Midnite Madness LXVII—The True Metal

And we're BACK. Thanks to those who tuned in on the off-chance last Friday nite. For those who didn't, listening and download links are below. Here are the dates for this year's shows:
- February 10th
- March 10th
- April 7th
- May 5th
- June 2nd and 30th
- July 28th
- August 25th
- September 22nd
- October 20th
- November 17th
- December 15th

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A Fist in the Face of God presents... T.W.N.B.P. - A Mix by Hateful Abandon

Early last year, my old mix-making buddy and Salute rager Tom Swine sent me the promo of a record he'd been working on with Hateful Abandon founding-member, Vice Martyr. It took me by surprise. He'd kept his dealings with this project low and, as a result, I had no preconceived ideas before I hit play – but a great record it turned out to be.

It did make me wonder where they got their sound from, though, and seeing as the original band member's name is Vice I figured a mix collecting the band's musical origins would be more fitting than another box-ticking interview. And here it is, with words from Mr Swine himself about the mix, the album and its reception.

There are several reasons to be cheerful about being asked to do something like this: it gives us another excuse to blast loads of music while choosing tracks to play from past to present; there's the excitement of maybe bringing bands to people's ears that they may never have heard of; and finally, it's exciting to show everyone where we're coming from with regard to our music tastes.

No disrespect intended whatsoever to Candlelight Records, who have been very open-minded and supportive, but we feel a little misrepresented by the media at large. Because we're on a predominantly metal label, outlets automatically assume that we play metal, and so react with disappointment and often utter confusion, aggressively making the point that "there is little to no metal to be found here", accusing Hateful Abandon of having "little regard for traditional song structure".

If "traditional" means your typical metal song structure, then no, we do not. And really, there shouldn't be a standard song structure outside mindless pop music – because that makes music incredibly predictable. And that's boring. Break free and take the blinkers off.

As for the mix, it came together pretty easily. There are a TON of tracks we missed off or didn't have time to include, such as Iron Fist of the Sun, Trepaneringsritualen, Alaric, Krieg, The Walker Brothers, David Bowie, DAF, The Fall, Suicide, etc, etc, etc. I hope you all enjoy what we managed to squeeze in!

Salut.

 TRACKLIST
1. Eyeless in Gaza (UK) - "Ever Pitch and Bite" [1981]
2. Godflesh (UK) - "Slavestate" [1991]
3. Pinkish Black (USA) - "Fall Down" [2012]
4. Lycia (USA) - "Nine Hours Later" [1995]
5. Dead Can Dance (Australia) - "Frontier" [1984]
6. 1919 (UK) - "Scream" [1983]
7. Sektor 304 (Portugal) - "A Vessel of Guilt" [2011]
8. Haus Arafna (Germany) - "Heart Beats Blood Flows" [2011]
9. Non (USA) - "Total War. Edit." [1997]
10. Vatican Shadow (USA) - "Contractor Corpses Hung Over the Euphrates River" [2013]
11. Zombi (USA) - "Times of Troubles" [2011]
12. Shahram and Hafez Nazeri (Iran) - "Enchanted" [2001]

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Midnite Madness LXVI - 2014

As always, with the closing of the year comes the AFITFOG annual, recounting the best of the past year. This was not a golden year by any stretch for me, but I still had to omit some pretty decent stuff just to make this two-show happen, and as always, I am sure I will discover some great 2014 release next year and beyond.

Big thanks to all the promo guys for keeping me in touch and to the NTS guys for keeping the show alive, even when I wanted to pretty much finish up. Also, shouts to Fenriz for his work on BOTW and for the killer OOOOO podcast; Brad Smith; Tom Swine (HATEFUL ABANDON album rules!); Daniel and Cato DEATHHAMMER; Marek and Oscar for keeping Live Evil LIVE and pretty EVIL too; Kick, Sindre and the NEKROBLIT guys; Tooth of NATURE (killer show with CAUCHEMAR in London this year), brothers Jan and Torm OCCVLTA, Theo OMEGA, Daragh at Invictus and any band/distro I ordered from this year (OCCULT BURIAL!), and to this year's guests—Jake SHALLOW SANCTION, Deano, James Knight, and to you all for listening. Massive unhails to British Airways—fuck you and die.

