Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Path To Misery
Path To Misery - Forget Me (Disembodied cover) from AJ P Worrell on Vimeo.
www.pathtomisery.blogspot.com
Friday, November 13, 2009
*proposed* Psalms of Sheol test press cover
edit: this cover was actually used for a limited cover /30 for the band's shows on the east coast
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
a testimony
Got this email from Tara, from a fan in Belgium named Iwein. thought it was a cool story to share.
That day. It must have been a stormy one. But I can’t remember anymore. Who cares, actually?
The year was 1997 or 1998. I can’t remember the day or month… but the impact proved to be everlasting.
Doctor Vinyl, at that time my favorite music shop, had a new batch of hardcore delivered. Hell, the guy was an avid technohead, specializing in dance, drum ’n bass and all kinds of weird shit. That time, hardcore was all but mainstream. All 12 kids in our scene (it was that big…) went to Doctor Vinyl on a weekly basis, just to see the new stuff. He did us all a favor by importing the finest wares in hardcore.
I browsed through the newly arrived stuff, quickly. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Just hoping to encounter some new cool tunes.
And there it was: a dead body on the cover, not a particularly special bandlogo but it stuck with me. My curiosity was aroused.
But what did it sound like? I asked my dear friend, Doctor Vinyl, to spin this thing for me.
I still remember the look on his face. This was not the ‘hardcore’ he used to hear when we were around. As for me, I was fascinated. This band, disembodied, took me by surprise. I expected yet another Slayer-ish take on hardcore. But no… disembodied chose to strip 90’s metalcore of the fast riffs and thrashy rythms. They introduced heaviness in hardcore. They proved hardcore could be slow and intense at the same time.
I didn’t let Doctor Vinyl finish the first song. I immediately purchased the CD, skipped school and went home to listen to ‘diablerie’. No fucking ipods these days, so I copied it to tape and had it in my walkman for the next couple of weeks. We’re nearly speaking of addiction here… I was going through some difficult times back then. Maybe it was this that made the music stick in? I like to think so…
At that time, the internet wasn’t as omnipresent as it is these days. I wasn’t a very big fanzine reader, so the mystery that surrounded Disembodied remained. The impact of the music and lyrics was this big, I decided to send the guys and girl a fan letter. This became the first and last fan letter I ever wrote to a band. I just needed to write down how I felt about the music. I’ve never received a response but that didn’t matter.
I still feel the same about what I wrote in that letter back then. The cold, distant yet highly emotional mood on all records, is something that has had a lasting influence on myself. Musically and emotionally.
When I’m feeling down or depressed, Disembodied will uplift my spirits every time.
After ‘diablerie’ came ‘if god only knew…’ and ‘heretic’. All three of these pieces of noise are in my car all the time. If some young kid claims to have found the heaviest band on earth, I simply put on some Disembodied. Most of the time, they’ve got a hard time getting into it. It truly must be music for wicked souls.
When I received news that the band split up, I cursed a few times. Never going to see these songs performed live, was a huge disappointment. What I regretted the most, was missing the chance to unravel the mystery behind this band. What about these lyrics? The heaviness? The, obviously, deep emotions that kept singer Aaron cry out these fantastic lyrics?
Fast forward 12 years: *shock* Disembodied reunites. I was in awe and also disappointed. Only three US shows, so it seemed. But there was more to come.
It’s like a strange coincidence, actually: after 6 haunting and very disturbing months at work, I’m feeling emotionally wrecked. It’s in this episode of my life that I’m going to see Disembodied at the annual Ieper Hardcore Fest in Belgium.
When expectations are that tense, disappointment always lurks around the corner. But not this time.
During the show, I felt intensely happy. Moments before, I was able to talk to Tara, Chaz and JJ. I felt like a 33 year old kid. I was fucking nervous. I told them about my fan letter. I told them Disembodied is one of my all time favorite bands. I was happy to get it all out of my system. There were a lot more things I wanted to tell and ask them. That’s why I wrote this all down.
Funny thing is, there were a bunch of other 30 year old ‘kids’ getting completely psyched over the fact that they were at last *sigh* going to see Disembodied play live. Apparently, disembodied have had the same impact on them as it had on me. One of them fucking barfed due to the intensity and psychedness because of this show.
During the gig, I was singing along, filming and taking pictures at the same time. Man, I’ve had the time of my life.
So this is it. My testimony to one of the bands that influenced me big time. I’m sending this over to the band. So they know they did a great job. I like to thank people when they’re still alive.
In conclusion, I wanted to sum up: what, exactly, is Disembodied? Don’t know if you guys and girl are big Star Wars fans, but the best I could come up with:
A beautiful disturbance in the force. That’s what Disembodied is to me.
Big up and see you next year!
That day. It must have been a stormy one. But I can’t remember anymore. Who cares, actually?
The year was 1997 or 1998. I can’t remember the day or month… but the impact proved to be everlasting.
Doctor Vinyl, at that time my favorite music shop, had a new batch of hardcore delivered. Hell, the guy was an avid technohead, specializing in dance, drum ’n bass and all kinds of weird shit. That time, hardcore was all but mainstream. All 12 kids in our scene (it was that big…) went to Doctor Vinyl on a weekly basis, just to see the new stuff. He did us all a favor by importing the finest wares in hardcore.
