PALEHORSE: Discography

I recently realized that there seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding the band Palehorse. Thinking back, I was barely familiar with their releases myself. I had the pleasure of booking and seeing the band more often than most can say. You see, Palehorse was always a considerably unorganized band. While I did actually get them down here multiple times, I had them booked five or six times, I think; with them showing up for maybe half of those. The same confusion carried over with their releases. I'll try to sum it up as best as possible.

I initially got their demo CD from my friends in Swear To God back in 2003. I was blown away instantly whenever the demo kicked off with the infamous track Mayday. Amongst The Flock and Forty Eight, the successor tracks, did not let up in the slightest. Luckily for me, it wasn't much longer that I'd have to wait to see this band. Coming down from CT along with Swear To God, Palehorse brought one of the most intense sets of their career in the small town of Charleroi, PA. It was from then on that I would become obsessed with this act and would continue to bring them to Pittsburgh at every opportunity possible.

Apparently only a very small quantity of this demo CD-R was ever produced. Years down the road (after their full length was out), it would be pressed to a 7" record by Get IG! Records. No clue how many were made, but I had some LIMITED COVER out of 25. No one seems to know about this one, so yeah ... your guess is as good as mine.

It wasn't long after the release of their demo, however, that the band released their debut EP entitled Secrets Within Secrets on Martyr Records. The recording on this record remains to be topped by any of their other releases in my opinion. Regretfully for the band (and the hardcore scene in general) there was something along the lines of a "buy out" of Martyr Records by some larger label. I don't remember the details other than knowing that Dave from Palehorse rambled for an hour about it and I didn't understand a word of what he was saying. Either way, this EP never really received the distribution or attention that it deserved. The intro rings of mid-tempo, mid-nineties hardcore along the lines of Outspoken or Mean Season. It is not long after, however, that the band once again kicks off with the effort with Mayday. The recording sounds even better than the demo version. The band carries on the intensity throughout the release and leaves you wishing it was more than a five song effort.

The band recorded another set of three songs for a split release. I'm not sure which of the releases was the original intent, but the same three songs appeared on splits with both Under One Flag and Colin Of Arabia. While neither band holds a candle to Palehorse, both releases are both having due to their different formats (UOF on vinyl, COA on CD). I remember the split with Under One Flag being delayed well over a year, which makes me think it was the original intention. This recording session is the only one to feature possibly their best track, Martial Law. Actually, picking a favorite Palehorse track is next to impossible, I might just be partial to Martial Law considering it contains THE breakdown from my old band's demo, haha.

Following the release of the Colin Of Arabia split, Bridge 9 Records decided to hold onto Palehorse for a full length. For whatever reason, some of the best tracks were never re-recorded for their debut full length (most notably Martial Law and Broken Cross). Nonetheless, the album contains a few gems of its own. While I am not personally a fan of the recording of the full length, the song quality remains flawless. Witch Hunt starts off with one of the most unique and flawless drum parts of all hardcore time.

Rumor has it that Palehorse has started playing again intermittently. They have played several benefit shows in Connecticut but have yet to traveled outside of their hometown. I'm hoping that the band decides to reform as a fully functioning unit.

DOWNLOAD THE PALEHORSE DISCOGRAPHY

MUSHMOUTH: Discography

As you may already know if you are a follower of the blog, I did a write-up on Mushmouth for the blog several months ago. I was unhappy with the post for several reasons; mainly due to a lack of completion and a serious case of writer's block. Thanks to the efforts of Henrik at the Bring Honour Or Walk Away blog combined with my recent USB turntable acquisition, I can now post up a full Mushmouth discography. Here we go again...

For whatever reason, Mushmouth seemed to remain relatively unknown outside of the Pennsylvania Hardcore scene during the tenure of the band. While the lack of label support could definitely be argued, there have been bands represented by much smaller labels who have managed to attain attention for themselves while writing music that doesn't even touch what Mushmouth was putting out. Mushmouth's lack of notoriety certainly was not due to a lack of talent, sincerity or any other reasons that usually keeps a band unknown. Whatever it was, Mushmouth/Out To Win are arguably one of the most underated hardcore bands of all time.

