After a brief hiatus last week (we were, as Bill Murray says in Caddyshack, “Unavoidably Detained”) we’re back with a selection of decidedly anti-summer anthems.  Now, we’re not anti-summer, far from it, but seems we’ve largely been rotting your teeth out with sugary pop confections for the past few months, so it’s time to get that tinnitus rattling around again, just in time for yr spangly Memorial Day festivities.  Onward then, into the murk.

We stumble out of the gate this week with Ancestors’ II on Youth Attack! Records.  McCoy’s proper vinyl pressing of a hyper-limited (100 copies) cassette, this virgin white slab is a flailing piss storm of schizophrenic BM that’s utterly despondent and horrifyingly toxic and, at times, sounds like it’s being interrupted by shortwave radio blasts from WWII.  While not exactly free-form, each side (composition?) is essentially structureless, meaning there could be one song or 45 and you’ll never know the difference.  Their harsh malevolence rains down like battery acid as a completely blown-out morass of humanity struggled to find shelter from the pain.  Limited to 333 copies and (surprisingly) still available at YA!’s site.   

Dredged from the sewers of somewhere is Fresh Meat’s “Saw Her” b/w “Man or Woman?” on Breathing Problem Productions (Rusty from Total Abuse’s label).  What you get here are two sides of ultra lo-fi shit-core that sounds like the brainbombs being given a lobotomy in a dumpster, or someone running Poison Idea through a meat-grinder whilst they are still playing.  The whole mess sounds like it’s being held together by cheap apoxy (as much for the high off the smell as anything) and fueled by even cheaper beer.  People have compared them to Drunks with Guns, but in reality, this sounds more like actual drunks huffing aerosol fumes, unable to tune a guitar and puking on the 4-track; so basically, it’s fantastic.  Still available here but who knows for how long.

Perhaps the least abrasive thing we have this week is the new Young Widows/Melt Banana split on Temporary Residence Ltd.  The second volume of YW’s split singles series pits the Lousiville noise-rock heroes against Japan’s three-headed spazz hydra.  On the A-Side, Young Widows are at their AmRep-aping early ‘90 best here with “Long Live the New Weight”, cranking out a terse, bottom-dwelling rocker that makes liberal use of ear-scrambling distortion.  On the flip, Japan’s Melt Banana take things in a more Boredoms-centric direction than we’re used to with “Pain in Ash”, creating a dense, poly-rhythmic foundation for their twisted melange of supersonic sound and toning down their frenetic grindcore in favor of gurgling, organ-stabbed understatement.  Head on over to TRL’s website to pick up a copy (or subscribe to the series if you are so inclined).

Just like Dr. Dre we’re keeping heads ringing this week, and while we can’t promise we won’t next week, we do have some lighter fare coming up in the weeks ahead, so make sure to stay tuned (and hydrated). 

My fascination with Dave Witte began the minute I heard blast beats rabidly pulsating through the walls of a dingy, yet endearing practice space in south Jersey. At the time I was in this ambitious tech metal band and my band mates quickly alerted me, “that’s Dave Witte, he’s the fucking MAN.” As a lover of all things heavy, I was privy to Dave’s projects — Discordance Axis, Melt Banana, Human Remains — but what I was hearing that glorious day was the unmistakable Burnt By the Sun. Later that day he walked by and in true Dave fashion complimented us on our sound, I stood in utter awe of a man that was not only one of the sickest drummers alive, but also stood out as a genuine, humble and approachable human being.

There is no greater pleasure in life than to meet another musician you greatly respect and receive a positive vibe. As fates would align, a few years later I began working at Earache Records and spent time working with Municipal Waste, which I immediately discovered now included a recently transplanted Dave Witte. The man truly is an anomaly — he cooks gourmet dishes, has a fervent love for cats and has several tattooed through his body (all cat lovers are clearly genius), tours the world and most notably, pounds a drum set like no one else.

A legend in the underground metal community, Dave and Municipal Waste are showing a new generation of kids how to party hard and thrash he night away. We sat down with Dave and talked about the bands’ slot on the forthcoming No Fear Energy Tour with Lamb of God, recording a new Municipal Waste album in 2009, the reemergence of Burnt By The Sun and many other revealing tidbits.