Sunday, September 30, 2007

VA – Let’s Die (LP 1985)

If it’s deathrock you want, it’s deathrock you’ll get with this gruesomely attractive compilation from cult label Mystic Records fittingly titled Let’s Die. Now if you’re from the mindset that there’s a single mold from which all deathrock springs you might find yourself a bit lost trekking through these nineteen tracks. For that matter, even though most of these bands hail from the same SoCal region that spawned original deathrockers Christian Death - which is the sole band I measure anything tagged “deathrock” against, nothing here sounds much like Christian Death at all. That said… what shall one expect from this fairly obscure, lesser-known collection of cheerless rock songs? Well, really there’s quite a bit to discover - from goth to glam, hardcore to metal, punk to postpunk… it’s a great listen for anyone who likes to dabble in a mishmash of musical styles, all the while maintaining that certain sense of darkness that’s come to be one of the main identifiable characteristics of all things "deathrock." Let's Die is a lost cult classic!

Standout tracks include: “Inside” by False Confession - heavy goth rock with dark cascading organ, menacing guitar, and vocals reminiscent of Peter Murphy; “Hellhouse” by A.W.O.L – punishing, metallic gloom punk similar to some of DI’s output; “Let’s Die” by Patrick Mata – dreary, yet funky, postpunk pow wow; “Darkest Dream” by Party Doll – melodic female-fronted goth punk, like Leningrad Sandwich flirting with Super Heroines; “Kill the Dead” by Slaughterhouse 5 – loud bass-thumping trashy horror punk; “Hives” by Burning Image – like the DEVO of deathrock, essential; “Bad Brains” by The Drab – sizzling slow-mo gloom punk. Track to avoid: “Day of the Jackal” by The Stain – reminds me of NWOBHM… and I like NWOBHM, but this is just painful.

VA – Let’s Die (LP 1985)

  1. False Confession - Inside
  2. Subterfuge - The Noose
  3. A.W.O.L. – Hellhouse
  4. Patrick Mata - Let's Die
  5. Thieves Cross - Slaughter Hotel
  6. Party Doll - Darkest Dream
  7. The White Pigs - When Bobby Comes Back from the Grave
  8. The Mess - Innocent Me
  9. Ill Repute - In the Night
  10. Slaughterhouse 5 - Kill the Dead
  11. Burning Image – Hives
  12. The Drab - Bad Brains
  13. Silver Chalice – Suicide
  14. Samson's Army - The Edge
  15. The Stain - Day of the Jackal
  16. Flower Leperds – Necrology

DOT #17

15 comments:

Curious Guy said...

Have this one. A nice collection indeed. Patrick Mata is off course of Kommunity FK.
I hope you don't get a visit from Doug Moody of Mystic as he doesn't like his releases posted for download. Have seen some debates on other blogs before.

Anonymous Schizo said...

usually i recognize at least one band on these rare compilations but i've never heard any of the bands listed, thanks for the upload.

noinim said...

Really? Well... of course I'll remove it upon his request. As far as I know it hasn't seen re-release yet, so I figured it'd be okay to share with the fans. Thanks for the heads-up V!

noinim said...

schizo-
you've probably heard of Kommunity FK which is Patrick Mata's alter ego, as mentioned by my friend curious guy up above. most of the bands featured either had a single or two, maybe an ep, or were limited to compilation tracks only. False Confession have a killer self-titled ep that's worth tracking down, but it's very different than the song on this comp, much more dark punk than goth.

gone said...

AINT HEARD THIS FOR YEARS CHEERS FOR POSTING

Luc said...

Hi... I'm very interested on this collection, but it's not working. Could you reupload, please?

Fritz die Spinne said...

Have sought more info and songs by Silver Chalice for years...just have this song and "Evil Birds"

Nice to hear this in one release, as opposed to random selections played on Radio Ghoul School.

Anonymous said...

The link does´t work!!! Can you fix it?

noinim said...

Fritz- yeah that Silver Chalice 12-inch is super hard to come by! Do you have the song "Wasted"?

Everybody... the link seems to be working just fine! Perhaps trying during a different hour of the day (here in California it seems to work best late at night). I'll upload the file to another server just to be sure. -j

Anonymous said...

UPDATE MOTHERFUCKER
CAN YOU DO IT??

Bourbonese said...

Everytime:

Sorry, the free service is at full capacity.
Please try later or upgrade to sendspace Max™ to enable guaranteed slots and instant, fast downloads.

Bourbonese said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for sharing this !

Ole Præst said...

Cool post, I love this record. I don't have it, though, but am planning to.

False Confession, as you say, is a fucking rad band. And their drummer was Harry who later played for The Cramps!

Reliquias de Mostaza said...

Tons of thanx for posting this. Just in general too for taking the time and energy sharing your passion for music. Stumbled upon your site too late I suppose.