In Crust We Trust: Vol 30

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 d-beat, stenchcore, raw punk, noisecore, and every other crusty and Dis-charged subgenre. Enjoy the ruckus, and thanks for stopping by.

A quick note about thank yous, goodbyes, and nuisances.

This is the 30th edition of ICWT, and on behalf of myself and the rest of your cabin crew, I’d like to thank the handful of supporters who peruse this column every month. Thus far, ICWT has spotlighted around 750 releases, meaning I’ve written roughly 200,000 words about plenty of bands that often sound identical. For some writers, treading the same ground – over and over – as your readership declines would feel like a pointless endeavour. But not me, kiddo!

Psychotically scribbling about underground music for a rapidly dwindling audience is my fuckin’ sweet spot. I’ve been doing it for decades, and I love shouting about niche noise for a minuscule cabal of like-minded nerds. Sure, ICWT is a tiny club. But I wholeheartedly appreciate every set of eyes and ears that stops by.

This month’s column features 6133 more words about horrible music, and long may we all continue to bathe in oceans of ugly noise. Cheers to Last Rites for hosting this rubbish, and thanks (to you) for reading this garbage. In a world full of A-holes, you’re a definite A+.

I looked for an image to mark this 30th edition and found this: MRR #30, when Henry’s hair was a hot topic. Fuck I’m old.

In sadder news, if you hadn’t heard, Sakevi Yokoyama, the intimidating vocalist of Japanese metalpunks G.I.S.M., exited this plane of reality in early September. G.I.S.M.’s debut album, 1983’s Detestation, was a landmark release in the annals of hardcore and metalpunk, and the mayhem and mystery surrounding G.I.S.M. have influenced most of the music that ICWT covers. In recent times, Relapse Records’ reissuing of G.I.S.M.’s first two albums brought the band renewed attention, and devotees of provocative punk will keenly feel Sakevi’s death. The confrontational frontman’s exploits – both on and off stage – played a crucial role in securing G.I.S.M.’s legacy. Like all challenging artists, a combination of chaos and mythos will always lie at the heart of Sakevi’s genius. RIPower, brother.

Let’s not end this intro with a frown. Let me point you to a recent post on Terminal Sound Nuisance that’ll put a smile on your crust-friendly dial. The blog’s latest update details the ins and outs of Terminal Sound Nuisance’s five-part Out From the Void Into the Digital Age: Crust in the 2010’s compilation series, which you can find on the site’s YouTube channel. The multi-part series features scores of groups from near and far and digs into plenty of crusty offshoots and byways. Like Terminal Sound Nuisance’s previous compilations – see, for example, personal favs like Distorted Hope and Cruster Rags: the Rise of Japanese Crust or The Stench of the Millennium: at the Core of 00’s Crust – Out From the Void Into the Digital Age is endless noisy fun for newbies and diehards alike. I’ve said it countless times before, but Terminal Sound Nuisance is a top-tier source of in-depth commentary, wry criticism, and, as it turns out, a curator of killer playlists, too.

La Vida Es Un Mus – Mini-Fest

Since the last edition of ICWT, much-loved UK label La Vida Es Un Mus has added around ten releases to their Bandcamp page, many of which fall into this column’s orbit of interests. I’m going to play fast ‘n’ loose and bang out a few quick-fire blurbs about those releases, focusing, as ICWT always does, on the rawer/crustier end of the spectrum. Call it a La Vida Es Un Mus mini-fest, if you will.

Stingray’s ear-piercing Fortress Britain LP follows their 2021 EP, Feeding Time, which got plenty of people’s juices flowing (mine included). There’s much to be mined from Fortress Britain‘s depths, with Stingray’s savage sound mixing the bite of feral punk with the neck-snapping might of mosh-charged hardcore. Fans of bellowing vocals and punishing metallic punk will find plenty to enjoy as the echo of UK legends like Sacrilege or ENT reverberates in the background of Stingray’s raging tracks. Stingray’s full-length debut is #brutal and stacked with electrifying tracks.