I browsed through the newly arrived stuff, quickly. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Just hoping to encounter some new cool tunes.
And there it was: a dead body on the cover, not a particularly special bandlogo but it stuck with me. My curiosity was aroused.
But what did it sound like? I asked my dear friend, Doctor Vinyl, to spin this thing for me.
I still remember the look on his face. This was not the ‘hardcore’ he used to hear when we were around. As for me, I was fascinated. This band, disembodied, took me by surprise. I expected yet another Slayer-ish take on hardcore. But no… disembodied chose to strip 90’s metalcore of the fast riffs and thrashy rythms. They introduced heaviness in hardcore. They proved hardcore could be slow and intense at the same time.
I didn’t let Doctor Vinyl finish the first song. I immediately purchased the CD, skipped school and went home to listen to ‘diablerie’. No fucking ipods these days, so I copied it to tape and had it in my walkman for the next couple of weeks. We’re nearly speaking of addiction here… I was going through some difficult times back then. Maybe it was this that made the music stick in? I like to think so…
At that time, the internet wasn’t as omnipresent as it is these days. I wasn’t a very big fanzine reader, so the mystery that surrounded Disembodied remained. The impact of the music and lyrics was this big, I decided to send the guys and girl a fan letter. This became the first and last fan letter I ever wrote to a band. I just needed to write down how I felt about the music. I’ve never received a response but that didn’t matter.
I still feel the same about what I wrote in that letter back then. The cold, distant yet highly emotional mood on all records, is something that has had a lasting influence on myself. Musically and emotionally.
When I’m feeling down or depressed, Disembodied will uplift my spirits every time.
After ‘diablerie’ came ‘if god only knew…’ and ‘heretic’. All three of these pieces of noise are in my car all the time. If some young kid claims to have found the heaviest band on earth, I simply put on some Disembodied. Most of the time, they’ve got a hard time getting into it. It truly must be music for wicked souls.
When I received news that the band split up, I cursed a few times. Never going to see these songs performed live, was a huge disappointment. What I regretted the most, was missing the chance to unravel the mystery behind this band. What about these lyrics? The heaviness? The, obviously, deep emotions that kept singer Aaron cry out these fantastic lyrics?
Fast forward 12 years: *shock* Disembodied reunites. I was in awe and also disappointed. Only three US shows, so it seemed. But there was more to come.
It’s like a strange coincidence, actually: after 6 haunting and very disturbing months at work, I’m feeling emotionally wrecked. It’s in this episode of my life that I’m going to see Disembodied at the annual Ieper Hardcore Fest in Belgium.
When expectations are that tense, disappointment always lurks around the corner. But not this time.
During the show, I felt intensely happy. Moments before, I was able to talk to Tara, Chaz and JJ. I felt like a 33 year old kid. I was fucking nervous. I told them about my fan letter. I told them Disembodied is one of my all time favorite bands. I was happy to get it all out of my system. There were a lot more things I wanted to tell and ask them. That’s why I wrote this all down.
Funny thing is, there were a bunch of other 30 year old ‘kids’ getting completely psyched over the fact that they were at last *sigh* going to see Disembodied play live. Apparently, disembodied have had the same impact on them as it had on me. One of them fucking barfed due to the intensity and psychedness because of this show.
During the gig, I was singing along, filming and taking pictures at the same time. Man, I’ve had the time of my life.
So this is it. My testimony to one of the bands that influenced me big time. I’m sending this over to the band. So they know they did a great job. I like to thank people when they’re still alive.
In conclusion, I wanted to sum up: what, exactly, is Disembodied? Don’t know if you guys and girl are big Star Wars fans, but the best I could come up with:
A beautiful disturbance in the force. That’s what Disembodied is to me.
Big up and see you next year!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Europe 2009
Well, i thought i would post a little something about our recent trip to Europe.
We flew into Berlin and had a day to just chill and walk around the city. Berlin is a really beautiful city with lots of history. I wish we could have had more time to explore there. It was nice to get some sleep before the shows though. Who knew that would be the only real sleep i would get the whole time we were there. We walked around the city and then ate dinner at a mexican joint while enjoying some drinks and people watching before crashing at our hostel.
We played 4 shows during our time there. Our first show was in Rosswein, Germany. It was fucking amazing. We didnt really know what to expect, we had never played in Europe so we didnt know if people would be into it or not. The crowd was amazing. We were lucky enough to play with Darkest Hour who killed it both nights that we played with them. The show is kind of in the middle of nowhere in this little village but the show was so great. Afterwards we went to the place where we were to sleep which i think was a dorm by the way it was laid out, however we never saw a person walking around so i really have no idea.
Got up the next morning and went to a local bakery and had some amazing coffee. The city was beautiful and then we were off to the next show since it was about a 7 hour drive.
