Live Evil 2015

Live Evil festival returns with its fifth and possibly finest line-up so far. Click here for info on tickets, etc. Upcoming devastation this autumn!

A Fist In The Face Of God presents... The Initiation—Carefully Compiled By Janny Ratten

Image by Jan Utecht

Jan from Occvlta is one those multi-talented people who, no matter what he seems to try his hand at (his artwork for a recent mix still kills me every time I see it), is perpetually great. I first heard his band, Occvlta, in the lead up to the very first Live Festival back in 2009, where legend has it he basically told the former organiser that they were playing the festival, no questions asked. I was helping out with interviews for the zine to accompany the festival, but finding them was tough, as, back then they weren't even listed on Encyclopaedia Metallum (Wikipedia for metal-nerds, basically), such was their relative newness.
So we got to the interview eventually, and Jan was the ideal interviewee. His confidence in getting a place at the festival (their first show, if I'm not mistaken, and first-up on the bill of what would be a legendary festival) wasn't unfounded. They fucking slayed.
Then, when VICE's music site Noisey was launched, I travelled to an Occvlta show in -16° Berlin, in December of 2010, to see them desecrate White Trash alongside infernal death-bangers, Deathhammer, and 80s Italian speed metallers, Fingernails. This performance was captured and features in their Noisey show. Jan had just had his first-born around he that time (hey, Grimur!), but as his lady and offspring were out of town for a few days, he put me and few other beer/weed/sweat-stinking metalheads up in his ludicrously cheap Kreuzberg apartment for a few nights, and the allegiance formed.

Jan (middle) in Berlin, 2010

Anyways, recent-ish-ly he did a mix for the prestigious Lodown Magazine, which is mostly made up of just weird stuff and no metal, and it reminded me, 'Hey, wasn't he supposed to do me a mix?' So here it is, all ready to be devoured, below a few words from Jan himself.

Well, this mix. What to say about it. In a way, it's a mirror of the metal I listen to and how I feel at the moment. Which is mostly black and heavy, haha. You'll find obscure stuff and songs you've probably known for ages, but I think that makes the MIX. Actually, I don't listen to "Life Eternal" that often, but it really is one of my absolute favourites. And then there is Winterhawk. Also a true masterpiece. I thought it sucks, when hearing it for the first time. Too much guitar. But I let time decide what I like, if I don't feel in the mood for something new, well, if the gods want, we are gonna meet again. There is so many great bands it took years for me to like/understand, and it feels so good to know that there is no hurry and a lot more. So who cares. A lot of the songs I was introduced to by friends or my brother. Hanging out with cool people listening to cool music ... on facebook, haha.

"Devil Eyes" and "Princess of the Night" I owe to my brother, Torm [Occvlta drummer]; Sapphire I owe to Tooth [drummer of New York band Natur], "Lady of Mars" to Marcelo [Evil Spirits], and Winterhawk I think was originally introduced to me by Henry [Yuan of Electric Assault Records], but it took a few years until Torben played it and then BOOM. There you go.

TRACKLIST:

1. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind (USA) - "Main Title 'The Shining'" [1980]
2. Aura Noir (Norway) - "Towers of Limbs and Fevers (Original Version)" [1994]
3. Mighty Sphincter (USA) - "Ghost Walking" [1985]
4. Isengard (Norway) - "Our Lord Will Come" [1991]
5. Darkthrone (Norway) - "As Flittermice as Satans Spys" [1994]
6. Kringa (Austria) - "Pearly Gates, Abhorrent Ascent (Unreleased)" [2015]
7. Mayhem (Norway) - "Life Eternal" [1994]
8. Mercyful Fate (Denmark) - "Devil Eyes" [1982]
9. Sapphire (England) - "Encounter" [1982]
10. Dark Star (England) - "Lady of Mars" [1981]
11. Saxon (England) - "Princess of the Night" [1981]
12. Winterhawk (USA) - "Free to Live" [1982]

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXXIII—Metal Gods Set Me Free

AL-FUCKIN-RIGHT. Show 73 sees Jan Utecht aka Janny Ratten of black metal band Occvlta open the show and almost finish it with a near-30-minute excerpt from his brand-new mix, featured in the post above.
I shall return next month on July 28th for more Midnite Madness. Stay clean!

