Pentagram 2005 "Show em How"

This heavy retro metal composure should not be slipped under the dirt. Bobby Liebling and his crew known as Pentagram have done it again... at a time when I was immersing myself in the new speed metal sounds this CD was slipped into my discman for a relieving breath of doom heaviness. Pentagram are the “American Black Sabbath” as labeled by Hank Williams. This is a band that I feel the mainstream music lovers might have missed so that’s one reason why I want to write about them. Their first musical releases where in the early seventies and then in the eighties they resurrected to produce a splatter of powerful music. This latest release has an early 70’s flavor to it but still maintains those heavy guitar riffs that Tony can’t take all the credit for. The outstanding part of this CD is the lead singer really exercises his voice. The song “City Romance twists you into the possibility that a street person with a mouth full of marbles is serenading you. Then on other songs you get the feel of the blues. Janis Joplin comes to mind on a few songs but Bobby survived a thousand times the drugs Janis ever did… and barely lived to sing about it! Seriously since I got this CD I have listened to it three times a day… Plus IRON. Just like the multivitamins in your diet, Pentagram is an essential part of your daily intake. Hunt it down and buy some… especially this new one “SHOW EM HOW”
-ricky Jak

Kreator "Enemy of God" 2005 release
Historically this band has been thrashing around metal since the early eighties... so they have seen some wars. Welcome to 2007 and two of the original members are still fabricating observations of this world and other worlds in song. Upon pushing play in your audio machine of choice the song "Enemy of God" reiks of uncontrollable thrash and takes your head to a banging frenzy... Times like this I wish I wasn't a skinhead! The next submission takes you marching into the grey streets then allowing you to recover only for a second, your then stomping into the riff of "Suicide Terrorist". Scarey yes... turn on the news and you see the reality that Kreator are singing about. "World Anarchy", "Dystopia", and then "Voices of the Dead" takes you to a quieter introduction... right off the side of a mountain into flight. "Murder Fantasies" quickly steps down on the throttle in a twisted ride to kill. The next couple of executions are the kind that take you further into the a darker world where all is lost and the biological remains known as "us" still struggle. The dying race apocalypse walks you over a hill to view the ruins of what might be. "Total Blackened Sky" again speeds up into a fight where demons, gods, kaisers, and fools all view the same sunrise.... none whatsoever. This Cd closes with "The Ancient Plague" .... a toxic stench of human tragedy.
This is a pure and clean thrash metal that is well worth the hunt... upon my first few listens I found the the music didn't totally have a full effect.... after a few doses I became hooked and found it to be a CD of repeat uses. The subject matter is a little, no alot deppressing but it's not like I went out and bought a Christian CD... I bought a fuckin Kreator CD that makes you think about christianity and other religions that contribute to the darkess here on earth.
anyway I like the power of this CD and I'm not going to let it depress me with worry... I think i'll go smell a flower!
love -ricky jak

Mr Plow, Sweathogs, and Black Flab Logans mar 9.
The year was 1982 and my friend and I took the bus downtown to see the Subhumans. On this bill was a band from Los Angeles... this band was called Black Flag. The hall was packed with punks and the likes who seemed to come out of the woodwork. Local bands opened the show and then these dirty guys took to the stage and began to execute music of a power that was like nothing I had never seen in my life. I was scared and the singer looked like he was going to kill someone. After Black Flags set the Subhumans seemed weak.
Fast forward some 25 years later and I'm heading down to a small pub to watch a mock band that plays food oriented covers of Black Flag. This band is called Black Flab... these are big boys and needless to say their set included bags of food... from KFC chicken to McDonalds to angel food cake.... the stage was a mess. Lets back up a bit to the opening bands.... uhhh I missed Mr Plow's set so I really have nothing on this performer. The next band was the Sweathogs, who again played a brash of mariuanna songs to punk music. Not my dime bag but the dancfloor liked them and they played untill they had to finally leave the stage and go outside to smoke-up. This was a good thing considering they probably would have the munchies and Black Flab had lots of food to hand out. I was outside yackin and quickly returned into the pub to see Black Flab wolloping out the old hits. Thirsty and Miserable, Six Pack.... I couldn't contain myself and made my way to the front of the stage skankin and singing along. After awhile I realized I was singing the wrong lyrics to this glutton smeared set. The lead singer "Oh Henry Rollins".... no "Jelly Rollins" was sporting tattoos of pizzas and donuts. The guitar player goes by the name Greg Chin, the drummer Blobo, and the bass player Chunk Dukowski are all twizzler names to the original members. Thier songs where changed so every time I was singing along I realized as I sang "Rise Above" they where singin "the fries are up"... when I sang "Fix Me" they sang "Feed Me" and so on. Needless to say they sounded quite good and close to the real thing. There was some weight being thrown around and if your into fat this band is for you. The drummer is actually the skinniest of the band and after the show I saw him wandering around and complaining that he only got one piece of chicken. This was fun but it would probably make the original band sue them all the way to Jenny Craig. Rumour has it that this band is trying too hook up with the American band the Misfats for a tour. The question is will their be enough money so these bands can have their own catering van for the tour.
25 years later these huge guys took to the stage and began to consume food of a power that was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was hungry and the singer looked like he was going to eat someone. After Black Flabs set I was nautious and I felt weak!
-ricky jak

