ELDOPA

Here is a brief history lesson for you, courtesy of Tee Pee Records. ELDOPA was formed in 1995 by bassist Andy Branton, vocalist/guitarist Greg Valencia, vocalist/guitarist Brian Ward, and drummer Sean Taylor. Coming from bands ECONOCHRIST, SAMIAM, and GRIMPLE, and moving on to WATCH THEM DIE (Valencia),MEN OF PORN (Taylor),and KALAS (Branton),"The Complete Recordings" is full of crusty hardcore, doom-laden extreme metal, and NEUROSIS-tinged atmosphere that is the sonic equivalent of a three-day binge resulting in jail, mental illness, or death. Included is the band's entire body of work: the "1332" full-length, self-titled 7", demo and live recordings.

Recorded by Billy Anderson, the "1332" LP captures the best the group had to offer in one scathing sitting. Doomy and plodding sizzle gives way to frantic crust punk on "Headache", and vice versa on "Infected". The band was equally adept at sticking largely to psychotic speed crush on songs like "Dormant". The coarse guitar tone and witchy shriek vocals are especially painful (in a good way) on "Clawing at the Walls". The standout track of the "1332" batch is the memorable, EYEHATEGOD-inflected "Someone Saw God", two demo versions of which are also included here. The self-titled 7" features the controlled testicle dragging of the somewhat more dynamic "Ruined", as well as the up-tempo jam "Skinless", the latter including a jagged Greg Ginn style solo.

As for the rest of the album, a four-song WFMU live performance includes "Skinless", "Repercussion", "Slave", and "Dormant". A demo track called "Ed" is worthy of note for its punky and raw BLACK FLAG delivery and conveyance of primal rage. "The Complete Recordings" gives one the benefits of reveling in oozing psychosis and crust punk destruction. Thank Tee Pee for bringing it all together in one nicely packaged CD with new artwork by Orion Landau. If you think you can handle the pain, then go buy the damn thing.