Back to the roots, a lifetime special

As the world struggles to fight the pandemia, most of us are isolated in their houses. As for me this is the fifteenth day in and since the first moment I thought that this would be a great chance to look back on my life and start working on my spirit and my mindset. Nothing comes easy, but pumping up our spirit muscles is something we can’t always do and even if this situation is a worldwide tank full of shit, it’s worthy to swim in it to find some rusty diamonds at the bottom. As all record nerds I’ve browsed through my collection, sorted it, cleaned it and did all those antiques that make us such a weird kind of animals. I wanted to write something about new releases but, before that, I came out with the idea of drawing a line. A line between yesterday and today and in these situations a recap is always a good idea. So here they are. My mind-defining records. They are not in a particular number and this is gonna be very long, but all these releases shaped my spirit in a strong and powerful way. This is not a list of my favorite records. This is a list of records that originated something in me. The seeds of my intricated forest of tastes. Of course not all of them are extreme music ones, but I know for sure that everybody can forgive me about that. So, well, let’s start.

CRIPPLE BASTARDS “Misantropo a senso unico”

This is quite a predictable one. They are from Asti and I’m from Asti and this album is something you fell being born with. I’ve stumbled upon this record ages ago and, since then, it’s my GPS in a lot of situations in life. The powerful feelings that ooze from its grooves are all in the realm of negativity and anger. The city itself is a strong presence throughout the whole album, like a terrible hex you can’t dispel. And it’s not a made up feeling at all. I fleed from Asti many years ago, without being capable of cutting the chord from it and eventually winded back up here again. “Misantropo a senso unico” is a desperate cry against a condition you can’t change. Asti is just like our existence, something you can’t run away from, but just learn to live with it.

MAYHEM “Deathcrush”

Since the first pound of drums of “Silvester anfang” I knew this was going to be something different. As a kid I’ve listened to some black metal around and was expecting the classic tremolo guitars and the whole set of cliches from the genre. The barbaric, raw, chainsaw sounding music of “Deathcrush” punched me in the face like a cinder block. When the title song kicks in is a festival of exhalted feelings. Many years passed and I can’t stop a happy grin to pup up on my face and the urge to air drum all the passages of it. Even if “Reign in blood” is always “Reign in blood” and I can listen to it for days without getting tired of it, “Deathcrush” was the real trigger for all the extreme to me….

SODOM “Persecution mania”

The local record shop owner forced me to buy this record when I was just a kid. “Nuclear winter” was an epiphany. What was that? The German accent of Tom Angelripper sounded so weird yet so great. This has an unique charm in it, a killer song after another. I’ve always considered this the bridge between the proto-black early days of the band and the more classic Teutonic thrash future records, with all the Motorhead love of the trio channeled into it. The wide range of styles here perfectly fits and it’s a pinnacle for the band and for all the German thrash.

THE GRINDCORE BIG 4

Repulsion, Napalm Death, Terrorizer and Carcass. I’ve bought “Horrified”, “Scum”, “World downfall” and “Reek of putrefaction” in the same month. They are all like a gigantic single album for me. Nothing compares to the early days of those bands. Nothing. And nothing was the same after those 4 records for me. The brutality, speed, alienation. Being the sheer aggression of Repulsion, the punk-drenched violence of Napalm Death, the droning riffs of Terrorizer or the sensation of morbidity of early Carcass, all those bands planted their tents in my heart and never left.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN “Born to run”

As the love for extreme went on, I did not forget the love for genuinely pompous and heartfelt rock. I never loved the lysergic turn of the 60s and 70s and mainly focused on the classic working class heartland rock of Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and, of course, The Boss. “Born to run” features my longtime favorite song of all times, “Thunder road”, plus “Born to run” and “Jungleland”, my favorite songs to sing at a bar counter with a glass of whiskey in my hand and a torn in my heart. Perfectly written songs, played by one of the best masters of the game.

CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER “Convicted”

Who know how many times I’ve played this record? From the start to the end there’s no time to catch a breath, a real speedfest of young angst and rabid ferocity. Having the chance to know Les and Scotty is absolutely one of the most important things in my life and there is NO WAY someone’s gonna beat the drum intro of “Lowlife”. Saw Scotty playing with Wehrmacht at OEF some years ago and when that drum pattern kicked in I was emotionally on the verge of breaking down.

NEGAZIONE “Lo spirito continua”

Italian hardcore is absolutely one of the best scenes in hardcore history. Torino hardcore was hands down the best scene in Italy and Negazione were probably the best band in the best local scene in one of the best scenes worldwide. This is a strong curriculum and “Lo spirito continua” is one of those records you just can’t make slip away. Heartfelt, powerful, strong, unique, emotional. I think it’s really hard to find such an awesomely crafted hardcore record with lyrics so strong and that goes straight to the heart. There’s a before and an after “Lo spirito continua”.

MEAT LOAF “Bat out of Hell”

I was like, 12 years old. Quite chubby and with growing hair. One of my father’s friends told me “Hey, I’ll make you a tape of a chubby singer with long hair!”. That tape was “Bat out of Hell” by Meat Loaf. Epic, powerful, sassy. This is hands down one of my top 10 favorite records EVER. Each song here is a true masterpiece, a hymn to drive-in movies love and Cadillac-driving heartbreakers. The idea of going through Hell on a motorcycle for love perfectly sums up the whole album.

