Septic Death – “Septic Death 84 – 92 Recordings” – [Not On Label]

Septic Death: morbid speedy hardcore outfit formed in Boise in 1981. Lots of bands who’ve self-classified (or been classified) as fastcore, thrashcore, crossover thrash, powerviolence and even grindcore or death metal clearly learned a trick or two from these guys. This unofficial LP brings together a bunch of the rarer stuff– compilation tracks, previously unreleased songs, and two 7″s– released between 84-92. Sounds inspired by Minor Threat, GISM, The Germs, Rudimentary Peni, 45 Grave, Circle Jerks, maybe even Venom? Could possibly have inspired/influenced such disparate acts as Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I., Sore Throat, Extreme Noise Terror, Repulsion, Possessed, Von, Abscess, Voetsek and a basically endless list of others (although I could be overstating their importance as they barely ever played live while they were around). Despite the metal bands I just mentioned this is most definitely hardcore. They play pretty well by 80s hardcore standards, though. Singer Brian ‘Pushead’ Schroeder (whose illustrations adorn this record’s booklet/cover) is a great frontman too. Sometimes in its mania his voice almost sounds artificially sped up. Lyrics are sorta funny, very anti-social/paranoid and seem to employ the lexicon of horror cinema to make what are actually pretty intellectual points, with only one discernable FCC (A4). Some songs are alternate versions of album tracks.A11 is two covers: Minor Threat and SSD. This is all good stuff but some highlights for me were the Flipper-ish A4, gothic A12, psychotic B1, boss-hating B9… Dive into the paranoid nightmare of a truly unique punk group whydoncha.