Lard Free

Blasdead has been around for nearly 10 years, ever since guitarist Shoji Yasuno formed the band in June 1990 in Yokohama-city. The band’s powerful live performances and high-energy concerts quickly established Blasdead in the local metal scene. After changing vocalists in 1991, the band released its first demo tape in July 1992, which was offered free to the band’s loyal following. The second demo tape was released the following March and sold quite a few copies. But even though the band was growing in popularity, the vocalist, drummer and bassist had all quit the band by March 1994, leaving Yasuno to keep Blasdead alive on his own. …

R.E.M.’s career trajectory as it relates to their relationship with the BBC will be laid out in a new box set entitled, fittingly, R.E.M. at the BBC. The eight-CD, one-DVD collection is due out October 19th via Craft Recordings and features a number of rare and previously unreleased performances.