We got to Trier a little early. Loaded in and got some food to eat. The club is this weird building which consists of two clubs, an outdoor stage, a youth center, and at night, fucking raves. The show was good. A dude hung upside down from the rafters while we played which was entertaining. Ate some good food that the club provided, and then was hoping to get some sleep which i was in need of. WRONG! There was a rave in the other building which was attached to where we were to sleep. Of course you had to sleep with the windows open because Europe doesnt believe in AC so it was so loud. It was impossible to sleep so we went downstairs to hang out for a while. Talked with some Germans who were speaking English with a British accent. It was pretty entertaining. It was INSANE the amount of drinking and bottles that were being thrown around. It was around 3 or 4 and i tried to go to sleep to no avail. I think the music actually stopped around 10am. So, that kind of sucked, and the promoter yelled at some of the guys because they thought they were breaking stuff, which they werent. You couldnt even take a shower because there was glass in the shower rooms. It was insane.
Off to the next show in Amsterdam on no sleep once again. Got there a little early but really couldnt figure out how to get to the show. It was in the Red Light district and so you cant drive there. The club wouldnt let us load early so we had to go park and wait a while which ended up as us loading late. The show was kind of small due to the fact that Ieper Fest was pretty close but it was still a good show. Except for the fact that the cabinet Charlie was using blew a speaker and then the head stopped working. He just played along anyways. We didnt get much time to hang out that night because it was raining and once we loaded we just had to bail.
We did get to see Jan who was our(Martyr Ad's) driver for the Zao tour. It was nice to see him and talk for a few minutes.
We stayed with Sam and Eva. They were very nice to let us stay with them and got showers and a decent night sleep.
We left a little late just because we needed some time to just relax and not rush. I wanted to leave early to see Polar Bear Club at the fest but knew that wasent gonna happen because they played way too early.
Got to the show about 2 minutes before Set Your Goals played. That was the other band that i wanted to see so i was stoked i got to see them. Went and set up merch, which wasent really worth it because we only had size xl left but sat there anyways and talked to some people.
Played a great show. It was kinda cold when we started but it was perfect timing as the sun was going down. The kids seemed to like it. We thought it was an amazing show. We packed up and hung out as the show was winding down. We got a bunch of drink tickets and just went and redeemed them all and oddly enough when you have like 30 beers sitting at your table, you make alot of friends. Talked with some Brits who were singing along to the Descendents and No Doubt. It was surreal.
Went back to the place we were staying and once again i couldnt sleep. I sat staring at the wall listening to my ipod for hours until finally getting up and finding a computer to look at.
Got everyone up and ate breakfast and headed to Brussels. We had decided to stay a few extra days to just look around. We stopped in Brugge first. We were there on the Martyr tour but it was so close we decided just to walk around a bit. Wanted to climb to the top of the tower but we were too cheap.
Headed to our hotel in Brussels, cleaned up, and took the train into the city to eat waffles. We only ate one waffle and i kinda feel cheated. We had this plan of basically stuffing ourselves with waffles until we wanted to puke but i think due to exhaustion we just werent feeling it.
We walked around for a while, looked at some cool shit, and then headed back to the hotel. I was feeling like shit from the night before so i just headed to bed.
Then we headed off to Amsterdam in the early morning. We were flying out of Amsterdam so we decided to spend an extra day and a half there. Of course we walked around the Red Light district a hundred times, looked at stuff, some people smoked some stuff, had some drinks, watched a Twins game at an Irish bar, and had a good time just hanging out together.
It was a whirlwind of a trip and we were glad to go and glad to get home.
Europe hates the following things:
Hot Food
Air Conditioning
Nice Toilet Paper
Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows, bought a shirt so we could live, and all of the people that we met and took care of us. We really appreciate it. We couldnt have done it without any of you, especially Marco, Ivonne, and Avocado. Well see you again next year.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
new shirts
new shirts available EXCLUSIVELY at
www.hellfishfamily.com
there will be exclusives released every month. dont snooze, cause once they are gone they are fucking gone.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
thanks
so its done. one of the best weekends ever. a lot of hard work was put into getting Disembodied, and i couldnt have done it without help.
first id like to thank Tara for listening to my constant fanboy comments, and for convincing her band to come out here.
Andy Serrano and Andy Whynaught and everyone who works at Chain Reaction. they did an awesome job.
Lucas for recording the show.
Keith Barney for designing an awesome poster.
Matt Horowitz for letting me whine, for making laminates and for letting us use a van. and most importantly, for letting Disembodied use his killer drums. and for playing in two awesome bands.
Mark Mitchell for rounding up gear and for understanding my pain.
Michael Hellfish for helping me from day one, for doing a fucking amazing job printing (even on his wedding anniversary), and for being a truly amazing human being.
Adrian Castillo for being himself.
every person in every band that played, especially Xibalba and Final Burden.
Josh Highland for backing me.
Erakuh for being there, listening to me, encouraging me, and for putting up with me.
Most of all, to Disembodied for making a lot of people really happy.
stay tuned for more photos, videos, and updates on the new record.
first id like to thank Tara for listening to my constant fanboy comments, and for convincing her band to come out here.
Andy Serrano and Andy Whynaught and everyone who works at Chain Reaction. they did an awesome job.
Lucas for recording the show.
Keith Barney for designing an awesome poster.
Matt Horowitz for letting me whine, for making laminates and for letting us use a van. and most importantly, for letting Disembodied use his killer drums. and for playing in two awesome bands.
Mark Mitchell for rounding up gear and for understanding my pain.
