Originally pressed in 1996 PROFANE EXISTENCE is bringing this quintessential anarcho punk masterpiece back in circulation.
All original artwork (label logos updated) with three different vinyl color options.
In 1996 AUS-ROTTEN released their first LP “The System Works For Them” on an unsuspecting punk scene. It spread like wildfire in a pre internet era within a genre that mostly depended on tape trading. (at least is was pre internet for us penniless punks) “The System Works For Them” was the perfect mix of anger and intelligence that the scene needed at the time (and still does today). It was like a wake up call that opened the eyes and ears to many punks the world over. The messages where crystal clear and most us were hooked as soon as the beginning shouts of “Boycott” bellowed over the speakers. I don’t believe any of us ever expected their message to resonate so well within the scene, but even more surprising is how the songs are just as relevant today as on they the day they were written. Which is why PROFANE EXISTENCE has decided to repress this record. We feel that that messages that AUS-ROTTEN brought to the table are to powerful to ignore. We feel that this LP is important and therefore should be highly available and priced affordably.
“The Battlefield Is Still Red” Bloodsplatter Edition.
PROFANE EXISTENCE has worked out every last detail of this release with the members of AUS-ROTTEN whom have been involved from step one. All tracks have been re-masted by Jay Matherson at the Jamroom studios. To be 100% honest we didn’t want to do a complete re-master of what we already considered a good recording. However when we opened the tracks on protools we noticed a few balance issues that required fixing. These fixes resulted in a tremendous upgrade to the overall quality of the tracks. We painstakingly scanned, puzzled, and photoshopped the original artwork to make sure that it was as close to authentic as it could possible be. We then went for broke by pressing in three different vinyl color combinations! Overall to say that we are pumped to release this would be an understatement, we are absolutely ecstatic to bring you this LP on PROFANE EXISTENCE!
“What Good Is Money, When There Is No One Left To Buy” T-shirt.
To top this all off we worked with AUS-ROTTEN vocalist Dave Trenga on redrawing the classic “What Good Is Money, When There Is No One Left To Buy” design for a T-Shirt to concede with the albums release. This is a fresh take on an old image to create a new and original design.
See through “Smoke” vinyl. Available at SKULLFEST/ PROFANE EXISTENCE 27th anniverseray party / record release show.
Vinyl options are…
1. Standard black vinyl
2. “The Battlefield is Still Red” Bloodsplatter vinyl.
3. See through “Smoke”. – Available at SKULLFEST only
Silence are a highly active post-punk/peace-punk band from Pittsburgh, PA. “The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing” strives (and succeeds) to achieve the perfect balance between peace and post punk. By taking influences from The Mob, Bauhaus, Zounds, Killing Joke, Amebix, Crass, Conflict, Internal Autonomy and Joy Division SILENCE have created what can only be described a brilliant debut LP. At one moment this record is dark, heavy, and atmospheric and then the next moment it makes you want to dance and sing along. Lyrically SILENCE are much closer to the anarcho side of the previously listed influences. Lyrics focus on a variety of topics but often have a strong focus on the way punk and activist communities deal with political struggle in our current political climate.
“The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing” comes with a 16 page magazine size zine containing lyrics, personal writings and song explanations. Designed, printed and assembled by the band themselves in true D.I.Y. fashion.
Silence will be having a record release show in their hometown of Pittsburgh PA at the Rock Room Friday April 22nd with SHADOW AGE and SKELETON HANDS. Then later this month SILENCE will embark on a full United States tour to support “The Deafening Sound of Absolutely Nothing”. Here is a list of dates. Be show to check in with the bands “bandcamp” or “Facebook” page for show updates.
When all that remains is a world in flames. Is that when they’ll say the wars are finally won? That wars are finally done?
They’re beating on the drums again, they’re fueling up the planes. The congressmen fall into line and sing the old refrain. In the name of peace they’ll burn the land and drop a thousand bombs.
Meanwhile we’ll just stay at home and go back to our sitcoms. It’s the same old song, we’ve heard it before. They’re beating the drums and they’re calling for war. What it’s supposed to accomplish, no one is sure But the victims are always the hungry and the poor.
Once the drums of war begin it’s hard to make them stop. The noise silences the dissidents once the bombs begin to drop. All those who call for peace will be mocked and pushed aside. In 10 years they’ll admit we were right after many thousands more have died.
PROFANE EXISTENCE RECORDS PO BOX 647 HUNTINGTON WV 25711 UNITED STATES
Finally after many delays from the pressing plant the WARWOUND Demo’s LP “A Huge Black Cloud” is out and copies are moving fast!