Motive’s Controlled Confusion EP and Régimen De Terror’s self-titled 7″ nod to some of Albion’s angriest voices. In UK band Motive’s Controlled’s case, groups like The Varukers, Discharge, and a touch of G.B.H. (at their hardest) fuel the band’s creative engine. There’s no denying the influence of Scandi hordes aplenty, too. But in the main, Motive’s 5-song 7″ is a full-throttle blast of UKHC that hits like a ton of bricks. Basque band Régimen De Terror also look to Discharge – circa 80-81 – for inspirational muscle. Like their previous work, Régimen De Terror don’t waste time with oblique or subtextual elements. The band’s second EP is a direct attack: short, sharp, and blistering, much like the peak-era d-beat of their most prominent influence.

Chicago (aka ‘Shitcago’) outfit Mock Execution’s latest release, Circle of Madness, is a 5-track EP timed to coincide with the band’s European tour. Mock Execution’s wares are a fierce assemblage of Scandi-core and every great band from Crust War’s catalogue mixed and matched to maximise Mock Execution’s mangling sound. One change heard on Circle of Madness is that Mock Execution’s inferno-like crasher crust now features a lot of sharper riffs. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that Mock Execution have cleaned up their act. Circle of Madness is still filthy as Hell – right to its disease-ridden core.

Nosferatu’s Society’s Bastard LP isn’t a new release; I included the cassette version of the album on my 2022 end-of-year list. However, La Vida Es Un Mus have kindly re-released Society’s Bastard on vinyl, granting me another opportunity to praise Nosferatu’s uncompromising approach. Essentially, the Texas-based band sound like Siege or Koro (or Die Kreuzen as their speediest) covering Bad Brain’s “Don’t Need It”. Recorded at D4MT Labs, Society’s Bastard‘s aggressive songs are delivered at breakneck speed. Whiplashing guitar, bass, drums, and razor-edge vocals boil in a murky maelstrom, and pitch-perfect 80s hardcore is conjured into being. Society’s Bastard is fast, furious, and catchier than…(insert the latest variant right here).

Visions of War – The Lost Tapes…

The full title of Belgian crusties Visions of War’s latest release is The Lost Tapes: A Bottle to Far – Session Re​-​noised 2002, and there’s a story behind that lengthy title, which former vocalist Lölö tells in the LP’s accompanying booklet. Long story short, Visions of War recorded a live session in a grubby Amsterdam squat 20-odd years ago, and while eight of the songs from that session ended up on a split release with Dutch fastcore band Olho De Gato, the remaining tracks sat rotting on a hard drive. Fast forward a few decades, and those tracks were disinterred – and left welcomely unpolished – and ‘voila!’ The Lost Tapes gets a long-overdue release.

(Kudos to Swedish label Not Enough for seeing the value in releasing The Lost Tapes on vinyl, too.)

Everything on The Lost Tapes was recorded live, with no overdubs or post-recording tinkering, and the album’s lower-fi filthiness is the key to its success. Not to dump on anyone’s idea of fun, but nowadays, a lot of crust punk is deliberately engineered to attract scene tourists. However, The Lost Tapes is the absolute antithesis of that malarky. The album foregrounds inebriated råpunk and putrid mangel madness, and while it’s always fun listening to Visions of War maximise the weight/girth of their audio output, at their dirtiest and rawest, they still sound great. If you love stinkin’ ass crust, great news, The Lost Tapes fucking reeks.

(Not Enough)

Black Dog – Overthrow

Like many of you reading this, I maintain a constant vigilance lest the sceptre of the black dog begin to gnaw (once again) at my hard-fought equilibrium. Depression is a motherfucker, and that’s why brutes like Black Dog matter. The Canadian band’s head-splitting Overthrow EP features an avalanche of fuzz-choked noisecore. And every one of Overthrow‘s violent tracks is a blizzard of darkness. But therein lies liberation, my friend, with Black Dog providing a brutal sonic exorcism. Overthrow is highly abrasive, and it’ll torch your woes and worries like a flamethrower. Concussive, corrosive, and cathartic – triple threat noise, brothers and sisters.

