Back In The Saddle
Could An Infinite Number of Monkeys With an Infinite Number of Typewriters Do All This? I mean, probably...
Who Didn’t Kill Bambi?
The nightmare continues! The flood of new releases never seems to stop - every day just more more more! You’d think there would me more turds a’floating but the amount of decent to good to absolute stellar releases remains so very high! So enough with the yammer and onward to the hearing destruction!
Just a quick reminder - I only write about things I like, if I don’t write about it, I either didn’t like it or haven’t heard it yet. If you send me something to review, I’ll probably write about it though keep in mind, I’m just one person doing all this so it might take a minute. Want me to write about your release - get in touch! Am happy to cover both physical and digital stuff, as long as I like it, I’ll write about it. Also, like the print zine, this is a one person operation - I always feel like I’m really behind and not doing enough and am trying to reconcile that with having a life beyond trying to wreck my hearing.
Heavy and grinding crust that writhes around your skull before pummeling you into submission. Slightly mechanical in an industrial sort of way a la AXEGRINDER or ZYGOTE.
Shrill, dentist drill style guitars layered over manic drumming and throbbing bass - everything more blown out than everything else (so much so I had to confirm my speaker wasn’t blown!). The vocals have this primal, haunting and desperate feeling to them - perhaps it’s because they are sorta disjointed, seemingly unrelated to the music and feel more like they recorded this in an asylum and some is just screaming in fear down a dark hallway.
AUS ROTTEN your thing? Do you enjoy a bit of the East Coast Pogo Attack? Well I’ve got a bit of a treat for you in the form of THE BROOD! A Philly crusty punk super group of sorts - former members of WITCH HUNT, THE PIST, CAUSTIC CHRIST etc and it doesn’t detour much from what one might expect from that blend. Heavy, driving hardcore punk that hammers away in a straight forward, thudding attack. I eat this shit up and so should you!
Snarling, reverb soaked vocals that ooze about in a mumbled growl over metallic thrashing where nothing is very distinguishable aside from occasional moments where the lead guitar bits come up for air - I’ve not listened to GISM Military Affairs Neurotic in years but this is what it echoes of to me.
CHAIN CULT - Harm Reduction LP
More dreamy post-punk from these Greek masters - it’s haunting and elegant; somber and driving; somber and evocative of the desperation of modern life. It shares some of the same feeling as HIGH VIS but without the slickness in production but they share the same sort of desperation and frustration. Outstanding.
Absolutely brilliant ripping hardcore from here in Richmond - while the vocals lean hard into this snarling guttural approach that is a dead ringer for UNITED MUTATION’s throat artist, musical it heads off into this voyage into mid 80s Italy. I hear bits of CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS and NEGAZIONE embedded in these riffs - I feel like I’ve seen them a million times but I never really realized the complexity in these songs. This shit fucking rules. I’m totally blown away.
CŒUR À L’INDEX - Adieu Minette LP
Dreamy, sugar soaked French power-pop that just hops and skips down the summer pathways in your brain. Just delightful stuff, perfect for a summer day filled with a bottles of rosé, a picnic with friends, and a few games of jeu de boules. Fans of DOLLY MIXTURE or BELLE & SEBASTIAN would really find this compelling.
1000mph thrash thats basically over before it starts - frenetic drumming and ripping guitars. Just three perfect blasts of hardcore.
DISAPPEARANCES - Harrowgate LP
Heavy, throbbing blasts of sonic violence from the city of brotherly love. Monstrous slabs of guitar and jackhammer drums that just bludgeon your brain no matter the pace they’re coming at you. In someways it’s a very 90s sounding record in how it leans into both ominous dissonance of BORN AGAINST while sucking up all the goodness we saw in the post RORSCHACH bands like DEADGUY and KISS IT GOODBYE. Utterly ferocious.
