In Crust We Trust: Vol 29

Kia ora, comrades. Welcome to In Crust We Trust. This regular round-up focuses on the harshest strains of punk, hardcore and metalpunk. Tune in for crust, d-beat, stenchcore, raw punk, noisecore, and every other Dis-charged subgenre. Enjoy the ruckus, and thanks for stopping by. Kia kaha.

A Note about Mermaids and Arseholes.

I am an old man and thus fortunate enough to have witnessed waves of increasingly heavier bands emerge from the womb of subterranean music. Like many aging fans, I suffer from crippling nostalgia about those times. However, unlike some old-school enthusiasts, I don’t subscribe to the theory that everything was better back in the day.

That said, while I don’t revere the past, I’m always up for revisiting the days of yore, and there’s nothing like a story packed with colourful characters and wild events to evoke the sights and sounds of a bygone era. Such is the tale of the Mermaid (the UK pub, not the fishy songstress).

Of course, the Mermaid is famed as the venue that helped kickstart Napalm Death’s career. (Although, plenty of other known names also gigged at the ramshackle watering hole.) Located in the working-class Birmingham suburb of Sparkhill, the Mermaid played a vital role in the genesis of grindcore, crust punk, harsh noise, and DIY happenings in the 1980s. The Mermaid wasn’t just a site where punk and metal fans intermingled and watched scores of noisy bands. The pub was also a crucial gathering point for rabble-rousing activists and a place where fans could swap zines, trade tapes, build networks, and drink gallons of dirt-cheap cider.

UK newspaper The Guardian recently posted an article about the Mermaid’s stored history. The report mentioned the Birmingham social and musical history organization, Home of Metal, which has produced a four-part podcast series, At the Mermaid. The podcast features interviews with movers and shakers from the pub’s rowdiest years, including Justin Broadrick (Napalm Death, Godflesh), Nicholas Bullen (Napalm Death), Stig C Miller (Amebix), Steve Charlesworth (Heresy), and Steve Watson (Cerebral Fix). Fittingly, At the Mermaid is often rough around the edges. If you’re interested, it’s worth a listen or two.

The Guardian also recently posted an in-depth article exploring the philosophical evolution of engineer/musician Steve Albini. I’m mentioning the article here because, like many punk fans, I’ve watched musicians I once admired spout increasingly deluded and distorted rhetoric over the last few years. We’ve all seen bands disappear down ever-darker rabbit holes, and I don’t know about you, but that’s sometimes tainted their music for me.

The thing is, culture isn’t static. Times change. That upsets some people. Especially those with egos inextricably tied to a specific point in time. Other folks embrace change as a good thing, seeing it as a necessary constant that ensures new voices and ideas are heard. Obviously, the tension between those positions contributes to the sometimes extra-spicy in-fighting within underground music communities. Obviously, this isn’t the forum for unpacking punk’s internal strifes or resolving any longstanding conflicts, but the Albini article offers an excellent insight into how that friction plays out.

I’ve enjoyed many of the albums Albini’s engineered, and I rate several of his bands highly. Still, there’s no denying he’s also a complicated figure with a history of making deliberately controversial statements. Some of those statements I agree with; Albini’s Some Of Your Friends Are Already This Fucked article for Maximum Rocknroll is a classic 90s take on the perils of selling out/signing to a major label. However, many of Albini’s exploits have inspired a lot of edgelord bullshit in niche music circles.

The Guardian article is an interesting report on how to take responsibility for having been a giant fucking arsehole. It’s heartening to read about an underground lynchpin making a genuine effort to account for their indiscretions – and to acknowledge the impact of those misdeeds – without doubling down or offering a convenient excuse. I’ve heard Albini reflect on his past on recent podcasts, often resulting in fascinating discussions about personal growth amongst shifting cultural tides. In any case, The Evolution of Steve Albini is an excellent primer on the topic if you’re interested.

And hey, if you’re one of those trapped in an arsehole ouroboros, take heart; change is possible. Of course, if you’d rather continue to eat shit, by all means, chow down.

