Nath Core’s “Brutal Music as Medicine” Spotify Playlist
In this week’s edition of “my friends have way more interesting taste than me in music,” Brisbane native turned Los Angeles local musician Nath Core shares with us a hand-picked selection of delightfully brutal music from Australia and around the world, with an undercurrent of joyful musical violence that stems from his journey from this isolated sunburnt island to one of the biggest and most exciting cities on the planet. Get inspired to travel, discover some sick bands you may not be familiar with and buckle in for the ride. We travel from the skate park festival magic of Frenzal Rhomb’s timeless classic “Hungry Jacks Carpark” through to the enjoyable assault of Entombed’s “The Truth Beyond.”
Nath: “Thanks for checking out this list. Christina is the absolute best. What a golden person to fly flags for music in Australia. [Aw, thanks dude] I tried my best to put a bunch of Australian stuff in here but it’s not on Spotify. Go listen to GOLDEN BATS from Brisbane, Australia. This playlist is dedicated to everyone who needs music as medicine. This is playlist is dedicated to people who work to evade the guaranteed mundane life. No gravity. Travel always. Förever.”
Nath Core’s “Brutal Music as Medicine” Playlist
1. Frenzal Rhomb – “Hungry Jacks Carpark” [Australia] | Frenzal Rhomb on Bandcamp
Nath: “The disease of boredom and no future in Australia. If you grew up in the suburbs and know what it is to haunt the local fast food joints being a shitbag with other shitbags, here’s your anthem. Put any trash into your system to make life and troubles better. I love this band because beneath the snappy almost pop punk riffing there’s a d-beat, there’s an inherent evil and a complete ability to put into words the dreadful sting of sometimes shit people and shit life in Australia. Lindsay McDougall is one of my favourite people in Australia and the work that he and his bandmates put out is top notch.”
2. Neurosis – “Eye” [USA] | Neurosis on Bandcamp
Nath: “This song is the sound of my mind when I’m on the war path. Frequencies spewing everywhere and all sorts of vocal interjections coming from different directions. Rivers of thought merging at high speed. It’s a wonder my head doesn’t crack open.”
3. Extortion – “Isolated” [Australia] | Extortion on Bandcamp
Nath: “Rohan Harrison, the heartbeat of this band has managed to both write music and draw imagery that gives of the exact same feeling as the most Australian and gripping moments of The Snowtown Murders movie.”
4. His Hero Is Gone – “Sterile Fortress” [USA] | His Hero is Gone on Bandcamp
Nath: “Crushing, short and perfectly on the money. Sterility.”
5. Teargas – “Simple Future” [Australia]** | Not on Spotify, but you can get the whole fucking Teargas album for free on Bandcamp
Nath: “My best friend from Australia, a persistent incredible person who puts up with keeping in contact with me when others lost interest or don’t understand my patterns plays in this band. His name’s Geordie Stafford and aside from being a friend, he plays in this band. This band has an incredible lyricist/vocalist by the name of Neil Bramley. The lyrics in this song and especially the ending chants are great.”
6. Tragedy – “With Empty Hands Extended” [USA] **
Nath: “If this song doesn’t make you feel like someone shot cocaine directly into your heart after you read the lyrics and sing along with the chants, you’re probably dead. Triumphant and uplifting.”
7. Golden Bats – “Bad Blood” [Australia]* | Golden Bats on Bandcamp
Nath: “Geordie from Teargas has a 1-man-band project. This is it. It’s such a diverse unique diamond in the rough and also a reminder of many facets of Australia. He uses a drum machine, 2x guitar amp stacks and 1x bass amp stack. He splits his guitar signal 3 ways and has 3 different signals going through 3 different sets of fuzz pedals and octave down pedals. I can’t recommend enough for everyone to go check out his discography. Do it.
8. No Anchor – “Gatton Bohemia” [Australia] | No Anchor on Bandcamp
Nath: “No Anchor has another best friend from Australia. His name is Alex Gillies. A fantastic artist who is both amazing at drawing as he is doing woodcarvings — where he carves things backwards so when he prints using them that they come out the correct way. It’s insane. Alex is the drummer and the dual bassist/vocalists Donnie and Ian who he plays with also share the same affliction of Australian small town living as I do, probably even more so since they’re from the sticks even worse than me. Square wave or death.”
9. Discharge – “The More I See” [UK] | Discharge on Bandcamp
Nath: “The less you’ll ever believe.”
10. Napalm Death – “No Mental Effort” [UK] | Napalm Death on Bandcamp
Nath: “From their best EP called “Mentally Murdered” — Just take a look at the artwork and you’ll want to make sure you never stand in line for the guillotine of life ever again.”
11. Pestilence – “Suspended Animation” | Pestilence on Bandcamp
Nath: “If you’ve stayed with me this far, you probably hate me and are wondering why you ever listened to any of these wretched songs in the first place. I’m a death metal freak by nature. The golden era. I don’t like blast beat death metal. I like it slow/mid-paced, chunky and filled with anxiety ridden vocals, not growls. Pestilence’s album “The Consuming Impulse” was the perfect incarnation of fear, dread and the final moments. Especially the break down in this song and then the speed up. Godly.”
12. Dystopia – “Sanctity”
13. Entombed – “The Truth Beyond” | Entombed on Bandcamp
Listen on Spotify: Nath Core’s “Brutal Music as Medicine” Playlist
NOTE: Spotify is a music discovery platform. If you want to be a champ, buy a fucking record or two. Bandcamp links above.
** Not on Spotify, but go buy it on Bandcamp.
+More:
“Protest Music Most Triumphant” | The Void Community Spotify Playlist
“Riffs Most Triumphant” | The Void Community Spotify Playlist
“Australian Prog Rock Most Triumphant” | The Void Bands on Bands Playlist
Tal Wallace “Soundtrack to the Apocalypse” | The Void Spotify Playlist
The Void on Facebook | YouTube | iTunes Podcast