Total ICONS OF FILTH meets RUDIMENTARY PENI worship done to absolute perfection and yet done so without sounding totally derivative. I know I keep saying this but, Richmond is wild. Where did this band come from? I guess I’ve seen the name pop up here and there but this is so fucking good, why haven’t I seen them yet? It’s a mistake I need to correct ASAP.
Thudding Quebecois punk rock - for me there is a bit of RUDIMENTARY PENI meets DYSTOPIA quality to their riffing, albeit sped up. I guess it’s the overall ominous feel and the use repetition in the phrasing but then they mix up the standard pooka-pooka drum attack with these funky forays into almost disco drums and swirly psych bits. I first saw them six years ago and they were certainly not this cerebral in approach - I’m enjoying the expansion of soundscapes and ideas while not losing the velocity and aggression.
FRENZY - Beyond The Edge Of Madness 12”
Great to see this Portland band back on the map - thrashy, pogorific hardcore punk in the GBH/EXPLOITED way of things but, for me, a bit more interesting than the typical cliché approach to this sort of thing. I really like how the prominent walking bass lines drive the melody clashing against the fuzzed out wall of noise guitar approach. Mostly clocking in at a mid-temp clip with occasional forays into blistering speed. Killer stuff.
HOMEMADE SPEED - Faster Is Better EP
Caustic, frenzied, nearly falling apart hyper thrashing hardcore punk from the Virginia Beach. There’s a bit of VOID style chaos to this and smidge of that CHARLES BRONSON thing where they are playing faster than they actually might the technical prowess to do so it might collapse in on itself but somehow doesn’t. Essential shit.
IMPOTENTIE - Zonder Titel Deze Keer LP
While musically this has all the triumphant attack and melodiousness of the UK82 bands (BLITZ, DEMOB, etc) but with a somber and tenebrous lyrical approach reflective of the collapse of the hopes for a better future inherent to the protests of 2020 through the lens of these Belgian punks - the statues of Leopold II remain, fascism is on the rise, and so there is this creeping sense of cynicism that nothing will ever change. It’s a powerful release with a considered, challenging lyrical approach.
Five rampaging blasts of gnarly, absolutely ripping hardcore punk that would snuggle in comfortably with the Ball Of Destruction-era MADBALL release or other early NYHC ragers (PSYCHOS, URBAN WASTE, etc). Classic shit.
LIFE / DESTRUCT - To Stop The Conflict LP
Grinding, raw blasts of filthy crust from Japan and Richmond bringing back fond memories of my time of service in the crust wars of the late 90s/early 00s. By now, I assume, most readers of this here shitstack are familiar with the players but as a reminder, Japan’s LIFE contribute five raging blasts of blown out and shrill d-beat that pummels at a blistering pace while DESTRUCT contribute six tasty rippers leaning more in a VARUKERS meets BASTARD approach - in contrast to the DISORDER meets CHAOS UK thing I hear in LIFE. Essential release.
LIFELESS DARK - Forces of Nature's Transformation LP
Brutal, metallic stenchcore in the tradition of SACRILEGE, ANTISECT, and with a smidge of BOLT THROWER mixed in. Massive riffs that steamroller your skull driven by a thunderous percussive drum approach creating a soundscape for an ominous lyrical bent around the current state of the world to be layered upon. Perhaps the finest take on this style I’ve heard in ages.
THE LOSERS - Land of Opportunity LP
Sloppy and snotty hardcore punk in the classic sense of the thing - think NIGHT BIRDS, think early NECROS, think JFA. It’s a bit primitive in all the best ways which is really enhanced by the lo-fi, garagey recording style. I’m a sucker for this sorta thing and this hits all the right notes for me.
This shit is wild - in a world where the typical arc of a classic band coming back and releasing a new album is something that generates a collective shrug or a “not bad” at best, these Swedish legends drop this sonic A-bomb of ferocious, raging hardcore. Its as though they understood what made the songs on Kärnvapen Attack so powerful and engaging. This is like MINOR THREAT coming back and dropping something just a great as Out Of Step. Just utterly ripping from start to finish.