Michael Hellfish for helping me from day one, for doing a fucking amazing job printing (even on his wedding anniversary), and for being a truly amazing human being.
Adrian Castillo for being himself.
every person in every band that played, especially Xibalba and Final Burden.
Josh Highland for backing me.
Erakuh for being there, listening to me, encouraging me, and for putting up with me.
Most of all, to Disembodied for making a lot of people really happy.
stay tuned for more photos, videos, and updates on the new record.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
aaron on diablerie
i asked a few different people to write about the Diablerie. Spleidt wrote about it HERE. the only other person to get back at me was Aaron, and here's his story...
fuck it.
Diablerie:
Basically in a nut shell.
I had recently quit Disembodied to attempt to raise a child. In the summer of 96' a year had passed before i even spoke to anyone in the band. One fatefull day i recieved a phone call from Justin who had just returned from touring with the band. He basically told me that if i didn't re-join that he was going to quit and that Disembodied would be done or at least as far as he was concerned. He also told me about his experiences he had on tour and the reaction they had recieved from fans...specifically at the Goletta festival. I was a little surprised to hear they had even toured let alone having the amazing reaction to the band. He went on to say that Joel had writen an entire album worth of material and that the shit was sick.
This obviously got the wheels spinning again. So i spoke with Joel and Tara and we managed to set aside our differences. I got together with the band and heard those 9 songs. Needless to say i was floored. Within 3 months we were in the studio recording Diablerie October 96.
Over the prior year and a half suffice to say i went through some major changes in my life. Just having a child can put anyone's life in major perspective. My being only 19 at the time, being married and with child really posed a unique challenge to me being in a touring band. However i never stopped writing poetry about my experiences and suffering. Being in a band has always been about creative expression and having an outlet to vent my emotions and frustrations i have with the world or my life in general. Not having that left a gaping hole in my life. Something a relationship, even having a child could never fill. So i felt compelled to make the very difficult decisions i had to make.
In order to salvage what was left of a dying marriage and what apeared to be a dying band on the verge of greatness. My wife and i decided to give our child up for adoption to her parents. (at least so we could have visitation rights) It seemed the right thing to do. I didn't know the first thing about being a parent. I'm sure we would have done fine in retrospect but for our child they could provide for him better than we ever could and would provide for me the opportunity to do things with my life that having a child just never would have happened. (at least from my perspective at the time.) I will never have any regrets about that. I know to this day i did what was best for our child and myself.
It did however create alot of suffering on my behalf, much of which are cronicled on Diablerie: (dealings with the devil)
I never thought this record would have the inpact it did.
I'm still surprised to this day people even listen to it.
(although it is probably my favorite record of ours)
I am humbled by the fact that Disembodied ever became what it was (is?) And am looking forward to what Disembodied will become again.
Only time will tell.
~Aaron.
fuck it.
Diablerie:
Basically in a nut shell.
I had recently quit Disembodied to attempt to raise a child. In the summer of 96' a year had passed before i even spoke to anyone in the band. One fatefull day i recieved a phone call from Justin who had just returned from touring with the band. He basically told me that if i didn't re-join that he was going to quit and that Disembodied would be done or at least as far as he was concerned. He also told me about his experiences he had on tour and the reaction they had recieved from fans...specifically at the Goletta festival. I was a little surprised to hear they had even toured let alone having the amazing reaction to the band. He went on to say that Joel had writen an entire album worth of material and that the shit was sick.
This obviously got the wheels spinning again. So i spoke with Joel and Tara and we managed to set aside our differences. I got together with the band and heard those 9 songs. Needless to say i was floored. Within 3 months we were in the studio recording Diablerie October 96.
Over the prior year and a half suffice to say i went through some major changes in my life. Just having a child can put anyone's life in major perspective. My being only 19 at the time, being married and with child really posed a unique challenge to me being in a touring band. However i never stopped writing poetry about my experiences and suffering. Being in a band has always been about creative expression and having an outlet to vent my emotions and frustrations i have with the world or my life in general. Not having that left a gaping hole in my life. Something a relationship, even having a child could never fill. So i felt compelled to make the very difficult decisions i had to make.
In order to salvage what was left of a dying marriage and what apeared to be a dying band on the verge of greatness. My wife and i decided to give our child up for adoption to her parents. (at least so we could have visitation rights) It seemed the right thing to do. I didn't know the first thing about being a parent. I'm sure we would have done fine in retrospect but for our child they could provide for him better than we ever could and would provide for me the opportunity to do things with my life that having a child just never would have happened. (at least from my perspective at the time.) I will never have any regrets about that. I know to this day i did what was best for our child and myself.
It did however create alot of suffering on my behalf, much of which are cronicled on Diablerie: (dealings with the devil)
I never thought this record would have the inpact it did.
I'm still surprised to this day people even listen to it.
(although it is probably my favorite record of ours)
I am humbled by the fact that Disembodied ever became what it was (is?) And am looking forward to what Disembodied will become again.
Only time will tell.