Warkrusher – Armistice

Everything about the cover art adorning Canadian ‘crust fuckers’ Warkrusher’s full-length debut, Armistice, screams “Bolt Thrower!”. (Specifically, the iconic Games Workshop-inspired artwork gracing Bolt Thrower’s Realm Of Chaos LP.) Of course, it’s apt that Warkrusher explicitly reference Bolt Thrower. The legendary death metal band helped to carve out the original template for Warkrusher’s creative approach, and to this day, Bolt Thrower’s sound and vision have a profound influence on the entire stench-crust domain. There’s no question that connoisseurs of heavyweight crust have waited expectantly for Warkrusher’s first full-length release. The band’s 2019 demo, All is Not Lost, was a belligerent triumph, and Warkrusher’s 2022 EP, Epitaph, perfectly captured their hammer-meets-anvil aesthetic. If you loved those releases, brace yourself; Armistice is a mind-crusher.

The roaring assault begins with the steamrolling chug ‘n’ churn of “Silence”, which is followed by one psyche-trampling track after another. Death metal’s stomp is engulfed by stenchcore’s rotten vapours, while the echo of groups like Axegrinder, Deviated Instinct, and Sacrilege adds to the ungodly bombardment. Armistice is stacked with concussive ordnance, and while some might listen and imagine far-future sorcerers and space knights fighting over post-apocalyptic spoils, others might hear mutant survivors brawling in the depths of radioactive ruins. Whatever works in that regard. But Armistice‘s violent songs definitely mirror the current situation, where endless wars, climate disasters, and untold inequalities will no doubt seal our miserable fate.

The point is, Armistice sounds ugly and gruesome. Crawl through the writhing guts of songs like “A Now Barren Existence” or “Apostate”, and you’ll soon discover that the album is as thickly armoured in sonic terms as it is thick with the choking stench and the sweltering chaos of battle. I had high hopes for Warkrusher’s first full-length, and Armistice exceeds them all. You can draw a credible throughline from Bolt Thrower’s earliest onslaughts to Armistice‘s mightiest moments as the high-pressure intensity of both feels like a steel band tightening around your chest. Warkrusher’s sewage-raw stenchcore is heavy as an M1A1, with Armistice‘s gruff barks and annihilating bass and drums backing a rampaging array of ironclad riffage.

Armistice is a colossus — a definite EOY heavyweight contender.

(Desolate Records, Agipunk Records)

Note: here’s where I *might* get in trouble. Until recently, Armistice was available to stream online. But then Agipunk Records scheduled a pre-order Listening Party on Bandcamp, and the album’s tracks were taken offline. I don’t know where that leaves the YouTube video below. Are fans allowed to hear the LP yet? If any relevant parties want me to delete the embed below, let me know. I’m here to have fun, not step on anyone’s toes. In the meantime, enjoy one of this year’s most potent stench-crust LPs.

Kinetic Orbital Strike – The True Disaster

The sophomore release from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bruisers Kinetic Orbital Strike fucking smokes. Recorded during the same all-fire sessions as the band’s 2022 demo, KOS’s The True Disaster 7″ hits like a heatseeker. As before, KOS draw from a well of familiarly ear-splitting inspirations (see the likes of Discharge, Disaster, Disclose, and Framtid), but the band don’t sound like they’re living in the past. If anything, KOS look to the future where the rust and ruin of crumbling cities and irradiated wastelands is all the eye can see. Whether throttling listeners on “Evil Action” and “Nameless Graves” or ear-gouging fans on “Escape” and “The Helpless”, KOS’s incendiary approach is a non-stop, in-your-face attack. Bombs, missiles, bullets, drones, IEDs, claymores, knives, and nail-studded baseball bats are all here. Violence, death, and maximum mayhem too. Kill everything that moves. “An old new sound to match a new old war.” KOS = truly pulverizing punk.