MUTATED VOID - Listen to the Struggle CS
Gargled glassed style shredded vocals layered over thrashy guitar splatter interspersed with off kilter droney drudgery back into bludgeoning mayhem. Includes a MECHT MENSCH cover that blends in well.
Mid-paced punk in the TOXIC WASTE meets DIRT line of thought - there is a paranoid strain to the lyrical approach and while the music leans more towards a raw yet tuneful approach, though there are minutes of ominous lurching to the overall feeling.
NUKIES - Paralysis Of Fear 12”
Raging USHC style vibes from Sweden - a bit of a Kings of Punk-era POISON IDEA in the overarching vibe in how it incorporates a bit of traditional rocknroll riffing with a traditional Swedish thrashing hardcore käng attack. Ferocious stuff.
S.H.I.T. - For A Better World LP
Staccato and almost mechanical in its approach, on this latest work from Canadian hardcore ragers. Still taking a bastardized approach to the CHAOS UK form, manipulating it and transforming it into something modern and new while retaining enough of the inspiration so while is discernible as an influence, it is almost unrecognizable - like a beautiful butterfly of chaotic noise not music.
SMERTEGRÆNSENS TOLDERE - Hvil I Frede EP
Copenhagen punk attack with a smidge of Scandi style D-beat mixed with a healthy dose of garage rock strut - minimally distorted guitars with a drum attack that pushes a big old heavy stomping beatdown on your senses.
SNARLING DOGS - Self Titled LP
Mid 70s punk approach (think early DAMNED or “I Got A Right” style IGGY POP) but with hints of hardcore. I’m really into the sorta of era between absolute hardcore and absolute punk when bands like MIDDLE CLASS or HEARTATTACK or VILETONES were trying to figure the whole thing out so I’m totally down for this, be it modern or not.
STIFF RICHARDS - GFC/ Empty Barrels EP
Two tracks of slashing, raved up Aussie punk that full bore rocks in that RADIO BIRDMAN manner. Quick paced and snotty in all the best ways.
TOTAL CON - Kill Someone You Hate CS
Seven curt slabs of distorted to the hilt UK hardcore. Primal, pissed, and politcal. Angsty and totally ripping.
This reminds me so much of the STITCHES - late 70s style UK punk shaken up with LA beach punk. Think the RINGS making sweet love with the WEIRDOS while RIKK AGNEW takes notes from the window outside.
THE WAR GOES ON - Death Wish LP
It’s wild that I first became acquainted with some of the maestro’s behind THE WAR GOES ON over 26 years ago when I was lucky enough to play with SNIPERS at the original Ungdomshuset and I continue to remain impressed with their musical output. Like NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS (and AMDI PETERSENS ARMÉ, YOUNG WASTENERS, and more) they take early USHC forms, inject a Danish punk edge and create really powerful records that are an amalgam of the two forms. THE WAR GOES ON continues onward in the same melancholic and melodic punk style as NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS - early 80s LA/OC punk with lyrics painting an absolutely miserable picture of a despondent existence.
WRONG WAR/COMPULSION - Split LP
Probably my favorite WRONG WAR stuff yet - still pulling from the ARTICLES OF FAITH and RITES OF SPRING wheelhouse, this latest release is a bit more pissed, primal and aggressive than the earlier releases. On the flip we find their fellow Chicago old punx, COMPULSION (ex-CHARLES BRONSON for those keeping track) doing a BL’AST/BLACK FLAG aggro stomp with a smidge of SWIZ noodle which is quite compelling.
YELLOWCAKE - A Fragmented Truth EP
Crunching blasts of thrashing D-beat hardcore played and full velocity - ANTI CIMEX style kångnave thrash with USHC breakdowns, the total package!
ZYCLONE - Visions of Impending Death EP
Four quick blasts of raw, face blistering hardcore that owes much to four dudes from Stoke On Trent. Monster snarls, drums gallop, guitars like slabs of toxic sludge - you know what kind of party this is, by all means bring your own studded jacket.
