Dusted Features Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists determined by our favorite artists. This week: post-punk Canadians controller.controller and hardcore metal freaks Das Oath. Tweet

Listed: controller.controller + Das Oath

controller.controller

controller.controller came together in the fall of 2002 when then-guitarist Ronnie Morris put out a call. Colwyn Llewellyn-Thomas heard first; then came drummer Jeff Scheven. After deciding to add a second guitarist, Morris moved to bass to make room for longtime friend Scott Kaija. The final piece of the puzzle came into place with the addition of vocalist Nirmala Basnayake, a friend of Llewellyn-Thomas’ who hung around the band so much, joining seemed like a logical progression. They started with gigs in early 2003, just before their energetic, rhythmic post-punk rock sound became ubiquitous. Bands like P.I.L., The Slits and Joy Division all played a part in the end result, a style heavy on contradiction and juxtaposition, not only with rhythms, but melodies as well. Strictly off those live shows, the band captured features in Toronto street weeklies EYE and NOW, and critics’ picks during their hometown’s massive NXNE music festival. History on Paper Bag Records is in stores now. Morris and Scheven took part in this week’s Listed.

Ronnie Morris – Bass
1. The Birthday Party - Hee Haw – This is a compilation of early stuff from the band that generally gets blamed for starting the whole goth thing. Though to be honest, these days if that meant teased hair and cuban-heeled boots instead of raver pants and lunchboxes, I'd be all, "Sign me up."

2. Bad Brains - Rock for Light – I always thought it funny that this band, of all bands, was produced by Ric Ocasek from the Cars. I remember a woman once told me to turn the music down when I put this record on because she didn't want to hear any more "crappy punk music written by rich white kids". I didn't know what to say.

3. Cradle Of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast – I always thought of this band as sort of the 'Boney M of Black Metal,'

although I have to admit that I've never really listened to Boney M and thought that what they needed was more blistering guitar solos or songs about bathing in blood. But still, they're both kind of guilty pleasures, and they both rule.

4. Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription – I used to buy every record I could find by Spacemen 3, until I realized at one point I had the same record three or four times with different covers. A friend of mine once told me he knew a guy who was really depressed, and the only thing that gave him any pleasure in life was listening to Spacemen 3. He's dead now.

5. Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America – Just before we got to the border on our last jaunt down to the US, we put this record on. Jeff read through the liner notes, then handed it back to me and said "Don't let the border guards see this - They'll think we're terrorists." I laughed, then thought about it a minute, then buried it as deep in my luggage as I could.

Jeff Scheven – Drums
6. Forbidden Planet Soundtrack – Crazy early electronic soundscapes. Spacey & strange.

Created by electronic music pioneers Louis & Bebe Barron. They made all their own instruments!

7. Cap n' Jazz - Shmap 'n Shmazz – One of the greatest albums ever! Some of the most beautifully fucked up punk/pop/indie whateverrr songs you'll ever hear.

8. Stereolab’s “ABC” on Godz is not a Put-on cover compilation – They do “ABC,” and it friggin' rules! I wish Stereolab would do more heavy shit like this!

9. Uranus - 2x7" – the Great American Steak Religion's finest release! this still gives me goose bumps.

10. Throbbing Gristle - Kreeme Horn – All things of beauty are our enemy!!! So wicked.

Das Oath

Das Oath have been controversially tearing up the hardcore scene since 2000, when they released their first single on Youth Attack Records. There’s been more vinyl since, and it’s said to be compiled on a CD on Coalition Records called Über Alles Collection. Half the band lives in New York, while the other half enjoy the Netherlands, so touring isn’t an easy thing, but they have managed to share stages with Locust, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Breaker!Breaker! The band’s first full-length hits the streets on August 24 on Dim Mak Records. More frightening than most hardcore, too spastic for most metalheads, it will be interesting to see what becomes of Das Oath, Singer(?) Mark McCoy took part in this week’s Listed.