~Aaron.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
forget me v.1
im not gonna lie, its pretty awesome to be friends with one of your very favorite bands.
cool stuff happens, like you randomly get emails saying "hey check this out..." and it happens to be a crazy demo version of one of your favorite songs.
im a completist. i like having EVERYTHING. if you do too, then check out this demo version of FORGET ME
FORGET ME
http://www.mediafire.com/?3nmgdwjtzen
*edit, re-uploaded to mediafire
Friday, May 15, 2009
Forget Me (live)
The Pickle Patch was a house in the part of Santa Barbara, CA known as Isla Vista. It is right by the college and is very densely populated with kids (college age people). Anyway, this house was a "collective" whatever that means. Im not sure of everyone who actually lived there, but for a while Steve Aoki did. Yes, that Steve Aoki.
A few years ago a compilation came out of bands that had played at the house. Honestly no other songs stand out in my memory other than Giveuntilgone and Former Members Of Alfonsin.
The comp featured a live version of "forget me", which, thanks to Uncle Sam blessing me with a large enough tax return to buy a computer, i have uploaded.
enjoy.
FORGET ME
http://www.mediafire.com/?ityondyn4ly
A few years ago a compilation came out of bands that had played at the house. Honestly no other songs stand out in my memory other than Giveuntilgone and Former Members Of Alfonsin.
The comp featured a live version of "forget me", which, thanks to Uncle Sam blessing me with a large enough tax return to buy a computer, i have uploaded.
enjoy.
FORGET ME
http://www.mediafire.com/?ityondyn4ly
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Burning FIght Wrap Up
So, its been a week now, time to do a wrap up of the weekend. Im still recovering from the weekend, it was so amazing. We had such a great time in Chicago. We want to thank Jim Grimes, Caitlin Lipinski, Andy Hurley, and especially Brian Peterson for asking us to be involved with such an epic event. It was such an honor to share the stage with so many bands that i have loved over the years.
So, we left Thursday night around 10 or so. Everyone had to work so we figured it would be the best idea to leave at night so we would have a full day of hanging out on Friday after getting some good sleep. Too bad i dont sleep late. I was up way too fucking early on Friday waiting for the boys to get up. They did eventually, after my coffee run, breakfast, and then deciding to go back to sleep because we were out by the airport and there was nothing else to do.
Lamb of God was playing at The Congress Theater that night so we decided to hang out with them. We met up with some old friends, Chad and Fang, before the show, and then were supposed to find them inside but once we realized the sea of people, we knew it would be impossible.
We only saw LOG because we were down the street hanging out at the weirdest pizza place. They of course were rad. I talked to Doc from God Forbid for a while, it was nice catching up with him. Ive known that dude forever. We used to play the Melody Bar with them back in the 90's. After the show, we went back to said pizza place and met up with Zeus and Tracy. Randy eventually met up with us and told us some interesting stories from the night before.
We closed the place down. Had the biggest pizza ever (pepperoni and bacon, YUM!) and headed back to the train where mayhem ensued. Charlie felt like dancing and doing push ups on the train which was pretty fucking hilarious. I think we were the only ones that thought so but whatev.
So Saturday came really quick. I, of course, was the first one up. We had to be to the club by 11 to make sure we got a merch spot and, well, because Jim told us thats when we had to be there.
Nobody else really wanted to wake up but they did and we headed out into the shitty Chicago traffic, thanks to the Cubs. Got there on time. Saw Jav right when we pulled up which brightened my day. He handed over my gift of an old stinky Unbroken hoodie. Thank you Jav.
Got set up, and fuck, there was absolutely no room to sell merch. Good thing we got there when we did because it was cramped. The doors opened shortly after that and it was chaos. The merch room was so small and not eveyone was set up. We did amazing. We sold out of 250 shirts in a few hours. Thanks to everyone who bought a shirt, im so glad i didnt have to stand there all day.
I saw a little bit of Guilt, it sounded good. It was just hard to sit thru a whole bands set. I was just way into hanging out with people i had not seen in forever. I did go backstage though and Rob Fish was standing there with some people who i knew so i joined in the convo. I introduced myself and told him what a fan i was of all of his bands and lyrics. It was really amazing watching 108. They have been one of my fav bands and they just sounded awesome.
Then i watched Trial. I wasent really planning on it as i was never the biggest Trial fan but they fucking blew me away. I couldnt believe how amazing they were.
Then it was time for us to play. We were all really excited. It was weird not being able to soundcheck anything ahead of time though because go fucking figure, my shit wasent working. For some reason that always happens to us. We figured it out and moved forward. I was having some technical difficulties during the first two songs. Its really hard to play on stuff thats not your own stuff but i moved on and had an amazing time. We were truly blown away at the response. It is really weird to think that after all these years, people travelled from so many places to see us play. Words cannot express how thankful we are. It was hard not to smile on stage sometimes because poor Aaron was getting pulled in and of course didnt disappoint. He puked with about 3 songs left. I told Jim ahead of time that he better put a bucket on stage and sure enough we used it. I think he puked on the girl who was taking pictures. Amazing.
After the show, i was so exhausted i couldnt even smile. We went next door after the show and had a couple of drinks and some food. I just wanted sleep.
We got back to the hotel and i passed out. Good night Chicago.
Sunday, the day i was really looking forward to. Not that i wasent looking forward to playing but it theres something that ive been waiting forever to see and thats UNBROKEN.
