On October 30th internationally, Nespithe Records will release a special compilation from the legendary Noothgrush, Man is His Own Tormentor, on CD format.
Noothgrush are the very definition of a CULT band. Formed in 1994 and originally existing until 2001, the Oakland, California collective promptly - and PROLIFICALLY - released a slew of split recordings for such essential '90s labels as Slap A Ham, Pessimiser, Deep Six, Bovine, Satan's Pimp, Reservoir, and many more. Through it all, they never released a full-length, and yet their sound was unmistakable and incredibly influential during their initial run: arguably next to Grief, Noothgrush brought sludge and doom to the wider hardcore-punk underground in the 1990s, which then sowed its influence into the next millennium. During that millennium, the band would re-form and be active again during 2011-2018, releasing splits with the equally cult Suppression and Coffins as well as an EP, and of course returning to the stage, perhaps the penultimate place to experience Noothgrush's tortured, utterly crushing waves of bleakness and despair.
Despite the lack of an album, Noothgrush kept a high profile in that underground, and it was 1996 where they released perhaps their most pivotal recordings. In the last four months of that year, Noothgrush appeared on their first four records: Embraced by the Anti Self 7" EP, the Cry Now, Cry Later Vol. 4 double-7" compilation, the Accidental Decapitation Through Masturbation! six-way split 7", and the Useless split 7" with Agents of Satan. The band also recorded a live set earlier that year on the campus radio station at Stanford University, playing songs that wouldn't otherwise see release until several years later. This live set was dubbed onto old used cassettes which were duplicated and distributed through the global tape-trading network of the 90's, and titled Live on KZSU May 1, 1996. While some of these tracks would variously appear on posthumous compilations of Noothgrush's scattered work, never before have they been collected together in their entirety. As such, not only is the 73-minute Man is His Own Tormentor vital for archival completism, more so does it serve as the most complete, eternally compelling snapshot of the band at their creative peak. As a bonus, the compilation concludes with a live song from a February 9th, 1996 show, for the first time on CD.
In the meantime, hear the tracks "Stasis" and "Dianoga (Live on KZSU, May 1, 1996)
HERE at Nespithe Records' Bandcamp, where the compilation can be preordered. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Noothgrush's Man is His Own Tormentor
1. Stasis
2. Dianoga
3. Gage
4. DPS
5. Useless
6. Imperial March Alderaan
7. Sith
8. Gage
9. Dianoga
10. DPS
11. Evazan
12. Erode The Person
13. Jundland Wastes
14. Procreation of the Wicked [Celtic Frost cover]
15. Friends of Mine BONUS