Out To Win was formed under the name Mushmouth during the Summer of 1995 in Reading, PA. After gaining a loyal following in the regional area, Mushmouth released a demo entitled "Look Ahead" and began playing shows all over the Northeast. Guitarist Chris Mahmood was also in charge of vocals on this debut demo which was apparently recorded as a three piece. Three of the five tracks were featured on the infamous East Coast Assault Volume 2 compilation put out by Too Damn Hype. You can check out a blog on this compilation posted by Edwin on the Stuck In The Past blog HERE. This compilation also featured early tracks from All Out War, Hatebreed, Indecision, Comin Correct and Stigmata amongst many others.


Things were continuing to look up for Mushmouth with the recording of their second demo, "Thick As Thieves". They once again returned to Gamut Recording Studios in Latrobe, PA which was responsible for the recording of the infamous Passover/No Retreat split as well as the equally legendary Pensive/Seasons In The Field split. The second recording effort saw bassist Dave moving to vocal duties as well as the addition of a second guitarist named Mike. While I am quite a fan of both of these earliest demos, it wouldn't be until their next release, a 1997 Demo, that Mushmouth would truly come into their own with both a new line-up and sound.

It was with the release of this 1997 Demo that Mushmouth added what would become the signature vocals of one Chris Henzel. The rage heard within these vocals are apparent even through the low quality cassette rips in which you'll be hearing this through. Three of the six tracks (Abrasion, Uncertain & Steppin' Out) would go on to be re-recorded for their monumental debut full length entitled Out To Win. This recording session revealed a sense of bitterness that fails to develop on some of the most produced albums. In a similar fashion to their earliest demos, the band lent two of their 1997 demo tracks, "False Belief" & "Uncertain", to the infamous Call For Unity compilation put out by Rick Ta Life in 1997. Another two tracks (Abrasion & My World) would make their way onto a split 7" with Livin' Proof.

The debut album, Out To Win (which would later become the band's moniker), was preceded by a split 7" release with Skarhead featuring a preview track entitled Fearless. When the album was finally released, it contained 11 tracks of pure hostility which far surpassed the efforts of all three demos combined. Produced by AJ Novello of Leeway, the album had a feeling of both relentless pessimism and boundless rage. Not to be outdone, the band successfully followed up their debut full length with a fitting sophomore album entitled Lift The Curse. As with the all previous efforts, the album's lyrics tend to focus on hatred and disgust towards most people encountered in daily life. Songs of betrayal and revenge are in abundance. More ofter than not, said subject matter becomes quite mundane and over done in my eyes; not in Mushmouth's case. Vocalist Chris Henzel seethes a sort of genuine disgust that rings true, even throughout over two albums' worth of venting on the subject.

Somewhere in between the release of Lift The Curse in 2000 and the release of their follow up EP in 2002, the band decided to change their name to Out To Win due to the surprisingly high number of other bands using the name Mushmouth. Coinciding with the name change, the band released the Persist And Destroy EP. While still maintaining their sound, the band started to lean a bit more metallic with this release; at times being reminiscent of Arkangel's "Dead Man Walking" album. Being recorded at Trax East Studios in NJ and then mixed at Atomic Studios in NYC on top of that, the album was by far the group's most fierce sounding effort. While there were no guest vocals by James Ismean on this album (a first), Sal from Sworn Enemy contributed vocals which were more than sufficient. Ironically, the band also chose to re-record the track "Out To Win" from their "Out To Win" album released back when the band was still considered to be Mushmouth. I've included the Lift The Curse and Persist And Destroy albums together in the same upload as they are both equally necessary listening.

The band also released a final album before breaking up in 2007 entitled Beg For Life. I'm not uploading it due to the fact that its still readily available through Thorp Records. While I personally don't feel as though it is as strong of an album as any of the ones I have uploaded, it definitely contains two of their best and most original songs in the form of "Ghost Army" and the title track, "Beg For Life". Yes, James Ismean does guest vocals on this album ... and this time its about bringing the wrath of the lord down on your ass.

