THC Spotlight on: Thresthold Records

Label Spotlight: Thresthold Records

Thresthold Records is a local death/black/thrash/doom/punk/noise label specializing in limited edition tapes and pro-CD/CDr releases. The label used to be based in Mandaluyong City, but now hails Bulacan its main HQ. THC zine already reviewed one of their releases, the Pathogen/Abhumans split CD as far back as 2015.

Label owner Chaps used to live 2 blocks away from me when I was still working and living in Mandaluyong City. I didn’t know, but then I suddenly met him a couple of times when I was totally baked after I just smoked walking otw home.

The first batch of his releases that reached Quezon City was at the infamous Paganfire/Sacrosanct/As Sahar show in Kalawakan Spacetime back in 2018. It was across from Fisher Mall where I did groceries. I went direct from the mall wearing my 3 day old home shirt, pants and slippers with a large plastic bag of cheap grocery to a black metal/thrash gig. Making things worse was I had a couple of beers in my bag and drank them in front of the bar and forgot.

I already had a few CDs from his label, and the Kushagra tape and the legendary ADA/Paganfire split cassette which both ruled. But later on, I got a hold of more new local death/black/noise/punk sicknesses on tapes and CDrs from his label in 2022 with more than 20 (?) new tapes and CDs. All local killers like Karimlan, Paganfire, Sacrosanct. Archaic Argot, Bartolina, Execution of Terror, Francesco Terrini, Dischrist and several others more. He also sneaked in the new Incarion CD which attacks with satanik might.

While I was lucky enough to snag a few of these out of print releases, I’ve missed out on many other gems, simply because most titles tend to get sold out within 2 months or so. If you’ve been smoking too much indica kush please don’t forget to bookmark his links and get some of these releases which we will post here below. Not THC Zine’s fault you missed these too busy listening to the Eraserheads reunion or bad indie rock (joking, both are good).

Z.K.W. x Francesco Terrini – Vermin, Conflict, Depopulation / Anti Human Withdraw Split EP
Bartolina – No Shades of Light
First up is the Francesco Terrini batch of releases under the label; the current local noise/experimental sound manifestor of sickness. What’s interesting about Threshthold is that they’re the only local metal underground label that has local noise/harshnoisewall/power electronics artists in their roster. Apart from the late Norman Trinidad’s Likhang Karimlan Promotions label offering obscure noise and dark ambient releases, Threshthold records curates a few choice releases to cater to the noise connoisseurs in the death/black underground.

The ZKW and Francesco Terrini split is a inter-fused and soldered combo of hi-lo frequency power electronics, HNW, some rough minor patches of black metal drones and industrial din. The flow from ZKW to Terrini progresses along well, resulting in intense, internal ear power-wash audio services to mind numbing electrostatic buildups.

With majority of the label’s listeners in the more extreme sublevels of underground death, black, crust, and punk, noise/experimental excursions like these are another welcome addition for further mind expansion/destruction. ZKW and Francesco Terrini will undoubtedly lead to further noise sound source investigations, expanding their regular listening habits.

Bartolina’s No Shades of Light starts off as a slow burner, with slow-building inner tension, marred by blurred and nightmarish visions of dungeon detention claustrophobia, corrupt pigs, and slow-boiling revenge. The long toil and wait over 3rd world slave-race mentality, rotten ignorance and eventual enlightenment is felt but at an antagonising and soothing pace.

The personnel involved in these caustic rituals are fully capable of discordant, damaging noise that destroys from careful sonic manipulations to reckless, freeform destruction: the duo of White Widow, with experimental sound artist Joee Mejias, and painter/tattoo artist/drummer Roman Soleno also of punk ragers TKNK and The ExSenadors.

The process towards the resulting (left hand) path is slowly moulded, shaped, and hammered away, as different frequencies and drumkit abuse recreate subliminal horror, and manifested using empty shells of dead times and harsh nights that slowly chip away at the human psyche, revealing a deadlier, darkened form of madness.

With noise proceedings already corrupting your dead brain, we move onto the more regular menu strains of punk, death metal, and black metal releases for a succession bombardment further into the abyss. These could have easily flown past your stoned radar, what with the mind-clouding capabilities of the pandemic mind control era. But we won’t put that against you.

