Alternative Tentacles US レコード& CD

Review: Landing with a curbstomp the year before their debut full-length Matando Gueros, 1992's iMachetazos! served as only the second 7" EP (of what would become a lengthy discography) from drug cartel death metal outfit Brujeria. While performing with their faces covered and under gangster pseudonyms, anyone within the scene knows the collective alumni boasts (or has at one point) Fear Factory's Dino Cazares and drummer Raymond Herrera, as well as Billy Gould (Faith No More), Nicholas Barker (Cradle Of Filth Dimmu Borgir) and Jeff Walker (Carcass). Lyrically touching on tops of Satanism, torture, gang violence and drug dealing, all united through Mexican imagery and gangster aesthetic; when coupled with the band's extreme form of death metal imbued grindcore, the resulting menace is akin to waking up in a mosh pit during Sicario.

Review: With the absolute debacle that is the present day US political landscape, Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra has opted to press his The Guantanamo School of Medicine (originally digital-only) single 'Blunder Blubber' to wax. Originally penned to mark the passing of right-wing scare monger Rush Limbaugh and recorded in 2020 during the Tea Party Revenge Porn sessions, the track served as a major critique of the rise of right-wing extremism, tracing its roots back to Limbaugh's influence and the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine under President Reagan in 1987, a policy change that allowed one-sided political commentary on public airwaves, which Biafra perceives as the floodgates opening to the MAGA mayhem of today, with the vocalist even noting - "I wrote [the song] back when Clinton was president, seeing the writing on the wall. I was hoping never to use it, but we had no choice but to update and perform it now." On the flip is the debut single from The November 3 with their aptly titled 'I Fucked A Republican', dropped during the 2020 Republican National Convention. As both groups and the American left at large are largely shocked and deflated that they're right back where they were this time four years ago, it appears a doubling down of refusal is now vital with this double whammy of sonic middle-fingers now finding a tangible, vinyl home to keep their message permanent and enduring in such worrisome times.

Review: Tumor Circus were the ugly, unpleasant and utterly unhinged meeting of the minds between Dead Kennedys' frontman Jello Biafra, Charlie Tolnay (King Snake Roost, Grong Grong, Lubricated Goat) and members of noise rock merchants Steel Pole Bathtub. Releasing only one self-titled LP in 1991, the project has gone on to become the stuff of avant-garde noisecore legend, with the album's sweetest ditty 'Meathook Up My Rectum' reissued on one-sided etched 7" complete with B-side etching and new artwork all designed by horror author/filmmaker Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed).