Neuman Portentum!!!

July 01, 2023 by David Norman

Neuman Portentum. A band lost to the ages, until now. Here’s the full story from second guitarist Joshua Dobbs:

Neuman Portentum were a band from Orlando, FL super influenced by One Eyed God Prophecy, Reversal of Man, Uranus, His Hero is Gone, Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Drift, etc.

Neuman played their first show on Halloween 1998 and their last only a few months later before recording with Rob McGregor (Palatka, Asshole Parade, Against Me, Hot Water Music, etc.) in Gainesville, FL in 99.

The band members were Eric Johnson (Songwriting, Guitar) / Brian Cunningham (Screaming, Lyrics) / Ron K. (Bass) / Paul Jones (Drums) / Greg Rivera aka. Greg Mishka (Cello) / and me, Josh Dobbs, on extra guitar.

Eric and I also played in RunnAmuckS together, but Eric quit to focus on this project. Ashley Allred practiced with the band a few times on flute.

Since I was a late addition, I feel like more of a fan of the band than an actual member. We broke up because we weren't "political" enough for the drummer, and never finished a proper mix of the recordings until now (both Jeff Howe and Jasen Weitekamp from Reversal of Man were consultants on the mix).

The most UNIQUE thing about the band is Ron's K.'s Cliff Burton-inspired bass playing. Ron was the life of the band with his huge bass sound, but sadly we lost him last summer... he never got to hear any of the completed tracks, which is a real bummer, considering since he's the one who paid to have the original 16 track tapes converted to digital so that we could mix them.

Sunday is the Neuman Portentum release. ‘God Monster’ will see the light of day in full with new artwork from Brian Hollendyke. Tentacle Red /100, Noir /50, Cephalopod Chroma /50, Fourth Movement Chroma /15, Gob Monster /10 and 5 test presses.

9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST on Sunday July 2nd.

Here’s a quick music video recap, as three ZBR music videos came in the span of 5 days!

Yesterday’s In Loving Memory video and brand new single definitely fixed any worries of the band not producing good material, cuz that song kicks ass (as does the entire EP, tapes were ordered weeks ago) and Idioteq.com did a little piece about it. Click on this text for the link.

Lower Automation released a ridiculous album to close 2022 and just hit back with another reminder how truly ridiculous it is with this killer new music video for “Information Entrepreneurs and Their Lipsynching Choirs”. Click on this text to go the bandcamp with buy links, as we sold out of their last 12”LP and expect the same to happen with this one!

Besides the newer version of “Haven” on the Zampler, Othiel also dropped a sick music video for “Upright”, the opening jam off their imminent 12”LP releasing fall 2023. Click on this text to jam the Zampler’s “Haven”.

Hometown heroes and modern day skramz’ household name Crowning played a heartfelt set with lotsa smiles and Cullen absolutely obliterating his voice. I heard something is going to press in the near future. We will continue posting the single videos for each band that played ZBR Fest 2023 in the order that they played, so there’s more coming!

Johnny’s Reco-mmendations: OSTRACA = The new album came outta nowhere and ruined my life in the best way possible!

2022 - 08 - 01 /// 'Phantasmal' copies dwindling, CanaDave still on "vacation"

August 01, 2022 by David Norman

CARA NEIR’s ‘Phantasmal’ popped off! About 85% of our stock is gone, with only Hellfire Rex swirls left. Buuuuuuuut, if you order a Hellfire Rex Swirl you have about a 1 in 10 chance of winning a handmade variant! Hooray for rando insertions to help level the playing field. If you click on this text you can read a review one of the songs by Machine Music.

Please remember that CanaDave is still on vacation so the Euclid, Piri, and Cara won’t be shipping until the 2nd week of August.

CanaDave tagged along with Australia’s Blind Girls for their 2nd date in Canada and recorded/documented the destruction…and the heat. Live videos by Blind Girls, Basque, Stay Down, and Menial Rips. More shows coming! Click on this text or the picture below to go to the (((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))) post!

Click on this picture to go to the review/videos!!!

After a substantial break (cuz of shows/covid) the ZBR Fest Mid-West 2022 videos from the June 11th Day 1 are rolling back out again. Here is a punishing video from the 4th band of the night, the almighty Horsewhip!

Johnny’s Reco-mmendations: UN AUTOMNE DE PLUS = I’ve been following this band for years and they just released another album spanning 15 minutes in 5 tracks. Somewhere between punk, screamo and post-rock.

2022 - 07 - 25 /// New Cara Neir song premiere

July 25, 2022 by David Norman

You want a decent taste of Cara Neir’s ‘Phantasmal’? Well hot deeeee-amn just click on this text to head on over to Heavy Blog Is Heavy to jam “Unkindness”, an exclusive premiere of this behemoth of a track. 12”s release July 29th at 9am PST / 11am CST /12pm EST. Remember, only one copy of each variant allowed per order buuuuuuut if you order a Hellfire Rex Swirl you have about a 1 in 10 chance of winning a handmade variant! Hooray for rando insertions to help level the playing field. Here are the variants again :)

Hellfire Rex Swirl /150 (shown below)

Health Points Infinity /100 (shown above)

Save Data Corrupted by Portals Wax Mage /25 (picture imminent)

Ex-Swallows Nest aka Cuck from Dunedin, New Zealand release their self-titled debut tomorrow and it’s full-on cathartic joy disguised as sniped rage. Tapes go up at 9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST on July 26th.

ZBR Fest Mid-West 2022 videos from the June 11th Day 1 are definitely moving along now. Here are two videos (the 2nd and 3rd bands of the night. Pains was without a doubt the heaviest set of the entire fest. Get fucked.

Next? The Wind In The Trees from Baltimore just ruining the place. I dunno how the hell they write that shit. Also, Dave is hella nice.

Johnny’s Reco-mmendations: CHARGER PORT = I was shown this last night by the musician who makes it and I shat my pants. Expect this EP to release on tapes via Softseed Music in the near future! FFO: Hella, Ahleuchatistas, Tera Melos, etc.

2022 - 07 - 22 /// 'Phantasmal' variant titles

July 22, 2022 by David Norman

Cara Neir’s ‘Phantasmal’ is coming up very, very, VERY SOON. July 29th to be exact. We’ve got 150 of the primary variant, 100 handmades, and 25 wax mages going up at 9am PST / 11am CST /12pm EST. Only one copy of each variant allowed per order. 16 tracks of hardcore/grind/black-metal/chip-tune/noise/screamo bliss continue the 'Phase Out’ trilogy, this one being horror-themed and ominous as fuck. We’ve got a song premiere happening over the weekend and variant pics coming next week! Until then here are the variant names, which give you a good idea of what the wax might look like :)

Hellfire Rex Swirl /150

Health Points Infinity /100

Save Data Corrupted by Portals Wax Mage /25

And what’s that? Rando insertions? You bet your ass. As we have this entire run we can help out those who can’t score a coveted mage or handmade (the infinity splatter). What the hell am I talking about? Well, rando insertions are our way of evening the playing field and having about 1 in every 10 primary switched out for an infinity or mage variant at no extra cost. So if you miss on drop day, fret not! Your odds of getting one in the “rando insertion” is probably just as high as scoring on the madness known as 9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST.

Idioteq.com premiered another Cuck song from their self-titled debut due out June 26th. Check out “Eat Dirt” below or click on this text for the full song premiere post. Unreal powerviolence from ex-members of Swallows Nest.

ZBR Fest Mid-West 2022 videos from the June 11th Day 1 are officially rolling out as of today! First up is opener Scenario who put out a sick 12”EP on Zegema Beach and The Ghost Is Clear last year (which is still in stock and linked to this text) and although it’s a great fuckin’ EP, their live show was next level. That kind of energy is generally reserved for the locals on release night or a big band coming through on tour…not the opener. Those riffs are so fucking yummy.

There’s a really good review of the ‘Ritma’ full length by Piri Reis by the blog Junklist. All the labels sold out in a few days so we’ll be doing a repress as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy or even just took time to jam a song. We’ll be seeing this all over the Best Of 2022 lists for sure. Click on this text for the review.

Johnny’s Reco-mmendations: TERRAFORMER = This previously instru-metal band gained a vocalist then got really fucking heavy and mixed it up a bit with some From A Second Story Window vibes. New music video!

2022 - 07 - 15 /// Piri Reis is out and it's partymonster time!

July 15, 2022 by David Norman

Are you seeing this?!?! Good lord of science almighty that’s some hot shit. July 19th is Euclid C Finder day at 9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST! Here’s the third variant reveal for the absolutely bonkers partymonster variant out of 25 copies. Beyond gorgeous!!! This is a Heathen Hand Records co-release. Love you guys <3

Piri Reis and their ‘Ritma’ 12”LP made the rounds early this morning and we have just a handful of copies left out of our 50 (like…3 in the Canada/International store). Also check out this live video of them playing “When Life Hand you Grenade” and “Unstable Soul Might Get Surprise” back in 2016 in Japan.

Cuck is a three-piece band born of Swallows Nest in Dunedin, New Zealand. Yesterday (((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))) released the first single from their debut 14-track self-titled full length. Jam in below and click on this text here for the full post if it tickles your fancy. Tapes on Tomb Tree July 26th.

ZBR Fest Mid-West 2022 videos from the June 10th pre-show are officially halfway uploaded so continue on to Past Forms who slapped us around wid dat bass. Excellent stuff…tapes still available on Tomb Tree - click this text to go there!

Johnny’s Reco-mmendations: MINERVA SUPERDUTY = This Greek band released a killer record back in 2020 that I think a lot of North America passed over. For shame.