(Roach Leg Records)

Anguished Life – Shroud of Death

Hey! Ho! Let’s go. It’s time for another blast of ear-wrecking punk from the fine folks at New Mexico label Blown Out Media. This time, it’s the debut LP from LA trio Anguished Life. The band features members from some of my favourite contemporary West Coast noise-makers – see Tortür, End Result, and Dust Collector – and Anguished Life cite well-respected progenitors like Crucifix, Iconoclast, and Final Conflict as inspirations. Similarly, Anguished Life’s stripped-down tracks are relentless, and the band’s powerhouse debut, Shroud of Death, is lean, mean, and ferocious. Recorded at the well-known 1753 recording room in Boyle Heights, Shroud of Death will certainly appeal to fans of 1753’s bulging Bandcamp page. Of course, Blown Out’s involvement means you also know things will sound authentic as Hell. Killer production, raging d-beat, and raw punk scorching enough to spark a dumpster fire. Win-win-win.

(Blown Out Media)

Extensive Slaughter – More Than A Nightmare
Iron Warning – Demo XXII

Here’s a double dose of earth-quaking crust from the always-interesting roster of Canadian label Neon Taste Records. Extensive Slaughter’s name is lifted from an Excrement Of War track, which is apt, given Extensive Slaughter’s barrelling sound ticks plenty of 90s crust boxes. (Sidenote: why have Excrement Of War never gotten their dues? Cathode Ray Coma is a riot, as withering as anything Doom spat out.) Extensive Slaughter’s More than a Nightmare debut engulfs and then eviscerates – and a tip of the hat, once again, to Shige at Tokyo’s Noise Room Studios for his help in that process. Extensive Slaughter’s anarcho/squat-crust careens into heavyweight/sawtooth hardcore, and there are plenty of Bastard-worthy solos to enjoy as the band’s world-eating crust devours all. Destruction, disorder, and decay are all here, with More Than A Nightmare‘s obliterating aesthetic tapping into the guts of festering/fist-raising crust. No question, More Than A Nightmare will be appearing on my end-of-year list. FFO Napalm Raid, Cotärd, Languid, etc. Chaos reigns eternal.

Hungry for a little more top-tier crust? Iron Warning is the solo project of Extensive Slaughter (and Blood Ties) member Ian, and his project’s Demo XXII is a trampling crust heavy-hitter and one of ’23’s best demos yet. Like Extensive Slaughter, Iron Warning draws inspiration from the dark well of crust that bands like Amebix and Antisect inspired. However, Iron Warning digs deeper into the grave, with death and black metal also oozing on Demo XXII‘s four tracks. Iron Warning’s demo is pummeling, with a Bolt Thrower epicness and hammering intent. Riffs upon riffs. Howls upon howls. Annihilating crust.

(Neon Taste Records)

Arüspex – Hawthorne & Henbane

Northern Californian band Arüspex blend Profane Existence/Skuld Releases-style hardcore with melodic neo-crust on their gripping Hawthorne & Henbane album. You’ll hear the raw emotionality of Alex CF-fronted bands on tracks like “Hallowed Days” and “Suffuse,” but what you’ll hear most on Hawthorne & Henbane is Arüspex pouring their heart and, most importantly of all, their soul into their first full-length release. The band’s “femme-fronted” crust throws its arms around you on a track like “What’s It Worth?” while Arüspex spit icier – almost black metal – tacks on “Willow” and “Burden”. Passion, pain, and ardent cries for justice; if you’re a fan of Alerta Antifascista’s roster, you’ll find Hawthorne & Henbane similarly rousing. Ⓐ//Ⓔ –– all the way.

