The band with probably the dumbest name, ever. But – check this demo out! Full in your face Thrashcore at it’s very finest! Nobody has ever done this better. Everything here is perfect, a killer singer, memorable riffs and some of the earliest blastbeat-drumming ever, including the world’s second shortest song, “E” (my band had one that is even shorter; it was just everybody stamping the feet on the stage simultaneously, haha).
WEHRMACHT came from Portland, OR and the band’s first official output was the infamous 22 song livetape from January 1986, released in Switzerland by Robi Zollinger from the killer «Speed Airplay» team. I don’t remember the howabouts that lead to the release of this tape, but I do remember how excited everybody was about it. This demo here was recorded on April, 8th 1986 (!) and was soon followed by an LP.
Another fine example to illustrate how things change in history. You know, there’s an endless quest to find out who came up with Punk first, who with ultrafast drumming etc. These quests lead nowhere. You must think of these phenomenons similiar to what the french philosopher and historian Michel Foucault called “discourse”: The idea of what music is and could be has no center, no maker – it’s a discourse that shapes and eventually alters the forms of music through a whole set of aesthetics, all connected one to another. Musicians are not mere inventors of music, they’re part of that discourse. It’s not so important and it doesn’t tell a thing, which recording was the first which [insert the disposition here]. What counts is to make visibile (or audible) how and when these changes came to be; you will soon realize that something “was in the air” and different groups articulated it differently. To me, it remains unclear where things changed: Was it in 1977 (Punk), was it 1980 (explosion of Hardcore), was it between 1983 and 1985 (fast Hardcore and Metal going together) or was it 1986/87 (Grindcore)? With WEHRMACHT, I think, we have another piece in the mosaic, or better yet – in the transformation that began to totally alter a certain form of musical expression. This history remains to be unwritten. Somebody will have to sit down for a couple of years one day and start collecting all these pieces.
I currently can’t find the original demo cover, so here’s only a cheap scan found somewhere in the internet.
Greetings go out to the drummer Brian who was a penpal of mine in these days.
The Wehrmacht.mp3
Suck my Dick.mp3
Night of Pain.mp3
E.mp3
Gore Flicks.mp3
Termination.mp3
Beermacht.mp3
21 Comments
I’m surprised again. Crazy how many things you have of which I have never even heard. This blows me out of my socks! Massive Power!!! You’re putting Switzerland on the map.
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Thanks for the wonderful work!
It’s good to have a “godfather” who can help new sick generations teaching the sickest musical message eheh!
Cheers from Ticino!
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Erich you are a stud. The usual high quality recording of another great band. So much better than my attempt here, http://mustard-relics.com/2008/02/03/wehrmacht-russian-river-theatre-032287/ . I had another short little tape I was going to post of the band, would it be alright if I put the link to this post of yours? I especially liked what you had to say about the philosophy of music. I have grown to appreciate the evolution of music much more than I had in the past and am always learning from sites like yours. Thanx again.
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I remember seeing them play up in Petaluma (north of San Francisco) on a bill with Attitude Adjustment (who were calling themselves Condemned Attitude at the time due to having Keith from the Australian band Condemned? playing with them). Great show! I might even have a tape of it somewhere. You’ve inspired me to go dig through the boxes of tapes in my garage.
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Hey man, thanks for putting this up! 20 years ago or so I remember seeing metal head guys wearing Slayer/Wehrmacht shirts (the one with the skull wearing a WWI German army helmet). I assumed they must of toured together. Anyway, I always wanted to know what they sounded like – great to know now.
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ahh yeah these guys were great, i ended being pals with them, played shows with them etc. good post~!
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I grew up in Portland in the 80s and probably saw these guys 20 times. Tito and Marco had another band called Spazztic Blurr, which I liked better. If you can track that record down, highly recommended. I think it was one of the first releases on Earache records.
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“my band had one that is even shorter; it was just everybody stamping the feet on the stage simultaneously, haha”
Wasn’t that “No Harmonies, No Sense”? I remember just 3 drum clicks then everybody laughing hysterically.
Great band, I like the 2nd Lp best…Marco is some lame house dj now.
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Never liked Spazztic Blurr too much, Jesse. It’s funny for about 5 minutes.
Yeah, Sean, that was the title. Haha.
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thanks for this old shit,
just to add here,after the release of Biermacht lp they shortened their name to Macht and recorded a five track demo and split up
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Thanks for the info, Billy. Do you know why they changed name? Got sick of the image? The band kept saying “we’re not nazis”, in all interviews, but then again had this song “Go home”, talked about “wetbacks” on stage etc.: Here’s the lyrics:
Try to get a job, that’s what they say
but all the jobs are gone, and we have to pay
They come in the huge boats, too many to count
Our country’s pilling up, it’s starting to mount
[Chorus:]
Please – I want to work
Get out – you miserable jerk
Go home – to your flea-bitten life
Or I – will use my knife!
