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Old School Reclamation Project

This is where you can find old demos, videos, interviews and other stuff that shouldn't be forgotten. This is a tribute. And although I try to contact someone from each band before posting, this is not always possible, if you are in a band here, and want your demo removed, contact us and it will come down ASAP. This is for the love of music, and nothing more... There is some great stuff out there that people should hear, even if the band went nowhere, it's not always from lack of talent or creativity. All downloads are free. If you have anything to contribute, also please get in touch with us!

Big Hair - Live at PJ's Pig Roast - August 1993

Big HairBig Hair were from Rochester, NY. They had a pretty hard to describe sound, that included Primus, Punk, a Fiddle, and just some general strangeness. PJ's Pig Roast was an event that occured, I believe, just outside of Rochester. I don't know how many years it went on for, but I seem to remember a lot of pretty awesome local bands performing. This was Big Hair's performance from 1993. Big Hair was Tom on Guitars, Obadiah on Fiddle, Andrew on Drums, and That Tod Guy on Bass and Vocals. Putting this up now in memory of Tod, who passed away on February 20, 2015. 

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The Plank Boys "Hangovers and Heartaches" + Demo (2004)

The Plank Boys

The Plank Boys were an Ithaca, NY based Punk band in the early 2000's. They recorded a demo, I believe in 2003, and then released their one CD in 2004. The demo was initially also titled "Hangovers and Heartaches", but I just labeled it Demo to clarify which is which. The Demo has some early versions of songs that appeared on the CD. The recording for the demo is nothing great, although the opening track is pretty awesome. The CD has a nice raw sound to it, and has remained one of our favorite CD's to this day. A lot of fun, some HP Lovecraft, and catchy songs. What more do you need? At some point, around 2005, The Plank Boys relocated to NYC, and broke up some time after. I inlcluded a live show below as well. They put on some really fun shows as this video will attest. 

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Redezra - 1995 Demo

redezra

This demo is a 2 song released around 1995, maybe 1996. No title as far as I know. Cleaned up a touch. I have no papers, or anything else. If anyone does and wants to contribute them, please do. From the vocalist, Mark;

"Members were- Mark Legott (Vocals) ... Allen Jonez (Guitar) ... Jim Vice (Guitar) ... Ron Kaiser (Bass) and ... Chris "FOOF" Abbott (Drums)  My guess is recorded 1995-6ish ... REDEZRA "Made In Rochester" Champions ... "Exposure Syracuse Winners" ... Opened for- Flotsam & Jetsam, Savatage, Great White, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, etc just to name a few."

Download

Another EP can be found here.

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Bent Peg "Vuja De: That Incredible Sense of Never Having Been There Before" - 1996 CD

The ever quirky Bent Peg were a huge part of the local music scene in the Cortland / Ithaca area in the mid-90's. Hard to quite describe their sound, bits of Faith No More and maybe The Offspring, Punk, Rock, Oddness. Super energetic live. After a few demos, they went into Penguin Studios in Syracuse and recorded this masterpiece. They had it mastered at Pyramid Sound Studios by Alex Perialis and Jason Arnold, and it still sounds great almost 20 years later. I do have some, if not all, of the demos, which I will get up sooner or later, as well as some live videos. Matt Barnes, the frontman of the band, is currently in Genitor, as well as a host of other bands.

Download the CD and Artwork

Bent Peg Cover

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Windbreed Live at Vertex, Rochester - April 12, 1995

So, in connection with the previous post of Lethargy's video, here is another band that played that night. Windbreed were from Rochester, NY, featuring Chris Dalcin, who has been in a ton of bands, including ...And Here I Lie, Fledgling Death, Burnt Church, and Elusive Travel. Go Here to download the video from Vimeo.

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Lethargy - Live April 12, 1995 at Vertex

Here is some cleaned and mastered live video from Lethargy. From Rochester, NY, Brann Dailor went on to drum for Mastodon, and Eric Burke is in a million bands and projects, including Sulaco, Nuclear Assault, and Brutal Truth. Lethargy was always one of my favorite bands to see live, and I did so as much as possible. I did not record this, and thanks to Chris Dalcin for the recording. I plan on uploading the other two bands from this show, Windbreed and Pigmaster, soon...

The Vimeo page is here; and you can download the MP4 from there if you want.

 

 

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M.T. Web - 1994 Demo

So M.T. Web hailed from Seneca Falls, NY, and featured the same vocalist as Saint Chaos and Groovy Seeds. I do believe this was a solo project, and honestly, I know little about it. It does have a cool Robin Trower cover of Bridge of Sighs on it. It's worth checking out, it's a bit more mid-tempo than his other bands, but still quite good.