As previously stated, the band has regretfully parted ways with their final show taking place at the Earth Crisis reunion show at Sonar in Baltimore, MD in early 2007. The band is known, however, for their surprise sets of two or three songs whenever they manage to get to the same place at the same time. One can only hope the band decides to pull their efforts together once
more.

DOWNLOAD - Thick As Thieves, Look Ahead & 1997 Demos
DOWNLOAD - Out To Win
DOWNLOAD - Lift The Curse
DOWNLOAD - Persist & Destroy

PATH TO MISERY: Videos

Uploaded these a few weeks ago and realized I never put them on the blog. Here are a few samples from some of the shows we played right before going on hiatus.

Third World War & For The Innocent at The School - September 6th, 2008



Forget Me (Disembodied cover) at The School - September 6th, 2008



Victims Of Our Own Device & Relentless Persistence at The School on September 6th, 2008



Cheating Life in Auburn, NY on March 14th, 2009

200 NORTH & EVERY LIFE ON COLD KEEN

I was thinking about amazing splits after posting on the Pensive & Seasons In The Field split and remembered that I've been meaning to post this split between 200 North and Every Life On Cold Keen.

200 North is quite possibly THE most underrated band in hardcore history. They were from a small town in Maryland called Cumberland not too far from the PA border. I really don't even want to get started on how much I like this band because I know I won't be able to express myself as desired. Imagine if any of these melodic, supposedly passionate hardcore bands of today were interesting or genuine. There are only three songs on this split, but they're all perfect and should serve as motivation for you to check out their full length which came out on Da' Core Records out of Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure members are now in Circa Survive, Carry The Torch, Signs Of Hope, and Delilah Why. Better Days is probably one of my favorite songs of all time; takes me to some higher place or something.

You may or may not notice that the name Every Life On Cold Keen makes absolutely no sense. They're from Japan though, so its OK; plus their music does the talking for them. As with 200 North, the Shai Hulud influence is definitely there, but to an even stronger degree and moreso on the progressive metalcore side. There is even a song that ends with an entire section of piano. These guys had no problem experimenting and I love every bit of it. They are still together and have shortened the length of their name to Evylock, you can keep up with them at myspace.com/evylock

Their tracks were recorded in 2003 while 200 North's contribution was put to tape in 2000. Not sure how that works out, but if my memory serves me correct, 200 North simply donated some pre-production material for their full length to serve as a split with Every Life On Cold Keen on a Japanese label known as Falling Leaves Records.

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PENSIVE & SEASONS IN THE FIELD

Alright, so anyone who knows anything about me understands both my knowledge and obsession with 90s metalcore; especially that in which roots from western Pennsylvania. For whatever reason, it was only yesterday that I got my hands on this monumental release. I am quite ashamed that I had never gotten my hands on this earlier; especially considering I own every other release on the often-ignored Akeldama Records out of Michigan. Either way, I finally got my copy of the Pensive & Seasons In The Field split and I feel a bit more fulfilled as a human being considering.

While I was fully aware of the respective legacies of said bands and knew I would be very into their musical undertakings, I never would have guessed to what extent. I'm talking better than Zao and better than The Juliana Theory here, people. In case anyone is not familiar with the names I've been tossing around, I'll give a bit of history. Pensive featured Brett Detar, Chad Monticue, Martin Lunn, and Joshua Walters. Brett Detar was responsible for Where Blood And Fire Brings Rest ... at the very least, the catchy guitar riffs of the albums. Along with Joshua Walters and Chad Monticue, he also started (and fronted) The Juliana Theory. Martin Lunn, a half of a decade later, would join Zao to fulfill bass duties. Seasons In The Field has an even larger connection to Zao as its members consisted of Daniel Weyandt, Russ Cogdell, Steven Peck, and Jason Keener. Daniel Weyandt and Russ Cogdell are obviously the members who took Zao into the next level of metalcore with their contributions that came in the form of Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest. Steven Peck would also join Zao around the same time as Martin Lunn (in 2004) to take the place of Jesse Smith on drums. To top things off, Joshua Walters (of Pensive) was supposedly going to be playing drums for Zao a year or so ago, but it never came to fruition for whatever reason. Enough about Zao, though ... this post is about Pensive & Seasons In The Field.