(Self-released)

A.T.E.R. / Tormentum –Split

Mexican stenchcore band Tormentum released a smashing demo in 2022. And Québec deathcrust outfit A.T.E.R. released a strong demo last year, too. The two bands’ recent split is a murderous meeting of minds. Death metal’s darkness shrouds Tormentum’s sound, with the band’s Neanderthal stench nodding to Bolt Thrower, Deviated Instinct, Sanctum and Stormcrow. Tormentum’s contributions to their split with A​.​T​.​E​.​R. – “No Broken Swords” and “Endless Battle” – are primal weapons: rough, gruff, and warmongering ragers built for brutal skirmishes. A.T.E.R.’s guttural contributions are the perfect accompaniment, with “Putrefacto” and “Sangre y poder” being solid as a rock and just as likely to cave your head in. Fans of behemoth crust will dig the bass-rumbling action within.

Honestly, I’m entirely biased towards cavernous crust married to gravel-gargling death metal. I lose all perspective when wallowing in that union’s squalid and sepulchral depths. That said, I’m confident if you’re a connoisseur of heavyweight punk or stench-friendly metal, you’ll love this putrid split, too.

(Self-released)

Isolant – Oblivion
Isolant – Drain

Isolant’s Oblivion EP was originally released back in 2015. But it’s been recently given a spit ‘n’ polish and a well-deserved re-release by Boston label Social Napalm. (Who, FYI, have close ties to the highly recommended blog/zine Negative Insight). Isolant explore the industrial crust world, plucking influences from the experimentalism of bands like Throbbing Gristle or early Swans, along with more direct sonic connections to groups like Godflesh, Pitchshifter, Deviated Instinct, Spine Wrench, Optimum Wound Profile, and Depressor. The conceptual aim/arc of industrial crust was to combine crust’s apocalyptic overtones and abject filth with the ice-cold atmospherics of an album like Scorn’s Vae Solis, which is precisely what you’ll find on Isolant’s Oblivion EP.

The EP’s lengthy tracks – “Oblivion”, “Fracture: Fatigue” and “Stasis” – grind the gears of rack and ruin, ploughing ever deeper into abject darkness. Downtuned percussive heaviness combines with suffocating grimness, while a crawling sense of ominousness gnaws at your nerves. If the hope-crushing mood of Oblivion appeals, check out Isolant’s more recent EP, Drain. Out via Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Drain leans hard on the abrasiveness of outlier 90s metal and boundary-testing crust. Perfect misery-guts noise for those days when everything seems doomed.

(Social Napalm, Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

P.S.Y.W.A.R. – Defcon

P.S.Y.W.A.R.’s Defcon 7″ is the group’s first and last vinyl release, with the Missouri band breaking up before Iron Lung Records dropped their five-song EP. (Obviously, P.S.Y.W.A.R. are far from alone in releasing a promising pile of obliterating punk before suddenly imploding.) The vitriolic hardcore found on “Defcon 3 (Condition Of Man)” and bass-blasting “Defcon 1 (Hearts And Minds)” features abundant bombarding elements, with P.S.Y.W.A.R. dialling up the pressure-keg intensity throughout. The eight incendiary minutes of Defcon sound like Hell on earth; the grinding attrition of body and mind. P.S.Y.W.A.R. may be gone, but the hardcore war continues.

(Iron Lung Records)

Absolut – Hell’s Highest Power (v1)

I’ve got a copy of Ontario band Absolut’s Hell’s Highest Power LP, released by D-Takt & Råpunk Records in 2015, sitting in my record collection. But, it turns out, I’ve been listening to Hell’s Highest Power 2.0 all along. Phobia Records dropped a surprise (for me, at least) recently, releasing Hell’s Highest Power (V1) with the byline: “10 tracks from the first recording session that was never released. Recorded with the original line-up in 2013, with Vassil Mester on drums (R.I.P.). All tracks are unheard, raw and guaranteed to crack your brain up!”.

That last line is wholly accurate – brain-cracking stonk awaits. The d-beaten tracks on Hell’s Highest Power (V1) are violent and volcanic, but fidelity-wise, they sound much cruder than Absolut’s recent work. I doubt that rawness would give any of Absolut’s fans a moment’s pause, though. Hell’s Highest Power (V1) might be thinner than Absolut’s burlier releases, but its demo-like sound adds to the gut-driven milieu. Absolut’s riffs still rip, and vocals still roar, so as I’ve said before, it’s time to get your Canadian Jawbreaker buzz on.