(Self-released)

HOPE? – Your Perception is Not My Reality

Do you have any hope left in the tank? Humanity is in meltdown mode; understandably, the Earth isn’t a big fan of our presence either. What’s your plan, fight or flight, fucker? That’s a question PDX four-piece HOPE? (aka Hell on Planet Earth) pose on their Your Perception is Not My Reality 7″. The group’s 2022 cassette, Dead and Gone, set their grim exploration of the world’s long list of woes on the boil, and Perception is Not My Reality is stacked with similarly fired-up d-beat. Label Desolate Records has mentioned several of HOPE?’s members started gigging in the Midwest, inspired by artists from the Profane Existence and Skuld Release school of hulking crust, and HOPE?’s thickset sound duly features plenty of old-school (i.e. Misery-like) oomph. The band’s singer, Manda, has a superbly gritty voice that perfectly fits HOPE?’s hurtling tracks. HOPE?’s harsh d-beat might sound bleak to untrained ears, but noise like this can fuel your resilience and power your resistance. HOPE?’s got your end-times soundtrack covered.

(Desolate Records, Fight For Your Mind Records, Symphony of Destruction Records)

Avskum – En Annan Värld Ar Möjlig

Kristinehamn, Sweden, is home to around 18,000 hardy souls. In 1982, the town was the birthplace of long-lived d-beat crew Avskum, who – alongside groups like Mob 47 and Anti Cimex – helped stamp hard-bitten Nordic punk on the map. Cut to 2023, and Avskum are back with their fifth full-length, En Annan Värld Är Möjlig (Another World Is Possible), which continues the same all-guns-blazing approach of Avskum’s last LP, 2008’s Uppror Underifrån. En Annan Värld Är Möjlig sees Avskum shouting about corruption, intolerance, far-right extremism, and the importance of resisting narrow-minded prejudice. The band’s sound remains firmly plugged into Avskum’s Discharge-inspired roots, but these days, Avskum’s songs are girthier and feature punchier production. Quick-fire tracks like “Knarkare Är Starkare”, “Klinisk Jävla Dödsrift”, and “Stormtroopers of Misogyny” are replete with barked vocals, rail-gun riffs, and careening bass and drums. (Not to mention plenty of brief but scorching solos.) Keep an ear out for guest vocals from Tompa (At The Gates, Skitsystem, Disfear), Tommy Berggren (Asocial, Uncurbed), and Mattis (Makabert Fynd) too. There’s plenty of fury and life left in these old dogs. Pummeling stuff.

(Prank Records, Scrammel Records)

Farsa – S/T

Farsa are based in Berlin, Germany, but the four-piece features members from Argentina, Venezuela, and Catalonia. Farsa released a solid demo in 2021, and their self-titled follow-up is a HUGE step up in myriad ways. Primitive d-beat and caustic hardcore still lead the charge, but Farsa’s vinyl debut is significantly heavier than their demo, and it wields a lot more aural armaments. Spanish-language tracks like “Dormir en Paz”, “Congo”, and “El Final” display an excellent balance between maximizing their rawness and amplifying Farsa’s burlier production. The band’s raucous new songs feature abundant rough-and-ready components colliding in an explosive mix, but it’s the weight of all that ensures the band’s first full-length strikes like a battering ram. Recorded and Mixed By Jonhy Jo in Berlin, with Final Slum War drummer Raul taking care of the mastering (and with a killer cover illustration from Belgian crust musician and visual artist Stiv), Farsa’s first LP is a knockout.

(Wild Wild East Records, The Little Jan’s Hammer Rec, Kaos Diystro Records, Nunchakupunk, Aback Distribuce Records)

Private Jesus Protector – Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant

The original incarnation of Belgium crust band Private Jesus Protector existed from 1989 to 1993. You can find all of the band’s early – and raw-as-ringworm – recordings on their The Complete Workz compilation, which reeks of pissed jeans and dog-on-a-string anarcho-crust. More recently, Private Jesus Protector reformed and recorded their Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant LP (a coda to their career, of sorts), with most of the band’s original line-up particpating. Released by Japanese label In Crust We Thrash, Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant is grottier than a gutter punk’s undies. Audio technology might have advanced since Private Jesus Protector’s early years, but the band’s Neanderthal noise is still primitive AF. The only concession Private Jesus Protector have made, and it’s not really a concession at all, is that Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant sounds a lot more muscular than Private Jesus Protector’s previous endeavours.

