Proto-metal song thread

Recommendations, discussions, questions & debates regarding the godly Metal of olde...
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Cochino
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Cochino »

bigfootkit wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 1:03 am
Cochino wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 6:23 am
bigfootkit wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 1:32 am

I'm not sure if you're referring to Argentina specificallly or South America in general, (and it also depends on your definition of 'heavy' of course), but i think you're being just a wee bit harsh.
compared to the rest of the so called "western" world, we were quite behind as a continent.
kids who went from AC/DC to Slayer in just a matter of months. The same kinda thing happened later in the European Eastern Bloc.
Is there some kind of historical or cultural reason why Uruguay seems to have been quite well represented in hindsight with regard to heavier acts in the 70s? There were quite a few worthwile Uraguayian releases despite the country's comparatively small population. Not a lot, but they definitely punched above their weight for their size.
Well, it'd be hard to say but music plays a pretty important part in Uruguay's cultural background, probably only second to football. They also benefitted from a somewhat "milder" dictatorship compared to other countries (not by much though, but more stuff seemed to get through the cracks). Something that also should be said is that most of those "avant garde" bands came from the higher class neighbourhoods, where there was people who had access to import music and such. For instance, I remember that the last time I was over there, I was told that Alvacast were kinda dismissed by a good part of the rock underground because they were "too posh", and when it came to concerts, bands like Ácido were more popular.
Also, when it comes to Metal (but I think this might apply to other genres as well) Uruguay benefitted from being close to Brazil and having quite an open commercial relation with them. Not only because of the direct influence, but also because the music industry was much more developed and would release much more stuff than any other country in South America. If you wanted to listen to anything more extreme than Megadeth back then, your most affordable option was trying to get Brazilian releases. Even today, when you got to any record market in Montevideo, most of the stock is gonna be Brazilian prints, but here in Argentina they aren't that common. So, in a time when over here all you had were local bands like Riff and V8 and Iron Maiden and Metallica from abroad, in Uruguay you had easier access to stuff like Kreator or Sepultura, thanks to the releases by Cogumelo and other Brazilian labels. That's why you had stuff like Graf Spee and Angkor Vat when in Argentina, which had a much bigger scene, everyone was still trying to be Metallica and maybe Slayer.
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bigfootkit
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by bigfootkit »

Cochino wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 3:24 am
Well, it'd be hard to say but music plays a pretty important part in Uruguay's cultural background, probably only second to football. They also benefitted from a somewhat "milder" dictatorship compared to other countries (not by much though, but more stuff seemed to get through the cracks). Something that also should be said is that most of those "avant garde" bands came from the higher class neighbourhoods, where there was people who had access to import music and such. For instance, I remember that the last time I was over there, I was told that Alvacast were kinda dismissed by a good part of the rock underground because they were "too posh", and when it came to concerts, bands like Ácido were more popular.
Also, when it comes to Metal (but I think this might apply to other genres as well) Uruguay benefitted from being close to Brazil and having quite an open commercial relation with them. Not only because of the direct influence, but also because the music industry was much more developed and would release much more stuff than any other country in South America. If you wanted to listen to anything more extreme than Megadeth back then, your most affordable option was trying to get Brazilian releases. Even today, when you got to any record market in Montevideo, most of the stock is gonna be Brazilian prints, but here in Argentina they aren't that common. So, in a time when over here all you had were local bands like Riff and V8 and Iron Maiden and Metallica from abroad, in Uruguay you had easier access to stuff like Kreator or Sepultura, thanks to the releases by Cogumelo and other Brazilian labels. That's why you had stuff like Graf Spee and Angkor Vat when in Argentina, which had a much bigger scene, everyone was still trying to be Metallica and maybe Slayer.
Thanks very much for the in-depth explanation Cochino, very illuminating info & the context you've provided helps me to a far better understanding of the situation. I guess countries bordering Brazil may have been able to hear a greater variety of music via Brazilian radio too, although i doubt much of the heavier stuff got that much airplay.
Sorry if i cast you in the role of 'our South American correspondent', but as the conversation naturally brought the question up & i'd been curious for some time about how Uruguay were relative overachievers, you seemed like the guy to ask.
Really appreciate you taking the time to address my niche barely-topic-adjacent query in such a thorough but digestible manner, have a virtual cerveza on me!
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Cochino
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Cochino »

