Distort #11

Distort mag started in 2003 to document kvlt hardcore and World War III. The contents of Distort have been dominated by impulse, excess, insomnia, stimulation. No editor, no proofread, no nerd.

Out of the 2000+ pages published over the past couple of decades I am skimming the C.R.E.A.M. into an archival book.

I'm raising funds to print this by making backissues available again via PDF.

You can also purchase a onetime subscription to all Distort here which this issue is part of.

Distort #11 (2006) - Masstrauma / Regulations / Thought Criminals / writing on 60's punk, Warning Fanzine, Peter Laughner, Hassan-I-Sabbah

Cult Worship Hassan-I-Sabbah

 I was introduced to the Hassan-I-Sabbah via the mostly terrible Cities of the Red Night by William S Burroughs.

 Soon after reading this book, references to the assassins and the Old Man of the Mountains seemed to appear everywhere in my research into cults and brainwashing. I was interested in the effects of hardcore and punk music: rewire brains, rewrite character, escalate intensity, distort the world.

 I started to think about hardcore shows as cult rituals, and I looked to the history of ritual and ceremony for evidence of extremes people could go to when entranced and captivated.

 I have seen vicious behaviour at hardcore shows from people that were normally quite placid and calm – people have thrown chairs, glasses, mic stands, drum parts, milk crates, bricks.

 I’d experienced these ecstatic and heightened senses of hardcore and had thrown some of these things myself, had been the target of objects, fists and feet. My face is full of scars, most of my teeth are chipped. Spill blood without reason.

Masstrauma

 Masstrauma were one of the few Australian bands that Straightjacket Nation truly vibed on at this stage. Did you ever hear of this band, Masstrauma? Hardcore band, from Sydney. We organised multiple shows and an east coast tour with them, and covered one of their songs to honour their memory on our Live at PBS recording.

 This interview was conducted in various fractured moments, both in person and over email. One long interview was conducted in the backyard at a party that Masstrauma played. Right before they played, I watched a cat get run over by a car at full speed… I wrote about the vision in a sickening depth of detail that was disturbing to revisit… it was accompanied by an extensive rant against people who own pets in the city, a stance I’ve since softened… I was a pitiless savage in these days, cold of heart!