosted for this release courtesy of Audiosiege. Confirmed for parole on March 18th, the reissue features the band’s two full-length albums — Endless Struggle and We Must Rebel, as well as the I Hate Myself / Bad Times 7″ — fitted to two 180-gram slabs of black wax, housed in a gatefold jacket with the original covers and inserts faithfully replicated.
Over recent years, two of the original OFFENDERS – guitarist Anthony Johnson and bassist Mikey Offender — have passed away, making these reborn recordings a tribute to the fallen brothers from surviving members, drummer Pat Doyle and vocalist JJ Jacobson. In honor of the band’s legacy, Doyle and Jacobson have recruited Jeff Martin (Buzzcrusher) on guitar and Craig Merritt (World Burns to Death) on bass, and have already booked a March performance celebrating re-release of their works. More shows are being confirmed with the rebuilt lineup and will be announced in the weeks ahead.
Anthony Johnson, a.k.a. Tony Offender, was a founding member of the OFFENDERS. Inspired by the hardest rock the ’70s offered, Tony took it to the next level with his high-speed style of shredding on the guitar. Following the disbanding of the OFFENDERS in 1986, Tony continued to play in bands until until he lost a long battle to lung cancer in 2012. Tony was also a dedicated Civil War re-enactor and member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, Past Commander of Camp #59.
Rickenbacker-raging Mikey “Offender” Donaldson and also performed with MDC regularly in the early 80s, in addition to laying down the bass on MDC’s Millions of Dead Cops and DRI’s Dealing With It. After the demise of the OFFENDERS, Mikey relocated to San Francisco to play and record with Gary Floyd (Dicks) in Sister Double Happiness, and in recent years recorded with MDC again, among other live and studio actions. He died in his sleep from unknown causes in a Barcelona squat in 2007.
JJ Jacobson performed with M.D.C. and provided vocals for their seminal Millions Of Dead Cops LP. Pat Doyle continues to lay down percussive havoc with Austin metallurgists, Ignitor.
The band consists of Stephen McBean (Black Mountain) on guitar, Austin Barber (Saviours) on bass, Sam James Velde (Night Horse) on vocals and Flo Schanze on drums. Obliterations came together in a mere two rehearsals in December 2012. Stephen McBean & Austin Barber both individually relocated to Los Angeles, CA and continued to cross paths with friend Sam James Velde. The three had known each other for years continually intersecting over various tours, etc. All three of em quickly discussing similar music tastes reaching from the obvious hardcore and punk to obscure psych or even early 80s british shoegaze. The three decided to jam on a whim one Saturday after talking about the idea over beers at divvy LA watering hole. Two rehearsals later they had 4 songs completed. They recorded them quickly before their other respective bands left on winter tours, without any real intent. The results were inspiring. Sam was introduced to Flo through the folks in OFF!, in where they implied “We have a good feeling about this guy”. Flo visited Los Angeles with the intent to join a “punk band”. Flo both jammed with Sam and Stephen on separate occasions. Stephen auditioned Flo for his alter ego side project ‘Pink Mountaintops’ but instead jammed Void and Black Flag covers for 3 hours. The next thing they all knew they had the right fit for a new band called “Obliterations”.
Obliterations plays heavy on classic punk and hardcore like every era of Black Flag, Die Kruezen, Born Against or Poison Idea. But the band is quick to reference Alice Cooper, Spacemen 3, The Stooges or The Laughing Hyenas as inspiration. The blueprint isn’t the point here, it’s the results. The sound is abrasive and raw, driving and aggressive, yet catchy? Obliterations have no grand scheme other than to play as much as possible, anywhere and everywhere. The band has already created a small frenzy in their home base of California with a chaotic live show, and have shared the stage with Trash Talk, Black Breath, Death, Mammoth Grinder and more.
The band released it’s debut 4 song 7″ inch EP on Outer Battery Records (Dinosaur Jr. OFF!, Witch) in October of 2013. Hot on its heels, the band has a new 4 song EP titled “The Hole” coming out on January 14th via the Volcom Entertainment Vinyl Club (St. Vitus, High On Fire, The Shrine). They havejust recoded their debut full length for Southern Lord this past March at Dave Grohl’s ‘Studio 606’ (Bl’ast!, COC, etc) with Chris Owens (Young Widows, Coliseum), mixed by Kurt Ballou (High On Fire, Converge, Black Breath) set for a Fall 2014 release.
Obliterations are:
Sam James Velde (Vocals), Austin Barber (Bass), Stephen McBean (Guitar) and Flo Schanze (Drums).
