Bonesaw

After mentioning Bonesaw on a Point Blank post a while go, here's a long overdue post with pretty much all the records that Bonesaw did (I'm not sure if they did any demo's?). Bonesaw from California was formed by 3 Point Blank members right after Point Blank broke up. They played a similar style of hardcore, Bonesaw built on the Point Blank sound and kept the 'tough', up-tempo hardcore approach with some metallic undertones. Over time the metal influences grew without ever really diving into metalcore territories. I think it's safe to say that if you like the Point Blank 7"s, you will also like Bonesaw.

Soon after Bonesaw formed, they released their debut-album 'Written In Stone' on Nemesis Records (which also released both Point Blank 7"s), in 1993. The album features a re-recording of Point Blank's 'Turning Back' (from the 'Hardcore 1990 - East Meets West' compilation 7", also on Nemesis Records). Soon after they were signed by Lost & Found records. Yes, the scumbag, bootlegging label out of Germany actually signed a US band. In 1994 they released the follow-up album, 'Abandoned', which is my personal fave. Two tracks of that album appeared on the L&F compilation 'You Deserve Even Worse', which is where I actually first heard this band. They toured Europe supporting Black Train Jack in 1994 as well, I still have an ugly yellow/brown Bonesaw longsleeve tucked away somewhere from the show I went to.

In 1995 their third, and final, album called 'Shadow Of Doubt' was released. Reduced to a 3-man band, on this last album, drummer Shane Valdez also did vocals (which he also did on the European tour), but his voice is pretty similar to former singer Chris Malinowski's, so it didn't mark a radical change in sound. In the mean time, Lost & Found had also re-released the 'Written In Stone' album with alternative artwork (the original cover ended up on the flipside). As far as I know the band broke up shortly after the album was released.

A few years ago Lost & Found Records re-released all 3 albums as a 3-CD package, without additional tracks that I know of. They also released a Bonesaw / No Escape split 7" in 1995 which featured 'Deal With It' from the 'Shadow Of Doubt' CD and No Escape's side has 'No' (Big Boys cover, from their 'Just Accept It' album) and 'Silenced' (from the 'Rebuilding' compilation 7"). My copy is on white, I believe all copies were. Since it's got no new material or alternative recordings by either band, I didn't rip it.

Bonesaw - Written In Stone
Bonesaw - Abandoned
Bonesaw - Shadow Of Doubt
Bonesaw myspace

Beneath The Remains MCD & split 7" with Punch The Klown

After posting the Beneath The Remains 'Self Destruction' demo, someone requested a post of their other releases. So here are the other BTR releases I have, the 'Quest Of The Lost Souls' MCD and the split 7" with Punch The Klown from Brockton, MA.

The 'Quest Of The Lost Souls' MCD was released in 1998 on RPP Records out of Belgium. It has got 4 new tracks and re-recordings of 2 songs from the 'Self Destruction' demo. The recording quality has definitely improved over the demo, but I still prefer the rawness of the demo. The demo version of 'Last Breath', their best song, is so much stronger than the MCD version. Either way, they definitely deserved a proper release, and I feel RPP was the perfect label for them.

The split 7" with Punch The Klown was also released in 1998, on Back Ta Basics, Rick ta Life's label. The cover and insert have the same shitty xeroxed 'quality' that most of the BTB 7"'s have unfortunately. But at the same time, there was something about those BTB 7"'s, band-wise Rick did manage to put out records by a lot of good bands. The Beneath The Remains songs are probably their most (death-)metal ones, especially cuz Cesar grunts more on here than on their other releases. Good stuff, would definitely liked to have this band do more releases. The Punch The Klown songs are great. Mid-tempo heavy hardcore with several people in the band doing vocals, ranging from spoken to shouted to raw vocals. Really good stuff! Expect a separate Punch The Klown post in the future!