Id like to get a gun, put a hole in their head
Crush ‘em to the ground, pound until they’re dead,
You can’t understand them, “What did you say?”
Get out of my space, I’ll do it my way
[Chorus:]
[Solos: J.D., M.S.]
They’re everywhere you go, you cannot get free
All they want is money, from you and me
Why are they here? We’ll never know
Kick them all out and then we can grow
GO HOME!
GO HOME!
GO HOME!
GO HOME!
How’s that tape from Macht anyway?
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I think Marco is latin and was like 16-17 when those lyrics were written???!!!
Oh those silly confused kids!
I believe the band had some legal hassles between certain members and the name…I think.
Oh, and…NO PACKET!!!
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i don’t know why the changed their name but its obvious having a name like this, no matter if you say you are are not nazi some people will think you are.
these lyrics sucks..
i found this demo somewhere on the web maybe in Thrashmageddon or in a metal blog or something,here it is:
http://www.zshare.net/download/77112388a47928/
(15,8 Mb)
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OOPS! I have The Underclass in my personal mp3 archive, pulled it out to give it a proper listen…I remember people talking shit on it when it came out (main reason why I never bought it), but so far (first two songs) it’s completely solid…very VERY few bands sound “exactly the same” as when they started, and I think RP on that release really retained that vibe…but there is something “more” (aaaah, that undefinable cliche!) that “feels” like a very logical progression without “wimping out” or “selling out”.
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I saw them many times in Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. They did play with Slayer once (I remember because it was 8/8/88 at the Tacoma Dome).
Tito was a fun guy to talk to at parties…..he was a big music fan as well…I remember him telling me that I have to buy the new VoiVod Dimention Hatross record. He was just as much into punk and hardcore as thrash metal.
As for the “Blast beat”, I remember Cryptic Slaughter being the first band that used that beat almost exclusively – which pre-dated Wheremacht stuff by a year or two. I really can only stomach the beat in small increments as a way to create more interesting musical arraingements. What is great about “Night of Pain” is how they turn it up a notch near the end of the song.
The album prior to this demo and the Beermacht record called “Shark Attack” was kind of mediocre. Beermacht is a classic and the Spastic Blur stuff has it’s moments, but it pretty much a joke band. I think Brian from the band was also in a weak North West band called Sweaty Nipples.
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Thanks, Haizman! I wouldn’t say Cryptic Slaughter had blast beats though. I remember how Mick Harris (Napalm Death drummer) used to make fun of CS drumming. The earliest real blast beat recording that I can think of would be from HEART ATTACK on the “Keep your Distance” 12″ (I think the song is called “From what I see”). But as I wrote: There’s never such thing as a “first one” – maybe you can go back and find the first recorded one, and not even that is sure.
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Oooooo, I love Wehrmacht!! I remember when their first album turned up in the importsection of my local record store and I listen to it and just freaked out. This was when I was in my “as-fast-as-possible-the-better-it-is” phase. And of cause I loved the puke at the end of United Shoebrothers.
If it´s possible Erich, could you also put up the live tape?
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I found these reflections on HC history interesting tho I’m not sure that I fully understood that concept of Foucault’s and/or how do you apply it here. Some related things that come to mind: 1st, another history that would be funny to research is that of bands’ attitudes about the priority; I remember circa 1986 when old bands started celebrating proudly 10th anniversaries, when it seemed a bit contradictory with some of the original punk ideals like the ephemeral & self-destroy feel (and death of rock), anti-stagnation (“boring old fartsâ€) and such. But the “who was first†controversy in punque can be traced back to 1976 (at least). Related with the “discourse†structure is the role of what is written about the music; Niels from eetusmajelijk made some interesting comments not long ago (Snivelling shits post); in fact this very blog (GBM), with its excellent writings, can be an example itself of what happens. For instance, I never cared much about Void till I read the post here on the Condensed flesh EP which made me pay more attention on that great band (thank you). Sometimes, though, the power of words helps shit to appear as gems (I never understood all the hype on this mediocre rocker, B. Springsteen, till I read J. Miller’s “Flowers in the dustbin†-btw, a Foucault-influenced book on rock’s history- where it’s clear how the “boss†hype was created by some magazine…). Oh well, the comment’s going too long… Tschuss
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i just found “wehrmacht 1986 live at the pine street theater (demo)”!
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Wehrmacht is my favorite band in the entire world! ahhhhhhh so sick
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with this one you’ll get the full release :
http://www.geuggis.com/images/wehrmacht-beermacht_demo_cover.jpg
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