The following is the May 1987 installment of Puszone

Thanks to Scott Slimm for the article.

"Gosh, I can't believe I got a seat." A line had piled up alongside the
building three and a half hours earlier, as an impatient crowd waited for
this premiere showing.It had been a hot, muggy wait but now it was quite
refreshing being in the air-cooled atmosphere and snug in my seat. The
cinema was huge, with a balcony, high ceilings and over 50 rows of chairs,
all full of people waiting for the start of the show. I sat about nine rows
from the screen, but I wasn't sure with so many heads in front of me. I was
seven seats from the aisle, with someone sitting on each side of me, both
munching big tubs of butter-flavored popcorn. The lights dimmed, the crowd
quieted down as the tall crimson drapes opened and revealed the screen and
the flicker of film projected upon it. To my surprise the movie was in black
and white. Two main characters discussed a plot in loud Dolby stereo which
echoed a tad bit across the theatre. The characters were frightened, worried
about a new disease that was infecting their town's population, quite rapidly
and disgusting results. Sheering synthesizer rhythms pulsed subtley in the
background as the dialogue thickened. Something was threatening this town
in great proportion. The disease spread through the skin; if you read a
newspaper, magazine, or book you could catch the disease instantly. In fact,
any object that had something printed on it with ink would spread it, you see,
the ink was the disease and, like fungus, it propogated quickly. I shook my head.
Whoa, what a concept, I thought. Pretty scary. I glanced around and noticed
that the person on my left was acting quite peculiar. In fact, the skin on his
right hand-the hand he was holding the popcorn tub with-was peeling off. No way!
I must be imagining this. I looked again and it was happening. I whipped
my head around and noticed it was happening to everyone. But how could this be?
Not everyone was eating popcorn. Then I thought. Yes, that's it...the ticket stub.
And I held one, too. I slowly looked down and I almost threw up. My skin had
begun to deteriorate also. People started to slump in their seats, as there was
nothing left to hold their bones together. The pain grew, I was dizzy, barely
holding on. The movie was a blur, as i was about to black out my head smashed
down onto my chest. I saw the ink on my shirt smile. The words on my chest would
be the last I would ever see. The thick black silkscreened ink of Puszone.
HAHAHA, welcome twice again ye fellow mad people, into the column of raging
decibels. And for the fourth time a flexi disc is available for only $1.00.
It's called Will Evil Win? and features four bands of rambunctious speedcore
delight: Desecrators, Anihilated, lord Crucifer and the incredible Civilised Society.
So give it a try, eh.

Action-packed, face-flying aggression in mouth-watering appeal is the new turbulent
gem that rocks with a vivacious punk metal slash from the infamous San Francisco
foursome Verbal Abuse. How could you go wrong? Rocks Your Liver is better
than I expected and is bound to become a party anthem LP with twelve dice-throwing
tracks that rip up the aural atmosphere. The first Verbal Abuse LP was a classic
and is now a rare find, but since then Verbal Abuse have had some lineup changes.
Fortunately, it hasn't tamed the V.A. assault, and the momentum pours out hard and
heavy with raw edges giving it the rat's bite, while metallic flashes kerrang away
with authoritative control. Growling not too depp, but nonetheless menacing, is
throatman Scotty Wilkins, who paces his voice with the chords, thrusting his vocab
at the right moments, hungry with ounch, effective with soul, talking, shouting,
moving, prancing with each beat. Dave Chavez(ex-Code of honor) melts the strings
with strong bass work, strumming the frets in thunderous wallops. Six string
mayhem comes from Joie Mastrokalos, who pursues each note with a sonic slice,
belting out extremely potent iron riffs that rock hard and chase the speed wildly.
beating it all out is drummer Gregg James, splashing and bashing with a feverous
hold. Together, these four form the Verbal Abuse sound, which is neither speed
metal nor hardcore but just in between, capturing a whole hose of ausience response
with their motivated attack. Check out the blast in "Set Me Free", "The Chase",
"Ratt Pack" and the gut-ripping smash, "VA Beach Rocks Your Liver", which throws it
all away in a titanic explosion. Verbal Abuse roars out a fine slab; the hard
work pays off. On Boner Records.

First heard this brainbashing album while eating udon in Osaka, Japan. The sound
blasted through the walkman mini-phones shortly after it was recorded. It was so
intense that I could hardly eat, as the warfare silced and diced my cranium. Great.
Totally mind-boggling, insane speed thrash from S.O.B., who hail from Osaka and Kyoto.
Their music stops at nothing and continues with a frantic acceleration that is pure
disorder. Speed freaks, this is your medicine. S.O.B. injects it fast and zooms with
super distorted guitars that are strong and crisp in the mix. Tight, powerful beats
rage from a frentic drummer, whose thrust is not overpowering. As the madness wreaks
havoc, tonsilman Tottsuan screams, bellows and blows his head off in red-faced fury
while he screams out the wild vocals. S.O.B.'s debut Ep, Leave Me Alone rages
out none blistering cuts that are noisy but polished. Produced by Outo guitarist Katsumi,
the sound delivers the menacing yet well-polished blow. Excellent stuff on Selfish
Records.