Beneath The Remains - Quest Of The Lost Souls MCD
Beneath The Remains / Punch The Klown split 7"
Beneath The Remains myspace
Punch The Klown myspace

Cleanser demo

Cleanser was one of many bands that Derek Neglect was in, and to me, one of the more unique ones. I got this demo cuz Derek was in it, and on first listen I was like 'what the hell?!', not what I expected. It's quite different from Neglect with the crazy drumming, all the stuff that's going on and especially the vocal delivery, however it is also quality stuff and I quickly came to absolutely love it. At times it reminds me of Vision Of Disorder, if that makes any sense. Here's a quote from their myspace that is pretty accurate:

They mixed Hardcore/Metal & Melodic parts to create a unique sound. Derek's metallic riffage, Keith's unique drumwork, mixed with the very unique vocals of The one and only Christian McKnight brought a style of metalcore that was new to the scene form 1995-98.

This is one of their demo's, their 2nd one from 1996 I believe. All of these songs would later be re-recorded for various releases. I tried to give the songs the correct name, as the track-listing on the demo-cover does not match the order in which they appear on the tape. As mentioned on their myspace, they have a number of releases, some of which I own and can recommend. I'm still looking for the 2nd full-length 'Monster...With Eyes of a Boy' tho so hook me up if you have it! Also, on the insert of their 'Unclean' 7", it mentions some releases not listed on their myspace, namely split releases with Figurehead and Day In The Life, if anybody has any information on these, please come forth and hook me up! Thanxxx! Either way, give this a chance, you won't be disappointed.

For the record tho, Neglect was and still is untouchable.

Cleanser demo
Cleanser myspace

Stalemate demo & 7"

Not to be confused with the US band of the same name that released a MCD on Stillborn Records, Stalemate was a short-lived German metal/hardcore band, from the Koblenz area. Sound-wise they were somewhat similar to the bands of the Per Koro/Bremen scene, Acme specifically comes to mind. Harsh, heavy, mostly mid-tempo, intense and metallic hardcore with very deep and gruff vocals, which wouldn't sound bad in a death metal band. I know very little about this band, and I could find very little information online, so if anybody has any more information, please leave a comment. They're not even mentioned on the Alveran Records website anymore, even though Alveran released Stalemate's only 7" back in 1997 (Alveran Records #9).

I have seen them live once, and they gave a blistering performance. I'm surprised there's so little information on them, given the quality of their songs and the relative popularity of the style they played, also when they were around. As mentioned, they were a short-lived band, only releasing a demo in 1996 and a 7" the next year as far as I know. Which is a shame really, they were a pretty good band, and deserve to be heard. As far as what the members did after Stalemate split up, I know their singer, and possibly the bass-player, went on to Six Reasons To Kill, and one of the guitarists now plays in Gomorrha. Anyways, give it a chance, you won't be disappointed!

Stalemate demo
Stalemate 7"

****edit: I found the booklet that came with the demo, totally forgot about it until I went through a bag of old zines recently... Follow the link.***

Standpoint 7"

Standpoint was a female-fronted band from New Jersey in the mid '90s. Their sound was on the softer side, more indie than hardcore. If you are familiar with Ashes, the female-fronted band that Brian McTernan (Battery) played in, you'll find that Standpoint has a very similar sound, including the nice female vocals with the occasional shouted male vocals as back-up. For me, the female/male vocals things worked better with Standpoint than with Ashes tho, even tho I do like Ashes quite a bit. I love this 7" from 1994 (I think?) especially the 1st track, 'Blindsided', although all 3 songs are great. 'Blindsided' would also be re-recorded for their full-length album, 'Whatever', on Smorgasbord Records, however I prefer this version. All in all, a sweet 7". This 7" was the 1st release on Spiritfall Records, which would later release records by bands such as Born Under Saturn, Neil Perry, The Swarm and Mörser, quite a change from the sound of this 7".

Unfortunately I don't know too much about this band. From what I gathered they released a demo called 'Opened Doors' but I've never seen or heard it, so if anybody has it and can send me some info or mp3's, I would be grateful! As mentioned they did a full-length called 'Whatever' on Smorgasbord Records, which is still available. They also appear on the 'The Tie That Binds' compilation. Apart from that this band is sort of a mystery to me, so I would appreciate any and all information.