Sacrosanct – Eastern Darkness
First business of the day is the long awaited Sacrosanct EP. But to me it’s considered a full length, considering the scarcity of their material (I only own the Paganfire/Sacrosanct split CDr but there are a few more rare releases that’s just difficult to get). Now you can fully immerse your head into the satanik juggernaut, full force assault of this deadly duo.

Despite sharing the same album title with Japan’s mighty Sigh, it’s where all similarities end as SS is a more of a violent, virulent strain, a 3rd world inferno assault. While their live assaults are slightly more intense and confrontational, the CD does a killer job of representing their intense and raw fiery black metal seasoned with death metal brutality, 3rd world aggression and a snarling, DIY, FOAD attitude and approach.

Archaic Argot – An Exhumed Lore of the Chthonic Undercrofts
Archaic Argot set ablaze many of their local gigs in their heyday. One show in Freedom Bar here in Quezon City was particularly intense, with their frontman wielding a large Bowie knife and impaling the wooden hard floor to the disappointment of the bar owners haha. You know you’re in for a wild night of satanik destruction when AA desecrates your town.

Their full length CD collects all the tracks that’s supposed to make it on the album, plus unreleased live tunes tacked at the end of the disc. They’re are even rawer and demo-quality compared to the standard album tracks, mainly functioning as a completist list rather than a real selection of tracks for the album. Two of these tracks already appear in the earlier part of the disc anyway. Despite the sudden dive into the audio quality of these last few tracks, it doesn’t take away from the second wave influenced, high speed satanik aggression of AA’s lethal black metal attacks. Rather than let these tracks get further obscured by time and dust, you now have a complete overview of AA’s local notoriety on full display.

Jackhammer – Diklum
Meanwhile for Jackhammer, smashing your unfinished business in a killer way, even if it is years after the fact, is much like revenge in a way, best served cold and ruthless. This Diklum CD is proof that perseverance, hard work, and killer riffs will always work. This death/thrash unit that started in Albay in the 90s ignores time and trends to finally issue a great debut album using modern production and an updated sound. Tight and well played, Jackhammer also uses tagalog lyrics to portray inner struggles and breaking insanity perfect for their brand of killer, moody death thrash that carries over some of the classic 90s strain over to the post pandemic metal wasteland.

Dischrist – Whoredom
Dischrist comes raging forth adorned with some simplistic, yet nihilistic, DGAF attitude, blackened dbeat punk. Plus the artwork is simply hellish and adorable, giving this album the perfect graphic representation of the fuck off and die black metal punk attitude within. If the members of Gorgoroth, Darkthrone, and Disrupt all jammed together one late drunk night, this would be the demo, and straight to tape, yes.

Yes the sound sounds lifted from a demo cassette; production is of lo-fi, demo quality, and raging, simply perfect for this kind of punk. Dischrist rules and their brand of pissed off hardcore dbeat punk rock n roll for the devil with reverbed-out, red level black metal punk vokills is just what you need. There’s a tape version that you should also buy along with a small bottle of gin, some cheap cigs, dirt weed, speed, and riot weapons to the next police public assembly. Get in the mood for a riot.

Execution of Terror – System Stench
Not to be outdone, Execution of Terror’s remaining unreleased tracks finally surface in this full length CD. EOT was intense, top of the line crustpunk terrorism that raged across punk and metal gigs throughout the metro, and unfortunately these guys are no longer active. But they leave behind one cassette and this diehard release to remind you how much you missed out on the band during their brutal heyday. EOT ends with a HIGH note, rough sounding and loud, punk as F the way it should be, with tight and pissed off playing.

If ever you’ve hated the police and the government, find yourself fueled by alcohol and strong potent lokal weed, and think evil crust punk is the solution towards an impending revolution, then rage to this. If you were punk enough to have seen them more than a few times, remember those days and nights, you will need it for the coming years of chaos.

P.S.

I am no longer up-to-date with all the label’s current proceedings and releases. There are at least 10 new releases that will surely be out of print by the time you read this. Your humble reporter has already missed out on back to back new arrivals from the label in recent months, but of course I plan to catch up with new titles soon. If these releases all belong right up your alley, your are hereby urged to click on the label’s Facebook page ^ to get you up to speed on what’s new and what’s still in print.