The first half of the split comes from Pensive in the form of six songs. This was a follow-up effort from their debut release, The Subtlety Of Silence which was released a year earlier. The pre-Juliana Theory mention gives you a pretty good idea what this sounds like. However, while there is definitely the hooks and catchiness of The Juliana Theory, there are also plenty of screamo-esque backing vocals matched with the occasional Blood And Fire styled metalcore riffs. While the last thing I want to do is paint these songs out to be "predictable" or anything close, it is the exact music you would expect coming from someone who would later go on to be in both The Juliana Theory and on Zao's Where Blood And Fire Brings Rest album. It makes sense, that is all.

The true infatuation I am developing with this album comes in the form of Seasons In The Field, however. To sum it up in a sentence, it sounds like kids who would eventually go on to write Where Blood And Fire Brings Rest while they were still worshiping Passover and ripping off Iggy from Abnegation's vocals. In fact, they even recorded in the same studio as Passover as admitted by Daniel on the Zao documentary DVD. Surprisingly, however, Daniel was merely playing bass on this recording while Jason Keener was handling the vocal duties. The true talent of the vocalist lays in his ability to simultaneously sound like Iggy from Abnegation while also sounding like Jack from Passover. I should mention that when I make these comparisons, I make them with the highest regard.

I really don't know how to sum up the perfection of this band. In the aforementioned DVD, the members seemingly minimize their efforts put forth during this era. Without any disrespect to the monumental works that they've accomplished with Zao ... Seasons In The Field kills all of it. I may be alone in this thinking, but I know of at least one other person who sees it my way.

Speaking of which, this entire post is dedicated to one Derek "Poop Toss" Camp. If it wasn't for his insistence on Seasons In The Field being the best metalcore band of all time (and consequentially his favorite band overall), I would have probably never spent the time that I did tracking this album down. His dedication to obscure, over-looked metalcore from the 90s rivals that of myself and I respect him just as much for that as I do his shit-scooping abilities.

Check this split out NOW. I will hopefully be collaborating with The Poop Crank to bring you demo material from both bands in the near future. Oh yeah, the layout for this album rules ... but you need to do your homework and track down a real copy to see that part.
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CLEARING AUTUMN SKIES: Discography

I used to review CDs for hardcorewebsite.net from like 2001-2002. Possibly the only decent CDs I ever got were the Irate and Through The Discipline EPs and some random disc from a band called Clearing Autumn Skies. All I ever knew of the band were that they were from California and sounded like a west coast take on earlier Candiria material (minus the jazz). I haven't listened to this EP in a few years. I recently pulled it out and was equally blown away as the first time I heard it back in 2002.

This is the definition of a criminally underrated band. I have yet to meet a single person who was even remotely familiar with this group. They put out a follow-up full length and later turned into Apiary (minus the drummer) who did a full length for Iron Clad Records. (Apiary has since turned into the band Early Graves and has somehow lost every single original member in the process.) These are both solid releases, but neither of them have been able to match up to this EP for some reason. There's just something about the recording of the original EP that the follow-ups fail to re-create in my fucked up head. I'm sure its nothing more than a personal inclination towards the first thing I had heard from them, but who can really

The music flows back and forth between the dreary acoustic instrumentation that went hand-in-hand with their earlier metalcore counterparts and the off-time, down-tuned Meshuggah-esque chugging in which the metalcore bands of today are still trying to perfect. As previously stated the band constantly breaks into Candiria styled riffing and percussion work reminiscent of their Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Surrealistic Madness albums without lifting any of their actual material. The vocals remind me of something that I can't put my finger on. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I initially uploaded the Apiary full length while it was unknowingly still in press. If you've downloaded it, I'm sure you loved it and should now go HERE to purchase it from Iron Clad Recordings.