1. Ijdlarn - Forest Poetry – Blame “Lords of Chaos” for making black metal COOL to the vast cesspool of pathetic undeserving posers you see everywhere these days. Slipping under the radar of the clueless Michael Moynihan, lies the grimmest dark art to ever surface out of the woods of Norway. Forest Poetry is the sound of razors grinding on bone, and makes Burzum, Emperor, and Immortal sound like bunch of born-again’s trying to play Venom covers. Undoubtedly, this is Vidar Vaaer’s masterpiece of minimalist Necro metal. Not for the trend ear!

2. Mutilation - Remains of a Ruined Dead Cursed Soul – “Suffer the Gestalt” changed my life when I heard it. Never before has music ever seemed so isolating and disturbed. What’s such a relief about this band is that they hardly sound anything close what most would even term “metal”. Obviously the last concern to them is any ridiculous posturing or offensive “brutality” which so many other wimps in the scene try to pass off as believable. This is the utter sound of alienation and depression. Immediately after this record finally surfaced in 1996, rumors were abound that the principle member Meyhna'ch, killed himself.

3. Beherit - The Oath of Black Blood – I didn’t listen to anything but Beherit for two years, especially when I worked at Spring Break in torturous Panama City Beach for PowerAde. I have a Beherit shirt my friend Brian made me that I wear at least three times a week. I am still of the opinion that if you let people know what you listen to; they will form an opinion of you. In this case I wish for them to die.

4. Vlad Tepes / Belketre - “March to the Black Holocaust” Split – All Heil the Black Legions! This thing goes for like $150 on Ebay, which naturally has made this become some big elitist thing (as it should) and actually makes a lot of sense when you suffer a listen through it. It’s fucking agony! These songs are an ode to the much deserved death and destruction of all humanity. If I could have anything it’d be my wish that this shit gets blared through the subway station intercoms when I go to work every morning, just to assist these bands in getting their message out there. As a side note, the restrained drumming on Belketre’s “In Holocaust to the Natural Darkness” is fucking unrelenting!

5. Graveland - Thousand Swords – On this notorious Polish band’s second full length, they trademarked the epic battle sound of which they would be immortalized for. Capricornus seems to have picked up a few drum tips here and there and meanwhile slowed things down to sound less like Darkthrone and allowing Darken’s fantastic vocals and sweeping guitar to utterly perfect the feel of the marching battle call for Satan. No doubt this is the ultimate medieval death stampede, full of resignation, ferocity and beauty. The amazing sound of war!

6. Xasthur - Nocturnal Poisoning – When I was living in Stockholm, all I listened to was Nocturnal Poisoning. Looking back, it’s become synonymous with my wandering journeys through the cities old town section at night, blaring in my headphones and coming back to my apartment with my ears ringing til morning.

7. Craft - Terror Propaganda – I can totally appreciate a good Darkthrone clone on most given days, just because they were so fucking important in my life. It’s nice to see other’s using their music as a tool to carry the torch to ruin music even further, seeing how their masters inevitably wimped out. Fucking amazing riffs!

8. Krieg - The Church – Try your luck at deciphering a single riff on this motherfucker. Imperial’s one man weapon, Krieg, probably put out too many record’s, but undoubtedly The Church MCD is the closest thing to total black noise that the human psyche can handle before shattering into complete insanity.

9. Havohej - Dethrone the Son of God – Paul Ledney, who I hear is like a fucking literature professor at Princeton nowadays, was the like totally responsible for American Black Metal, starting in 1990 with his band Profanatica. Havohej was his next endeavor, which mainly served to record old Profanatica songs in a proper, more blasphemous manner. Just picture these sicko’s running around a graveyard naked covered in blood and shit, licking cum off a bible as they pose for their record covers. Morbid!

10. Demoncy - Joined In Darkness – I played this continuously while I painted my new apartment dark red. I have been trying to invoke these guys in a séance to play in New York for a while now and to no avail. “Joined In Darkness” is the darkest Christ-obliterating recording ever. Fucking low end annihilation!

By Dusted Magazine

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