Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Beast - Power Metal EP - Mutha 006 - 1983





OK Folks, gonn stick with punky side of things here and give you another rare New Jersey gem from 1983 on the Mutha label.

I think this is a very under rated Mutha release but i guess because its labeled "Metal" some folks don't want to give it props but besides the shredding guitar playing of "The Hinge" and some of the content of the lyrics this definitely has a punk quality to it.

The guitar playing is top notch by Jack "The Hinge" Pitzer who reminds me a lot of Jack Endino in the Skin Yard days. The Hinge was a long time sound guy at the Legendary Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ, where The Beast has played numerous times back in the day and then he went on the play with Greg Gory of the famed Chronic Sick in the band The X-Men with members of NJ Psych greats Secret Syde and Laughing Soup Dish, but that's all a different story entirely...

The Beast Consisted of Scott Ruth (vocals), Jack "The Hinge" Pitzer (guitar), Ronnie Ace (guitar), Jeff Grass (bass), Doug Ryan (drums) - This group emerged from the band TYRANT, which included Mark Mutha. Members of the band were also went on to RIPPING CORPSE, another great NJ thrash metal band.

I've been trying to hunt down and complete my Mutha record collection since back in the day and being from the eara i've been lucky but I'm missing a bunch but i do have a large quantity so stay tuned and I'm sure I'll get to more in the very near future. I think a posting of "The Worst" Expect the Worst might be in order next!

Here is the Mutha story:

MUTHA RECORDS
When it's more than just a great record - IT'S A MUTHA!

Sometime in 1977, THE WORST and SCHRAPNEL tore a hole in the "Springsteen" picture that had represented the Jersey Shore music scene (or "SOAP" - Sounds Of Asbury Park), and so began NJ's premier, strongest, and probably longest lasting Hardcore Punk scene.
In 1978, Mark "Mutha" Chesley was playing in a HM band called TYRANT. He left that band to become manager for The Worst, and soon began hosting Mutha Record Nights at his home in Long Branch, where he would play records by hard and heavy bands like The Stooges, MC5, Blue Cheer, as well as obscure psychedelic bands from the Sixties, and the latest offerings from British and American Punk bands. Under Mutha's watchful eye. Jersey Shore Hardcore bands began to take shape. THE WORST, THE BURNT, CHILD ABUSE, and FATAL RAGE were among the first bands to emerge from this new Mutha-land.
The Fast Lane in Asbury Park (where local bands could open for national acts like The Dictators, Black Flag, etc..) as well as The Hot-Dog House (a rented loft in Asbury) were host to many of the early shows that Mark and the local musicians helped organize. Soon, The Brighton Bar in West Long Branch became home for this growing scene, and remains active to this day. The turning point for the Hardcore scene occured when Mutha Records was established in 1982 - simply for the love of music and to prevent good bands from becoming just a memory. The first release was a 7" EP by THE WORST, followed shortly by releases by CHRONIC SICK, and PUBLIC DISTURBANCE. But Mutha Records was not restricted to Jersey Shore bands, as other bands in the NJ/NY area soon filled Mark's growing catalog. "I'm for the underdog...and the underground" stated Mark, and with his help, music by the bands listed on this page will be around forever - as it should be.

Harry Baggs - Ear Wax Fanzine

If anyone has a Mutha stuff for sale or trade drop me a line!
But for now enjoy The Beast EP and you won't have to sell your left arm to hear it...

The Beast - The Beast
The Beast - Radical Man
The Beast - Enemy Ace
The Beast - The Shape

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm very much looking forward to these posts on Mutha!
Would love to hear the whole story of Public Disturbance...I was there, but don't remember any of it.

Mighty 1 said...

Oh Shit! I forgot Scott from Ripping Corpse was in this band!

Anonymous said...

You are THE MAN for puttin' this up. I bought this directly from the band after reading about them in some xeroxed zine back in 83/84ish. Even kept the letter from the dude from the band wrote me. Then, I went broke playing music and had to dump shitloads of records and I never thought I'd come across these tunes again. THANK YOU!

Anonymous said...

Great upload, this is one of my favorite EPs...anyone have their demo from '86???

Devil Dick said...

hey thanks guys, i do not have the demo but i bet if i dug around hard enough i might be able to dig it up...

Anonymous said...

I have all the ripping corpse demos, including The Beast 7" that I'd like to unload to anyone thats interested. I also have the "Splattered Remains" demo on vinyl - a limited release.
Contact me if interested.
dhoff0314 at comcast dot net

Anonymous said...

I have everything THE BEAST ever released, including a shit load of demos from the past, some pretty rough, some much cleaner produced.
Their best sounds are pressed on a compilation by the Megaforce label titled 'Born To Metalize' which features 3 opening tracks by THE BEAST.
Awesome production and full throttle speed/power metal at it's best.
That compilation also features a much polished version of their track THE SHAPE originally pressed rough on their power metal 7" EP.
Check it out!!!

Anonymous said...

Great band, and I would like to hear more! If anyone has rare/unreleased stuff from The Beast, please e-mail me: menecman at (@) hotmail dot (.) com.

Anonymous said...

I'm interested in hearing more by The Beast...if you have any rare/unreleased material by them, please contact me (menecman at (@) hotmail dot (.) com).

Anonymous said...

I thank you for this.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! I have had this 7" FOREVER. I got it in the mid 90's at a record store in San Jose, CA and knew nothing about it. I always figured it was just some random metal band from SJ. Either way it was one of my favs since as a metal head gone punk it had the perfect mix of both styles.

I recently came across it and went on facebook to try to find the members of the band and figured i would google it first for shits and giggles and came across this post. Glad to have MP3s of these killer songs. Thanks for the upload.

If anybody has any questions or more info about this, you can email me: Joshanzano@gmail.com

LUISCRUST said...

aNYONE CAN HELP FINDING THIS UNIQUE EP? I NEED ALL ABOUT THEM.
I'M ALMOST ILLNESS LOOKING FOR THIS BAND.

LUIS fernandocampo at terra dot com

Devil Dick said...

good luck luis crust these things are getting harder to find and more expensive everyday!

Devil Dick said...

good luck luis crust these things are getting harder to find and more expensive everyday!

LUISCRUST said...

Hello Devil Dick!
maybe you can help me compilating a CD with all about them? It's really hard to find them here in Colombia. Write me, thanx a lot.

It's really unfortunated but all the 7"ep's arrived broken to Colombia, except one, and of course I haven't it (when not any distinguish them, in 1983), cheers...

Devil Dick said...

i'm working on that with an ex member!

MarsHottentot said...

Killer stuff - The Beast are have that perfect metal to punk balance, this is just huge to my ears. Looking forward to whatever you guys can come up with!

Hingefactor said...

Greetings from Hinge! A reunion show has been planned for Sept 2013!
Please visit https://www.facebook.com/thebeastnj for more details!

winston95 said...

Just picked up a copy of MegaForce's "Deeper Into The Vaults" comp CD from 1991. Surprised to find not one but two Beast tracks on it!!!

LUISCRUST said...

Finally I was looking for it until I found one copy!!!
I have too your lp record, with much of your songs (more metal).

Every day it's harder to find but just persevere.
I knew from a friend of the band they were trying to have a reunion, but they had trouble with the ripping corpse former and your drummer. Ron is hard to find. Sorry, but all your fans are waiting good news.In Medellin -Colombia they are a mythical band.

sunday said...

@ LUISCRUST
Please,can you rip&upload that album you have?We all need quality rip of this great band.
Thank you!!!