Recorded in 1983, this record contains 15 songs from 3 sessions. With a few different takes you get a total of 25 blistering tracks. For those unfamiliar with WARWOUND, they are a UK band formed in 82. WARWOUND recorded 3 demos in 83 before disbanding and members went on to join THE VARUKERS and form SACRILEGE. These demos never received an official release… until now! Highly influenced by DISCHARGE, WARWOUND is one of the first bands ever to take D-Beat Punk to a raw and intense level. Recently reformed in 2015, original guitarist Damian is now joined by Ian Glasper on bass and Rat Varuker on vocals. After a few gigs in the UK word is spreading fast of the relentless onslaught of a live show these veterans put on. WARWOUND have also recently hit the studio to record for the first time in over 30 years. Needless to say WARWOUND is back with a vengeance!
Yes! Finally, after what turned out to be a gigantic task of moving the PROFANE EXISTENCE distro from Minneapolis to Denver, transferring tons of data, and rebuilding the web store, we are finally set to open back up. To access the new store follow one of the many links from profaneexistence.com or access it directly at http://profaneexistence.storenvy.com
The first official PROFANE EXISTENCE title of 2015 is out and ready for order! We are proud to bring you the RIFLE DIET – “NO SOLACE”LP
Rifle Diet’s No Solace is a 12in 45 that combines the Classic Minneapolis crust sound with Swedish hardcore, D-beat and Epic crust (think somewhere between Servitude and Wolfbirgade, with hints of Tragedy and Fall of Efrafa). The beautiful cover art by Hannah Benoche sets a bleak mood for the dark music within, plus a cover of His Hero is a Gone – Chain of Command (ex-members of InDefence and Garmonbozia) This LP is a joint release between PROFANE EXISTENCE and BLOOD OF THE YOUNG RECORDS
To honor both the opening of the new store and our first release of 2015, we are giving a free copy of the RIFLE DIET – No Solace lp to everyone that spends more then $50 from Monday January 12th to Monday January 19th!!! This deal is for one week only. DO NOT MISS OUT!
*Note*Rifle Diet are playing a record release show 1/17/15 at the Dogplex in Minneapolis with Kontrasekt, Aziza, and Fucking. To coincide with that show all orders that contain the RIFLE DIET – No Solace lp will be shipped out on Monday January 12th.
The next release in the works is the new full length lp from APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT – “We Don’t Need Them”.
We Don’t Need Them is the second full-length record from West Virginia punx Appalachian Terror Unit. ATU have become known throughout the years as being one of the most politically charged bands in the current punk scene. This new record is an all out attack on today’s society that takes ATU to a new level of intensity both lyrically and musically. The combination of the beautiful and thought provoking gatefold cover art designed by Stivart along with the brilliant recording and mastering job by Jay Matheson at the Jam Room take this record even further. Song subjects include the horrors of war, police brutality, destruction of the environment, rape culture, consumerism and much more. Expect a very heavy and much angrier approach from a band that has been around the block and matured their sound. Seven raging new tunes including the epic fourteen and a half minute track “We Don’t Need Them”, a song that will one day be ranked among similar greats as the SUBHUMANS “From the Cradle to the Grave” and AUS ROTTEN “And Now Back to Our Programming”.
APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT – We Don’t Need Them will be pressed in the United States on PROFANE EXISTENCE & in Europe on SKULD /RUIN NATION
WARWOUND – “A Huge Black Cloud-The Demos 1983“
Another record we are very excited about is the upcoming WARWOUND – A Huge Black Cloud-The Demos 1983. Recorded in 1983, this record contains 15 songs from three sessions. With a few different takes you get a total of 25 blistering tracks. For those unfamiliar with WARWOUND they are a UK band formed in 82, and released 2 demos in 83. Members went on to join THE VARUKERS and form the almighty SACRILEGE. Warwound are one of the first bands to take the politics and d-beat influence from DISCHARGE and combine it with the blown out sound of CHAOS UK to achieve total destructive raw d-beat ear bleeding chaos!
WARWOUND – A Huge Black Cloud-The Demos 1983 will be a split release between PROFANE EXISTENCE and ORGANIZE AND ARISE.
It will be available in the spring of 2015.
Other records and projects we have in the works for 2015 …
VASTATION (pdx formally night nurse) vs WAR//PLAGUE Split EP
Including a resurrection of the PROFANE EXISTENCE printed zine!
Stay tuned – Stay Active – Stay Punk
PROFANE EXISTENCE 2015
…MAKING PUNK A THREAT AGAIN!
Make sure to catch PROFANE EXISTENCE bands ROAC and WAR//PLAGUE at this years crustock 3. Also keep a look out for an APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT West Coast tour of the United States and Canada this July.
KRANG are a new band birthed from Chicago’s DIY punk underbelly. They play a brutally powerful brand of thrashy riff-laden crustcore and have an intense live presence. They have recently recorded for a few vinyl projects, including PE’s own 7″ singles series. Check ’em out!
