BUILT UPON FRUSTRATION: Discography

Built Upon Frustration started off in Greensburg, PA in 1997 releasing the Cast The First Stone 4 song demo which was later followed up by the Low Life Crew full length on the infamous Da' Core Records out of Pittsburgh, PA. After playing out for a year or two following the release of the full length, the band technically broke up leaving guitarist Derek "Diggums" Kovacs to join Pittsburgh powerhouses No Retreat. The band laid dormant for roughly four years until Diggums decided to team up with original Built Upon Frustration vocalist Jason Hominsky and former Spudmonsters and Section 315 guitarist, Eric Klinger. This is when things got REALLY good, in my eyes.

I specifically remember whenever I got my hands on the two song demo they did when first getting back together in 2001. I studied Birthrights and Nothing and had them memorized by the end of the night. It has been a while since a band of this stature had come out of Pittsburgh, so the feeling of excitement was rather mutual amongst everyone going to shows in the area at the time. Luckily for me (and I suppose whoever is downloading this as well) I was putting together a compilation at the time entitled Set An Emo Kid On Fire (chock full of the heaviest bands I knew at the time) in which Built Upon Frustration gave me three extra demo tracks to pick from that the rest of the world didn't get to hear ... until now.

I promised I wouldn't let these songs slip, but I figure 8 years after the fact that its OK to let others in on the fun. All of the songs ended up being re-recorded for the monumental full length that was Resurrected. The album also featured the drumming of local legend Keith Hurka which put the album above and beyond the demo tracks which featured a rather inconspicuous drum machine.

Later on, vocalist Jason Hominsky quit the band due to the acquisition of a family life. The band persevered with the addition of vocalist Joe Bonnadio for a brief tenure before the band opted to go at it as a four-piece to feature the vocals of guitarist Eric Klinger. Somewhere in that time frame original drummer Keith Hurka also stepped down and was replaced by Mike Papillo of Fight Machine. All things considered, the second album turned out to be quite good in its own right.

Before leaving the band, original vocalist Jason Hominsky tracked two songs which would later appear on the Book Of Mourning full length disc. Also, during his short tenure in the band, vocalist Joe Bonnadio tracked these same two songs as well as two others in which appeared on the second full length. Both demo sessions were rather hard to come by as not many discs were passed out due to continual departures of both vocalists. Considering I attended every Built Upon Frustration show (minus a show in Columbus and an over 21 show when I had yet to reach that age), I managed to obtain copies of both sessions.

The group regretfully disbanded not longer after the release of The Book Of Mourning leaving many clamoring for a reunion show which will presumably never happen for more than a dozen reasons.

Resurrected is the first album I throw into the stereo whenever extremely shitty things happen in my life and I have no way to deal with it other than music. There are even a few tracks on The Book Of Mourning where Built Upon Frustration reminds me of their ability to be the angriest band of all time. There was supposedly a third album recorded for pre-production that never saw the light of day. Hopefully one day these tracks will see an unofficial release via the Path To Misery blog.

DOWNLOAD: The Demos
DOWNLOAD: Low Life Crew
DOWNLOAD: Resurrected
DOWNLOAD: The Book Of Mourning

A DEATH FOR EVERY SIN

This is A Death For Every Sin's original demo and debut EP. I am only including the demo due to its rarity for the potential collectors out there. It is honestly not that good. The best thing I could possibly say about it is that it KIND OF reminds me of Hatebreed's Under The Knife EP due to every song sounding like its from a different session from the others. The EP, on the other hand, is pure perfection.

Somehow crafting the most evil sounding recording known to man (I think I also said this about killtheslavemaster) while barely being able to play their instruments, A Death For Every Sin reached their peak with this EP. The band appears to take influence simultaneously from All Out War and Integrity, all while sounding harsher than both bands combined. Evil-sounding vocals layed atop down-tuned chug sessions that sometimes last over a minute make for a good listen to my ears. Also, there is something about the drumming on this album that always kept my interest. Random bursts of double kick during the mid-paced, half-note punk beats somehow manage to be both in and out of time simultaneously. I've yet to hear the drumming on this album being replicated by anyone.

Everything about this band after this EP was a slight disappointment. They did a full length for Eulogy/Alveran Recordings which offered not much more than stolen Hatebreed and Merauder riffs. The band broke up soon after with all of the members going on to taking part in a gimmicky NYHC band called Final Word. This project also soon ended due to the departure of drummer, Ben, who joined Throwdown just in time to thrash the skins for the Venom & Tears album.

In closing, there's only 6 songs on the actual EP, but I added on an extra track from a rare Montreal Hardcore comp that was recorded during the same session entitled "Utopia's Demise". Hard.

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ANTENNACLE

Antennacle is a noise collaboration project between Eric Wood (Man Is The Bastard), Nathan Martin (Creation Is Crucifixion), and Rick Gribenas. While all three have had their fair share of solo noise projects in the past, something about this collaboration strikes me differently than any of their previous endeavors.

I know that a lot of people insist that noise is noise is noise, and while I would actually have to agree for the most part, I find this project to be slightly more fascinating than other noise projects I've tuned in to. Being lucky enough to witness this collaboration live this past summer, I found a new interest in the genre.

Admittedly, I can't seem to find the same pleasure in listening to noise projects as I would an aggressive hardcore album or poppy boy band number, but there is a sort of attraction that I don't receive from any other style of "music" amongst the noise genre. I think what draws my attention to this artform is the atmosphere in which one can create through the manipulation of noise; a sort of emotional roller coaster. The mood created at certain shows through certain artists are something I cherish as an emotion that would not otherwise be replicated in a normal day-to-day setting. Antennacle managed to do so to a higher degree than any other outfit that I have experienced to this point, and that is why I bring them to you.