bigfootkit wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 1:53 am
Cochino wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 3:24 am
Well, it'd be hard to say but music plays a pretty important part in Uruguay's cultural background, probably only second to football. They also benefitted from a somewhat "milder" dictatorship compared to other countries (not by much though, but more stuff seemed to get through the cracks). Something that also should be said is that most of those "avant garde" bands came from the higher class neighbourhoods, where there was people who had access to import music and such. For instance, I remember that the last time I was over there, I was told that Alvacast were kinda dismissed by a good part of the rock underground because they were "too posh", and when it came to concerts, bands like Ácido were more popular.
Also, when it comes to Metal (but I think this might apply to other genres as well) Uruguay benefitted from being close to Brazil and having quite an open commercial relation with them. Not only because of the direct influence, but also because the music industry was much more developed and would release much more stuff than any other country in South America. If you wanted to listen to anything more extreme than Megadeth back then, your most affordable option was trying to get Brazilian releases. Even today, when you got to any record market in Montevideo, most of the stock is gonna be Brazilian prints, but here in Argentina they aren't that common. So, in a time when over here all you had were local bands like Riff and V8 and Iron Maiden and Metallica from abroad, in Uruguay you had easier access to stuff like Kreator or Sepultura, thanks to the releases by Cogumelo and other Brazilian labels. That's why you had stuff like Graf Spee and Angkor Vat when in Argentina, which had a much bigger scene, everyone was still trying to be Metallica and maybe Slayer.
Thanks very much for the in-depth explanation Cochino, very illuminating info & the context you've provided helps me to a far better understanding of the situation. I guess countries bordering Brazil may have been able to hear a greater variety of music via Brazilian radio too, although i doubt much of the heavier stuff got that much airplay.
Sorry if i cast you in the role of 'our South American correspondent', but as the conversation naturally brought the question up & i'd been curious for some time about how Uruguay were relative overachievers, you seemed like the guy to ask.
Really appreciate you taking the time to address my niche barely-topic-adjacent query in such a thorough but digestible manner, have a virtual cerveza on me!
Yeah, I got to talk to a few people who were part of the old Uruguayan scene, but you know how distorted (either intentionally or not) those "back in the day" stories can get, and I've also added some of my own conclusions, so take everything with a pinch of salt and more like an "essay" than a statement of facts, but that's how I would explain the strange case of Uruguay. I would also add that the Pantera factor completely destroyed the Metal scene over there and pretty much every single band started playing lazy groove stuff by the mid 90s and it kinda remains like that until nowadays. That's also why all the great bands are from a rather specific time window.
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lynx
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by lynx »

Cochino wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 3:24 am
bigfootkit wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 1:03 am
Cochino wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 6:23 am
compared to the rest of the so called "western" world, we were quite behind as a continent.
kids who went from AC/DC to Slayer in just a matter of months. The same kinda thing happened later in the European Eastern Bloc.
Is there some kind of historical or cultural reason why Uruguay seems to have been quite well represented in hindsight with regard to heavier acts in the 70s? There were quite a few worthwile Uraguayian releases despite the country's comparatively small population. Not a lot, but they definitely punched above their weight for their size.
Well, it'd be hard to say but music plays a pretty important part in Uruguay's cultural background, probably only second to football. They also benefitted from a somewhat "milder" dictatorship compared to other countries (not by much though, but more stuff seemed to get through the cracks). Something that also should be said is that most of those "avant garde" bands came from the higher class neighbourhoods, where there was people who had access to import music and such. For instance, I remember that the last time I was over there, I was told that Alvacast were kinda dismissed by a good part of the rock underground because they were "too posh", and when it came to concerts, bands like Ácido were more popular.
Also, when it comes to Metal (but I think this might apply to other genres as well) Uruguay benefitted from being close to Brazil and having quite an open commercial relation with them. Not only because of the direct influence, but also because the music industry was much more developed and would release much more stuff than any other country in South America. If you wanted to listen to anything more extreme than Megadeth back then, your most affordable option was trying to get Brazilian releases. Even today, when you got to any record market in Montevideo, most of the stock is gonna be Brazilian prints, but here in Argentina they aren't that common. So, in a time when over here all you had were local bands like Riff and V8 and Iron Maiden and Metallica from abroad, in Uruguay you had easier access to stuff like Kreator or Sepultura, thanks to the releases by Cogumelo and other Brazilian labels. That's why you had stuff like Graf Spee and Angkor Vat when in Argentina, which had a much bigger scene, everyone was still trying to be Metallica and maybe Slayer.
Interesting discussion. Keep in mind that most of South America and Eastern Europe (with the exception of Poland and Yugoslavia, perhaps Czechoslovakia to some extent as well) skipped punk altogether and went straight to metal.
mustardgasattack
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by mustardgasattack »