Interviewed by Brian Poulin (NEGLIGENCE). All photos by Adam DeGross.
PE Who’s in the band and what does each of you do?
AUSTIN: guitars / backing vocals / song writing (synth & keyboard on 12″)
ADAM: bass / backing vocals / song writing
BRENDAN: lead vocals / lyrical content
DEVAN: drums & percussion / backing vocals
PE: What’s a brief history of the band and how did you guys form?
Austin: We started circa 2009. We had an additional guitarist: Louis C. He went on to start a blackened crust band called Welkin Dusk, based in Chicago that he plays drums & lead vocals for. We used to have an additional lead singer as well: Hannah B. Hannah was a part of our first two releases: the out of print “Onward Desolation” demo tape, and also the out of print “Bog of Eternal Stenchcore” 7″. Hannah is now the front-woman in a band called Despise, based out of Minneapolis. Our original drummer, Brett, is on the two recordings I mentioned before, as well as our “Sounds of Death” 12″. Brett now drums for a Chicago / northwest Indiana band called Asphixiate. Devan is now our permanent drummer and he will have his first appearance on the “Broken Waves” 7″, released by Profane Existence, which is coming out in June. Devan will also be on our next 12″: “Bad Moon”, which we are writing right now. I, as well as Krang, are totally stoked on Devan and really happy to have them. Devan is active outside of percussion as well with assisting in writing, assistance in lyrical content & structure, and the internet stuff. This line up has been solidified for over a year and is totally fucking Krang! It just works perfectly.
Bog of Eternal Stenchcore 7″
PE: You guys are based out of Chicago. What are your favorite parts of the scene there? What are your least favorite things about Chicago’s scene?
Devan: Chicago’s an interesting place. I feel like the pros and cons are often directly related to one-another. For example, the mere size of the city. There are so many people – new to here, young, old, whatever – that there is basically always something going on and a handful of solid DIY spaces at all times, regardless of whether people leave or places get busted or whatever. The downside is that the physical structure of the city makes it difficult and/or terribly time-consuming to navigate. Especially if you don’t have a car. And even if you do, parking sucks. Anyway, as a result of the city being as segregated as it is, people are often inclined to just stick to what’s going on in their neighborhood and it results in a lack of exposure or attention paid to some really cool things. It’s unfortunate. But then there are some events like the annual Black and Brown Punk Show (shout-out to Monika!) or other fest-type shows where the attendance is crazy and bullshit is minimal. It’s rad.
Sounds of Death LP
Austin: I used to live in CHI. I reside in northwest Indiana (NWI). It’s really close. You can compare it to how close Jersey is to NYC. The rest of the band does live in CHI. My favorite things about Chicago is the “don’t take shit” attitude that at least me and the scene we’re involved with has. We’ll kick you out if your a piece of shit human or kick your ass if we have to. I also like The Void Haus in NWI for gigs. My personal least favorite things are cliques, hype, division, etc… the things that you see in every rather large city, I suppose.
Adam: I love Chicago’s unspoken rule of everyone being down to get down when shit hits the fan and nobody lets bogus comments or derogatory gestures fly. My complaint for the longest time was how there is the same hierarchy that we all hate in daily life at a lot of the gigs. It seems like those “in crowd” wanks have come and gone though, or maybe I just don’t surround myself with such fools anymore. My main complaint, and I know I am sounding super negative, but for such a large city there is a lack of bands playing what I am into personally. There are a lot of great bands doing great things…but that doesn’t necessarily mean I am into them musically. Haha! I have a particular taste and its not being fulfilled. I usually go to shows to hang out and have a good time and just show support but its rare that I actually shit over a band that I see locally. I do really, really get down to Population though. White boy can’t dance but when I see this band I start doing shit I didn’t know I was capable of.
Brendan: Chicago is simultaneously the best & worst place to live; which I’d imagine is a critique most other big-city dwellers share. There is no shortage of great folks, bands, eats, cool nerd-haunts (comic & record collectors rejoice!), and beautiful neighborhoods/communities in which to live. The same is true for all of the awful yuppies, gold cost bourgeois, & assholes who get your friends hooked on hard drugs. A lot of the time I wish that I lived in a vast expanse of lush nature with no human presence save myself. When I’m not wishing for seclusion, I’m loving how hard of a time I have sorting out which of the 5 awesome punk shows I get to go see any given night. Chicago has everything I love & hate at once; most of the time its worth it.
PE: Musically what are you guys going for?
Devan: I’d say sincerity, first and foremost. In sound, words, and delivery. And the connections we can and have made with people based on that. My musician’s answer would be just to write the best songs we can and perform them at the highest level at all times.