Noothgrush return with their first studio recording since 1998, and the disdain, the disgust… It hasn’t faded one bit. Their gruesome sludge is rooted in the real life, in the misery, hatred and despair of humanity – there are no traces of fantasy or psychedelic moments of horror movie nostalgia in this amoral cut of agonising doom. With Dino Somesse, the man who personified anguish in 90’s crust sludge golden calves Dystopia, joining the band on vocals, this is a rare ignition of the scum-ridden sludge sound which America haemorrhaged during the last decade of the millennium. Noothgrush’s side of the split opens with crawling, pained riffs punctuated with sparse percussion, and then the weight of the world comes down. Rasping vocals, disturbing samples, and songs which grab you by the throat and open your eyes to mad-made hell.
NIGHTFELL unites Portland, Oregon musicians Todd Burdette (Tragedy, Warcry, His Hero is Gone) and Tim Call (Aldebaran/Mournful Congregation). The Living Ever Mourn is the debut full-length born of this union of notable extreme music perpetrators, rending over forty minutes of purely epic metal, bridging morose heaviness with melodic destruction. Envisioned and executed in a period of grief, delirium and loss of life, the atmosphere and lyrics mirror the ensuing emptiness while simultaneously embracing the dichotomous power in the unwavering and eternal force of Death.
Southern Californias’ Nails was formed in December 2007 by Todd Jones (ex-Terror) along with the help of Taylor Young (Cremetorium), and John Gianelli. Nails is beyond brutality. Filthy, vicious and raw. Imagine a cross between the good Amrep bands of the nineties (Helmet, Hammerhead, Today is The Day, Unsane) and Cro-Mags Age of Quarrel riffage played at breakneck speeds.
Their epic battle cry: “Unsilent Death” was recorded during the cold winter of 2009 at Kurt Ballou’s (Converge, Trap Them, Disfear, Black Breath) Godcity Recording Studio. The cd version of the “Unsilent Death” album was originally released in very limited quantities by Six Feet Under records. The LP version was self released by the band on Todds’ Streetcleaner label and quickly sold through the 1000 piece pressing. Southern Lord is extremely honored to pick up the torch of this album and let it burn brightly through many more countless battles!
Swedish crustpunk horde Martyrdöd are among the newest crop of heavy, brutal, metallic crust-influenced bands to join the Southern Lord cult. In a scene overabundant with clones of the founding/front running acts of the genre, Martyrdöd manage to remain heavily unique in their filth-ridden approach. While undeniably influenced by acts like Anticimex, Bathory, and Totalitär, the band intertwines their crust roots with sinister, haunting soundscapes and unique blackened riff attacks.
“Paranoia” was recorded at the infamous Studio Fredman (At The Gates, Amon Amarth, Opeth) by Fredrik Nordström in the dead of a chilling Swedish winter! The riffs are raw and powerful, with haunting melodies colliding with a storm of raw sonic shrapnel. Both Martyrdöd guitarists are veterans of the Swedish metal scene also playing in: Skitsystem, Agrimonia, Miasmal etc.
The first 10 years of Magma were celebrated on three memorable evenings in June 1980 at the Olympia theatre in Paris. This retrospective, reuniting most of the musicians who had performed in the group, was issued as two albums, Retrospektïẁ 1 / 2 (double) and Retrospektïẁ 3 (single). Issued first, Retrospektïẁ 3 comprises 3 titles Retrovision, a long piece in the style of the album Attahk, in which the vocalists Stella Vander, Guy Khalifa and Maria Popkiewicz turn in a blazing performance over a driving rhythm section; a supercharged version of Hhai, in which the trio Lockwood / Paganotti / Widemann works miracles; and finally La Dawotsin, where, in a more muted register, the voice of Christian Vander triumphs through its mastery and profound sensibility.
Recorded, like Retrospektïẁ 3, during the soirees at Olympia in June 1980, Retrospektïẁ 1 & 2 is an absolutely fundamental album in which Theusz Hamtaahk, the first movement of the trilogy of the same name, is presented for the first time. The second and third movements, Wurdah Itah and Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh, were of course already well known. Although played in concert since 1974, Christian Vander had waited for years before recording it for posterity as he wanted every note to be as beautiful, magical, essential and definitive as possible. It is with the same respect for his music that he releases here the most successful version of Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh, considered outstanding on account of two incredible improvisations from Bernard Paganotti and Didier Lockwood. Klaus Blasquiz, who did not perform on Retrospektïẁ 3, is the lead vocalist on this version – and justifiably so, since he was indeed the Magma singer who first sang these two masterworks.
There’s no doubt about it, Magma have left a legacy of music that defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, operating instead in a realm of their own creation. Southern Lord looks forward to being part of their ever-evolving story…
LIKE RATS feature members of Chicago power-violence legends WEEKEND NACHOS. This compact disc compiles every filthy fucking note they have ever recorded. Most importantly it features their brand new album “II”. NACHOS have spawned a different beast with LIKE RATS. The focus of the beatdown is heavily death metal influenced with generous helpings of caveman swing. Think of the old school slaughter of Celtic Frost, & Obituary with the modern ass kicking of Nails, Black Breath etc..
Riff worshiping posers need not apply.