https://youtu.be/JaPlYtoNiCk GINBAE. This shit totally rules. Its like one foot in the lo fi Japanese heavy psych vibe of Flower Travellin Band, Blues Creation, Shinki Chen etc and one foot in Sad Wings/Sin After Sin era Priest I think. Either way really heavy and gnarly for 1976.
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bigfootkit
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by bigfootkit »

mustardgasattack wrote: Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:03 pm GINBAE. This shit totally rules. Its like one foot in the lo fi Japanese heavy psych vibe of Flower Travellin Band, Blues Creation, Shinki Chen etc and one foot in Sad Wings/Sin After Sin era Priest I think. Either way really heavy and gnarly for 1976.
Whilst i don't think they don't pack quite as much punch & 'grunt' as Flower Travellin' Band circa 'Satori', the Ginbae album is definitely an interesting & worthwhile listen. I just wish there was a better sounding rip to properly evaluate it as the one in circulation is pretty murky.
As this thread has been reanimated, i was wondering if anyone could recommend any bands who sound similar to the godly Banchee? I hear the odd echo here & there. (particularly in the way the harmony vocals are used on some of the Bull Angus stuff & the 1st two Gypsy albums have some parts that remind me of them too), but have yet to find another band from that era who balanced the light & shade whilst making it sound as effortless as Banchee did on both their albums.
These 2 songs show off the light & heavier sides of the band well:



Last edited by bigfootkit on Wed Oct 18, 2023 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by bigfootkit »

I struggled to find a pre-existing thread to post this in so i necromanced this one although it takes in much more than a single song as suggested in the topic title. If you think it fits better elsewhere feel free to move it.
It's an edition of a radio show/stream/podcast called 'Wired Up', with this episode devoted entirely to proto-metal/heavy-rock, (or 'Bonehead Crunchers' as they call them,) with Lance from Riding Easy Records (the home of the 'Brown Acid' comp series) & the host Don Bowles talking about 70's heaviness whilst playing around 30 examples over the course of 2 hours. I'm only about 20 minutes in so far, and am enjoying it a lot & figured some others here would do so too. It should keep us going 'til Brown Acid Volume 17 (yes, seventeen!) drops later this month.:

https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=11 ... ive=224388

Tracklist:
Dickens - Don't Talk About My Music
Blizzard - Peace Of Mind
Attack - School Daze
The Brood - The Roach
Grump - Heartbreak Hotel
Erik - Rebel Woman
Finch - Nothing In The Sun
The Todd - Mystifying Me
Raving Maniac - Rock 'n' Roll Man
Crazy Jerry - Every Girl Gets One
George Brigman & Split - Blowin' Smoke
John Kitko - Indecision
Flash Beverage - The Train
Nobody's Children - Good Times
Gary Del Vecchio - Buzzin'
Cold Swett - Quit Your Foolin'
Kanaan - Leave It
Mammoth - Mammoth
White Rock - Please Don’t Run Away
Zekes - Box
Captain Foam - No Reason
Waters - Mother Samwell
Transfer - Play It Cool
Brothers And One - Hard On Me
Max - Run Run
Travis - Lovin' You
Liquid Blue - Henry Can’t Drive
The Legends - Fever Games
Volt Rush Band - Love To You
Dry Ice - Don’t Munkey With The Funky Skunky
(Mikes) Mijal & White - I’ve Been You
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Noisenik
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Noisenik »

Truly enjoyable selection from curators. Only today I actually managed to go through it whole, so I'll have to give it more listens. One early fave: FINCH. And a bear with a hard-on, LOL.
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bigfootkit
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

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Glad you found it a worthwhile listen Noisenik, i'll need to go back to it myself as there's a lot of music there & it's hard to digest it alll in a single sitting.
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Nonseinormale65
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Nonseinormale65 »

Solo i morti hanno visto la fine della guerra.
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Noisenik
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Noisenik »

Nonseinormale65 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:40 pm
Very nice if quite radio friendly. Was this guy also from Trieste or broader VFG?
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Re: Proto-metal song thread

Post by Nonseinormale65 »

Noisenik wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 6:54 pm
Nonseinormale65 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:40 pm
Very nice if quite radio friendly. Was this guy also from Trieste or broader VFG?
He was from Palermo,Sicily (deep south of Italy,Trieste is in north east near former Yugoslavia).
Solo i morti hanno visto la fine della guerra.
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