Btw, the intro is—
1. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind (USA) - "Main Title 'The Shining'" [1980]
—and the tracks where it just says "Die Today [Cropped] are—
22. Sapphire (England) - "Encounter" [1982]
23. Dark Star (England) - "Lady of Mars" [1981]
24. Saxon (England) - "Princess of the Night" [1981]
25. Winterhawk (USA) - "Free to Live" [1982]

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXXII—Ride Hard Die Fast

 ALRIGHT. Show 72. That's 143 hours of Midnite Madness, in case any one is counting. Yup, over five days of REAL METAL, ughhh.
But anyways, back to the 'new' show formula where I (try to) recall my month's listenings since the last show. OK, given last month's show was a doom special, this is more like a few months worth, but hey, was great to play out some stuff that has been on the vast MM playlist since day one and of course some newer stuff, too.
I return like the ancient gods themselves at this month's very end—June 30th—for more Midnite Madness. Might be that Maiden show I keep banging on about, or the tape show I have mentioned before, but time shall tell. Soon!

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXXI—The DOOM Show

AL-FUCKIN-RIGHT it actually happened, last week's show was indeed the doom show I promised on here last month, and not a bad show it is either, if I say so myself. Overlooked a few to play what I did manage to fit in, so expect some more doomish chords to strike on one of next month's shows—2nd and 30th. Fuck it, I might even do a tape show? In time!

DOWNLOAD

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Loud & Raw—Hectic Tunes Selected by Sergeant Salsten

Artwork by Salsten himself

On my last trip to Norway, back in February of 2012, I stayed with Deathhammer frontman Daniel "Sergeant" Salsten in his downtown Oslo apartment. Fenriz and I had been out thrashing in a remote town called Drammen with Salsten the night previous, and when we rocked up at Sergeant's place he was still going, a crate of stubbies on the living room table and an old live Exodus VHS. Thrash living 100%.

Fenriz was DJing a house club that night and was only staying a short while, but Daniel played us some records from the crates littering his hallway, many of them songs neither of us had heard before. I think this was the first time I asked him if he'd be up for doing a mix.

Then, quite deservedly, he and Sadomancer's band Deathhammer became pretty big (for an underground thrash band) and started touring more or less consistently across the globe, and we would meet at Live Evil every year, continue the jokes and hazy cloud that seems to follow us, and then get chatting about doing a mix again.

It took him to move to Tazmania as recent as January just past (seriously), for him to finally get the project started and from the off, it was never going to disappoint. In one of the most tinkered with mixes I have ever received, he managed to trim it down to almost 90 mins of loud and raw metal and punk. Almost pure perfection. He had this to say about the mix:

thrashing out and spacing in with dylan at last years live evil festival, and the talks of creating a mix for this killer radio blog began. after floating in the back of my mind for a while, the theme of the compilation ended up being some intense aggressive shit. it's a mix of hardcore, speed and black metal, mostly quite fast. the crossover blend of hardcore and thrash is highly present - for those relentless moods when the blood is rushing and the neck is loose. it's a natural fusion i wish was more around these days really. i trimmed the mix down to contain only the most ripping and max filthy tunes, energetic rapid stuff ideal for a rotten wasted night. if you are also obsessed by raw power and thrashing rage this compilation is for you.

Before adding this about the insanely cool cover he drew:

here's the cover, inspired by how cool i felt wearing a chicago bulls cap as a child hahah.

Play this one loud!

TRACKLISTING:
1. Impetigo (USA) - "Sinister Urge/Faceless" [1990]
2. Pokolgép (Hungary) - "Vallomás" [1987]
3. Raw Power (Italy) - "A Certain Kind of Killer" [1985]
4. Rudimentary Peni [England] - "Nothing But A Nightmare" [1983]
5. Crossfire [Belgium] - "Feeling Down" [1985]
6. Kafka Prosess [Norway] - "90 Åra" [1985]
7. Angel Dust (Germany) - "Fighters Return" [1986]
8. Agnostic Front (USA) - "The Eliminator" [1986]
9. Abhorer (Singapore) - "Zygotical Sabbatory Anabapt" [1996]
10. Kaaos (Finalnd) - "Mellakka" [1982]
11. Sauron (USA) - "Demonic Invasion" [2004]
12. Turbo (Poland) - "Sztuczne Oddychanie" [1986]
13. 666 (Norway) - "Alkohol" [1982]
14. Descendants (USA) - "I'm Not A Loser" [1982]
15. Cryptic Slaughter (USA) - "Rest in Pain" [1982]
16. Biest (Germany) - "Motortraum" [1987]
17. Victimised (Norway) - "Lot Deg Ligge" [2004]
18. Carrion (Switzerland) - "Evil is There" [1986]
19. Thrust (USA) - "Overdrive" [1984]
20. R.K.L. (USA) - "Think Positive" [1985]
21. Celtic Frost (Switzerland) - "Journey Into Fear" [1985]
22. Nuclear Death (USA) - "Prolong the Agony" [1988]
23. Kohu-63 (Finland) - "Huorra" [1982]
24. Ghoul-Cult (Norway) - "Bulletbelt Berserker" [2002]
25. Gang Green (USA) - "Sick Sex Sick" [1987]
26. Impaled Nazarene (Finland) - "Condemned to Hell" [1993]
27. Sodom (Germany) - "After the Deluge" [1986]