(Phobia Records)

Deformed Existence / Visions of Chaos – The World at War

I prefer to write about Bandcamp releases streaming in full, but I’ve got a deadline to meet, and at the time I’m writing this line, there are only a couple of tracks streaming off Deformed Existence and Visions of Chaos’ The World at War split. Still, those tracks sound great – I mean, they sound horrible, but that’s a bonus around these parts – so I’m diving in regardless.

Japan’s Deformed Existence includes members from fellow crust bands Exithippies and Asocial Terror Fabrication. (Pro tip: AOS’s oeuvre comes highly recommended.) Deformed Existence released their ferocious debut, Hate With Patriotism, in 2019 (via the excellent Doomed To Extinction Records), and it was crammed with rotting pants/Doom-indebted crustcore. From the sounds of “Massacre for Dominion”, the track streaming off their split with Visions of Chaos, you’re in for another hellscape journey through the realms of decimating punk. You’ll lap this up if you love rancid-smelling and gutter-dwelling crust.

Visions of Chaos specialise in nerve-grating raw punk. As usual, the band’s preview track here, “Escapar,” sizzles with lo-fi static but is also somewhat bone-chilling. (Abrasive in tone and texture is very much par for the course with Visions of Chaos and their Sistema Mortal Tapes contemporaries.) Some splits offer very similar fare, but from the sounds of it, Deformed Existence and Visions of Chaos’ The World at War cassette will deliver different, albeit equally harsh, examples of mind-wiping punk. I’m amped to hear more.

(Sistema Mortal Tapes)

Abism – S/T

New York label Toxic State Records has released a mountain of gnarly music from groups like Fairytale, Warthog, Savage Pleasure, Stigmatism, and a gazillion other great bands. The full-length debut from NYC’s Abism is another knockout. The unique approach here sees Abism’s droning guitars often deliver a harsh albeit hypnotic wash of riffage rather than relying on hardcore’s stock-standard jagged stabs. Abism’s self-titled LP is still a hardcore LP through and through, and for all its waves of riffs, there are still plenty of sharper ones, too. The band’s distinctive approach on tracks like “No Veo el Sol,” “Sangre,” and “Systema de Opresión” catapults Abism into that category of offering something genuinely innovative, drawing comparisons – not musically, but certainly attitudinally – with D4MT Labs bands like Straw Man Army or Kaleidoscope. Long story short, Abism’s LP is a welcome shot of something new. The crew reconfigure many of hardcore’s tropes while maintaining the genre’s power and prowess.

(Toxic State Records)

The Last Survivors – 2001​-​2016

Out via label General Speech, The Last Survivors’ 2001​-​2016 compilation corrals the Tokyo band’s 7″ releases for labels Crust War, Dan-Doh, and Pogo 77, along with a scattering of rarer tracks. With remastered songs, The Last Survivors sound better than ever, and 2001​-​2016 features liner notes from Jacky Crust War (Framtid), So (Hardcore Survives), and Sakurai (Centipede / The Addiction) that explore the band’s history.

The Last Survivors are often tagged as raw punk, which is accurate in terms of their unbridled intensity and it points to the band’s influences from far-flung Scandinavian destinations. However, The Last Survivors’ sound isn’t a noise-core onslaught. Instead, the band inject intoxicating UK82 and even proto-punk influences into their tracks, meaning The Last Survivors are raw and rabid but also catchy as Hell. Hooks, passion, and snarling punk aplenty: The Last Survivors’ discography is well worth your time and energy.

(General Speech)

Barrage – S/T

Bonjour, vous les gens horribles. Barrage are a d-beat band from Besançon, France, and Kick Rock, the label releasing Barrage’s self-titled debut, suggests the album’s 12 “epic and dark” tracks are reminiscent of bands like Severed Head Of State and Wolfbrigade. I’d go with the former in that regard. Not to unduly criticise Wolfbrigade, but they’re beefy Euro kingpins with swathes of metal and hardcore fans, whereas Barrage maintain a grittier and grimier DIY edge. Is the band’s debut reinventing the wheel? Nope. Not in the slightest. But sometimes, all you need is a thick slab of d-beat and crusty hardcore (with plenty of energising pick-slides) to help you smash your way through life’s endless hurdles. In that sense, Barrage are 100% fit for purpose. The band’s debut isn’t breaking new ground, but raging tracks like “Funérailles Rapides”, “Sans Les Freins”, and “Dernière Torche” will stoke the fires within.