Download: M.T Web

MT Web Cover

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Milk Toast 1989 Demo

So these guys were from Cortland, NY. At least one of the members went on to the band Creeper (whose demos I plan on uploading at some point), who then got signed to Roadrunner Records as Shank 456 (due to some lawsuits over the name Creeper). Anyways, Milk Toast were rather cool, as you can hear from this demo. This needed a lot of work to master it up to a more listenable form. The standout track, would definitely have to be, Ball of Hate. Enjoy...

Download: Milk Toast 1989 Demo

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DIRTUNDERgOD "deus ex machina" 1994 Demo

DIRTUNDERgOD were all Ithaca College students, I do believe. This was the only thing they released. S second EP was recorded as a three-piece. (vocalist tait was asked to leave about six months after this EP and the bassist took over vocal duties), much heavier sounding and massively better production, but it was never released. They broke up after graduating. The vocalist Tait Halverson may have been local as afterwards he recorded a solo demo that was much more mellow than this. However, this is a great sounding release (only needed some minor mastering) with some really catchy songs. Very much electronic Hard Rock, as was popular back when this came out, the best of the four would have to be Give and Stick Figure Man. All four are pretty cool, though. If anyone has a copy of the unreleased second EP, please get in touch!

Download: DIRTUNDERgOD "deus ex machina"

DirtUnderGod Cover

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Groovy Seeds - 1993 Demo

I don't think Groovy Seeds lasted very long. I could be wrong about that, but it seems like they weren't together more than a few years at most. The vocalist, Ted Kelly, and drummer, Bob Gaylo, were both in Saint Chaos, whose demo is posted here back a couple months. The sound is similar, but with more of a Groove to it. Go figure. I don't know a lot about this band, really. They were based in Auburn, NY, and this is a pretty damned good demo. And their little mascot was neat looking, not that you can see it well in this scan, but it's one of those twirling seeds that spin down from a certain tree, giving the thumbs up...

Download: Groovy Seeds - 1993 Demo

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Twilight Kingdom "The Guardian" 1995 Demo

The first time I heard this, I was blown away. The fact that this was basically a new band, and this was their first recording... Wow. This holds it's ground with most progressive Metal bands. You can hear elements of Dream Theater throughout, a touch of Fates Warning here and there, but at no point do they sound like either band. Heavy and melodic at the same time, Twilight Kingdom may very well be the best Progressive Metal band from Central New York, ever. And you can download this remastered version of their 1995 Demo and hear that for yourself.

A powerful opening track, March of the Guardian, couple of long, powerful songs, Shadow Troops and Awakening, following, and an almost New Age flavored instrumental, Winter Dreams, ends off the first side. The second side begins with an awesome song, Forever Sacred, inspired by the movie Thunderheart, another New Age-ish piece, Living on Borrowed Time, and then the Epic Angel to No One. Finally, tagged onto the end is The Ticket. A silly little song.

I also included their post Guardian demo tracks, bands members switched around a bit, but Chris Bedell and Thomas Rice were always the foundation of the band. They later signed to a small prog label, Siegen Records, who managed to destroy their recordings and relase something with possibly the worst production ever. The songs were great, but it almost seemed like the label and studio were sabotaging them for some reason. The resulting CD is FAR inferior to these recordings. The post Guardian tracks include all the songs from their 1997 Demo, which include Bell, Adze, Angel to No One rerecorded, Saviour, and Escape. And finally,  Thomas recorded a couple of songs under the name Ex Nihilo, first as Twilight Kingdom, and then as a side project. Two of those tracks are on here, Ex Nihilo and Bleeding Son's Admonition. Unlike Twilight Kingdom, these tracks are ambient and gothic.

Twilight Kingdom broke up after Adze. They never played a show live, Chris being the drummer and vocalist had trouble pulling both off live. The band minus Chris went on to form Full Circle, who released one CD, Matter of Time. In the vein of Twilight Kingdom, but not quite as dynamic. That also has broken up. Meanwhile, Chris and longtime friend Pat Ward formed Lotus Project, which was more of a brutal, yet still progressive, type of band. They did perform live, with Chris doing both the drums and vocals. They have also disbanded. Chris and Pat are currently in the band Castle Bravo, which is more Hard Rock / Alternative. 

Download: Twilight Kingdom "The Guardian"

Twilight Kingdom Cover

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Jealous Bitch - FourPlay (2002)

This band came from Auburn, NY. Basically it was a 2 piece, with guest vocalist. Paris and Tilly Hanson did all the song writing and such, and came up with 3 pretty awesome songs, and one, ok, song. Cody, Just a Touch Away, and Too Good to Sacrifice are all awesome, old school Metal songs. Bordering on Power Metal. Smile, is kind of a ballad. It's not bad, but pales in comparison to the other songs. Unfortunately, they were never able to put together a full band, and just kind of gave up. This was recorded at Loft Audio Recording in Lansing, NY, and I mastered it just a bit in 2009.

