Testify – On Enemy Ground

Testify
On Enemy Ground
1994 Royalty Records
Anaheim, California, USA

Steven Urenda – Lead vocals
Eric Turner – Guitar, vocals
Jimmy Ray – Bass, vocals
Danny Peck – Drums

Side 1:

1. Lift Him Up
2. Praise His Name
3. Lord of All
4. Receive Him In
5. Just Believe

Side 2:

1. Accept Him
2. Walk With Me
3. Jesus
4. The Way

Testify is another of those band names that I am surprised was not taken by more bands out there. This is a well-produced and played commercial metal, so one might wonder why they are mostly unheard of and this demo wasn’t really digitized until now. Well, that is because this was released in 1994, and this style was dying out. The tape underground had mostly been taken over by alternative rock, modern metal, and other 90s sounds. The lead singer has a slight Sunset Strip rasp to his voice. There is really only one ballad on the whole tape at the very end. But that is about all I know about this band.

Eric A Peterson – Wishbone

Eric A Peterson
Wishbone
1994 (no label)
Chesterfield, Missouri, USA

Eric A Peterson – Everything, except:

Brian Keithly – Drums
Joel Puttcamp – Bass on “Sacred,” “Absence,” and “Epitaph”
Jimmy P. Brown II – All vocals on “Absence of Reality” and “Sacred”
John Effinger – Harmony vocals on “Cry”
Marty Warren – Last guitar solo on “Wishbone”
Dan Henderson – Cello on “Strings”
Nick Misra – Violin on “Strings”
Dave Heard – Viola on “Strings”

1. Absence of Reality
2. Strings
3. Wishbone
4. Sacred
5. Cry
6. Epitaph

Just to get this out of the way, this is not the same Eric Peterson that is in Jesus Freaks. It is the same Erik Peterson that was in Poesis. Their demo was alternative rock. This album jumps out of the gate with a mid-90s thrash metal style song with none other than Jimmy P. Brown II of Deliverance on vocals. The second track is a more mellow instrumental song and then a more thrashy instrumental song. I wonder if the Marty Warren on this tape is the same one that was in Shadoworld who worked with King’s X? Then there is a thrash-style ballad with Brown on vocals. This is followed by an acoustic track and a thrash song, both with Peterson on vocals I believe? Petersen’s Poesis bandmate joins him for bass on three songs. But this demo came out about two years before the Poesis demo. From what I have found, Peterson has another demo called End All that might have been from 1993. The songs were sent to me in a different order than they appear on the j-card. I put the order that they were given to me above. I could really use a full scan of the j-card and tape as well.

Le Francais de Arrogant – Le Francais de Arrogant

Le Francais de Arrogant
Le Francais de Arrogant
1994 Roman Recordings
Wonder Lake, Illinois, USA

Klarc White – Vocals, junk, sampling, keyboards
Rick Roman Jr – Guitar, bass, keyboards, backup screaming

Side I:

1. Dancing in Babylon
2. Flight 401
3. Gimme (The Money Trap)
4. Jesus Saves
5. Lords Prayer
6. Victims

Side A:

1. Zombie Chicks
2. Stupid Americans
3. Skin Head Chick
4. I’m Fat
5. I Have Sinned
6. The Green Bean
7. Man Kind
8. MTV is Evil
9. World Suburbia

This tape is a combination of found noise, samples, spoken word, keyboard percussion, and guitar layered together in an experimental industrial fashion. Lots of commentary and snark about the church, society, you name it – a lot is covered here. Some songs like “Stupid Americans” are pretty much industrial metal, with driving guitars, yelled vocals, and electronic percussion. Most songs are electronic/industrial and often experimental. This appears to be a one time project of Klarc White teaming up with Rick Roman, Jr of New Society fame. Once you know that, you can definitely hear the Roman connection.