(Kick Rock)

Wet Specimens – Over Pale Bodies

Wet Specimens’ Over Pale Bodies album is both surreal and sinister. The New York band’s debut LP features biting hardcore cut with flesh-crawling interludes, sculpting what Wet Specimens vocalist Colin has described as a “haunted house atmosphere”. Over Pale Bodies has an unnerving undercurrent, with the iciness of deathrock and post-punk threading their way through otherwise hardcore-heavy tracks “Phobias”, “Cursed Ethic”, and “Cold Earth”. Elsewhere, “Bed of Nails” and “Early Grave” drive thick nails into your skull, and it’s that contrast between the strange and savage that evokes albums like Dance With Me, Adolescents, or Living in Darkness being ground up in the maw of contemporary hardcore. Call it horror punk, death-beat, or dark-core? You choose. It doesn’t matter. The Angel of Death doesn’t care about the correct Bandcamp tag.

(Brain Slash Records, Runstate Tapes)

Barrows – Discord and Society

Whoever’s in charge of adding content to Black Konflik Records’ Bandcamp page deserves a pay rise because the Malaysian label has been uploading banger after banger at a furious pace. (Black Konflik is a busy beast in general, with 216 releases and counting listed on the label’s Discogs page.) Black Konflik’s Bandcamp page features scores of comps, new releases, and re-released classics, and there are dozens of recommended releases, including the following from razor-edged Japanese trio Barrows.

Barrows’ recent Discord and Society compilation collects tracks from the band’s Discord And Society 7″ and their Remote Place Attack demo. Discharge, Disclose, and early Anti Cimex strongly influence Barrows. Thus, it’s no surprise to find that Discord and Society‘s piercing tracks are wrapped in raw punk’s barbwire finish. Fans of migraine-inducing d-beat will love this shitnoise. However, Barrows’ latest is only one of many Japanese hardcore compilations on Black Konflik’s Bandcamp page: see also The Last Survivors 2001​-​2016, Poikkeus’ Sympatia Paholainen: Early Tracks, The Rustler’s 1988​-​1994, Swindle Bitch’s Lonely Wolf Like A Storm: Complete Swindle Bitch 1993​-​1995, Acute’s For Peace 1986​-​1992, and plenty more besides.

Black Konflik’s Bandcamp page features countless rowdy releases. Many are A-grade triumphs. Take a look, and prepare to be overwhelmed.
(Black Konflik Records)

Misery – The Early Years

Minneapolis, Minnesota legends Misery birthed a gravelly strain of strident punk that’s spread its stinkin’ tendrils far and wide. The band’s The Early Years compilation contains exactly what you’d expect. Most of the band’s 7″ releases are here (Born Fed Slaughtered, Blindead, Children Of War, and splits with Assrash and Hellspawn), but not 1993’s Your Leaders Were Lying!, which Misery left behind due to issues with its sound. The Early Years features 13 remastered tracks, providing 40 minutes of über-pissed-off crust that stinks like a mound of burning tyres. You could spend an age searching for sought-after copies of the 7″ releases gathered here, meaning The Early Years is a perfect opportunity to grab a stack of Misery’s classics in one shot. Heavy on distortion – and heavy on the soul – The Early Years is an essential purchase. In crust we trust, ad infinitum.

(Agipunk Records)

Hallux – Obsolete

Obsolete, the five-song EP from Minnesota four-piece Hallux, is what you’d call an acquired taste. Hallux’s all-in, wall-of-noise approach makes for a hellishly battering experience. But that’s also why Obsolete is a lot of fun. Instrumentally, everything crashes and smashes with maximum disorder and disarray (and vocals croak and bark, too). It’s all very much akin to walking city streets nowadays; feeling on edge as society crumbles. Hallux pour everything into a singular assault, with the sum total of their ordnance being far more important than any finicky finesse. Crust, d-beat, and raw hardcore are ground up and spat out in a reality-severing blast of noise, bringing more sonic chaos to an already deafening world. Fuck everyone and everything. The end cometh.