American Hardcore

ahhhhh. I sat in a row of old men in the front of the movie theater. These men all had hardcore connections. The Beak was the guitarist for Nuclear Errors, Jungle Reggae was the guitarist for the Do-Wops, JFK was the bassist for the NEOs, John London was the drummer for Jerk Ward, Scream.... well he was in the Bedspins and they weren't hardcore.... and then thier was myself, I was the guitarist for the CommodeS but we where really more of an Adam Ant cover band. All of us men were involved in punk music in the early eighties.... I consider us lot the historic Victoria Hardcore guys.... but they never made a movie on us.

So we all sat in this movie theater watching a visual documentation of the music that fed us in that time in our lives. We were there and had the privlage of seeing some of these great bands live. But alot of these bands where just pics on records or fanzines. We used to mail order these records and the good ones where then recorded onto mixed tapes and spread out like wildfire in our isolated island punk community. After over twenty years a handfull of us punks who had lived it finnally got to see it. American Hardcore... i sat in awe as i watched old footage of these hardcore bands. Bad Brains...... i need not say anymore about this band if you are a fan of punk, but the footage was hair-raising. Keith Morris narates his account with Black Flag onto the Circle Jerks and the state of American youth. Our Canadian folk heroes DOA are represented oddly but they did change the song "Fucked Up Baby' to "Fucked Up Ronnie". Vic Bondi gives his two bits and then we see some live Articles of Faith. Then we get a glimpse at what was happening in Washington DC and Ian MacKaye's Minor Threat and the Discord crew. Discord records where one of these basement record companys that we used to order records from.... and they had some good ones. Scream, Void, Teen Idols, SOA (Henry Rollins) and a fist full of others. Skip over to Boston and bands like the Freeze and SS Decontrol. Texas had Really Red and Big Boys. Detroit with Necros, Negative Approch and MDC. The MDC album is one of the all time greats and this band had a heavy following that would get slapped in the face when the lead singer ,Dave Dictor, would inform them he was gay as a flower. Then back in California Battalion Of Saints and the Adolecents where all keeping the coast jumping. A quick jump to the other coast in New York and we are sitting face to face with Harley Flanagan form the Cro Mags. He describes a Bad Brains live show and boom you instantly get goosebumps. New York was tough and probably the toughest with bands like Agnostic Front . Girls in the hardcore scene have a brief say but they where never really represented musically.

This movie has a ton of in your face footage and although it misses a few things I think it it is probably as good as it gets. It was America and the hardcore punk music was obtainable for the angry youth of that time. About 1984 it was all over, sure alot of great bands still carried the flag but the movie was a documentary about the beginning. So if your interested in this offshoot of punk rock you better see this film. Then if you can't find any of those old mixed tapes head on down to you nearest music store and pic up the soundtrack for the movie.... hmmm i guess the days of mailorder from Maximum Rock-N-Roll or Flipside are gone. But hey if that ain't enough certainly get the book American Hardcore by Steven Blush. Man did Steven ever cover his bassis in formats.... i wonder if thier is any MPEGS or JPEGS or MP3s availiable?

Maybe us Victorians should document what happened in Victoria.... wait someone is!

-ricky Jak