They have been my favorite hardcore band since life.love.regret came out and i was never able to see them when they were together so i was so anxious and excited. I was the only one who got up early so i took the Shuttle Van that came and picked up at the hotel. Two vans for one person, i felt really important.
Got to the club, got Starbucks, and was ready to start the day. Hung out with Eric Rumpshaker, my old friend. So good to see him. I was enjoying a little me time so i just wandered around, hung out with Caitlin. The first band that i watched that day was Threadbare. They are from my hometown so they hold a special place in my heart. Ive known those dudes for a long time and saw them last year when they played in Minneapolis. It was so good. Its hard to think they havent played those songs in a long time because they sounded so tight.
Then Split Lip was up next. I watched a few songs but i didnt love it. I was looking forward to their set but three or four songs and i was done. I was hungry. We headed across the street for some Mexican sans Aaron. He was nowhere to be found.
Watched Converge, they were amazing. That was probably the best time that ive ever seen them. The crowd was a little weird i thought but maybe it was because they played on Friday.
then UNBROKEN was up next. I was fucking nervous. All of these years ive waited and talked about them, im sure to some annoyance to Jav, and then Steve has problems. It was kind of a buzzkill at first because everyone was waiting for them to start and then 10 minutes later....
but they didnt disappoint. fuck. i love that band. they were so amazing, i wanted to cry. That band has just really helped me through some fucked up shit in my life and to be able to see those songs live was rad. I went up to Rob after the show and told him how amazing it was, i feel so nerdy because im like super fan, i totally geek out, and had to walk away really because i was getting emotional. I was emotional for like an hour after the show.
We ended the night at a bar, then a diner. Had an amazing night hanging with Zeus and Tracy. They came and crashed at our hotel so we could go to Zuma's Corner the next day on the way out of town.
So Monday we went to Zumas, filled our bellies way beyond capacity and then were ready to head home. We were so bummed to leave our favorite couple EVER behind but back to reality. We headed back to Mpls. It took us two hours longer to get home vs. getting there. Go figure.
We got back to Mpls around 1am, dropped our shit off, and headed home for a couple hours of sleep before i had to get up for work. Ugh....
So the next day i get a text from Charlie that Aaron is in the hospital. My initial reaction was uh oh, too much raging in Chicago, but as it turns out, he had to get his Appendix taken out the next day. It was very nice of his appendix to wait until we were back in Minneapolis before causing him pain.
So hes recovering, were still recovering, just counting down the days until the California shows.
Thank you so much to everyone for all of your kind words, your emails, your support. Without all of you guys, the show would never have happened, we never would have gotten back together. YES, we are back together. We are going to write some new music when we get back from California. This band has never been tighter. After years of growing up and doing our own thing, we are having an amazing time. Hanging out, practicing, playing shows, it just feels right and its all the right people. We are doing this because we love playing music and we still have the passion for it. We are going to do it on our terms and were gonna have a good fucking time doing it.
So, with that being said..... Heres the link to the video from the Burning Fight show....
Watch, study, and get ready to get fucking thrashed in California.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Minneapolis Show
Last night was the first Disembodied show in over 9 years. It was really fucking amazing. Originally our first show was supposed to be in Chicago for the Burning Fight Book but when Extreme Noise asked us to be a part of their Anniversary Shows we couldnt say no. So, we started practicing in either late October or November so that we wouldnt suck. It had been a VERY long time since we had played those songs. So after all of those months, the time had finally come. Our set was around 50 minutes, definately the longest set we had ever played. We had invited our friends Coalesce and Architect to play the show along with local band Frontier. It had to be an early show since it was all ages so that was kind of a bummer but it was still pretty rad. All the bands were fucking awesome, i somehow fucked up my knee while Coalesce was playing and all i was doing was standing on a stool.
It was really good to be on stage with those guys again. We had a wall of cabinets on stage and it was fucking loud. The show went really fast. When we were practicing the set we thought, "holy fuck, this is gonna be a long set" and it didnt seem to be. it went really fast. BUT then comes bloodshed rain. Now, we had been giving shit to Aaron about puking all the time on the last tour that we did and sure enough, he delivered. I am posting the picture of our setlist after the show. You will see it looks slightly different from the one posted earlier by Jav.
Anyways, the show was awesome. We had so much fun and were so fucking excited for Chicago and California. We killed, we hope everyone had fun. We want to thank everyone who showed up, sang along, danced, travelled from out of state to see us. We wouldnt be playing any shows if it werent for you. Get ready for Chicago. Its going to fucking slay.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
4.25.09
"Minneapolis hardcore band Disembodied made its name in the ’90s with a style of punk that crossed over into brutal black metal on albums like Existence In Suicide. Though inactive for a while now, the band is reforming for a couple of shows this year, including this one headlining a set celebrating the 15th anniversary of Lake Street punk record store Extreme Noise. Joining it is another of hardcore’s mid-’90s leading lights, Coalesce, which rocked with a pummeling ferocity that typified records like Give Them Rope and There Is Nothing New Under The Sun. Coalesce is currently on a resurgence also, with the band’s first new disc in 10 years, Ox, due in June."
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Diablerie test press
it might seem odd, but 101 test presses were made for the Diablerie record. normal number of test presses for a record is 4-8. so why so many? my European contact, Stefan, had this to say...