The 13 songs here include half a dozen tracks left over from the 90s, and the stench of vintage crust is strong. That said, there’s still plenty of contemporary energy here. Private Jesus Protector’s stinkin’ mash-up of crustcore, d-beat and raw hardcore features lively dual vocals (a 90s mainstay, of course) and Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant is rife with an impressive amount of white-knuckle volatility. If Private Jesus Protector are signing off with Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant, they leave on their own terms with anger to burn. Fans of ulcerated sores, missing teeth, and cut-price beers, dig in.

(In Crust We Thrash)

Stigmatism – Ignorance In Power

The full-length debut from New York/Montreal band Stigmatism, Ignorance In Power, tips its hat to the Rat Cage Records era of New York City hardcore. Drawing inspiration from such a hallowed point in time can obviously result in ferocious-sounding music. However, it can also result in music that sounds redundant and/or well past its best-buy date. Thankfully, Stigmatism avoid those issues by injecting a mountain of energy and a shedload of (Agnostic Front/Warzone) swagger into Ignorance In Power. The album’s furious bite, heavy hooks, and classic NYHC breakdowns will hit home for fans of *definitive* hardcore. Stigmatism’s songs tackle corruption, bigotry, and the endless strife of big city life. If you’re obsessed with Victim In Pain – or, like me, you’ve watched 1990: The Bronx Warriors or Warriors of the Wasteland a few too many times – you’ll lap this sledgehammering hardcore up. Keep the faith, brothers and sisters.

(Static Shock UK, Toxic State Records)

Dispösal – Illusion of Control

Dispösal’s Illusion of Control EP starts with a sustained blast of ear-piercing feedback before the razor-wire riffs arrive, and things get real grim, real fast. Out via the always interesting British Columbian label Slow Death Records, Dispösal’s second release feels more intimidating than their first. Illusion of Control utilizes more metallic components, with tracks like “Painted Crutches”, “Illusion of Control”, and “Warcrime and Punishment” featuring more density and mass backing their heavier momentum. Illusion of Control is more menacing than Dispösal’s 2021 demo, too; the Hellhammering ‘ughs’ and ‘urghs’ are more brutal, the overall tone significantly darker, and Illusion of Control is a hell of a lot nastier, both sonically and psychologically. Meaner than a stick in the eye.

Intention – Brand New Story

Kon’nichiwa, riff-lovers. Great news! If you’re a fan of the Burning Spirits school of ferocious yet hook-heavy hardcore, Japanese band Intention’s debut, Brand New Story, will sizzle your twizzle. Admirers of Tetsu-Arrey and Death Side will revel in Intention’s squealing guitars, howling vocals, and the band’s foot-to-the-floor velocity. Intention features former members of Confront and Human Despair, and the Nagoya/Mie-based band are maestros when it comes to delivering blood-boiling hardcore. Tracks like “Break a Spell”, “Nasty Pest”, and “Not a Slave” are blazing examples of Burning Spirit’s legacy in action, being fast and furious but also unafraid to foreground catchy riffs and solos. More good news for Japanese punk diehards is right there on Brand New Story‘s cover, with more on-point imagery from iconic artist Sugi. Brand New Story is a godsend for enthusiasts of scorching Nippon noise.

(Break the Records, Beach Impediment)

Kazmer – Never Enough

PDX four-piece Kazmer sound somewhat different on their second release. Back in April, the band released a couple of demo tracks, which were beefier/brawnier than the songs on Kazmer’s recent Never Enough cassette. That change isn’t a cause for concern, though. There are plenty of ways for punk bands to deliver the news – a slow burn, a whiplashing torrent, or a bludgeoning thwack. Much like heavy-hitters Sacrilege (with whom Kazmer share several sonic similarities), tweaking the dimensions of the Kazmer’s sound hasn’t lessened their impact. Recorded in May 2023 at the band’s rehearsal space (and mixed and mastered by Kazmer’s bassist, Richie), Never Enough‘s songs are corrosive and wickedly serrated – like rusty barbwire dunked in an acid – and Kazmer’s mix of stench-crust and d-beat features a blistering-raw speed-metal edge. Never Enough thrashes like a cut snake.

