Noothgrush - Erode The Person – Anthology 1997-1998

(Throne Records, 2014)

Noothgrush‘s discography reads a bit like a defragging hard drive – so many little pieces (demos, EPs, split releases, an album, a few live records and a compilation or two scattered across a timeline) ultimately coming together to make up the whole picture of an influential doom band from the highly fertile Bay Area of the early-to-mid nineties. Noothgrush existed in the truly DIY era, an era in which, as drummer Chiyo Nukaga puts it, “we just kept getting proposals for splits with our friends’ bands by our friends’ labels.” This is an ethos that rings true for a whole host of now-influential underground bands as you look through their back catalogues, but for someone who wasn’t there at the time, it can be difficult (and expensive) to both keep track of and own so many classic releases spread across countless seven inches and flexi-discs (remember those?).

As it happens, I first came to hear Noothgrush‘s music when Southern Lord issued the Live for Nothing compilation in 2011, which means that I was very, very late to the party. By that point the band had been defunct for about a decade and while in retrospect their influence could be clearly heard in many of the current bands of the day, at that point their legend paled in comparison to some of their contemporaries who had either continued into the successive decades or gone on to form other successful bands. Bands like Sleep, Neurosis, Grief, EyeHateGod and the Melvins. Noothgrush’s sound is a snarly combination of nihilistic hardcore attitude and toxic, thick-as-molasses sludge generally played at a snail’s pace and always espousing a bleak, miserablist outlook on life (when not singing about Star Wars). If you throw a stone in your local doom or sludge scene you’ll hit a band that apes Noothgrush in some way, either directly or by-way of a band that Noothgrush influenced.

After a decade of inactivity, Noothgrush got back together in 2011 to play some shows in support of the release of a number of upcoming reissues (including the aforementioned live album) before surprising us all with the release of a split EP with Japan’s death/doom metal maniacs Coffins in 2013. This marked the first new recording from the band in over a decade – the original trio of Gary Niederhoff, Chiyo Nukaga and Russ Kent now joined by Asunder’s Dino Sommese on vocals. So with the band seemingly active again, Erode the Person: Anthology 1997-1998 is a timely reissue of a compilation that was originally released by Throne Records in 2006, compiling Noothgrush‘s only album, Erode the Person, and a handful of their best contributions to splits, compilations and abandoned releases between 1997 and 1998. That means we get to hear such gems as Hatred For The Species and Draize from their split with Corrupted alongside oddities such as the ten-second long Strawberry Shortcake And Friends Holding Hands And Going Around The Gazebo With Custard And Pupcake Watchingtaken from a 7” compilation (you read that correctly) released by the influential Slap a Ham Records in 1998.

But at the centre of this compilation is Erode The Person, an album so densely packed with riffs and abject misery that by the time the closing title track rolls to its eleven-minute conclusion you genuinely feel like a little part of your soul has dissolved forever. In between the twin epics Erode The Person and Deterioration, there’s the incredible Oil Removed which condenses the drawn out suffering of the former into a short dynamic burst of EyeHateGod-esque grooves. Elsewhere opening track Stagnance finds Niederhoff sounding-off like a modern-day Darwin, lamenting the lack of evolution of the human race, his anguish mirrored in Kent’s tortured guitar riff. Sadly, the band’s take on the second part of Pink Floyd’s The Narrow Way is notably missing from the tracklisting, presumably for legal reasons, which is a shame because it’s a riff that was crying out for the Noothgrush treatment. However in spite of this, the album loses little of its original corrosive power and the additional material more than makes up for it.

Listening to Noothgrush‘s nineties output now shows you how far ahead of their time they were. In many ways it also demonstrates how little the genre has advanced in nearly twenty years with so many current bands relying on the formula that Noothgrush and their contemporaries laid down back in the day. All this to say that the songs on Erode The Person: Anthology 1997-1998 still sound remarkably fresh today, and as a compilation this is as perfect a starting point for those hoping to get into Noothgrush as one could hope for. Hell, the inclusion of tracks from long out-of-print splits make this collection worth the price of admission alone. Who knows if Noothgrush will produce another album at this point, but as Chiyo says, it may just be a matter of time before a friends’ band proposes another split. Here’s hoping.

[Originally published on the Sleeping Shaman, 26/09/2014] 

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/n/noothgrush-erode-the-person-anthology-1997-1998-cd-dd-reissue-2014/

Noothgrush - S/T

(Fuck Yoga, 2011)

An interesting one, this; independent label Fuck Yoga have gotten their grubby mits on one of Noothgrush's very first recordings – a self-recorded demo that was only ever released on a handful of cassettes – and are releasing it on limited edition CD and vinyl. Fans of the band will probably have heard bootlegs of this demo by now but for newcomers and collectors the vinyl looks too good to resist (check out the Fuck Yoga website for more details). Indeed, it seems like Noothgrush have had a bit of a revival this year, first reforming for a handful of gigs, then having a compilation of radio sessions released on Southern Lord – their first widely released record. So this re-release is especially timely because it gives us a chance to see how the band developed from their early days, before the final and most well-known Noothgrush line-up formed.

Recorded shortly after forming in 1994, this self-titled demo features Noothgrush vets Chiyo and Gary along with Tom Choi (of Sleep-precursor Asbestos Death) on guitar and Luis DeVilla on second bass and moog. As a result the sound is significantly different from the band's later, most well-known material. The pace is still cripplingly slow and the mood still depressing and full of contempt for life but there are more psychedelic moments and vocal melodies than in the band's later work. Final track “8d8”, for example, is twenty brutal minutes of tortured, twisted riffs, guitar feedback, tape manipulation, samples, moog and general freak-outery.