"i talked and got this one from the guy who runs lifefore at this time (and until 2000). he says that they do so many testpresses for a show or festival to sell the first copies before the release date-the official lp's wouldnt be ready for this."
ive talked to the guy from Lifeforce myself, and i got the same story. further pressing info will come about the Diablerie, but for now enjoy some pics of the test press.
ps, Cheesegrater also owns a testpress. just sayin.
"i talked and got this one from the guy who runs lifefore at this time (and until 2000). he says that they do so many testpresses for a show or festival to sell the first copies before the release date-the official lp's wouldnt be ready for this."
ive talked to the guy from Lifeforce myself, and i got the same story. further pressing info will come about the Diablerie, but for now enjoy some pics of the test press.
ps, Cheesegrater also owns a testpress. just sayin.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
No Title
Originally posted on Prime Directive blog, here's a piece I wrote about Disembodied:
Disembodied began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1995 and broke up in 2000. They released some EP's, a couple LP's, had a few songs on compilations, and did some touring - with Endeavor, One Eyed God Prophecy, Overcast and Shai Hulud among others.
They also had a monumental effect on the hardcore scene at the time. While they might tell you they wore their influences on their sleeve, most hardcore "kids" were oblivious to what those influences were. Disembodied were borrowing elements from certain metal bands, combining it with a hardcore background, and creating heavy, dark, and - most importantly for the future of metallic hardcore - seriously down-tuned music.
One of their first, if not the first, West Coast appearances was at Goleta Fest on July 19, 1996. Either through mailorder or when Justin [drums] had driven, alone, from Minnesota to California for Unbroken's last show in November 1995, a few copies of their "Existence In Suicide" CDep had reached California by this point - resulting in a palpable excitement for their set. This anticipation was somewhat shared by the band, although in a different form. As their bassist, Tara, told me: "I was fucking scared when we got there and they said we were playing last." My recollection is that she had nothing to be scared of as Disembodied absolutely slayed - even with their fill in singer. Again, according to Tara, "Aaron [regular singer] had either quit or got kicked out or both [so] Jodi from Chicago, the singer for [Everlast]" filled in. "We ended up leaving him in Boston on that tour and Justin finished the tour singing and Joel played drums."
Disembodied at Goleta Fest 1996:
3 days after Goleta Fest they played a church (!) on Orange & Cabrillo in Costa Mesa, CA with Enewetak, Endeavor, and Collapse. (Note: Immediately after this show ended, a group of us went directly to the Huntington Beach Library to see Texas Is The Reason & Gameface -- what a great combination of shows). Disembodied would return to Southern California a number of times over the next 4 years steadily becoming one of the largest out of town draws, especially at venues like the now defunct Showcase Theater in Corona, CA. After their break up in 2000 Joel [guitar], Tara [bass], and Justin [drums] formed Martyr A.D. who I had the honor of touring with a few times.
Disembodied began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1995 and broke up in 2000. They released some EP's, a couple LP's, had a few songs on compilations, and did some touring - with Endeavor, One Eyed God Prophecy, Overcast and Shai Hulud among others.
They also had a monumental effect on the hardcore scene at the time. While they might tell you they wore their influences on their sleeve, most hardcore "kids" were oblivious to what those influences were. Disembodied were borrowing elements from certain metal bands, combining it with a hardcore background, and creating heavy, dark, and - most importantly for the future of metallic hardcore - seriously down-tuned music.
One of their first, if not the first, West Coast appearances was at Goleta Fest on July 19, 1996. Either through mailorder or when Justin [drums] had driven, alone, from Minnesota to California for Unbroken's last show in November 1995, a few copies of their "Existence In Suicide" CDep had reached California by this point - resulting in a palpable excitement for their set. This anticipation was somewhat shared by the band, although in a different form. As their bassist, Tara, told me: "I was fucking scared when we got there and they said we were playing last." My recollection is that she had nothing to be scared of as Disembodied absolutely slayed - even with their fill in singer. Again, according to Tara, "Aaron [regular singer] had either quit or got kicked out or both [so] Jodi from Chicago, the singer for [Everlast]" filled in. "We ended up leaving him in Boston on that tour and Justin finished the tour singing and Joel played drums."
Disembodied at Goleta Fest 1996:3 days after Goleta Fest they played a church (!) on Orange & Cabrillo in Costa Mesa, CA with Enewetak, Endeavor, and Collapse. (Note: Immediately after this show ended, a group of us went directly to the Huntington Beach Library to see Texas Is The Reason & Gameface -- what a great combination of shows). Disembodied would return to Southern California a number of times over the next 4 years steadily becoming one of the largest out of town draws, especially at venues like the now defunct Showcase Theater in Corona, CA. After their break up in 2000 Joel [guitar], Tara [bass], and Justin [drums] formed Martyr A.D. who I had the honor of touring with a few times.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Goleta Fest
When we pulled up to the Fest and found out that we were playing last, we were pissed, nervous, scared, and confused. Why the fuck were we playing last? We had never been to California before, no one knew who we were, we felt like we really didn't fit into the show. We were scared that everyone was going to leave before we played. We asked and tried to fix it. We were so fucking freaked out, we were glad that we got there early enough to have time for it to sink in and get ready.