Austin: I just want to stick out and be a little different sounding. I still want to have that essential formula for great punk. I personally believe we found the introduction to our sound with the “Sounds of Death” 12″. We have two formulas: triumphant, galloping crust metal and simplified, pissed off, to-the-point stuff.
Brendan: Initially we formed with the idea of writing over the top odes to crust circa late 80’s/early 90’s; stuff you could flail your overgrown dreadlocks around to. We all fell into a groove with each other over time, where we don’t really need to define what we’re gonna write before we do. We approach releases with general outlines (theme,length, format etc.), but when writing songs I’d say we aim for mean, earnest & impactful.
Adam: I think naturally all being into different types of musical backgrounds, our finished product ends up being a thing of its own, but we all have similar enough interests to where we end up with the result that we initially were trying to go for. I personally am really into trying to sound like the bands I am into. It doesn’t end up exactly that way which is good but I love when bands obsess over old school sounds/bands/records and try to make their contemporary music sound as authentic as possible whether it be tone or style or whatever. At the end of the day we are trying to sound pissed, like we worship the 80s and have our music sound anarchy as fuck!
Krang slaying Minneapolis : Photo by Adam DeGross
PE: What bands inspire you the most?
Austin: I listen to EVERYTHING. I don’t know where to begin but musically, keeping personal interest aside, I think we’re inspired by 80’s UK crust and a lot of Japanese stuff as far as writing collectively. This is something me and you will have to nerd out on when we’re in Boston next. Haha!
Adam: For Krang, bands that influence the writing process for me are Masskontroll, Deathraid, Sacrilege, Hellshock, Deviated Instinct, Sodom, Axegrinder and Amebix as well as Instinct of Survival. Personally I am all over the water but my all time 2 favorite punk bands have always and will always be Discharge and the Dead Boys.
Devan: I could go on a long rant about every band I’ve ever loved and how they’ve all stuck with and influence me to this day and blah blah blah, but I’ll spare you the cost of ink and just say Sacrilege, Crude, Amebix and Discharge. That said, we are quite the eclectic bunch.
Brendan: Musically, anything running the gamut from Paintbox to Elliot Smith. I enjoy a lot of soaring Japanese hardcore with that Burning Spirits feel, 90’s screamo, early black metal & hip hop. Any band that has a way with words gets me going, but mostly I enjoy music that you can’t help but feel.
Broken Waves EP
PE: What are most of your songs about? What inspires the lyrics?
Brendan: Lemme preface by saying that Discharge is rad & “The More I See…” could be the soundtrack to my daily tedium… but i think punk rock has much more potential than to rehash our dogmatic & oftentimes simplistic politics. Having been a few places where the punk scene eats itself inside out with depression, addiction, & apathy towards the struggles of those around us, I think its real important to allow ourselves to be more open in the way we express all of the things exploding in our minds. I am not blowing my own horn, or any horn for that matter, but I really enjoy taking the personal route when it comes to writing & am constantly attempting to better address the common threads that run through all of our lives. Our first wave of songs covered some of our political leanings in regards to vivisection, arms manufacturing, rape culture & the willful destruction of our Earth. The “Bog of Eternal Stenchcore” 7″ reflects on the weight of stagnation on the “politically motivated”. “Sounds of Death” is the result of an obsession with death and a years worth of hurt; friends making irreversible decisions in regards to their lives & some of us falling into those spirals ourselves. There is absolution in acceptance though & I think a glint of hope in such dark subject matter. Our upcoming 7″ deals with cycles of change in our lives, moments of mania & madness; a counterpoint to our last 7″. The songs we are writing & playing now are an extension of that, focusing on moments of change in our lives, wanderlust & really just form one big, loud, pissed love letter to the DIY community, punk rock & time spent on the road. Inspiration comes from any human I’ve met that has dared to be open, honest & shameless about it.
Devan: Passion in all its forms and extremities is what inspires us. Totally.
PE: You guys have done a few extensive tours. What’s your favorite city you guys haveplayed in? What’s your least favorite?
Austin: I love Boston. Detroit, New Orleans, and the Twin Cities (Minneapolis) are up there too. I don’t really have a least favorite. We have had some bad experiences, though. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and not mention them. Hopefully things will be better when we return.
Devan: New Orleans is my favorite city ever, and our most recent gig in Boston totally ruled. I’d have to say, though, that many of my favorite shows have been in non-major cities. Birmingham AL was awesome, Asheville NC, Cincinatti OH, Grand Rapids MI…basically anywhere with a really tight-knit but wide-ranging DIY scene in terms of age, music, spaces, projects, etc. It’s always super encouraging to see.