This track is taken from the No Skull Left Unturned "box set" compilation that I picked up at that show. Featuring a rather intense packaging with 3 discs worth of recorded material amongst several mini-zines and extras, a solitary Mp3 can not do it any sort of justice. I highly recommend picking this up if this track sparks your interest, or head over to the Antennacle page at MySpace. I should also note that the following description was taken from their MySpace page as there's no chance in hell that I could begin to paraphrase the philosophy behind the band.

"Antennacle examines the concept of sound as a material with basic structural properties that can be manipulated in space and time. The members of Antennacle exist in distinct separate geographic locations and create sound both as a concise unit that inhabits the same ‘space.’ The ‘space’ is initiated and communicated through cables, airwaves, or a shared physical environment.

Antennacle engages with its audience by manipulating these structural properties to create a visceral environment, which is meant to bring awareness of each individual’s location within that space as well as the location of each member. Every object, wall, and human becomes a tentacle and an antenna capable or transmitting and receiving sound.

Antennacle is acutely aware of sound’s potential to behave in unique ways according to the demands, desires, and situations of each space. The aleatoric contributions of participants and observers, be they directly present or indirect tele-present actuators, augments each performance and recording with contextual richness."

DOWNLOAD - Antennacle

DEVILINSIDE: Discography

Without knowing any details, I can at least say for sure through reading several interviews from both camps that the break-up of Disembodied was far from an amicable one. Former Disembodied guitarist Tony Byron, who formed Devilinside, had made it very clear in the several interviews I tracked down about his dissatisfaction with his role within Disembodied; once even going as far to say "Disembodied was always a sinking ship in my opinion, and I think the music we are doing in Devilinside is miles ahead of Disembodied’s". Often citing his minimalized role in the writing process of Disembodied, Byron accredited the formation of Devilinside to his urge to express his own creative endeavors; going so far to admitting to writing tracks for Devilinside with Disembodied drummer Joel even before his departure of the band.

While Disembodied is the easiest comparison to make in the case of Devilinside, there are also strong influences shining through from metal heavyweights such as Sepultura, Crowbar, Entombed, and Machine Head. Unbelievably heavy down-tuned riffs strung together with dissonance and depressing lyrics dealing with inner turmoil make up these two albums.

Included in the download is their original demo from 2002 which actually featured Aaron from Disembodied on vocals. I had been looking for this ever since the band took down the download links off of their Geocities site in 2002 (ha). Not sure what the circumstances leading up to his departure were, but thanks to Ivo at www.storminside.net ... we now can all enjoy this rare demo session.

Also included is their Prelude EP which was put out as an almost demo/promotional release for the far-superior full length album, Volume One. Despite the large amount of promotion thrown behind this album, the band never managed to attain the recognition it seemingly was expected to get. The notoriously misguided, and now-defunct, Abacus Records was behind this project; and I think its safe to assume the "failure" of the band could also be attributed to this unfortunate excuse for a label.

Towards the end of their stint, the band was forced to change their name to Horror due to a pending lawsuit placed against them from Intel for the "obvious trademark infringement" of the ever-popular slogan, Intel Inside. The band also apparently struggled with member issues throughout its existence. Going through three vocalist within the final months of the project, as well as several drummers and second guitarists, the break-up should not have come as a surprise.

Somewhat disappointing is the fact that the band apparently had 10 tracks ready for their next full length which regretfully never saw the light of day. Devilinside would also make it quite clear towards the end of their career that they were NOT, in fact, a nu-metal band. While I might disagree personally, I urge you to be the judge yourself. Such a thin line between nu-metal and perfection ... perhaps its possible to attain both simultaneously.

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HIS HERO IS GONE: The Plot Sickens

There's a reason this band is jocked ten years after their break-up. Listen for yourself ... more than hype.

The Plot Sickens is their final album. The CD version (which is what I ripped) contains the 11 tracks from the LP, the 6 songs from their Fool's Gold 7", four compilation tracks, and a 15 minute live set which kind of gives me chills when I sit down and process the intensity that comes through on the recording.

Prior to this release and their eventual disbanding, they also released two LPs, a 7" (The Dead Of Night In Eight Movements), and a demo in 1994. Go find them.
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FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE: Discography

There was this brief time span when beatdown hardcore was fun. Social awareness and slightly better musicianship came to the foreground amongst certain bands. Fear For Your Life was a good example of this.

Starting around 2003 in the western Massachusettes area, FFYL put out a relatively primitive sounding demo. While the songs themselves were quite awesome, the recording did not hold its own weight. Two of those three songs ended up being re-recorded for their 2004 demo, in which I am posting today. While listening to this demo, please keep in mind that the death metal-influenced slam parts were not even close to being overdone to the point in which they are today. The lyrics were also somewhat refreshing within this genre at the time as well. Having a band with socially-conscious lyrics within a style of music who had previously only ever offered songs of betrayal and loyalty was pretty cool, in my book. Offering lightning-fast riffs (both thrash and grind) amongst their down-tuned, sludgey, "slam parts", Fear For Your Life still remains relevant in my mind to this day.



As shown in this video, things were fun at the time. A good balance was happening at the time as far as having fun and venting aggression goes. Anyone who attended shows at The Mr Roboto Project during this era (2002-2005) can attest to this as reactions would range anywhere from push pits to kung-fu to impromptu studio wrestling matches. If this band were to play a show today, one can only imagine the type of posturing that would be prevalent amongst the crowd. I became disinterested whenever the thug mentality made its way back into the genre (aka whenever suburban kids discovered the concept of being in a crew through the internet).

Claim to fame: I created the term "beatdown hardcore". Ask anyone from the area about some of my infamous arguments with kids about the difference between "breakdowns" and "beatdowns" ... borderline infamous. A lot of shitty bands owe me royalties.
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