Bay Area sludge/doom cult band NOOTHGRUSH have premiered "Useless" at NoCleanSinging.com. It is the third track revealed from Man Is His Own Tormentor, a 73-minute compilation of the band's 1996 recordings, out October 30 on CD via Nespithe Records. The earlier reveals, "Stasis" and the KZSU live take of "Dianoga", are streaming on the label's Bandcamp, where the CD is up for pre-order.
Formed in Oakland in 1994, NOOTHGRUSH never released a full-length during their first run, which ended in 2001. Instead they flooded the '90s underground with splits on labels such as Slap A Ham, Pessimiser, Deep Six, Bovine, Satan's Pimp and Reservoir. Alongside GRIEF, they did as much as anyone to carry sludge and doom into the hardcore-punk scene of the time, and their influence ran well into the next decade. The band re-formed in 2011 and stayed active until 2018, releasing splits with SUPPRESSION and COFFINS plus an EP and returning to the stage.
1996 was their pivotal year. In its last four months alone, NOOTHGRUSH appeared on their first four records: the Embraced by the Anti Self 7" EP, the Cry Now, Cry Later Vol. 4 double 7" compilation, the six-way split 7" Accidental Decapitation Through Masturbation! and the Useless split 7" with AGENTS OF SATAN. Earlier that year, on May 1, they recorded a live set at Stanford University's campus radio station KZSU, playing songs that would not be officially released for years. That session circulated through the tape-trading network as Live on KZSU May 1, 1996.
Some of these tracks surfaced on later posthumous compilations, but this is the first time all of them have been gathered in one place. The collection closes with a bonus live song from a February 9, 1996 show, appearing on CD for the first time, and includes a cover of CELTIC FROST's "Procreation of the Wicked".
Tracklist of Man Is His Own Tormentor:
- Stasis
- Dianoga
- Gage
- DPS
- Useless
- Imperial March Alderaan
- Sith
- Gage
- Dianoga
- DPS
- Evazan
- Erode the Person
- Jundland Wastes
- Procreation of the Wicked (CELTIC FROST cover)
- Friends of Mine (bonus, live)
Pre-order "Man Is His Own Tormentor": Nespithe Records Bandcamp
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