Worshipping japanese hardcore since the day before yesterday!
It’s been quite a while since I last posted one of D.O.N.D.O.N.’s releases. Commercialism came out in 1993, although the songs had already been recorded in 1990. The music is pretty typical D.O.N.D.O.N.; rough and dirty recording, one half of the songs are fast thrashing with singer Yoshikawa’s typical choked grunts, with the other half being somewhat slower. I prefer it when they go all out with their tempos and thrash like nothing else.
And yet another one by MCR Company! One track each by Sicilian Blood, MESS, Idora and DONDON. To me, Sicilian Blood are the winners on this comp: driving, powerful and almost catchy; MESS are not yet as weird as they would become, and deliver some vicious riffs; Idora’s song is a metallic dirge which turns wild in the end, and DONDON are the blunt instrument on this comp.
As can be deduced from the name (ignoring movies and presidents), this compilation was a) the follow-up to the Smashing Odds Ness and b) the second release on the Smashing Odds Ness label. What you can’t quite deduce is that it was also the last one. Many of the bands on this 1989 compilation play late eighties thrash, with the mighty Bastard and the stenchy Asbestos definitely delivering the heaviest stuff. F.V.K., DONDON, Sic and Idora are among better known and more prolific bands on the comp, with Complete, Sicilian Blood and Sweats having fewer releases to their names.
D.O.N.D.O.N.’s first 7“ from 1989: four tracks of absolutely relentless, lo-fi thrash with singer Yoshikawa’s recognisable barking, followed by the five minute epic „Last Supper“ (which is also mostly relentless, lo-fi thrash). Drummer Mokichi must have been a metronome, since the thrashing in all 5 songs is basically the same tempo. Wow, what an EP! It’s only fitting that „dondon“ is a japanese onomatopoeia for knocking, drumming or similar noises (like automatic gunfire, hehe…).
Seems like somebody was pretty quick smashing the Odds Ness label, since they never got to release more than two compilations. Lame jokes aside, their first 8″ from 1987 fucking kills! Idora open Side A with simple, no-frills hardcore driven by a rumbling bass, Don Don follow up with primitive, super-fast thrash with a raspy-voiced singer. Side B has Mink Oil, who sound like they forced their singer to record 20 takes before they were satisfied; next are Crück, the greatest thrashers on earth who never had a record of their own, followed by Death Side with “Stick And Hole”, the first song ever released by the best band of all best bands: super fast shit with great heavy metal intro and interludes.
D.O.N.D.O.N. released the “Last Warning” 12″ e.p. in 1991 on Never Again Records. The original version had 11 songs on it, all of them thrashers with primitive “melodies” played so fucking fast, their drummer has to be a couple of timezones ahead! This is the official re-release from 2008 with four additional tracks from the “Best Run Fast Vol.2” and “I Will Take No Orders From Anyone!!” compilations. Btw. on this release D.O.N.D.O.N. stands for…
The biggest names on this compilation are probably the Fearless Vampire Killers, SIC and Don Don. All the other bands here only ever released tapes, 7″es, compilation tracks or splits (Mad Conflux, Scum Bag, Vulgarity Kids, Oil Shock, Disclaim, Bad Smells, Discust Boys, Final Count, Jelly Beans, Crück, Mino-5). Except for Scum Bag (Oi!-ish funny punk) all these bands play typical late eighties, US-influenced thrash with the typical japanese twist. Crück are definitely my favorites here, with great, noisy high speed thrashers like “Smash Your Friends”!
The Virus Compilation features pretty typical thrash from the later eighties. With tracks from Sic, Lip Cream, Fuck Geez, FVK, Systematic Death, Mad Conflux and D.O.N.D.O.N. it’s got a mixture of big and lesser known bands.
Get it!
狂気の日本 