Brendan: I’ll echo the others in saying that NOLA, Asheville, Cincy, Birmingham, Boston & Baltimore all kick ass. I’m usually super appreciative of all the towns we’ve been lucky enough to play in, though of course we’ve played in towns that seemed to embrace the anti-PC attitude/sense of humor that I am so fucking sick of. Some cities are really 50/50 because you’ll either play an amazing show with bad-ass folks & have the time of your life, or you might end up wanting to eviscerate some fuckhead who only listens to GG Allin & doesn’t get why a confederate flag hanging at a show space might ruffle some feathers.
Austin: We as a band aren’t about making sure we are politically correct all the time, but we definitely are hellbent on showing one another respect and are willing to give respect back to those who are legit. No single city is bad. Like I said before, sometimes there are some bad experiences. Fuckheads are everywhere.
Adam: Yes, Cincinnati, Birmingham, Boston, but most of all NOLA and Minneapolis. New Orleans and Minneapolis…no other city can live up to the debauchery that is expected to happen when we arrive in these two places. We need a week of recovery after being in either place for just a day. Also I love playing Madison a lot. Fuck, I love touring. So many amazing friends are being missed right now as we speak.
PE: What are some of your favorite bands you guys have played with?
Lord Krang: Scum from Detroit, Appalachian Terror Unit, Antisect, In Defense, Nu-kle-ar Blast Suntan, Kontrasekt, Cognitive Dissonance, The Skuds, Coelacanth, WrathCobra, Wartorn, Negligence, In Ruins, and definitely D-Clone; but honestly, it’s great to play with anyone and everyone who aren’t assholes and give a shit about “punk rock”.
PE: What are some of your favorite local bands from Chicago?
Lord Krang: Asphyxiate, Decay After Death (Decay A.D.), Cemetery (RIP), Culo, Die Time, Slag, Escalofrio, Sex Bunker (RIP), Birth Deformities, Gas Rag, Welkin Dusk, Daylight Robbery, Dirty Surgeon Insurgency, The Breathing Light, La Armada, Black September, Kontaminat, Ooze, Tensions, The Busy Sugnals, Population, More that we’re forgetting to mention….
PE: What does the future hold for Krang?
Devan: As Austin mentioned earlier, we have our “Broken Waves” 7″ being released in June, at which point we’ll be doing a small tour with Coelacanth. Also, as previously stated, we are well along in the writing process for our next full-length LP. Look for us around the Mid-west this summer and keep up-to-date and get in touch via the following:
crustardpunx[AT]gmail.com – krangcrustards.bandcamp.com – krangcrustards.blogspot.com
Austin: More touring, more albums, more blood spit nights, more everything! We’ll do a more extensive tour when the new LP comes out.
Brendan: “Bad Moon” 12″ – Skull Fest – Split(s?) – Self-Destruction With A Gusto
Lord Krang: Record labels that are interested in helping us with our next 12″ (which is more than half way written) get in touch with us!!! It will be even more galloping, pist, and triumphant than our still available “Sounds of Death” 12″!
11-14-13
Columbus, OH – Café Bourbon Street
In Defence, Checkmate, Putrid Cause, Hairy Lips
-Matthias Joyce
I’m typing this from the floor of some guy name Mattard’s house while Hulk Hogan’s ‘No Holds Barred’plays on VHS in the background. As per usual, Kevin and I are the last ones awake, drinking Natural Ice and talking about vintage wrestling (this has been a prevalent theme so far on this tour). I got thrown into a pole whilst trying to mosh holding a video camera tonight, and my back is killing me. I’m going to see if I can’t set a record writing this as fast as possible—apologies in advance.
In Defence woke up this morning at The Harrison House in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and spent the morning watching Botchamania and standing over Kevin’s sleeping body holding a giant fucking medieval sword. We eventually roused him by playing Manowar loudly next to his head, and got on the road around 3 PM.
Highlights of the road to Ohio were two kids walking along the side of the road wielding crowbars, and hearing Jeff Nicholas, In Defence’s drummer, talk about some kid in his high school who was expelled from school for letting goats into the principals office to shit all over peoples transcripts…then came back on graduation day to blast Bruce Springsteen’s‘Born in the USA’ on a boombox outside the school.
We arrived at Mattard’s house around 8 PM, and immediately began poring over his extensive VHS collection. The guys from Putrid Cause came over,and we watched some Jean Claud Van Damme movie that sucked pretty badly (he didn’t slow-mo roundhouse anyone until the last 5 fucking minutes of the movie). Departing shortly after, we headed to Café Bourbon Street in Columbus, where we watched ‘The Decline of Western Civilization’ on a small tube TV at the bar and drank Black Label with some local punks. I haven’t seen that documentary in years, and it was a great precursor for the rest of the night.