Secular Deformity – For the Oppressed

Secular Deformity
For the Oppressed
1994 (no label)
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Don Grutzius – Vocals
Mark Boggs – Guitar
Jack Williams – Bass
Scott Boggs – Drums

1. I Strangle This Life
2. For the Oppressed
3. Save It!
4. 100% A.F.B.

Another demo from the Scene and Unseen Music Club. This band is a 90s nu-metal / hardcore band that kind of reminds me of Godfear with cleaner vocals. This is not the rapcore side of nu-metal – this is the earlier version that was more hardcore with trade-offs between shouted vocals and clean vocals, and even some grunge influences here and there. I know that this band also had a demo before this one in 1993 called Bent, but I don’t know much else about where they came from or went.

S.I.N. for S.I.N. – Opiate for the Masses

S.I.N. for S.I.N.
Opiate for the Masses
1994 (no label)
Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

Rob Colwell – Vocals
Brook – Guitar
John – Bass
Todd – Drums

1. Opiate for the Masses
2. So Blind
3. Rise Above
4. Fear of God

There is a bit of a mystery about this tape – the Discogs entry shows 8 songs, but the video below has 4 songs. Is the Discogs entry wrong? Did the uploader forget to turn the tape over (unlikely since they have uploaded many demos)? Are there two versions of the tape? I have found scans of the whole j-card and tape, and there is no song list on either. So I am not sure where the song titles are even coming from. The list above are the songs I think are on the video – the last song is different than what the description has. I went by the lyrics. Anyways, this is mid-90s thrash, the kind that went in a bit more power/traditional metal direction. The vocalist at times has a hint of Dave Mustaine in his voice. I’m also not sure what their band name is an abbreviation for. We will see if more information comes to light someday. Rob Colwell went on to be the vocalist for Faithbomb.

Luxury – It Might As Well Be Skin (The Pink Tape)

Luxury
It Might As Well Be Skin (The Pink Tape)
1993 (no label)
Tocca Falls, Georgia, USA

1. Pink Revenge
2. Solid Gold
3. The Luxury Theme
4. South
5. My Last Gasp
6. When the Curtain Falls

So after releasing Candy, Darling? in 1993, Shroud changed their name to Luxury and recorded this demo in the same year. Sounds like a pretty busy year. They include a full version of “South” this time. All of the songs on this demo except for “My Last Gasp” were re-recorded for 1995’s Amazing and Thank You on Tooth & Nail Records. It seems that this tape was known as The Pink Tape because there was no name on the cover, but I think the band had the longer name for it in mind. In 1994, they released a different version of this tape that was clearly a self-titled demo, with a similar cover but in blue. They also changed the song order and added “Flaming Youth Flames On” and “Vanity.” “When the Curtain Falls” was also included on their Nude at Last collection tape.

The Joke? – The Death of the Brittle Biscuit

The Joke?
The Death of the Brittle Biscuit
1994 (no label)
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Daniel – Vocals
Wagner – Guitars
Giordano – Bass
Lezma – Drums

Side A:

1. The Death of the Brittle Biscuit
2. Admonished
3. Believe or Do Not Believe
4. Psalm 23

Side B:

1. Death Bubble
2. Deceiver Beetles
3. Good Beliefs
4. The Guide
5. Jerico

I’m not sure what the title is a reference to, but the band jumps out of the gate with a ferocious thrash attack. The vocals are gruff but more shouted than growled. Well, actually, the first track is a bit slower (for thrash), but they have plenty of speed throughout. Sometimes they are referred to as a Thrash Groove Metal band, and that works as well. This band is from Brazil, but the lyrics appear to mostly be in English. This demo tape was first released in 1994, and the band followed it up with Demo Ensaio in 1998. Then both of these tapes were re-issued on CD in 2000 (with the 1998 demo as bonus tracks). They also released two more CDs after that re-issue before changing names to Trombada and going in a more hardcore direction.

