Yesterday was a day of celebration for capitalist pigs everywhere as they heard about the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at 58. Like many democratically elected socialist Latin American leaders before him, Chavez was considered a dangerous enemy to the powers that be in the US. Repeated attempts were made on his life, repeated attempts were made to remove him from office illegally, and many of these – if not all – can be traced back to American politicians and American corporate lobbies. Always the watchdog for its corporate and political masters, the American mainstream media has had a severe hate-on for Chavez since his first popular election in 1998. They have called him every name in the book, which is pretty rich coming from a country that elected (twice) the stupidest president to ever live, ever, in eternity. While treating G.W.B.’s mental incapacity with golden gloves, they demonized Chavez for his socialist policies, policies that aimed to better the living conditions of the vast poor of Venezuela and that literally took money out of the hands of the rich. Coming from a country with a healthy interest in public media, I have a hard time feeling sorry for the private media who are out to make a buck wherever they can. But CNN feels sorry for them – quoting from CNN’s “obituary” for Chavez:

But Chavez also leaves a legacy of repression against politicians and private media who opposed him.

He concentrated power in the executive branch, turning formerly independent institutions — such as the judiciary, the electoral authorities and the military — into partisan loyalists.

Oh…you mean like the Supreme Court of the US, whose judges are openly partisan rather than rational and apolitical? Or the US military, who is partisan towards fucking Jesus of all people (aka the Republicans)? Say what you want, I have a huge amount of respect for Chavez, who called the US media and political system out on its bullshit time and time again. For his efforts, he was plotted against in public and private American institutions, with one semi-successful US-backed coup against him in April of 2002. The amazing Irish documentary about this coup attempt, The Revolution Will Not be Televised, opened my eyes to the lies that we have been force-fed for decades when it comes to US foreign policy. As a young Communications major, one of my profs screened this documentary for us as a part of his lecture series on “how the mainstream media lie through their teeth for money.” After the jump, watch the The Revolution Will Not be Televised, so you can hear it from people who have done their research, and not just from me ranting.

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Come follow me into my demented state of mind today as I look at one of the sickest bands to ever do it! Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds working their rock and roll voodoo on the Spanish crowd in 1984…Watch this full set and allow your self to fall under the spell of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds!

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The 80′s gave the world hardcore, and the 90′s gave us sludge. If you talk to most bands from this era, they will tell you that Black Flag and Black Sabbath were a major influence on their sound. DAMAD was one band that came out of this era and created some radical records while they were active. I could listen to this band all day long because they play that kind southern-fried, crust-infused, deranged sludge that gets me hyped! Today CVLT Nation celebrates DAMAD with a live video essay. So break out some whiskey and your bong, press play after the jump and lose your mind!!!

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Stepping back into the fray, to quicken the pulse in anticipation of Austin’s yearly audio horde, I thought I’d pick things up this week. Regardless of your fork-tongued tastes, there is always something of note going on at SXSW, and metal is most certainly an epic part of this. So, while last week, I brought you the most sickeningly slow quagmire of sludge, this installment features a blistering attack of frantic chaos.

I remember the first time I saw Landmine Marathon. I was booking shows at the amazing, yet short lived, Warehouse Next Door, in Washington, DC, and a friend asked if he could set up a show for a band he had seen on the road. He promised that they were a hyper-intense slab of un-forgiving metal. I said yes, but didn’t pay too much attention to the details. Needless to say, when Landmine Marathon fired up their motor, it was like being trapped in the lawnmower scene from Dead Alive. I immediately bought the vinyl, and must have listened to “Crisscross Thoughts” an infinite number of times.”Stoked” would be putting it mildly, to describe my feelings about seeing them again, several years later, at that same said Brooklyn Vegan show mentioned in my last post.

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Damn skippy when you talk about English anarcho-punk you better mention ANTISECT. To me, the band was more than just epic, they were crustadelic gnarlytastic. When I first heard In Darkness There Is No Choice, I was like, oh yeah, it’s on…Rudimentary Peni better watch out. ANTISECT had that off the deep end vibe like Disorder, but packed the fury of Discharge. There is not one weak song on this album & metallic guitars on this album are death blades. What about the drums…they have this killer primitive tribal energy about them, and the way they were mixed was perfect. On the track “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” you can hear how they laid the foundation for the emotional parts that you find in crust today. Also, when you listen to this record, you realize that world has not changed too much; many of the injustices that ANTISECT sang about have only gotten tenfold worse. What I really wanted to share with you today ANTISECT – live at The Barn – Norwich, England – 30.03.1987 a full set. After the jump, check out channel zero & ANTISECT say fuck the system.

ANTISECT Live 30.03.1987 after the jump!