Hairy Lips, a hardcore/metal crossover band, played first, followed by Putrid Cause, an awesome hardcore punk band that would’ve made G.G. Allin proud—their singer got buck naked and threw himself into the crowd, and went on about “trying not to fucking die” in-between songs.Checkmate, a female-fronted hardcore band, played second-to-last, and In Defence went on when everyone was absolutely ready to mosh and destroy the place (which they did). During In Defence’s set, I bought some cute girl a beer and talked to her for a bit, and was hitting things off fairly well… only to get sucked into a tightly-knit circle pit moments later, dropping my beer and phone in the process—better luck next time. In Defence played a few throwbacks, including ‘Call More Dudes’, and people were moshing and partying like crazy. This was definitely the most fun show on tour so far, with a great response and rad people (aside from some guy who started ripping on Star Wars, and was promptly told to shut the hell up by a disgruntled merch guy who will remain anonymous).We got back to Mattard’s place in time to watch this incredible Hulk Hogan movie, and as I type this entry, Kevin and I are discussing the virtues of being perpetually alone, avoiding morbid obesity, and imagining people you don’t like floating in space and experiencing rapid decompression. I have to wake up in about 5 hours and start off the drive to Philadelphia, so I’d best wrap this up. Only one more day ‘til we meet up with Toxic Holocaust and Ramming Speed, and we’re all getting pretty fucking excited. As always, thank you for reading my inane bullshit. -Matthias Joyce
for more photos, updates, etc: www.facebook.com/matthiasjoyce
Tour Journal, 11-12-13
In Defence, Gonzo Violence, “Richardson” Richardson, Minimum Wage Assassins
-Matthias Joyce
Today I left Minneapolis, MN with In Defence for a month-long tour. In 3 days we’ll be meeting up withToxic Holocaust and Ramming Speed, and continuing along the east coast to play some ridiculous shows and drink tons of beer.
I write this first passage from the living room floor of Derek Martha, gracious host and drummer for Midwest grind fucks Minimum Wage Assassins and Mass Murder Messiah. It’s four in the morning, I’ve been awake for nearly twenty-four hours straight, and we’ve just finished stuffing ourselves with Triscuits and Old Milwaukee… I think this is unequivocally the right moment to start a tour journal.
I met up with In Defence around two in the afternoon on Tuesday, November 12th, 2013, and we spent a good hour practicing our Tetris skills packing gear and merchandise into the back of the van. Before leaving Minneapolis, we dropped a cool hundred bucks in EBT money on groceries (hope the feds aren’t reading this), and stood around awkwardly while an irate woman demanded her beet stalks back from the cashier. (“You don’t throw those away, I use those! They’re organic; I eat them!”)
We got on the road shortly thereafter, only to get stuck in traffic immediately upon leaving. Our drive to Dekalb, Illinois took all day, although this early on in the tour it was difficult to be impatient with traffic jams and roadwork. We arrived at the 7th Street Space around 10 PM, and had all of twenty minutes to set up before In Defence went on—Gonzo Violence and “Richardson” Richardson delivered some blisteringly intense grindcore, but damn, you motherfuckers played for like seven minutes combined.
In Defence tried out some new antics for this small DIY show, and Ben Crew made sure to get his lines right about The Police—not the guys who arrest middle-school kids for bringing matches to class, the dudes who wrote the creepiest song of the 20th century, ‘I’ll Be Watching You’—before proceeding with the rest of the set. I sold a few merch items during In Defence’s set, and while confusedly attempting to organize the money and item checklist, had the entire merch table toppled onto me during ‘Boom Box Crew.’ I think this is something I’ll get used to as the tour progresses.
Minimum Wage Assassins rounded out the bill, and Derek was kind enough to let us crash at his place after word. Following a rousing viewing of ‘Freeway,’ the rest of the band crashed out, leaving Kevin Alter, Derek and I to discuss the art of film behind Hulk Hogan’s Suburban Commando—truly one of the finest pieces of cinema ever created.
I know this entry was a bit lengthy (insert Butthead laugh here, uhuhuh), but I’ve got to start somewhere. Tomorrow we eat breakfast at Burrito Loco, then head to Fort Wayne, Indiana. We meet up with Toxic Holocaust and Ramming Speed on November 16th in Trenton, New Jersey, and ‘excitement’ is an understatement. Thanks for reading, and for being a dorky metal-head who finds this stuff interesting—I assume if you’ve done the former, you’re probably the latter.
Nov 20th “the Maritime “ Appleton WI/ gouger, Deathwish, Atalla
Nov 21st “East Wing “ Kansas City MO / with vomit assault
Nov 22nd “Rabb Ranch” NO THANKS FEST 7 Emory TX just hanging out .