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXX—Metal Forces

Show 70. Did not think I would ever complete that many, but hey, the ball continues to roll and heads still bang presumably, so why stop now?
Thanks again to Daniel Salsten for his new mix—see post above—of which I took 50 mins and rehashed the order for part of this show. Back on May 5th with MAYBE some kind of doom show (!), but that is subject to change, as always.

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXIX—Total Metal

Apologies to anyone who tuned in to NTS for the live show to be greeted with dead air. This was a fault by the producer, who apparently forgot how to do his job. No big deal, really, as it has been recorded and is now available for download below.

Show is in-keeping with the new formula of recalling the last month or so's listenings, and includes a 30-minute selection from the brand-new mix by Hades and Fenriz, Full Speed Ahead Vol. II. Shouts to those guys again for making yet another killer mix and to Salsten for sending me the new Deathhammer album Evil Power and allowing you to hear the ripping "Total Metal" track.

Midnite Madness returns on April 7th. You know what to do until then.

DOWNLOAD

A Fist in the Face of God presents... Full Speed Ahead Vol II - A Mix by Hades & Fenriz

Artwork by Jan Utecht

After the relative success of last year's Full Speed Ahead speed metal compilation, its composer—Hades Omega of Greek speed metal outfit Omega—informed me of a follow-up, this time brining more of the proto-speed metal sounds that set the sub-genre in motion for the early to mid-80s. This time he enlisted the skills of one DJ Fenriz, who picked out almost half of the tracks on this second volume of heart-pounding ripping metal.

Live from Kniven

They actually played the mix out at Oslo's finest metal bar Kniven, last weekend. Oh, and he even had the multi-talented Jan Utecht of German speed/black metal band Occvlta draw up the artwork for the mix. And a fine job he did, too. A real group effort, nice one.

I asked the guys if they had anything to say about their selection and Fenriz started by adding:

yeah, it's dopi from machetazo that sent me a whole bunch of old spanish metal from the 80s and i picked out my faves from that and put on this comp, atleast 4 spanish tracks i think. when i heard the whole comp i quickly deducted that the black magic track ruled the whole comp, btw.

Before Hades weighed in with:

Since last year's compilation went pretty good and many people got into it, i thought it's time for a second speed metal attack!  This time though, i was thinking about asking my friend and music trader Fenriz (Darkthrone), since he is the BIGGEST speed metal maniac i know, to join me and choose together the tracks. We even decided presenting the compilation LIVE at Kniven bar (Oslo), while hitting a few beers! I really like how it turned out, cuz there are many obscurities and interesting releases to dig from old and even new bands!! So i hope people will enjoy it , as much as we did!

TRACKLISTING:

1. Hades - Toxic (USA) - "Heart Attack" [1986]

2. Fenriz - Banshee (Canada) - "Breakdown" [1984]
3. H - Gillan (UK) - "What's the Matter" [1982]
4. F - Banzai (Spain) - "Coche Rapido en La Noche" [1983]
5. H - Dio (USA) - "I Speed at Night" [1984]
6. F - Hades (Spain) - "Entre El Fuego y La Crue" [1985]
7. H- Black Magic (Norway) - "Thunder" [2014]
8. F - Jonah Quizz (Sweden) - "Attack" [1982]
9. H - Scorpions (Germany) - "Dynamite" [1982]
10. F - Paradox (Germany) - "At Night Never Twice" [1986]
11. H - Flight (Norway) - "Escape" [2014]
12. F - Sable (Spain) - "Simbolos de Rebelion" [1987]
13. H - Blood Money (UK) - "Metalyzed" [1986]
14. F - Triton (Spain) - "Triton" [1985]
15. H - Outcast (Australia) - "No Tomorrow" [2014]

16. H - Satan (UK) - "Fuck You" [1986]

DOWNLOAD

Midnite Madness LXVII—Midnite Metal Attack

That's right, a midnite metal attack it was INDEED. Pure 80s first-presses (well, mainly), juggling only, like, three styles this time. Yes, I know I didn't play any German thrash or speed metal in general, so there will be another vinyl show this year, probably in June as I have two shows that month.
March 10th I will return with more destruction, so be ready.

DOWNLOAD

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

DOWNLOAD

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]

DOWNLOAD/STREAM

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!"

DOWNLOAD