It was getting close to the time we were supposed to play and of course we were all nervous. The stage looked huge, lots of people were there. It was scary. Joel was really nervous and had to shit all day. Of course the bathrooms were scary and flooded and if i remember correctly there either werent doors on the stalls or something like that. Joel used to get really nervous before we would play and always have to shit. So, i had to guard the door to the bathroom like 2 minutes before we were supposed to start. He HAD to shit so im keeping everyone out while hes shitting...
Then, we finally start playing and fuck, the stage is kinda bouncy and joel's head falls off of his cabinet, breaks my plug on my head. Shit like this always happened to us. Things always were a little off, something always had to happen to us. We fixed it, carried on and it was a great fucking show.
We slept outside on the ground that night. It was a beautiful night. Then in the middle of the night, Joel wakes me up and has to shit. The doors to the club are locked so he has to walk like 4 blocks away to the gas station to go to the bathroom. That boy and his shitting. If you know him or us, or have toured with us, that is not anything new. We have had to stop in some weird places or just on the side of the road when he has to go to the bathroom.
Anyways, that was a great weekend. Justin got his dick pierced in front of everyone. I don't know what he was thinking getting pierced there, it sure doesn't sound very sterile to me but I'm glad he still has his penis.
-Tara
Disembodied's first show in OC
i dont remember much about this show, to tell you the truth. i remember being right next to tara (hence the close picture i snapped of her)
i remember them playing "feel" off of the 7" i had recently purchased, and a couple songs off of Existence in Suicide, which a kid named Marshall Lally had introduced to everyone.
i remember Endeavor and Kodiak jumping on the show, because they had played the Goleta Fest a couple days previous. Endeavor was amazing.. so heartfelt and raw.
the church was run by Aaron Stone's dad, and he had let us have a few shows there (the first hardcore formal was held there)
i asked Tara about the names of some of the songs, and she said they were working titles of some of the songs off Diablere.
notice that is NOT Aaron singing, as chronicled HERE
unfortunately, these were the only two photos i took of the show. well, i have one more of Jody but its basically the same only his hand is twisted into some sort of macabre "shaka" gesture.
maybe someone from Disembodied will expand upon this story !
I remember being really fucking stoked to play California. We had never been there before and we assumed that no one would know who we are because this was our first tour and we only had our first "demo" cd out at the time. I dont really remember much about the other bands that played. I honestly don't remember 18V playing the show but i have the worst memory so it doesn't surprise me. But, when we fucking started playing and kids knew the words to some of the songs we were fucking blown away. I remember we looked at each other and laughed. Holy Shit! We couldn't believe it. I knew that Justin had been to California and had gotten rid of some of the cd's but this was the first show (besides Goleta) that kids kinda knew who we were. I remember it being a good show, and then we heard that Texas is the Reason was playing nearby and we HAD to get into that show. We got in somehow and that was an amazing show. We met Marshall Lally and got to stay at his house. His house was fucking rad. We met his family and they were so nice. They let us stay there for a couple of days(in the apartment) and Marshall was nice enough to fucking cart us around to Hollywood. I think he got a ticket on the way because he crossed the double lines. That dude was a scary driver.
Anyways, that was our first experience in California and we just fell in love with it. It was always our second home and our favorite place to play. Not to mention all of the friends we've made along the way.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
for all who are dead
i remember the first time i heard Disembodied.
i remember the first time i saw Disembodied.
i remember when i got the idea to release all of the "rare" Disembodied songs on one disc.
i remember a lot of things about Disembodied, but not everyone was there, and there is surprisingly little information out there about this band.
this blog is going to be about preserving the memory of one of the greatest, heaviest bands ever... and it will also be about preserving the memory of the next few months. about the reformation of Disembodied, about them playing again. about them playing for people who have only dreamed about seeing them, and about seeing them again. to feel that feeling one more time.
there will be several forces behind this blog, including the band itself. this is not just some nerd sitting behind a screen, bragging about the colors of vinyl he has, etc.
this is a fully authorized fan site... but i need help. i feel the need to catalog all of the different pressings, all of the different colors of shirts and windbreakers and pictures from shows and flyers and set lists and videos and anything that has to do with Disembodied.
if you have ANYTHING to contribute, please email us at
ifgodonlyknew666@gmail.com
take the test
face the pain
i remember the first time i saw Disembodied.
i remember when i got the idea to release all of the "rare" Disembodied songs on one disc.
i remember a lot of things about Disembodied, but not everyone was there, and there is surprisingly little information out there about this band.
this blog is going to be about preserving the memory of one of the greatest, heaviest bands ever... and it will also be about preserving the memory of the next few months. about the reformation of Disembodied, about them playing again. about them playing for people who have only dreamed about seeing them, and about seeing them again. to feel that feeling one more time.
there will be several forces behind this blog, including the band itself. this is not just some nerd sitting behind a screen, bragging about the colors of vinyl he has, etc.
this is a fully authorized fan site... but i need help. i feel the need to catalog all of the different pressings, all of the different colors of shirts and windbreakers and pictures from shows and flyers and set lists and videos and anything that has to do with Disembodied.
if you have ANYTHING to contribute, please email us at
ifgodonlyknew666@gmail.com
take the test
face the pain
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