(Self-released)

Мир – Mindecision

Not every dusty cassette found in the back of a draw is a long-lost classic. However, Mindecision, the sole tape from the defunct Virginian hardcore band Мир, is definitely a lot of fun. Label Beach Impediment Records has given the 1985 obscurity a spit and polish, re-releasing Mindecision on a pimped-out LP. Like spotty teens worldwide, Мир formed because punk spoke directly to the band’s adolescent hearts. Мир played solo shows, supported the likes of Corrosion of Conformity, Scream, and Battalion of Saints, and the band recorded Mindecision before Мир broke up when the band’s members headed off to college. Dusted off and given a tidy remaster, Mindecision sounds great; scrappy, angry, angsty, and packed with youthful energy. I’m no expert historian, and I won’t insult your intelligence by guesstimating where Mindecision sits in the pantheon of North American hardcore. However, I can assure you that Мир’s sole recording is well worth checking out. Mindecision is on par with much-loved recordings from the same era, and Мир certainly deserve to have the volume turned up on their contributions to the cause.

(Beach Impediment Records)

Farce / Vida muerta – Funeral Earth

Funeral Earth is the fifth release from the Italian raw punk label Sistema Mortal Tapes in 2023. Like Sistema Mortal’s previous releases, the recent split cassette, featuring Finnish trio Farce and Italian/German three-piece Vida Muerta, is lo-fi in tone but eviscerating in texture. (The obliteration of mind and body being the key objective here.) Vida Muerta features members from Nukelickers, Visions of Chaos, and Ovasen Frontera Kollaps, all specialist noise-makers well-acquainted with delivering withering recordings. Vida Muerta released a great demo earlier in the year, and their latest tracks sound even better – filthier, gnarlier, and featuring a darker resonance. Farce’s contributions are all blown-out screeds where incomprehensible vocals and crashing drums are buried in walls of hissing static. When noisenik punk bands share a split, it can often end up sounding a little same/same. However, Farce and Vida Muerta’s split tears open two different – albeit equally abrasive – gateways into the realms of obnoxious raw punk.

Ahna – Crimson Dawn
M​:​40 / Illvilja – S/T
Slavery / Mace Head – S/T

Canadian band Ahna’s full-length album, Crimson Dawn, was originally released on CD and cassette back in 2020. However, the album has recently enjoyed a long overdue vinyl release thanks to stalwart Czech Republic wheeler/dealer Phobia Records. Crimson Dawn tracks like “In Death’s Grip”, “Sick Waste”, and “Dead Gods” are top-tier examples of stenchcore’s weaponry expertly integrating with old-school death metal’s instruments of war. Crimson Dawn‘s potency is a testament to Ahna’s skill at distilling the influence of groups like Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Nausea, and Sacrilege into a (Molotov) cocktail of neck-breakingly heavy metalpunk. Crimson Dawn is crusty enough – and filthy enough – to give you contact hepatitis, and the album remains powerful enough to put a dent in a fucking tank. Crimson Dawn is Ahna’s most vital work yet, with the album’s earth-quaking tracks mining a raft of pitch-black underground spheres. Crushing – in every sense.

While you’re here, Phobia Records recently released a couple of split EPs that also fall into ICWT’s orbit of interests. Swedish bands M​:​40 and Illvilja share a 7″ stacked often-melodic tracks that’ll appeal to fans of driving metallic crust. The 7″ split from Czech Republic groups Slavery and Mace Head features heaving stenchcore from Slavery (FYI, the band’s self-titled 2021 LP is well worth checking out), while Mace Head deliver bloodthirsty metalpunk that’s indebted to ye olde Amebix.

(Phobia Records)

Destruidö – Necr​ó​polis

It wasn’t that long ago that I was writing about Guadalajara, Mexico, band Destruidö’s Infernö EP. The group’s new EP, Necrópolis, features the same jarring levels of abrasiveness and similarly fearsome howls for social, political, and environmental justice. Destruidö’s rawness evokes the desperate reality of battling many of Guadalajara’s current woes. However, once again, Destruidö make clear that “the rotten city we inhabit will never break our wild hearts”. Necrópolis is an angry release with little appeal for anyone seeking the hi-fi sphere of stadium crust. However, the red-raw, passionate punk here is a vitally cathartic tool for venting the horrors and frustrations of life on the edges. Life ain’t pretty. But sometimes ugliness shines.

