UNDERGROUND REISSUES IX
Flotsam & Jetsam, Control Denied, Disgust, Acrophet, etc.

THE DEVIL AND THE SEA
2008 Tour Diary.

TRANSISTOR TRANSISTOR
On Their Relationship W/ Their Van and Tour Diary.

COMPLETE FAILURE
Today Is The Day Tour Highlights & Lowlights.

UNDERGROUND REISSUES VIII
Skullflower, Abomination, Winter, Macabre, etc.

TALES FROM THE
CUTOUT BIN VIII
The Record Industry May Be in
Shambles But We Feel No Guilt.

TAMPA: A VERY VERY
CURTAILED HISTORY
And the Current State of Our
Metal Scene.

UNDERGROUND METAL
REISSUES VII
Some Germans, some Brazilians, some Christians, some weirdos walk into a bar...

UNDERGROUND METAL
REISSUES VI
Some Germans, some Brazilians, some Christians, some weirdos walk into a bar..

LOS VIOLADORES
A Retrospective Conversation
with Pil Trafa vocalist of the
Argentinean punk legends.

TALES FROM THE
CUTOUT BIN VII
Eight Old Ones Get Resurrected
From the Can.

UNDERGROUND
METAL REISSUES V
Naglfar, Gorguts, Dark Funeral,
Blessed Death, etc,

BULLDOZER
The Story of the Legendary
Italian Thrash Metal Band

TALES FROM THE
CUTOUT BIN VI
Eight New Heavyweight Cutout
Bin Dwellers.

MORE FEATURES

RICH HOAK, TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION: Post-Modern Interpretations of 'Scene'; Awesome Bands From Planet Earth.

Yeah man, Rich Hoak is pointing at you. Better act up, get on the scene, lend a hand, share your pot, offer your floor, cook some stew, help your scene and if there isn't one, create one. Read on and spread the word!

By Rich Hoak

‘How's the scene in Philadelphia?’ is a question that I am frequently asked by interviewers when discussing our new CD Peace, Love and Total Fucking Destruction. The non-standard answer depends on one's definition of ‘scene’.

On one hand, grindcore and similar underground DIY music scenes are simply obscure-to-the-multitudes artistic concepts and self-defined subcultures that exist because of the privilege and power provided to selected citizens by the global corporate economy that allows the leisure time and extra income to make such art/noise.

Modern grindcore/whatevercore scenes could also be defined as an artificial construct of the various corporate ‘underground’ music scenes/machines as well as standards of consumption presented to us by the techno-military/entertainment megaplex, basically consumerism marketing itself to kids as a radical subculture. One could make the case that technology and entertainment corporations posing as ‘underground/alternative/extreme’ culture and the globalized marketing of 'niche music genre' scene cultures has stolen the soul of the various underground DIY music scenes.

When I was a punk rock child back in the 80's, there was a clearly defined Philadelphia underground music scene. This scene wasn't based so much on strict classification of musical sub-genres, but more on the social aspect of the same crew of 200 or so social/musical misfits who partied together on a weekly basis over the period of several years. To find out where the show was that week and who was playing, you had to go downtown to a record store or punk clothing shop and look for flyers. To find out what was going on in your scene you had to go to the show and hang out with people. To find out about other ‘local’ scenes you had to mail order zines like Flipside or Maximum Rock and Roll and then write letters to people in bands in other cities to set up shows or tours and hope they wrote you back.

Since those halcyon days, the complex social systems that hold scenes together have changed drastically, mostly due to advances in technology. No longer is the scene bound by personal face to face contact in a specific geographic region and is instead defined by access to technologies of cheap and instant global communication. The post-modern scene is wide and not based on physical location. While there are great bands based in Philadelphia like Rumplestiltskin Grinder, Clockcleaner, Old Head, Hessian, The Claw and Trasher, for Total Fucking Destruction, the modern grind scene is worldwide. The friends and family that we have partied with while touring the world, the bands who have put on shows for us, the people who have fed us and let us sleep on their floors, the freaks who gave us beer and weed: that's the essence of our scene.

Total Fucking Destruction has had great shows in Iceland, Paraguay, Brazil, Japan, all over the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe, in scenes and cities both large and small. We have played killer grind parties and shows everywhere we have toured and we have always found the best
shows are where kids are freaking out to the music but also understanding the message. If I meet someone who likes the music I play, I keep their contact info and stay in touch, no matter what the method: email, myspace, flyers hanging in a record store or hanging out having a beer.

So here's some info on some killer bands from underground grind scene based here on Planet Earth, just enough to get you started googling:

Insek is from South Africa and was formed by Christo after Groinchurn's break up. Insek sings in the traditional Boers language and has a killer new cd out on their own label called "Maaiers".
Insek plays ultra heavy psycho-delic groove grind. InSek MySpace

Abiku is from Baltimore and play metal and noise influenced dark disco. Abiku is a unique band, and a total wall of sound live. Both members play combinations of vintage moog synthesizers and hi-tech deathmetal guitars. Sheer poetry! Abiku MySpace

Black Ganion is Japan's heaviest stoner grind band and have recently self-released their first full-length CD call First. Black Ganion is looking for a band from the east coast USA to trade some shows with, if you're interested, please get in touch with BG at Black Ganion MySpace

Agathocles is THE mincecore band, coming straight out of Belgium. AG has been around for over 20 years now and holds the world record for split 7" releases. The response by kids around the world to their bass player's recent death is proof that grind is still a scene of people who care about their fellow scenesters. Agathocles MySpace

Iron Molar plays harsh noise and hail from Italy. Iron Molar and The Fucking Clinica crew traveled and partied with us for 3 dates of a tour in Italy. Great people, great music, great friends! Iron Molar MySpace

Rotten Sound hails from Finland and plays high quality fast brutal death grind. Total Fucking Destruction did a short tour in the Czech Republic with Rotten Sound a few years ago and just last month I was able to see them play in a bar just a few blocks from my house.
Rotten Sound MySpace

Spoonful of Vicodin is a two piece post-crust grind band from Rochester in upstate New York. The Spoonful crew has put on shows for TFD and tons of other bands in Rochester. As well, these kids burn the finest green and are single handedly bring back tape trading: if you are cassette friendly and love crusty grind, this is the band for you! One of the only bands around to NOT have a myspace site, so ya just gotta email em: spoonful_of_vicodin@hotmail.com

Total Fucking Destruction encourages all interested and interesting people to contact us at www.myspace.com/totalfuckingdestruction

Hell yeah!

Contact Deaf Sparrow @
editor@deafsparrow.com