(Self-released)

Crêam Söda – Fiction

Fiction is the third release from Sydney, Australian band Crêam Söda. The band are fronted by Japanese (now Aus-based) bassist and vocalist Danny Sano and Fiction‘s blazing sound draws from Japan’s lineage of prime punk influences. Groups like Death Side, Bastard, Gauze, and Systematic Death ring loud on Crêam Söda songs “Overkill”, “All In”, and “Gas Attack,” but there’s also plenty of Scandi oomph and thrashing metallic hardcore powering “Your Soul” and “Mind Imprisoned”. Releases from bands like Geld and Enzyme have grabbed the Australian punk headlines this year, and both of those bands thoroughly deserve the applause, but you should also add Crêam Söda to your shopping list. Fast, fun, and incendiary, Fiction is a blast.

(Chaotic Thoughts Records)

Fredag den 13:e – M​ä​nskliga Gr​ä​nstillst​å​nd

Swedish band Fredag den 13:e formed in Gothenburg in 2006, and M​ä​nskliga Gr​ä​nstillst​å​nd is the group’s fifth (and best) full-length release thus far. Like the band’s other releases, M​ä​nskliga Gr​ä​nstillst​å​nd combines Anti Cimex’s rage with Poison Idea’s hooks, At The Gates’ melodicism, and Disfear’s ferocity (and you’ll even hear a little Motör-charged propulsion on “Ett Paradis Av Piss”). Fredag den 13:e mix things up on Mänskliga Gränststånd, with “Våldsmonopol” cranking the d-beat dial, while “Tyst Vår” exhibits more black metal leanings. Elsewhere, “En Sömn Utan Slut” utilises plenty of death metal’s punch, and “Förlorade År” delivers an old-school hardcore beatdown. According to Fredag den 13:e, Mänskliga Gränststånd explores the psychological impact of isolation and madness, the current plague years being a prime source of inspiration. Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Mänskliga Gränststånd sounds massive – as you’d expect. Fans of burly and bruising Scandicrust, you know what to do.

(Phobia Records, De:Nihil, Halvfabrikat, Deviance, Every Day Hate)

Total Nada – Total Nada II

The second EP from Canadian band Total Nada is even better than their first (which, FYI, drew a few rave reviews, too.) Total Nada II continues the band’s exploration of late 80s/early 90s Latin American hardcore, with Total Nada’s Spanish-language tracks featuring high levels of (sweat-soaked) energy and passion. What’s new is more of a vintage Italian punk flavour to Total Nada’s tracks and, as the band’s labels 11PM Records and Discos Enfermos suggest, you’ll hear the influence of Norwegian band Svart Framtid ringing louder. Punchy, propulsive, and powerful. What more do you need? The world’s a mess; unplug with Total Nada’s nihilistic noise.

(11 PM Records)

Piss Baby – Rest in Piss Demo

The latest lo-fi release from go-to Aotearoa New Zealand label Razored Raw is a five-song EP from the charmingly monikered Piss Baby. Spinkicks, windmills, and nine minutes of “chugga chugga whoop whoop recorded live to portastudio” are what Piss Baby’s ear-splitting Rest in Piss Demo promises, and the band duly deliver. Gruesomely raw hardcore meets blown-out powerviolence, and the result is power-drilled into your lughole. Vocalist Sabrina Lawson’s red-lining howls will destroy your speakers, while guitarist and backing vocalist Ian Moore’s obnoxious riffs are as jagged as a saw blade. Rest in Piss is painfully corrosive, and that’s the point; the tooth-rattling noise right here is supposed to hurt. This puppy’s for diehard fans of feedback and max-caustic punk.