Don’t Know – Chili With Beans

Don’t Know
Chili With Beans
1994 Morphine Records
Seattle, Washington, USA

Dan Henry – Vocals
Ed Carrigan – Guitar, BGV
Paul Henry – Bass, BGV
Matt Johnson – Tubs, plates

Downside:

1. Too Much to Think
2. Find Time
3. 50 Pound Bible
4. Jeffries Makin’ Breakfast

Upside:

1. Complacent Tea
2. Power Tool Pete
3. I Buy Rug

This suddenly appeared on BandCamp, and even though I own the tape itself, I decided to grab it because the sound quality was better than my tape rip. Don’t Know was a funk/punk/spazzcore band from the Seattle are with ties to Blenderhead (several members were in both bands). But I believe Don’t Know was the first band of the two. As you can tell by the song titles, a sense of humor was a major component of this band. This was actually their second release – Fearless Donkey Records released a tape called Pre-Release Advance Cassette in 1993 that had earlier versions of “Too Much to Think,” “50 Pound Bible,” and “Complacent Tea.” The other song on that tape was “Big Bang Recipe,” which was included on the Songs From the Rain Factory compilation from Fearless Donkey. This tape is sometimes called “For Great Homemade Chili, Turn Here” because that is written on the spine. The band obviously meant for it to be called Chili With Beans. After this, the band signed with Tooth & Nail Records and released Coodly P. Ramaswami Memorial Cheesecake in 1995. “50 Pound Bible” was also re-recorded for that release, but was only included on the cassette version in place of “Josh’s Ditty.” The only thing missing from the BandCamp download is a short outro that is basically a clip from Airplane – probably left off either due to language or copyright concerns.

Strychnine Kiss – Ether Ever After

Strychnine Kiss
Ether Ever After
1994 (no label)

E. Nathan Van Hala – Programming, script, vocals
Michoakhan John Pereyra – Guitarist, apothecary
Steve – Programming, script

Lithium Side:

1. Dirty Dogma
2. Epiphany in Passing
3. Strychnine Fish
4. Nascence
5. Ballad of the Stiff Dancer
6. For Whom the Blacklight Lulls

Prozac Side:

1. Prima Donna
2. She’s Lost Control
3. Battle of the Brain Cells
4. Death of a Modern Minstrel
5. Ether Ever After

So this band was described as a side-project of Saviour Machine’s pianist Eric Van Hala. He joined Saviour Machine in 1993 after Saviour Machine I was released, and is still listed as a member of the band on Wikipedia (even though that may or may not be out of date). This tape would have been released the same year as Saviour Machine II. I don’t know if this was specifically a Christian project or not due to the language on it, but it at least has a connection. Both this and the 1996 follow-up ep Premonitions of a Darker Night are on BandCamp for free download. The sound here is a mix of electronic gothic rock and industrial rock. Note that the song order was changed for the BandCamp release from the original tape listing, which I have used above.

Soul-Junk 1950 – (Free Shrimp)

Soul-Junk
1950 (Free Shrimp)
1994 Shrimper
Leucadia, California, USA

G. Galaxy
Sassy-Ax Galaxy
Ron G

1. The Lords Saxophone
2. Proverbs 1.20-33
3. Even The Archangel Michael
4. Father God
5. Shine Out Of Darkness
6. I Turned My Back On You
7. Heavenly Bodies Will Be Shaken
8. Hosea 6.1-3
9. You Who Are Thirsty
10. Ephesians 2.4-10
11. A Holy Fast
12. Matthew 11.28-30

This is the first full album release by Soul-Junk in 1994. There is a version of this album on BandCamp, but there isn’t much in common between this release and that release. Their website says this version is a “smaller track list,” but it is actually much different. Both versions have “The Lord’s Saxophone,” but here it is a full song of almost three minutes. “Even the Archangel Michael” appears to be a full-length version of “Junkrock Motorcade.” “Shine Out the Darkness” is a full-length version of “Yes Bless You.” “Heavenly Bodies Will be Shaken” is a full-length version of “Save Punk Gospel NoNet.” “You Who are Thirsty” and “Holy Fast” are full-length versions of “Rise of Soul.” Other than that, I don’t think there is any overlap between songs, even though they both sound like they were recorded in the same session with the same mindset – experimental indie rock mixed with free form improvised noise tracks (the ones mentioned here).