AGATHOCLES - “Cabbalic Gnosticism” cassette

Imported from Grindfather (UK)

THE ORIGINAL MINCECORE TAPE.

Where it all began—Belgium, 1988. Raw, blown-out, and absolutely unhinged. One of the earliest grindcore tapes ever spewed out, and a cornerstone release for TRUE FREAKS ONLY.

Total cult status. Filthy, frantic, and hugely influential on the entire landscape of extreme music. This isn’t just history—it’s sickening legacy.

Official 2023 cassette reissue

NOTE: Shell color will vary. Grindfather typically presses on many different colors for each release. It'll be a surprise what you receive.

"Sometimes something just sounds so raw, dirty and putrid that it's almost ridiculous. In this case, i'd say that it totally IS. Don't get this wrong, by no means am i saying that this sux. To me, this is the epitome of early raw sounding primitive grind. And to me that is an awesome achievement. Recorded and released in early 1988, this stuff was by no means new or original, the difference was the pure honesty that seemed to bleed through the speakers when playing the tape. These early AG songs have riffs that are so simple, they almost sound dumb. Back in 87-88 it took guts to play stuff like this, and for a fact they have influenced countless bands since then. They have managed to create a sound, from this demo on, that is instantly identifiable as Agathocles.

Here we have one of the early line-up's with Jan on vocals and Erwin on drums (these are the two original members, Jan being the only one who has kept the band going on since then). The recording sounds like it cost them 2$ to record (max) and the playing is completely sloppy (an AG trademark obviously). This is more in touch with noise than actual music. They were definately listening to Scum and FETO more than the normal person on the street. Early punk/noise bands like Larm and Mob 47 probably influenced these tracks as well.

I can't help but rate this very highly. The production is horrible (but awesome) and the performances are aweful (but great). Stuff like this is very contradictory because it goes completely against the grain of what actual music is supposed to be. Can't really explain why i love this stuff so much.

As far as i'm concerned, this is one of the top 3 Agathocles releases ever. It includes all of their most memorable tracks such as Christianity Means Tyranny (my fave AG track of all time) and Mutilated Regurgitator (the ultimate 10 second grindcore track). The Accident is also here. You also get versions of Big One and Splattered Brains with different arrangements. Everything in it's original form.

Get this by all means, it's essential if you like old school old, school grindcore!" - Metal Archives review