Nov 23 “Rabb Ranch” NO THANKS FEST 7 Emory TX This is the day we play with THOU
Haggz /Kallohonka /Colonia /Doom Siren /Communion /Scaphe /Dethrone
Steel Bearing Hand /Dead to a Dying World /Barghest /Recreant/Sabbath Assembly
The Causalities / Negative Approach Destruction campaign tour
Nov 25” The Fubar” St. Louis, MO/ with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Nov 26 “Hoosier Dome” Indianapolis, IN/with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Nov 27 “Reggies” Chicago, IL / with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Nov 29 “Mac’s Bar” Lansing, MI /with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Nov 30 “Waiting Room” Buffalo, NY/ with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 01 “The Foundry” Lakewood, OH/ with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 03 “123 Pleasant Street “ Morgantown, WV/ with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 04 “Voltage” Philadelphia, PA /with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 05 “The Church” Boston, MA /with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 06 “Europa” Brooklyn, NY Ti / with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 07 “Cherry St. Station” Wallingford, CT / with Negative Approach , The Casualties
Dec 08 “TBA” Pittsburg PA
Dec09 “Elimination chamber” Huntington WV /with Appalachian Terror Unit
Dec 10th “the unholy hole” Ann Arobor MI with Snafu,Girth ,scum,p.a.w.n.
It is with great enthusiasm that we are announcing the 2013 speaking tour for anthropologist, unschooler, and anarchist Layla AbdelRahim. Layla will be touring with her new book Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams through various communities in the Cascadian Bioregion.
We are still booking dates. If you wish to organize a speaking engagement with Layla in your community please get in contact: prideandunity@hotmail.com
Tour dates so far:
Tuesday October 8, 5:30-7:00
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey BC, Unceded Coast Salish Territories Crime and Reward from an Anarcho-primitivist Perspective.
Saturday October 12, Venue TBA
Vancouver BC, Unceded Coast Salish Territories The Insidious and Resilient Narratives of Domestication: Pitfalls to Watch for in Autonomous Learning Zones.
Tuesday, October 15, 7pm,
Camas Books – 2620 Quadra St,
Victoria BC, unceded Lekwungen Territories What’s in a Class? On Reproduction of Gender, Species, and Ethnicity as Categories for Labour and Consumption.
Friday, October 18, 7pm
University of Victoria Victoria BC, Unceded Lekwungen Territories The Ship of Fools as a Place of Spectacle, Healing, and Education where the Wild are Sent to Die.
Still seeking dates in Portland, Olympia, Eugene, and Seattle.
Full presentation descriptions:
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Crime and Reward from an Anarcho-primitivist Perspective.
George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Black teenager, Trayvon Martin, this summer came as a surprise to many mostly because the civilised believe words and focus on language rather than on praxis and consequences. Namely, civilised people see the judicial system with its verbose process of trial as a system of justice and in the eyes of those involved in Zimmerman’s trial, there was “no evidence beyond reasonable doubt” that Zimmerman acted within the confines of the American law. The question thus was not whether killing someone was wrong, the problem that was to be resolved in this system of justice was whether the killer had the right to kill.
In this lecture, Layla AbdelRahim discusses the civilized premises that construct the human animal as predatory and thus centers murder in anthropology itself and reinforces the predatory narrative. Furthermore, this predation is structured by the classificatory system of civilized epistemology that categorizes groups of living and nonliving beings, whether human or not, as “resources” and “consumers” thereby excluding whole groups and immense suffering from the public discourse on justice. And as discussed in her book, Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Civilization and the Birth of Education, this predatory narrative is reinforced by both the medical sector and the system of education.
The Insidious and Resilient Narratives of Domestication: Pitfalls to Watch for in Autonomous Learning Zones.
Not only has the hierarchical project of domestication and civilization existed for the past ten thousand years, it has been expanding globally, engulfing more and more territories and bringing the world to a state nearing the brink of collapse of biodiversity and self-sustainability. This colonizing project has not been accepted passively. It has met strong ideological, epistemological, socio-economic, and physical resistance on both individual and social levels. Nonetheless, civilization has reached an epidemic level largely owing to its misconstruction of “knowledge” about human nature and the world. In her research, Layla AbdelRahim applies concepts from biology, anthropology, ethology, and sociology to examine the mechanisms by which socio-cultural narratives and material cultures reproduce themselves through domesticated bodies, minds, and desires. In this workshop, Layla will identify these mechanisms of perpetuating domesticated “unknowledge” and will engage a discussion on resistance to its narrative.
How do we know the world? How do we relate to the world and to our knowledge of it? Today, most people around the world believe that we cannot learn how to live in the world without having gone to school and received an “education”. However, what is this “education”? What is its content, its method, or its purpose?