The most striking thing about the record, however, is Gary's clean, clear vocal style which, surprisingly, brings to mind Tool's James Maynard Keenan on crushing opening track “Life Shatters into Pieces of Anguish”. Not only are the vocals clean but they are multi-layered and, dare I say, tuneful. Again, “Dungeon” is classic Noothgrush – an apprehensive intro of low rumbling bass followed by suspenseful distorted guitars, and tribal drums – but where Gary's voice would normally be oppressive and guttural, here it's more commanding, harmonising with itself for dramatic effect throughout most of the song. An early version of “Deterioration”, which would later feature on their only album Erode the Person, is also present here but in a shorter and more bombastic form. I'm sure many, many bands wish that their first demo was as accomplished and well-rounded as this document to damnation.

As is to be expected of a self-recorded demo which was handed out on cassettes, the sound quality isn't that great (it certainly won't please you audiophiles) but for me the gritty quality of the recordings acts like another instrument contributing to the general musical malaise. And regardless, the songs shine through on their own merit. The main thing that you will likely take away from this record is that Noothgrush had a clear vision of what they wanted to do from the start and quickly got to making some of the most underrated sludge and doom tracks ever made. With so much of the band's recorded material out of print this is a welcome re-issue – let's hope more of those elusive EPs get the same treatment soon.

[Originally posted on The Sleeping Shaman, 29/11/11]
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/n/noothgrush-st-reissue-cd-lp-2011/

[Later reposted as Roadburn Festival's 'Album of the Day', 29/11/11]
http://www.roadburn.com/2011/11/album-of-the-day-noothgrush-st-reissue-2011/

Noothgrush - Live for Nothing

(Southern Lord Recordings, 2011)

San Jose’s lovable sludge slackers Noothgrush are a difficult band to follow – in their seventeen year career they’ve released a handful of demos and split 7 inches, a rarities collection and one album, all of which are pretty hard to get hold of due to their limited runs. For a band that came from the same Bay Area scene as Neurosis and Sleep and who shared the stage with the likes of High on Fire, Grief and Burning Witch they ought to be far more-well known. But because Noothgrush very rarely toured and broke up a bunch of times due to a combination of conflicting interests and their own apathy they’ve become that rarer of beast; they’ve become a cult band.

Live for Nothing is Noothgrush’s first, widely-distributed release – a collection of two radio broadcasts the band did in 1996 and 1999 respectively. In the grand scheme of things this means that the recordings capture the band during their heyday and as such the tracklisting contains very few surprises for fans of the band. Like their previous compilation Failing Early, Failing Often, Live for Nothing encompasses the majority of Noothgrush’s early material, sharing eight of the same songs. Die-hard fans of the band may wish that their cover of “The Imperial March” was represented in all it’s live fury here but for newcomers (and they are presumably who this record is aimed at) it serves as a concise introduction to a band whose material has rarely been collected in one place.

More importantly this record captures the band at their live best. These recordings were made soon after many of the songs were recorded and released so these hateful, slow, bilious performances feel like they are being freshly spewed onto the tape reels. Kicking off the collection in brutal fashion is “Sith” and immediately newcomers should be able to identify Noothgrush’s extremely subtle ear for a sludgey guitar melody, a facet that distinguishes them from many of their contemporaries and aspects of which you can hear in the bands that were subsequently inspired by them (Cough and Unearthly Trance for example). It probably won’t take too long for you to pick up on their Star Wars obsession too.

To Noothgrush’s credit they managed to keep these two set-lists fresh and varied. On paper, an eighteen song sludge compilation could be an arduous thing to sit through, particularly if you are not familiar with the band in question or the genre, but although Noothgrush’s songs are slow, for the most part they are relatively short and songs like “Derrell’s Porno Song” fall more into the category of stoner rock giving listeners a moment to groove along before returning to a Neanderthal head nod. Another point of interest is the band’s awesome cover of Celtic Frost’s “Procreation (Of the Wicked)”, giving Sepultura a run for their money in the cover-version stakes. “Hatred for the Species” is simply a badass tune that should be playing in the collective subconscious of doom and sludge fans across the globe.

In this live setting the band also gets to demonstrate their sense of humour; after playing their 11-second song “Evazan” which consists of the lyrics “He doesn’t like you/ Sorry/ I don’t like you either”, Gary Niederhoff introduces their “other short song” before launching into the longest song here, the nine-minute behemoth “Erode the Person.” The song creeps along so slowly that you have time to make a cup of tea and research who “Evazan” is (yep, another minor Star Wars character) before the vocals kick in.

As is to be expected from recordings from college radio stations in the mid to late nineties, the sound quality isn’t as great as they would be if they were studio recordings – for example, Chiyo Nukaga’s drums are sadly low in the mix for the first session for KZSU in 1996 whereas in the latter session for KFJC the drums are more audible but at the expense of the guitar level. But nonetheless both sessions archive a legendary sludge group in all their live glory and ultimately this compilation may prove to be the closest many of us will ever get to hearing the band in a live capacity. For that reason alone this is an excellent collection that should be cherished.

It’s a shame that other commitments got in the way of Noothgrush’s progression because these recordings suggest a band that could have been as beloved and well-known as contemporaries like Eyehategod, Buzzov*en and Sleep had they kept ploughing on. But their up-and-down history just adds to the band’s wonky, sludgey charm. Thankfully the band seem to be active again with some festival slots already under their belts and a handful rumoured for the near future so it seems that, for now, the Noothgrush Saga continues…

(Originally published on The Sleeping Shaman, 26/09/11)
http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/n/noothgrush-live-for-nothing-cdlp-2011/
(Later reposted on the Roadburn Festival website's Album of the Day, 27/09/11)
http://www.roadburn.com/2011/09/album-of-the-day-noothgrush-live-for-nothing/