(Self-released)

Empart – Speedfuckingnoiseattack

True story: I didn’t check the volume on my headphones before hitting play on Empart’s Speedfuckingnoiseattack EP, and I paid for that mistake… big time. One blown-out eardrum later, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Austin, Texas, band’s deafening brand of d-beat and raw punk. (Especially if you’ve got a few masochistic kinks you’d like to work out.) Speedfuckingnoiseattack features six tracks compressed into a singularly cacophonous squall of mind-rupturing (((noize))) that’s as brutally un-listener-friendly as it gets. One listener’s feedback suggests Speedfuckingnoiseattack sounds like “Doom beating up a vacuum cleaner”, which isn’t far from the truth if that vacuum cleaner happened to be full of blazing radioactive refuse. I can’t find any biographic details about Empart, but perhaps that’s for the best. The band’s über-chainsawing music is more than enough to digest. Pop a couple of analgesics and triple-check the volume before pressing play. As the kids say, fuckin sick.

(Self-released)

Unspec – Century Of Torture

Bandcamp has arguably been a boon for bands from often-overlooked destinations. Indonesia, for example, has had a thriving punk and hardcore community for decades, but it’s sometimes been challenging to source recordings from the far-flung archipelago. Thanks to Bandcamp – and in this case, UK label Richter Scale and Indonesia label Spektakel Klab – you’re one click away from enjoying South Sumatran band Unspec’s Century Of Torture EP. Unspec designate US bands like Hoax, Bib, and GAG as musical markers, and Century Of Torture‘s “raw puke punk” features bellowing vocals and steel-edged riffs that sculpt an unpolished monument to negative noise. It’s worth pointing out that for all of Unspec’s rawness, their debut EP is still burly enough to leave a few welts and bruises. There’s a mountain of Southeast Asian punk out there to enjoy, and if you’ve not dug into any of it before now, Unspec make for a great gateway band.

Ps: a couple more Indonesian bands feature in the demo section of this month’s edition of ICWT.

(Richter Scale, Spektakel Klab)

Konventio – S/T
Turhuus – Ryhti romahtaa

Finnish band Konventio’s self-titled (and self-released) 2022 cassette has recently been picked up for re-release by on-point label (and my go-to US web store) Sorry State Records. There’s a good reason for Sorry State’s interest here. Konventio’s razor-wire sound taps into the infectious geothermal energy of classic Suomi punk, with the band’s stripped-back songs featuring plenty of scything propulsion. Like the best Nordic punk, the most engaging aspect of Konventio is how the band manage to sound as cold as ice and yet as hot as a lava flow. Fans of Kohti Tuhoa (and kin) will find much to enjoy in Konventio’s creative pursuits.

Finnish three-piece Turhuus sound more hostile than their smiling visages suggest. The band’s Ryhti Romahtaa EP is caked in crust and slathered in gritty hardcore, while the gravel-gargling vocals of drummer and singer Antti S add a fair amount of malevolence to the mix. Barreling riffs and bass-driven momentum power Ryhti Romahtaa‘s four tracks, but it’s those spitting/growling vocals that add a crucial undercurrent of menace to songs like “Kuolemaa Päin” and “Mä Vaan Lähden Menemään”. Turhuus’ subterranean darkness keeps things on edge throughout.

(Konventio – Sorry State Records, Turhuus – Suspected of Arson Records)

Paranoid Maniac – Watchlist

Watchlist is the debut EP from North Carolina crew Paranoid Maniac. The Raleigh-based band features a rejigged line-up of Das Drip, whose 2019 full-length was released by Sorry State Records. With a new vocalist and additional guitarist on board, Paranoid Maniac deliver darker and more head-twisting hardcore; see the grim-toned, feverish nightmares “Nuclear Confusion” and “Reaper”. Listening to Paranoid Maniac turn themselves inside out on ferocious tracks packed with whip-smart swerves is endlessly enjoyable. I love a band that simultaneously sounds off-the-chain and yet entirely in lockstep, and Paranoid Maniac sound tight but loose and wholly berserk but so in control. Complaints, for sure – four songs aren’t enough! Here’s hoping Paranoid Maniac have more intense-sounding tracks incoming.