Standpoint 7"
Standpoint myspace

X Gasmask X - Fear Of A Red Planet 7"

This is a weird little gem. For reasons unknown to me, S.O.A. Records out of Italy decided to repress Napalm Death's classic 'From Enslavement To Obliteration' album minus a couple of tracks (and not 'Scum' as some sources claim), except they sped it up from 33rpm to 45rpm and renamed the record and band! I guess they thought it sounded better at 45rpm and didn't have permission from Napalm Death to do it? They made up this band, X Gasmask X, which was apparently a 'commie s.e. grind' band according to a S.O.A. mailorder catalog from that time. There's even some sort of manifesto that comes with the 7", a 'declaration of war', in both English and Italian, outlining the band's stance on straight edge and politics. The English manifesto is part of the folded-in sleeve together with a picture of a person with one X-ed fist and one fist with the communist/socialist hammer and sickle, the Italian one comes on a separate piece of paper.

Whatever the reason was, this is a record that needs to be heard to be believed. It actually sounds great, even with the occasional chipmunk-like vocals! Since they only pressed 200 copies (mine's hand-numbered 108/200), the 7" is quite rare, even tho the music on it is easy to obtain, just play the regular record on 45rpm, heh...

X Gasmask X - Fear Of A Red Planet 7"

Baby Gopal

Lately I've been posting a bunch of the 'harder' stuff that I enjoy. But that's far from all that I enjoy and listen to. One 'soft' band from the '90s that I really enjoy is Baby Gopal. Baby Gopal was a Krishna-conscious power-pop/indie-rock band centered around Australian-born Sri Kesava. Sri Kesava is, unfortunately, also known as the wife of Ray Cappo, and she also played guitar for Ray Cappo's band Shelter for some time. However, Baby Gopal was her thing, together with guitarist Graham Land, also a Krishna devotee who goes by the name Gayatri, she co-wrote a number of beautiful songs (granted, Ray Cappo co-wrote a couple). Baby Gopal, while rooted in Krishna consciousness, served as an outlet for Sri's feelings, emotions and thoughts rather than spreading the Krishna message, even if references were made regularly. With Sri's beautiful voice, personal lyrics and a definite melodic indie/poppy approach, even more so than Shelter, they took a more mainstream approach which normally puts me off, but with this band it totally worked for me. I was lucky enough to have seen Baby Gopal live, in Belgium, and I can assure you Sri's voice is just as beautiful live as on record.

Besides putting out a self-titled full-length (sometimes called 'Fearless') on Victory/Banda Bonnot in 1996, which is great and comes highly recommended, they didn't release a lot of records. They did 2 7"s on Get Go Records prior to the full-length, with all songs on these being re-recorded for the full-length. These 2 7"'s and the full-length are the only recordings they released, apart from possible demo's (which, if you have any, please let me know).

After Baby Gopal ended, Sri Kesava did a brief stint in Shelter and she also started a solo-career which spawned a full-length CD called 'Gravity Reminds Me' on Blue Boy Records and a mini-CD called 'Union Square' on Reflections Records. These sound pretty similar to Baby Gopal and she even re-recorded a couple of BG songs for the full-length, however I don't enjoy them nearly as much as I do Baby Gopal. She also starting focusing on other musical endeavors, she has released a couple of bhajan CD's where she plays all/most of the instruments and sings devotional hymns in Sanskrit and Hindi and such.

As mentioned, the other main member of Baby Gopal was Graham Land who co-wrote most of the music with Sri. Other bands he played in include Shelter, Worlds Collide, Better Than A Thousand and Battery. One of the Baby Gopal's drummers was Alex Garcia-Rivera who went on to drum for American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost. I don't really have too much info on any of the other members tho apart from what's written up in a few articles, such as this one.

*** edit (August 2010): Here's the personal blog of Sri Keshava: Gurus, Rock Stars & the Men In Between ***

As a sidenote, here's the video they did for the full-length version of 'Shiva', they also did one for the full-length version of 'Lost Generation':

Baby Gopal - ...Shiva 7"
Baby Gopal - Boys Against Girls 7"
Sri Kesava's website