EYEHATEGOD “Dopesick”

Even if probably my favorite one is “Take as needed for pain”, “Dopesick” is what really triggered me. The bleak heavyness of it, the mind-numbing songwriting and the lurking sensation of sickness and drug-induced paranoia makes this record what you need during hard times. These songs were what I had in mind the first of the many times I saw them live. That night, by the way, they were AWESOME.

RUPTURE “Lust and hate”

As for EHG, probably my favorite one from Rupture is not this but “Sex, drugs and Rupture”, but “Lust and hate” was my introduction to them and this is also one of their fastest and most aggressive albums to date. The anti P.C. approach, the snotty punch to conformity, everything is a roller coaster ride to Hell, you filthy punk!

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT “Delete yourself”

Got this one from an used record shop ages ago, after a review of “Redefine the enemy” in which I didn’t understand what kind of music they were playing. At first I was disappointed reading from the booklet that they were in fact an electronic combo, but as soon as “Start the riot!” hit my eardrums, all my bad feelings disappeared. A corner block of my love for hard sounds.

7 MINUTES OF NAUSEA / ANAL CUNT “We’ll just have to acclimatize ourselves to the post-nuclear area”

Here it is, the blueprint of my love for noisecore. 7MON just shaped my passion for blurring, pounding noisecore, while Anal Cunt is so aggressive on this record that put to shame a lot of people that think they were just a funny band. Nothing to laugh on this record, absolutely nothing.

ROCKY VOTOLATO “Suicide medicine”

Some records pop up in the right moment of your life and this is one of those. When everything I created became a trainwreck, Rocky appeared. This is one of my all times favorite records and a real adventure into deep, cutting feelings. With just his voice and an acoustic guitar, Rocky managed to enter in my life like few ever did. A punch in the face that makes you feel better.

THE GET UP KIDS “Something to write home about”

As Rocky, this one got me when I was down. From the first time I saw the “Action & action” video everything in my life needed to include the Kids. I started catching up on their whole discography and they added a layer over everything I listened since then. Matt Pryor still holds as one of my all-time heroes.

DEATH SIDE “Wasted dream”

I gues this is one of those record you just HAVE to love. The general feeling that Japanese have a different pace on hardcore for me came from this. Along with Bastards’s “Wind of pain” and the early efforts of Nightmare and Warhead, this is one of those outputs that made me sure that catching something labelled as Japanese hardcore is never wrong. Top notch riffing, incredible vocals and THOSE SOLOS, WOAH.

CATHEDRAL “Endtyme”

When I was very young I used to borrow and lend records with a friend of mine. Among those that he gave to me, there was “Endtyme” by Cathedral. Back then I didn’t know that Lee Dorrian used to sing in Napalm Death and when I discovered it, Cathedral even grew in my heart. The love for groove, great riffing and ability to create deep atmospheres was born here, amongst “Alchemist of sorrow” and my favorite, “Sea serpent”.

RATOS DE PORAO “Brasil”

When Ratos De Porao are in a festival line-up, you already know who’s gonna be the best band of the festival. I LOVE them. They were the first band I saw at a real gig, the one I’ve collected since my day one of collecting and I’m proud to call them friends. “Amazonia nunca mais”, “Plano furado II”, “AIDS, pop, regressao”, “Beber até morrer”, “Porcos sanguinarios”. Every song is a hit on this.

LAGWAGON “Let’s talk about feelings”

For me punk rock equals to Fat Wreck. And the Fat Wreck sound for me equals to Lagwagon’s “Let’s talk about feelings”. One hit after another, perfect songwriting, perfect lyrics and the godlike voice of Joey Cape as the icing on the cake. I can sing every note of this from the beginning to the end without even blinking. All my obsession for No Use For A Name, NOFX, Less Than Jake, Millencolin and many others comes from this single album. But this album came from another passion of mine, which is :

DESCENDENTS “Everything sucks”

Here it is, my favorite punk rock record of all time. Even if as a whole I prefer ALL (mainly thanks to Chad Price), Descendents made the perfect one. Loser-friendly, angry nerd punk rock with ABOVE PERFECT music and lyrics that can hit the right spot EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This is what punk rock is all about, for me. Politics and social issues are important, of course, but since everything comes from within us, this record talks about what goes on inside us, before what’s going on outside. Top notch stuff.

SPAZZ “Crush, kill, destroy”

The last band’s record is the best one? For me, yes. “Crush, kill, destroy” is not what the title suggest, because the constant funny feeling typical of Spazz is probably at full throttle here, making this one the comedy gold assault of a band that never failed in delivering the goods. “Let’s fucking go” is just what powerviolence should be all about, and you know it.

LATTERMAN “No matter where we go…!”

The record that spearheaded my renewed love for punk rock and made me explore the underground for new stuff is hands down this banger from Latterman. The somehow amateurish (well it was an amatorial one…) vibe of it makes this record even better. My deep, deep, deep love for RVIVR, Iron chic, Spraynard, Joyce Manor, Mixtapes and dozens of other bands comes straight from here.

DYSTOPIA “Human=garbage”

“Stress builds character” alone defines everything. Whenever I felt frustrated, weak, beaten up, this song was the perfect soundtrack. A real lifestyle, period.

~ by petetheripper on March 27, 2020.