The Day After The Sabbath 50: Dubia Excrementis Bovis

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[PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 2011 AND MANY OF THE ACTS MENTIONED MAY WELL HAVE A LOT MORE KNOWN / AUTHENTICATED HISTORY NOW]

Since writing this, one band that is now well-documented is Tsee Muds, you can read a whole lot about them in my 2022 comp: TDATS 144 Venezuela 1 (link)

For the milestone of 50 (!) volumes I realized that I should do something a little different, so I finished off an idea that has been brewing for a while. This may well kick up some controversy with people out there, especially those who hold any of these bands dear. It's a collection of songs that in my humble opinion, may not be quite what they are purported to be. I will not go into too much detail, but suffice to say, some do not sound as old as they are alleged to be. Some of them sound like they were not recorded on equipment of the age, or some of them sound just that little bit too knowingly heavy for the time, Combine this with a lack of substantiated evidence to the contrary and we have some mysteries indeed. So, not wanting to cast a negative impression over the comp, the other common link between them is that they are all cool tracks, enjoy!

01. Stone Axe - Slave of Fear (1971)

02. Lucifer Was - Scrubby Maid / Teddy's Sorrow (1971)

03. Heavy Goods Vehicle - Race With The Devil [Gun cover] (1976)

04. Tsee Muds - Amandote Esta Dios - Concha Acustica Parque del Este (1972)

05. Golem - Godhead Dance (1973)

06. Dietro Noi Deserto - Dentro Me (1971)

07. Supernaut - Keeper Of The Keys (1974)

08. Mind Doctors - Rising Sun (1976)

09. Wicked Lady - Why Don't You Let Me Try Your P.C.P (1972)

10. Vulcan - Noname (1978)

11. Punch - Deathhead (1970)

We start with a heavy as hell track which has come to light quite recently on the internet, a killer single by "Stone Axe" who reportedly were Ex Josefus (see vol #38) members Pete Bailey and Ray Turner. [Editor: As of 2023, this single has now been re-issued on the Yunque Records label, as well as included on various comps (link)]. Next we have Heavy Goods Vehicle, I repeatedly read sketchy information about these rough recordings on forums etc as "the heaviest underground recordings ever" and after finally tracking them down, I found them quite underwhelming, but this Gun cover is good fun and relevant to the blog. Next up is two tracks from Lucifer Was. The strangeness here is that they clearly don't sound like they were recorded with 70's equipment. The story goes that they have been improved and had some re-recording done in recent times, but it still leaves you wondering how much of it originates in any way from the early 70s, if any? 

Next up is a song that a Facebook friend recommended, Tsee Muds, it's on youtube with an interesting looped video clip of them playing an apparently huge rock fest in Venezuela. I love the song, but were 'Tsee Muds' a real band, is that clip really them?? Who knows. Next up is Golem, who were allegedly a UK electro-prog act recording in 1973, this does not sound like it was recorded in 1973. Next up is Dietro Noi Deserto. This act has an interesting story. It is allegedly another name that the artist known as 'Jacula' and 'Antonius Rex' used, actual name Antonio Bartoccetti. Now I think the gothic keyboard stuff of those two former acts sounds way to digital to have been recorded on equipment of the 60s/early 70s as stated. The Dietro Noi Deserto stuff on the other hand is in my opinion much better musically, and also sounds of it's time, so where is the truth here??

The Supernaut demo was recorded in 1974, and contains a few long instrumental jams that are obviously Sabbath inspired, but again there is little information to substantiate the recording dates. Next We have two tracks side by side, connected by the artist Martin Weaver. I have no doubts that he and Wicked Lady were musicians in the late 60's and early 70's, but something does not sound right to me when I try to believe the earliest Wicked Lady stuff was recorded in 1969. This great Mind Doctors track also sounds a little to clean and digital for a minor recording budget in 1976, maybe Pink Floyd could have done it then, but Mind Doctors? To end the comp we have two great tracks from Vulcan and Punch. The super-heavy bedroom psych Vulcan have an album available online called 'Meet Your Ghost' and Punch have one alleged single release in 1970, of which Deathhead is the B-side.

Thanks for listening! Rich

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