STACK....

Pickings in used stores have been slim lately; nothing worth buying or the price is just too high to justify, so I've been reliant on mail order lately. And brother, has the mail been slow getting here. First and foremost on my mind has been foreign hardcore. I've been thinking about German Hardcore lately. How great their sound was. It always seemed like a lot of diversity and creativity came out of that time and place (the mid to late 90's), and while things kind of dragged here in the States at that time (the rise of emo, tough guy mosh hardcore, whatever else), things were heating up in Europe, especially for some reason, Germany. STACK was one of those bands who were credited with inspiring Dutch legends Seein' Red into playing fast, no nonsense thrash again. This album "Konkret Lichtgeschwindigkeit!", which, I'm sad to say, I have no idea is in German, serves not only as an album by STACK, but also as their discography, excluding the demo, if you got it on CD. I found mine cheap on Amazon, paying more for the postage than the actual CD. No holds barred, raging thrash from start to stop. A bit more refined than your average thrash band too, a bit more precision. It's hard to pick out a favorite recording session, I mean no offense here, but a lot of the songs sound the same. I mean that in a good way. STACK never "progressed" or experimented with their sound, or added outside elements to "appeal to a wider audience". They just blasted through their songs and when you put them on, they bummed out your girlfriend, your parents, your coworkers, everyone who didn't "get it". And that's what's so great about STACK. Sounding like a more tuneful version of LARM crossed with good ol' fashioned US powerviolence, STACK were, at least to me, a bright spot in the world of hardcore. You can find these cheap pretty much anywhere, a good bargain!

44 songs makes the count at 17847...