I will be back on January 13th, 2015 for more MIDNITE MADNESS, so in the words of a good old friend: "don't you go dying on me!"

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Midnite Madness LXV - Unholy Norwegian Forces of Evil IV

Here it is, finally, the long-awaited Norwegian-only edition of the Unholy Forces of Evil franchise is GO. Again, this is not a definitive compendium as such, more a ripping collection of tracks from the golden era of Norwegian metal—the mid-80s to the mid-90s. Well, it is still exporting many greats, but it was then that it all started, and this show is just giving props to those bands who, like or not (Emperor!), changed the sound of so-called "extreme metal".
Also, I wanted to use my outlet to showcase the actual music from two of the scene's pioneers whose myth and legend has somewhat obscured what should be their musical legacy. I am of course talking about Mayhem and Burzum, so hour two is almost fully occupied by tracks from their best (my favourite) releases, with a couple of Darkthrone tracks in-between. Refer back to the all-DT show for further listening on them, should you need it.
Midnite Madness will return for its final show of the year on December 9th with the 2014 show. There may be a new version of the show for 2015, but that has yet to be decided. SOON!

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Midnite Madness LXIV - Live Evil Special 2014

ALRIGHT. The time has come again for another radio onslaught. This show, as promised, is a Live Evil Special, featuring part of last week's mix, plus 75+ minutes of the best of the bands to have played the previous three festivals. A cracker, if I do say so myself. Also features brand-new tracks from upcoming Zom Flesh Assimilation and Deathhammer Evil Power LPs.
Midnite Madness will return for the penultimate show of the year (/ever? I have not decided yet) on November 11th, and will most likely will be a Norwegian black metal show, as I haven't done one and have intended to do so since show one. December's show will be a 2014 one, that is guaranteed. SOON!

And this just in—set times for this weekend's festival from Marek and the guys.

FRIDAY 6PM - 1AM (SOLD OUT)
22.15 Deathhammer
21.15 Ranger
20.15 Amulet
19.15 Division Speed

SATURDAY 2PM - 2AM (Ticket Collection from 2pm!!)
Upstairs
21.00 Manilla Road
19.45 Antichrist
18.45 Morbus Chron
17.45 Nocturnal
16.45 Portrait
15.45 Lizzies

Downstairs
18.15 Wytch Hazel
17.15 (Surprise act!)
16.15 Nocturnal Witch
15.15 Riddles

SUNDAY 3PM-11PM
9.45 Nifelheim
8.00 Quartz
6.30 Vulcano
5.30 Lecherous Gaze
4.30 Bunker 66
3.30 Nightmare City

MON 20TH @ The Alibi FREE AFTER-BANGER
20:00 BLOOD ON SATANS CLAW movie
22:00 Heavy Metal Karaoke and Records

Looks epic, can't wait. See you there!

A Fist In The Face Of God presents... Live Evil Mix 2014

Artwork illustration by Andrew Walter

Live Evil festival is back for another year, and this year's line-up is as strong as any previous, if not the toughest lineup yet. So if you live near The Dome in Tufnell Park, be prepared to spend next weekend sharing the streets with lots of men wearing patched vests, bullet belts, moustaches and leather, as well as plenty of women in very similar get-ups, minus the facial hair, hopefully.
So, in annual fashion, here is a mix featuring one track from each of this year's participants. I lovingly pieced the tracks that curators Marek Steven and Oscar Tuttiett sent me over, with tracks running in chronological order from oldest to newest. There's even a brand-new, exclusive track on here from the mighty Deathhammer's soon-to-be unleashed third album, Evil Power, and also some brand-new stuff from the Marek's own Amulet, and Italy's speed metalpunks Bunker 66. I will let the guys do the rest of the talking followed by the mix.

What we have here are some of our favourite tracks from the amazing 19 international acts from this year's Live Evil Festival. Every year of the fest so far has been legendary and we will feel genuinely lucky to help this event happen. There is something very special about the atmosphere that is inclusive, fun, and completely unhinged, all at the same time. Every year we have bands that get huge shortly afterwards and others who remain unappreciated cult acts, and this year we genuinely think it's the best line-up yet. Still some tickets left so don't miss out - we look forward to hosting you!

