Winona Forever - Kolony digital download

Starting up where I left off the other day, a guy who can boast of his dancing skills (and fashion sense).  Back in the mid 80s when I was in high school, I was like most teenagers very concerned with my image, and except for running around in a circle bashing into people, I thought dancing was for women and effeminate men who listened to likes of Depeche Mode and Duran Duran (I was secretly a Smiths fan).  Rather than being too cool, the reality was I just didn't have the moves or the confidence to put myself on display like that.  Now of course, like many things I regret, being able to dance would be very cool.  Not just cool, fucking fun and maybe even handy for those occasional weddings...hahaha, just kidding. It must be a cool feeling for a band to have people dancing to their music, I can't remember if they ever did to mine, or just stood there thinking WTF. I dig one man bands, the guys who play several instruments at one time, ala Kind Automatic, or in the case of the guy I'm focusing on tonight, one who records all the instruments in the studio. God(!) I admire that. It's enough to play one instrument, but when you start mixing up strings and percussion and whatnot, damn. Having gone through the tremendous hassle, nightmare really, recording in the studio with a bunch of guys, I can appreciate simplifying it and just doing all the instruments/vocals yourself.  The mixing and production too, no one to argue with about whether the levels are right.  Anthony is one such guy who has tackled this task, the ultimate do-it-yourselfer, with Winona Forever. He hit me up like this, "I do a solo hardcore/punk project and was hoping you would be able to help me out. All instruments are done by me including vocals. I am in love with Johnny Depp so I decided to name the project after his Winona Ryder tattoo. All I have is bandcamp with free downloads and a bunch of tapes I just finished dubbing. I started this project by myself over 2 years ago because I couldn't rely on band mates anymore. I said fuck it I'm doing it all. Influences come from Johnny Depp, Discharge, and Jay Reatard, the ultimate one man band! I play in many other projects such as Black Prism (intense stoner sludginess, ordered their 7" myself...check out their VID), and Golden Milk. Black Prism just released a single through Easy Rider Records, and The other one is a punk project with a friend of mine who runs Chained Meat Tapes." I was blown away and responded to him, "...I really dig what you've got going on. You've got this raw black metal thing akin to Bone Awl or Idjarn. Down and dirty dude. ..nice! I need to investigate further." And investigate further I did, to the tune of listening to these songs a dozen or so times over the course of a couple of weeks (I know these reviews aren't mind blowing, but I do put some thought and effort into them, I get backed up and it takes a while). These 11 tunes are raw, lo-fi ugliness at it's very fucking finest. Anthony's inspiration is short, simple and to the point, he's not trying to mesmerize you with sappy intricacies, he's hitting you in the head with the claw side of a hammer. The vocals are straight from hell, growling in a cavern.  The music can either be this grinding dirge or all out attack. His guitar must have the distortion turned up to 11, and it's a filthy, heavy kind of distorted sound. And once again this is all from the mind and soul of one stricken man. Shit, I can't wait to get my cassette in the mail. Here's my favorite tune... "Culture Vulture"

[audio mp3="http://mustard-relics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/4.Winona-Forever-Culture-Vulture.mp3"][/audio] "You Claim To Worship The Breath Of An Unholy Power And Pass The Flesh Of Newborn Life You Still Fear The Holy Hand, But Wear The Badge Of EVil You Fucking Culture Vulture To You Its All An Image Keep Digging For Scraps I Spit In The House Of Worship Curse He Who Carry's The Cross On His Back I Am The Chosen Child Spin The Record Back And Hear The Howls Of He In Power Close The Circle Of Stone And Mount The Head Of Flesh And Bone"

I can't believe how perfect it is when he sighs and growls while singing this tune, the vile frustration and contempt of it all. It's all evil, but not with the kind of over the top, blatant theatrics, hair spikes and pentagrams, it's more sinister, like the smell in a crematorium. For you old timers, this should have been the soundtrack for the 80s movie Heavy Metal, instead of shit like Sammy Hagar. He's got a Bandcamp (embedded below) and a Soundcloud so no excuse not to give him a listen...do it!

EDIT: apparently this tape is no longer on Bandcamp and hard copies are sold the fuck out, thanx for the heads up Rich, who emailed me, "Hey man!!! Been reading your blog, awesome stuff!!! So on February 20th, 2014 you posted a review on Winona Forever's "Kolony" tape. I went to the band camp page which only had a couple of songs for download, love the stuff!!! Problem is I want to hear the whole album. I know there was a limited amount of tapes available and their all sold out, I've been looking everywhere to find a place to listen to the whole album to no avail. I was wondering if there was anyway you could send me mp3's or wav files of the album? I've tried contacting the artist and got no response, I've looked everywhere to buy a tape and of course there is no copies anywhere including used ones. If you can help me out I'd much appreciate it. If you can't just e mail and tell me." So anyway, hope Anthony doesn't mind, I went ahead and ripped the cassette as one file (too lazy to go through the hassle of separating the tracks and labeling them)...

Winona Forever - Kolony