Rapeman - Two Nuns And A Pack Mule (1988)

Albini's most obsolete, short-lived project is also a matchless one: Rapeman. Some may say however, that it's too much like Big Black, what I must disagree with, as Big Black, no matter how chaotic and noisy, didn't have much to do with the no wave/free jazz inspired, fortuitous time signatures that would lead to math rock, what Albini came to perfect, later with Shellac. In addition, while the presence of dissonant chords and angular melodies is undeniable in Big Black's music, we're missing the the atypical rhythmic structures. I believe Rapeman was Albini's first (un/onscious) attempt to form a project going in the opposite direction to that of the industrial consuetude. Their only studio full-length, "Two Nuns And A Pack Mule", stands out as one of the earliest math rock albums, and here I'm not talking the stepping stones to the genre, such as the Mothers Of Invention, Henry Cow, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, or Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Whores - Ruiner (2011)

Sharp-edged riffs, sudden tempo shifts, and even the font of Whores' logo all remind me of noise rock veterans Helmet. They melt the noise rock of Unsane with Fu Manchu's fuzz, and put some Buzzov•en-type sludge on top of it to get you one tasty lil EP, making you give eyeteeth for more. And in the end, you'll be the deer and them, the deerstalkers.

Butterslax - Corn Burglar (1995)

One of Bill's first ever bands -- that is before he joined Lethargy -- was Butterslax. Just like Troy's band, Knuckle, there's hardly any info on the band members, but at least the demo they did in 1995, called "Corn Burglar" can be found on the internet. Whoever did the vocals was for one, a capable fella, sounding as sharp and unique as some of the finest vocalists from the 90's, say John Garcia or Layne Staley. Their music, also, stands out just as solid. It incorporates a multitude of styles, from math rock of Big Black to plain fuzz and grunge of early Mudhoney, all played in a fairly no-nonsense fashion of a faster, more hardcore variation of Fugazi's post-punk.

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