Education is a systemic production, reproduction, and transmission of specific socio-economic constructs about humans, society, and the world. These constructs are then passed on as “knowledge”, which ensures the coexistence of epistemological classes as socio-economic classes in a hierarchical paradigm. Civilised science prioritises Cartesian thinking that divorces “reason” from “emotions” precisely because empathy with the exploited, the suffering, or the consumed will interfere with the project Civilisation.
In this conversation, Layla will discuss the underlying premises in scientific thinking about the world as a system of domestication of human and nonhuman resources for production, reproduction, consumption, and ultimately devastation.
The Ship of Fools as a Place of Spectacle, Healing, and Education where the Wild are Sent to Die.
The Medieval European allegory of the Ship of Fools was more than a metaphor or a literary ruse to critique the Church and the state. In Madness and Civilization, Michel Foucault argues that this trope was also a real socio-political tactic used to cleanse the civilised space by isolating the “mad” or the “unreasonable” from “society”. For civilisation, “reason” has two constituents: raison d’être and sanity. The sane are here defined as those existing for the purpose of domestication in a “natural” food chain hierarchy. In this sense, “society” consists of those working for the “reason” of domestication and socio-economic hierarchy, exploitation, and consumption and those who cannot or refuse to abide by the domesticator’s definition of their reason for existence are either sent to sanatoriums, hospitals, or other correctional facilities to be cured or killed.
Drawing from the research conducted for her book, Wild Children – Domesticated Dreams: Civilization and the Birth of Education (2013), Layla AbdelRahim discusses schools and children’s culture as spaces of such isolation and “correction”: where the wild raison d’être to dream and to exist for one’s own, known or unbeknownst to self purpose is extinguished and where the child is taught to exist to serve as a human resource in the chain of exploitation of nonhuman resources.
RIFLE DIET heads out in support of their new 7″ “Abuse Begets Abuse” this August. If you live in or near one of the listed cities make sure to check them out. If you can’t make it but want to pick up their 7″ CLICK HERE
Aug 2nd – Appleton WI @ The Subterranean 5pm / Powerslop Nuclear Blast Suntan
Aug 2nd – Appleton Wi @ The Maritime 9pm / Old Nails,CYP
Aug 3rd – Chicago IL – CLIT FEST @Benton house (we play the early show) 1:30pm Matinee show / Bellow, Rat Storm ,ect evening show / Nuklear Blast Suntan, Krang and many more
Aug 4th Ohama,NE @ West Wing /tba
Aug 5th day off
Aug 6th Portland OR / @ RED ROOM PDX/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, ABSINTHE ROSE
Aug 7th Eureka Ca@ the INK Annex / M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising
Aug 8th Oakland, Ca @ The Metro/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, Fucktard, Jedi Scum
Aug 9th Fullerton, Ca @ 601 Bar & Grill/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, SMD, Vindictive
Aug 10th Los Angeles, Ca @The Echoplex -The Power Of The Riff /The Obsessed, Hirax,
From Ashes Rise, Final Conflict ,M.D.C., Iron lung, Bastard Noise , and many more
Aug 11th Las Vegas NV@ house show / Vihan Rytmi ,Nests, Unfair Fight
Aug 12th Albuquerque NM @ Launchpad /Howl, Lord Dying, Hanta, and Rezin*Tree
Aug 13th Denver CO @ Circle 7 /Cascabel, of feather and bone
Aug 14th Kansas City Mo@ Minibar / TBA
WARTORN U.S. Tour 2013 Aug 2nd – Appleton WI @ The Subterranean 5pm / Powerslop, Nulear Blast
Aug 2nd – Appleton Wi @ The Maritime 9pm / Old Nails,CYP
Aug 3rd – Chicago IL – CLIT FEST @Benton house (we play the early show) 1:30pm Matinee show / Bellow, Rat Storm ,ect
evening show / Nuklear Blast Suntan, Krang and many more
Aug 4th Ohama,NE @ West Wing /tba
Aug 5th day off
Aug 6th Portland OR / @ RED ROOM PDX/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, ABSINTHE ROSE
Aug 7th Eureka Ca@ the INK Annex / M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising
Aug 8th Oakland, Ca @ The Metro/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, Fucktard, Jedi Scum
Aug 9th Fullerton, Ca @ 601 Bar & Grill/ M.D.C. ,Opposition Rising, SMD, Vindictive
Aug 10th Los Angeles, Ca @The Echoplex -The Power Of The Riff /The Obsessed, Hirax,
From Ashes Rise, Final Conflict ,M.D.C., Iron lung, Bastard Noise , and many more
Aug 11th Las Vegas NV@ house show / Vihan Rytmi ,Nests, Unfair Fight
Aug 12th Albuquerque NM @ Launchpad /Howl, Lord Dying, Hanta, and Rezin*Tree
Aug 13th Denver CO @ Circle 7 /Cascabel, of feather and bone