Download: Jealous Bitch "FourPlay"

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Gangland - 1989 Demo

Hailing from CA, this is just pure power metal from the start. Produced by Bill Metoyer back in the day, this is a damned cool demo, and, the only thing that this band created. The guitarist (Tracy "Spacey T" Singleton) and bass player (Stanley E.) came from Sound Barrier, the vocalist (Tim Bouchee) did some vocals for Unleashed Power, and is currently in HavocHate. Their drummer (Joel Maitoza) came from a band called Elysian. I think the first song on here is by far the best, not to say the other two aren't pretty cool as well. The last song, Metal Morphisis, is that cheesy kind of Metal song so many bands liked to write back then.

I had to master this way up to make it more listenable. Even with the decent production work that it got, it was still a 1989 cassette demo. Check it out...

Download: Gangland 1989 Demo

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Forward Now - smileremover (1995 Demo)

Now THIS, is brutal. Industrial Metal that just caves in your skull. I do believe that this was their only release, and I also think that they helped out on a track from Slave One on their release, which I will probably post sometime later. Just two guys, in your face, uncompromising noise. Yet another great band from the Rochester, NY area that went mostly unnoticed. They do have a webpage up with very little info, but they did do some other stuff. Anyways, enjoy, all newly mastered...

Download: Forward Now "smileremover"

Forward Now Cover

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Evil Twin "The Silence Soiled"

There is no good way to classify the music that Evil Twin made. They were from the Binghamton, NY, area back around 1995. We had them up to the radio show a whole of once, and I don't think I ever got to see them live. This demo I really love. I like stuff like this, catchy, and strikingly original. Karen Mittelstadt provides some interesting vocals, far deeper than usual for most female vocalists, as well as playing cello on all the songs. Burt Mueller provides the guitars and programming, and the guitars are secondary to the cello in a lot of cases. Finally, Generic Mike covers the drums and synths. Overall, you have something strange and unique. They changed their name near the end to Vitriola, and then shortly later broke up. What you have in this download is their only demo that I am aware of. Quite well recorded, all it needed was a little cleaning and mastering. Also included was a song called Down, which they recorded right after the demo was released. And finally, the last 5 songs are from their incarnation as Vitriola, all released on two compilation CD's. Enjoy.

Download: Evil Twin "The Silence Soiled"

Evil Twin Cover

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Saint Chaos - Total Chaos - 1991 Demos

Myself and Joe at The Metallic Onslaught get asked for copies of these I think more than any other demo band from the Upstate New York area. So I went and grabbed the three tapes I have and cleaned and mastered them into this compilation. The majority of these songs were recorded in the latter half of 1991, with a couple from the very beginning of 1992. They did well in this area for quite a while, opening for various national acts and winning various area awards. No idea why they broke up, but the vocalist, Justin Sane, went on to sing for various bands in the area (Groovy Seeds, MT Web), none of which achieved the local notoriety that Saint Chaos did. Last I knew he was still doing various musical projects including one called P*Spot. Guitarist John Farley went on to join Rochester based Diamond Tyr causing their name change to ONE. He remained with them when Andre left the band (to join Dope and become Virus), and ONE became Bully and moved to NYC. I don't know what the other two members of the band, Steve Blaisdell and Bob Gaylo, did after this. Anyway, these recordings are not of the highest quality, but I managed to make them quite listenable and enjoyable considering the source materials. For those who know nothing of this band, they were a Power Metal band, with some damned catchy songs. The opener, Nothing is Forever, is by far the best song they ever had. Other standouts are Die for You, Godsong, Pressure, and Hellfire.

Download: Saint Chaos "Total Chaos"

Saint Chaos

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Silent Scream 1989 Demo

So in my box of tapes that I am slowly working through, I found 2 demos from a band called Silent Scream. There is a vast difference between them. This one hailed from Manhattan. The other from California. This demo is good, with one awesome song, the other, not so much. The opening song on here, Gogmagog, is fantastic. The other two are decent as well, but they don't compare. Pure Metal. Very memorable. Two of these guys (Chip Rainone and Robert De Forge) went on years later to put out an album with Savior Servant on Dominion Records. And that is everything I know about this. Enjoy.

Download: Silent Scream 1989 Demo

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Scarlet Bride - 1987 Demo

So I forgot this ever existed. These guys were from Atlanta, GA. I have no real information about them or whether they did anything after this. However, I do remember hearing this on a radio show called The Rock Shop back in the 80's which was out of Seneca Falls. Well, not so much remember, but a couple of the songs are familiar and I assume that is where I heard them. So basically you have 5 songs, pure Metal. "Hideaway" and "Play to Win" are the standouts here. Extremely catchy and powerful songs. The other three are ok, but nothing as remarkable. Download and hear for yourself. I mastered this so it sounds a bit louder and fuller than the original tape. Enjoy, and if you know anything about this band, please feel free to contribute information...

Download: Scarlet Bride - 1987 Demo

Scarlet Bride Cover

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