Marek Steven and Oscar Tuttiett—Live Evil

1. Quartz (UK) - "Satan's Serenade" [1980]
2. Manilla Road (USA) - "Hammer of the Witches" [1985]
3. Vulcano (Brazil) - "Spirits of Evil" [1986]
4. Nifelheim (Sweden) - "Storm of the Reaper" [2007]
5. Division Speed (Germany) - "Ominous Silence" [2009]
6. Antichrist (Sweden) - "Dark Sorcery" [2011]
7. Wytch Hazel (England) - "Wytch Hazel" [2011]
8. Lizzies (Spain) - "Sacrifice" [2013]
9. Ranger (Finland) - "Steel Dawn" [2013]
10. Nocturnal (Germany) - "Rising Demons" [2014]
11. Bunker 66 (Italy) - "(She's Got) Demon Eyes" [2014]
12. Deathhammer (Norway) - "Powertrip (Unreleased)" [2014]
13. Nocturnal Witch (Germany) - "Black Star" [2014]
14. Nightmare City (Sweden) - "Nightmare City" [2014]
15. Morbus Chron (Sweden) - "Towards A Dark Sky" [2014]
16. Lecherous Gaze (USA) - "End Rising" [2014]
17. Riddles (England) - "Psychedelic Power Engine Iron Claw Thunder Mistress" [2014]
18. Amulet (England) - "Glint of the Knife" [2014]
19. Portrait (Sweden) - "Mother Sun [Judas Priest cover]" [2014]

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And don’t forget there’s a pre-Live Evil show next Wednesday the 15th at east London’s premier blackout drunk vortex, The Alibi, featuring one of the festival’s act’s, the USA’s Lecherous Gaze.
Also, next Tuesday I will hosting a special Live Evil show on my radio transmission, Midnite Madness, 12am next Wednesday morning. You've been warned!

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Shallow Sanction

It seems that when it rains mixtapes, it pours. Not even a full week after I offered up an audible chasm of darkness in the form of Fenriz's latest opus comes a somewhat different mix altogether, this time compiled by two of the minds that make up east London's finest post-punk band, Shallow Sanction.
Well, post-punk isn't quite fitting, but before I started using words like "gothpunk" to describe their sound, I asked guitarist Jake Gill if making a mixtape would sum up the band's sound better than an interview full of questions they've likely already answered. He and frontman Jesse Cannon came up with a 60-minute trip into the psyche of Shallow Sanction, accompanied by these short, but fairly profound words:

Here lies a blitz of UK punk and industrial music for your aural pleasure. This mix for A Fist In the Face of God/VICE was pieced together by Jake Gill and Jesse Cannon, consisting of 15 tracks of prominent pieces of underground music that have influenced us and Shallow Sanction.
We are swimming in the lunar sea, drowning in insanity between the devil and the deep blue sea – our world is dying and nobody's driving!

TRACKLIST:
1. Amebix - "Monolith/Nobody's Driving" from Monolith [1987]
2. Part 1 - "Ghost" from Pictures of Pain [1985]
3. Killing Joke - "Tension" from What's THIS For...! [1981]
4. Whitehouse - "Wriggle Like a Fucking Eel" from Bird Seed [2003]
5. Rudimentary Peni - "The Psycho Squat" from Death Church [1983]
6. Conflict - "Cruise" from Increase the Pressure [1984]
7. Vex - "World In Action" from Sanctuary [1984]
8. Crisis - "No Town Hall" from No Town Hall [1978]
9. Flowers In the Dustbin - "Nails of the Heart" from Nails of the Heart [1985]
10. UK Decay - "Middle of the Road Man" from The Black 45 EP [1980]
11. The Grey Wolves - "Beyond Hypocrisy" from Catholic Priests Fuck Children [1996]
12. Throbbing Gristle - "E-Coli" from D.o.A. The Third And Final Report [1978]
13. Flux of Pink Indians - "Tapioca Sunrise" from Strive to Survive Causing Least Suffering Possible [1982]
14. Omega Tribe - "Is This a Future?" from Angry Songs [1982]
15. Alternative TV - "You Bastard" from How Much Longer/You Bastard [1977]
16. The Mob - "Witch Hunt" from Let the Tribe Increase [1983]

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