(Razored Raw)

Depopulation Department – Another War Victim

Spanish band Depopulation Department was formed by a few grindcore and death metal vets (including members from well-known grind outfit Haemorrhage) looking to stretch their d-beat and crust punk legs. The group’s Another War Victim album was originally released on CD in 2021. However, Belgium label Loner Cult – and several other record-slingers – recently re-released Another War Victim on vinyl. Depopulation Department’s creative aim was to dig into the 80s, mixing Discharge with a crustier Exploited, and Another War Victim‘s 15 tracks (including a great cover of Doom’s “Exploitation”) hurtle along at top speed, delivering a series of rapid-fire gut-punches along the way.

Guitarists and co-vocalists Luisma and Ana spit and shout, and Depopulation Department aren’t shy about putting their foot on the speed metal pedal either. Of note is the band’s desire to step away from the explicit gore and demonic adventures of grindcore and death metal, and Depopulation Department duly exhibits more of a ‘punk’ attitude with songs focused on real-world concerns like war, political corruption, gendered violence, bigotry, etc. Depopulation Department don’t sound self-conscious or remotely worried about carving out an original sound. They’re having fun, cutting loose, and hollering and howling at the world. Grind goes crust; it works a treat.

(Loner Cult Records, Romantic Songs Recordings, Hecatombe Records, Crust As Fuck Records, Helldog Records)

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.

Kläpträp – The Bullshit Continues​.​.​.

Now there’s a title I could repurpose to describe the last 22 years of my writing about punk and metal –> the bullshit continues​, eternal. But enough about me. Here’s some more godawful noise.

The second demo in as many months from German/UK band Kläpträp follows the same drinkin’, thinkin’, stinkin’ course as their Songs about Wrongs debut. The hook here is that Kläpträp features members from unwashed legends Doom and Visions of War, and thus, The Bullshit Continues​.​.​. features more dumpster-diving crust that’s gross enough to give you a nasty gastrointestinal illness. Scum-noise that’s purpose-built for scumbags like you and me. Delicious.

Psych-War – Demo ’23

Tucked into the corner of cover art for Pennsylvania band Psych-War’s Demo ’23 is a sure sign of quality: Canadian label Sore Mind’s logo. Like other Sore Mind fare, Psych-War’s Demo ’23 is a sledgehammering release packed with crushing d-beat and lacerating hardcore. No question, Demo ’23 is one of this year’s best debuts, sounding harder and heavier than plenty of ‘pro’ recordings. I saw that Psych-War were playing a few dates with Warkrusher on their upcoming US East Coast tour, and that’s a perfect match. I can’t recommend this shotgun blast of hardcore enough.

Krigssystem – War Profit?

Krigssystem hail from Thessaloniki, Greece, and the band’s War Profit? demo feels like a red-hot spike hammered into your cranium. The demo’s super-acidic tracks were all recorded ‘no-fi styles’ in Krigssystem’s rehearsal room. Like plenty of scorched-earth raw punk indebted to Disclose, Discharge and Disaster, Krigssystem’s self-styled ‘Noise Punk Massacre’ is eviscerating and, in this case, more venomous than a cobra, too.

Brigada Bastarda – Demo 2023

Spanish band Brigada Bastarda’s Demo 2023 bounces along on waves of throbbing bass as screaming riffs, screeching solos, and bellowing shouts weave a raw punk ruckus. Lo-fi but high energy is the name of the game here. Best suited for lovers of headaches, nausea, and disturbed visions.

Vilmort – Demo 1

Spanish grindcore band Vilmort’s Demo 1 is crusty enough to warrant inclusion in this column. More than that, though, Vilmort’s debut features enough audio filth and sonic intensity to ensure it’s a go-to choice for anyone searching for tasty new noise. You get fifteen songs, and they all grunt, gurgle and spew out rotting hunks of grind-punk. Great stuff.

Workers Comp – Demo

The debut demo from Ontario hardcore band Workers Comp is breathless fun from go to woah. Workers Comp out their foot down on opener “Eviction Notice,” and then power their way through heavyweight tracks that are super-catchy and likely sound even better live.

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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