Drummer John Lazarus has been playing with Stomacher since the end of Clearing Autumn Skies. Guitarist Mike McClatchey has three projects under the monikers Balcony, Lament Cityscape and The Conceal (which is possibly the heaviest thing I've heard in years). All of these projects are putting out some of the more interesting music I've heard in recent memory all across the musical spectrum

DOWNLOAD THE DISCOGRAPHY

MARTYR AD: The Human Condition In Twelve Fractions

Through recent conversations with some younger kids, I've realized that a lot of people are only aware of Martyr AD's "On Earth As It Is In Hell" album. With the internet playing the role that it does these days, its weird to think that there are still albums out there that remain void of tenure on iPods amongst the hardcore world. It makes you remember how much ahead of the the time Victory Records was in comparison to the likes of Ferret and Trustkill at the time as far as promotion and distribution goes.

The Human Condition In Twelve Fractions was Martyr AD's first effort as a band. These ex-Disembodied members went straight for the throat with a debut full length release. Unlike most full lengths, this one both deserves and has a reason to exist. Martyr AD can not be summed up in four-to-six tracks. A full length offering was in call and these guys stepped up to the plate with this release.

The album starts off with quite possibly the only fitting intro to the album; Failed Polygraph Examination. Immediately breaking into possibly the most chaotic sounding riff of my at-the-time 16 year old life, Broken Mouth had me hooked from my first listen. I specifically remember thinking "this sounds like The Great Southern Trendkill".

Seventyfive-Twentyfive, the third track on the album, was responsible for making me a lot of friends in Erie, PA. The second or third show I attended up there was the Martyr AD/Throwdown tour in late 2001; at which I was knocked-the-fuck-out during the break in the aforementioned song. I was out cold for the remainder of the song, but stood up and proceeded to mosh for the rest of the set; because I'm hard. Hell, I even tried moshing for Throwdown after but the venue told me I had to "cool it". HxC.

Martyr AD was also responsible for being the band to initially introduce me to The Mr Roboto Project. Somewhere early in the year 2001 was when I first was introduced to The Mr Roboto Project when I went to see Martyr AD and Burnt By The Sun. The venue altered my reality of what going to a show could be (there's no bouncers!?!?! you didn't have to leave smelling like smoke!?!?!) but that is another story for another day I suppose. Point being, had Martyr AD not written such a superior mosh album for its time, I would've been delayed finding out about Roboto for god knows how long (it was rare for the mosh to be present at Roboto back then). I specifically remember wanting to mosh the entire set, yet being too nervous to until the Martyr AD vocalist ran up to the wall and did some sort of kick off of it as though he was on a skateboard; knocking into me and in turn starting the first karate mosh that Roboto had probably ever seen.

As I eluded to earlier, Martyr AD was essentially a continuation of Disembodied after their break-up in 1999. Featuring guitarist Joel (guitar), Tara (bass), and Justin (drums) of their former band, Martyr AD was a furthering of the progression heard on the final Disembodied album. Looking back, the "Heretic" album serves as a perfect precursor to what would eventually be heard from Martyr AD. Its like listening to a 33 RPM Disembodied record at 45 RPM, but with the vocals somehow getting lower and meaner.

As much as I love Disembodied and everything about the band, Martyr AD was definitely an "improvement" on what Disembodied was doing as far as musicianship goes. The drums really got taken up a notch as did the vocals. Don't get me wrong, the lyrics and vocals of Disembodied are perfect in my eyes, however, some of the vocal techniques used by Michael James Fisketti on The Human Condition were considerably groundbreaking; especially for its time. The main reason that their follow-up album on Victory Records couldn't hold up to their debut was the departure of the drummer and vocalist who appeared on said debut. The riffing available on the follow-up is more than satisfactory, however, the vocals and drumming could never keep up the way that they did on the debut (sorry Holding On guys).

Listen to this album the whole way through - DOWNLOAD

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POST UPDATE - Stuck In The Past has posted up the definitive collection of Martyr AD demo material. The post includes pre-production for the entire debut album, FOUR tracks from the session with Jared on drums, and five pre-production tracks for On Earth As It Is In Hell. You can download these all at Stuck In The Past.