(Self-released)

Holocausts – Liberation

Israeli band Holocausts mix and match a host of noisy subgenres on their first full-length, Liberation. Clearly, Holocausts don’t have to look very far to see the brutal consequences of religious and cultural tensions and the eternal fight for freedom from persecution on all sides of the equation. Whether spiritual or physical, war is hell, and that fundamental fuels much of Holocausts’ fusion of thickset crust punk, thrashing hardcore, and death and black metal. There’s a strong sense of neo-crust’s epicness here as volatile musical strains battle on heavyweight songs that dig into equally heavy matters. Holocausts synchronize their sonic and philosophic influences well, and there are translated lyrics to help you along. Liberation is a thundering debut.

(Self-released)

Demolishing Demos

Below are a bunch of demos that caught my tinnitus-ravaged ear recently. I’ve kept the blurbs short ‘n’ sweet, so I can cram in a little more noise. Thanks for visiting ICWT. Fingers crossed, I’ll see you next month. Be excellent to one another.

Kato – Demo

Kato’s Demo ’23 is out via New York label Roachleg Records, and I don’t need to remind you of this, but Roachleg have yet to release a dud. Kato’s demo is another red-hot rocker. If you love the classic 1982 Finnish punk comp Propaganda – Russia Bombs Finland (and why wouldn’t you!?!), you’ll also love Kato’s assaultive sound.

(Roachleg Records)

Terminal Man – Demo 2023

Terminal Man’s Demo 2023 explosively kicks into gear and then refuses to take its foot off the gas. The Birmingham, Alabama band blast through nose-bleeding tracks where distortion lashes crust punk while hardcore fights for its life. Expect a mangling tone and a gnashing temper, like a croc devouring a wildebeest.

(Self-released)

Emblem – Demo

The raison d’être of Californian band Emblem is to speak truth to power; be that politicians, lawmakers, or anyone who places hurdles in the way of immigrants living free and fulfilling lives. Emblem put it more bluntly, noting their music is a “symbol of our undying hated for conquerors”. The band’s demo is anger in action – kinetic rage incarnate. Not every punk release has to mean something. But goddamn, it sounds good when it does. Fuck colonialism, obviously.

(Self-released)

Fumus – Demo 2023

Fumus call Bukittinggi, Indonesia, home. The band’s Demo 2023 is a ripper, with bleeding-raw hardcore being the dish of the day. The final track on Fumus’ demo is a blast of harsh noise from experimental artist Torturewave. (I’m guessing there’s a connection to Fumus, maybe?) In any case, Fumus’ demo is a solid start.

(Self-released)

Wozz – Demo 2023

Wozz are a raw hardcore band from Bandung, Indonesia, and their Demo 2023 sounds as ragged as a shark bite but, somehow, still as sharp as a blade. Wozz’s demo is punchier than expected, and while there are only three songs here, that’s enough noise to spark a desire to hear more from the band.

(Self-released)

Axefear – Demo

Seattle, Washington, band Axefear features members who’d played in groups like Cerebral Rot, Deconsecration, and Anoxia. That makes a lot of sense, given the encroaching darkness and hope-smashing heaviness of Axefear’s thrashing crust. The band’s three-song demo is extremely promising. In fact, every song here (see “Gallows Feast”, “Scars Laid Bare”, and “Embraced In Genocide”) is a stampeding triumph. Devotees of hefty-sized metalpunk take note – more crust fans need to hear Axefear’s demo asap. (I can’t imagine it’ll be long before some killer label picks this one up.)

(Self-released)

Posted by Craig Hayes

Old man from Aotearoa New Zealand. I write about dadcrust for d-beat dorks, raw punk nerds, and metal dweebs.

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