The frantic cover scratchings by Ben Brown introduces you to a new Australian delight
called Mass Appeal, which is perhaps the best outfit out of Australia since the
legendary Civil Dissident. Headstrong thrash that pulverizes with heavy thrusts
and crazed riflings, breaking down the barriers with catapulting speed and rampantly
throwing forth balls of distorted sound. One of the most clever thrash bands I've heard
out of Australia. Not your usual run-of-the-mill, "plug it in fast" here. There's more
of a tempo, with maniac sensations pulling the stockings over the head and robbing noise
for all it's worth. Seven tracks of rabble rousing energy are featured on this 12" EP
entitled Nobody Likes a Thinker, which gets a high award for quick enjoyment.
Mass Appeal drive a mean sound, especially on the graunched out track, "Pissed on Life,"
a highlight with its blaring guitar grinding. Check this out on Waterfront Records.

Killer cover art welcomes you to the latest issue of Phoenix Militia, a well
jammed 'zine of speedcore mania. Lots of information, plenty of good interviews, a
real knowledge of the underground speed scene and an introduction to plenty of new bands
makes this seventh issue of Phoenix Militia an exceptionally good one. Stuff
on Anthrax, Larm, Desexult, Rapt, Napalm Death, Mace, Discharge, Metallica, Cryptic
Slaughter, Extreme Noise Terror and much more. Definitely not a let down!

A circus melody opens up a debut powerhouse from Clown Alley, which also starts
off a new label called Alchemy. This first release smokes with a feverous fire.
Hailing from san Francisco, Clown Alley dishes out a heavy meal of hardcore mayhem,
set of a progressive metallic plate that hits the speeds, yet remains calm enough to
chase the chords of some hard harmonies. Heavy in parts, extreme in others, Clown Alley
really impresses with a heavy drum mix, and a demanding guitar that grabs your attention
as it whines out sonic scorchings of abrasive licks. Fast-paced action gets the body
flailing as the vocalist thrusts a clear deep voice across in a frenzy, shouting at
breaks, pushing anger through the notes, waiting, then diving again. Most of the songs
feature complicated structures and fast thrash blasts belted in with slower heavy thump
progressions and raw iron power. Clown Alley hits a level of creativity that should
bring notice to their powerful sound. It's a good thing that the name Clown Alley comes
from a S.F. burger stand and not the circus. Hate to see a gang with all this aggression
and sweat white-washing their faces.

Madcap insistency keeps blasting back for more as this raw ram-powered hardcore bulldozer
streaks wildly with combustive thrash. Crazed mayhem from Belgium's Heibel smashes
outward with myriad parts interspersed as chaos runs amok. Quick, little melodies build up
into a blitz of power, grabbing some speed, only to suddenly change the rhythm altogether
without totally losing your attention. Sometimes silly, sometimes insane, Heibel break
out their distinctive style with wacky mannerisms that catapult into rapid plunges of
distorted energy. Contiual smashing drums dominate as vocalist Bollie pumps out from
his stomach with a whole slew of intense lyrics that read like tongue twisting jewels.
Grinding guitars constantly roar out like untamed beasts with a tinny pitch, biting
with sharp notes. Yeah, Everything's Great features fifteen tracks that are fun
and bonkers. Check out Belgium's Heibel on C.O.R. Records U.K.

Rectangular little boxes that hold the sound of the underground are one form in which we
can get new music. There's a small tape label out of New Hampshire called Bad Luck that
is putting out a fair amount of interesting cassettes. Whether solo bands or compilations,
Bad Luck has it. They started with the N.H. compilation called Bombers Over Durham,
an all-live music sampler, and since then have put out such items as Die Trottel,
a noisy Hungarian hardcore outfit, and a Hungarian compilation called Paita's Daloljunk.
Most recently Bad Luck released a jam-packed Larm project called Untalented After All
These Years, which features way too many songs to count, all 1,000 mph blurs
in the Larm speedster tradition. If you're into cassettes, or if your band is looking to
appear on a sampler, then give Bad Luck a write.

It's simply superb for this band to put out this excellent slab, entitled La Tua
Morte Non Aspetta!, on their own when they are struggling so very hard. But their
dedication is to be commended as is their brand of frenzied hardcore. The Wretched have
been around for quite awhile now and they're still one of the best Italian bands.
This new six song 12" EP sees the Wretched not trying to keep the pace with the new crop
of Italian speed racers, but continuing in their own direction, a bit calmer, yet still
raw as a saw blade and equally effective. The Wretched have some strong song structures
that rap it out musically. Gianmario's vocal execution helps to bring these selections
to one's notice. Tracks like "Sezionati Vivi" and "Verso Il Tuo Orizzonte" scrape the
wax with a vicious guitar sound that sings out with high piercing, distorted leads as a
international stuff on Chaos Productions.

PUSZONE
Rose Rose-Skatehead 88 EP
Lipcream-9 Shocks Terror 12" EP
Condemned-Humanoid or Biomechanoid? LP
Virus-Thermonuclear Thrash demo
Mace-Thinning the Herd demo
Pandemonium-Are You the One? demo