Thursday, February 7, 2008

Retroview: Bloodcum - Death by a Clothes Hanger



Like Rodney Dangerfield, Bloodcum gets no respect. Everyone seems to shit on them and I just don’t understand why. I’ll agree that the fact that they were marketed as Slayer Jr. was lame, but that doesn’t make “Death By A Clothes Hanger” anything less than what it is—a crossover thrash classic!

Bloodcum was formed back in 1986 by John Araya (Tom’s younger brother), Robert Tovar and George Hierro. They were just a couple of youngsters that used to roadie for Slayer and hang out in their practice space. After Slayer would finish practicing they would pick up their instruments and start screwing around. Over time they became competent enough to play and recruited Jimmy Soltelo and Joey Fuchs (credited on their records as Joey Hanneman even though he is NOT related to Jeff). Their first release was an EP on the legendary Wild Rags label as part of their “Hardcore Demo Series.” Shortly thereafter Wild Rags released Bloodcum's only full length record—Death by a Clothes Hanger.

Musically, Bloodcum drew more from crossover acts like Cryptic Slaugter and D.R.I. than Slayer (though their solos definitely have that unmistakable, squealing, non-musical Slayer-esque quality). Their music is amateurish and their performance is sloppy, but that’s what makes them so lovable. Bloodcum’s music is bursting with the kind of youthful, energetic spirit that’s sadly lacking from so much of today’s music.

The true genius of Bloodcum, however, is revealed through the prescient social commentary and brilliant comedy of their lyrics. They anticipate the oncoming divorce crisis on “Happily Married,” the abortion debate on “Death By A Clothes Hanger,” and animal rights on “Harassment By Farm Animals.” Not to mention the hilarious bonus track at the end of the album, “Testing My Doorknob.” If you consider yourself a thrash fan and you don’t like Bloodcum chances are you’re a huge poseur.

According to their MySpace page (never in a million years would I have thought…) Bloodcum reunited in 2005. Robert and George are back, joined by a couple of other hacks, and ready to thrash again. Long live the belligerent youth!


7 comments:

  1. NOBODY COMMENTED ON BLOODCUM.

    The youth of today just don't appreciate a good 3rd rate SoCal thrashcore band. We're not talking about Recipients of Death here, dudes.

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  2. I remember the silly notes in the lyric sheet inside...they told their drummer was fired after the recording of the album after bandmembers saw him BEING SODOMIZED BY A HORSE!
    Great, classic stuff on Wild Ragz Recordzzzzzzz

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  3. Im one of the orginal guitarist for Blodcum we still jam here and there the new music is great, modern heavy its all fun:::love the great feedback here...great to hear people wanna t hear about roots n shit ....we were there for all the Slayer beginnings:::we are gonna write a book and let all y'all know how it really went down ::: we have all the real dirt!!! we saw the birth of all those great songs and how they were made, they were our greatest mentors, so when people compare us to them its the greatest compliment...they showed us how to write metal if any band was gonna be critized for sounding like slayer ::well "fuck" sure it was us we came outta the same garage what do u expect:::we are are proud of thier success and hold the Slayer flag high!! sure our stuff was goofy but it was always meant to be goofy producing an album was never supposed to happen ...shit we didnt even own equipment,,,the music on death by a clotheshanger was made with same guitar equipmest Slayer used for Hell Awaits:::they pretty much encouraged us to make it:::we continue to jam purely for shits n giggles and when Slayer comes to town we raise our beers high and are extremely proud that we had a small part in thier success!! (((long live Javier Araya)))) go!!! Thine Eyes Bleed!!!! gene is god and has always been ...love you man !!!
    -George n the rest of Bloodcum

    ReplyDelete
  4. Im one of the orginal guitarist for Blodcum we still jam here and there the new music is great, modern heavy its all fun:::love the great feedback here...great to hear people wanna t hear about roots n shit ....we were there for all the Slayer beginnings:::we are gonna write a book and let all y'all know how it really went down ::: we have all the real dirt!!! we saw the birth of all those great songs and how they were made, they were our greatest mentors, so when people compare us to them its the greatest compliment...they showed us how to write metal if any band was gonna be critized for sounding like slayer ::well "fuck" sure it was us we came outta the same garage what do u expect:::we are are proud of thier success and hold the Slayer flag high!! sure our stuff was goofy but it was always meant to be goofy producing an album was never supposed to happen ...shit we didnt even own equipment,,,the music on death by a clotheshanger was made with same guitar equipmest Slayer used for Hell Awaits:::they pretty much encouraged us to make it:::we continue to jam purely for shits n giggles and when Slayer comes to town we raise our beers high and are extremely proud that we had a small part in thier success!! (((long live Javier Araya)))) go!!! Thine Eyes Bleed!!!!
    -George n the rest of Bloodcum

    ReplyDelete
  5. In the beginning pearl hunting was the only means known for harvesting pearls. A little before the start of the 20th century divers manually pulled oysters from ocean floors and river bottoms and checked each one of them individually for pearls.

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  6. long as we live bloodcum is in your veins.
    Chuck norris

    ReplyDelete