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Text by Shane|Red River Family

ETERNAL WARFARE RECORDS (E.W.R.) FESTIVAL 2013

It’s that time of year again, where we start planning our funds to travel to all the fests that have mind-blowing line-ups. One that is on my radar is the Eternal Warfare Fest up in Oregon, USA. This year has a very impressive lineup, which could mean money burning a hole in my pocket to travel up to the Northwest. With bands such as Alda, HELL, Lake of Blood, Barghest and Mania are bands enough to get me to justify the travel. The fest will be spread across 3 days (Friday -Saturday -Sunday): the first two days will be packed with the bands that showcase the Cascadian region, as well as some bands journeying in from out of the region – Drought (NM), Wolvserpent (ID), Barghest (LA). The third day is more of a calm, relaxing day with a folk, string, atmospheric lineup – with bands such as River, Novemthree, Will O The Wisp and many others.

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CULTUS SABBATI is a group that we have championed since we started CVLT Nation because of their high level of creativity. This is a fact that can be seen and heard in their new video for “Those Who Don’t Go Alive When Dead,” a track of their last album, Asgardsreia. I will say that this visual is one trippy ride I don’t mind getting on…So after the jump check out CULTUS SABBATI’s video for “Those Who Don’t Go Alive When Dead”.

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Having an open mind is one of the greatest things that I have taken away from my teenage years. Hardcore during the 80′s was not a straight line, which meant you had bands that were on the same road, but took paths to get there. What was interesting about the scenes back then is that every state or even city had their own style of creating what we all labeled “hardcore.” The TEXAS scene was full of killer bands that were weird as fuck but were making some of the most interesting music of the era. The BIG BOYS were a band that I really grew to love; both their recordings & live shows kept me excited. Seeing them perform was always cool because it seemed like a big party – they would reach into their bag of funk and turn the motherfucker out! It’s hard to describe seeing a room full of hardcore kids dancing to the funky beat of “We Got Soul” (thinking about it puts a smile on my face!). Their front man Biscuits was in his own world of radness and knew how to get the crowd into the show. Another thing that made me dig the BIG BOYS was their love for skateboarding, which made me even love them more – plus they also had an awesome logo. Honestly I’m getting chills writing this post, because thinking about all of the times I saw them in Los Angeles I never knew I watching one of the sickest punk bands to ever do it. It must be said this band never got their just due when they were active, but their tunes can still rock a house party like no other. The other day I watched a documentary about them entitled Big Boys – Looking Back It’s Just Reflections from Light in the Attic Docs, which we are showing in full after the jump! Thank you Randy “Biscuit” Turner (R.I.P) and the BIGS BOYS for creating on your own terms – you influenced a generation to say fuck the so-called “normal” (we are all still Hollywood swinging)!

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For decades, BOLT THROWER has been punishing fans with their crushing brand of death metal. This May the band makes it stateside for a string of shows that will bring out their horde of fans for sure. Today I want to look at how BOLT THROWER used to wreck shop during the 90′s, so I unearthed this insane footage of them from 1990. Their performance on this night was truly intense and proves why so many people dig them. So after the jump, in the battle there is no law on and peep this killer footage plus their upcoming tour poster!…Check out the CVLT Nation//BOLT THROWER interview HERE!

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the past few months, every time I got off the highway near my house I had been subjected to a giant billboard declaring the end of the world. It warned me that May 21st, 2011, less than a month before my first child will be born, was the “official” Judgement Day. Luckily for my family, that didn’t happen…or maybe unluckily, I don’t know, it would have been really nice to clear out the Jehovah’s Witness temple down the street, along with the people who made those billboards in the first place. In honor of their failed attempt at Rapture, I got my history-documentary nerd on with this National Geographic special on the Codex Gigas. I hadn’t really ever done my research about this so-called Devil’s Bible, beyond reading Alex’s post about it a while back, so it is pretty amazing to see what was accomplished by apparently one guy in the Middle Ages. Whether or not it was inspired by the Devil or a product of a pact with him, it is a massive and beautiful undertaking, made of skins and insect inks, and it has a hugely creepy energy about it. The Codex Gigas’ world travels over the past 800 years are pretty amazing, as well as the superstition and tragedy that traveled alongside it. Plus there is a Devil expert in this show – how exactly does one become a Devil expert?? It seems like a pretty rad job. I think the main idea that I came away with is that for centuries, people have been obsessed with depicting images of the Devil and of evil in various forms. While the Devil portrait in the Codex Gigas is hardly scary compared to what some black metal artists come up with these days, it was enough to scare the shit out of people in the Middle Ages. After the jump, indulge your guilty National Geographic pleasure and watch “The Devil’s Bible”…

For

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