Kia ora, compadres.
Welcome to the latest edition of In Crust We Trust. Below you’ll find a bunch of ear-wrecking noise to help you process and/or drown out the 24/7 horror show currently occupying our screens. Wherever you are, and whatever your sitch, I hope you’re able to find some time to crank the volume and shake your thang. Here’s to grunts, growls, and screaming guitars continuing to soothe our trauma(s).
Apologies in advance for such a lengthy column. Honestly, I have no idea how to pitch this shit in an age of dying, human-scripted media. I know I should write shorter and punchier columns, but there’s always so much great music to chat about. I did attempt to curtail my tendencies by deleting a half-dozen blurbs before submitting this month’s column. But now I just feel fucking awful about leaving all those bands behind. I’m too nice. That’s my problem. Ol’ Mr Cuddle-Bunny’s not cut out for the ruthless world of third-tier punk rock journalism.
As always, cheers for tuning in to this non-AI slop. I appreciate you carving out some space in your schedule to read my over-excited blurbage. The audience for ICWT is über-niche and ever-shrinking, so thanks for hanging in there. You rule!
Go easy on yourself. Cyber-hugs all round.
Kia kaha
C
Hasta la vista, Gabba y Phil.
In March, two figures who had a significant impact on the music featured in ICWT exited this plane of existence. Long-time Chaos UK guitarist Gabba passed away early in the month, and there’s no question that Chaos UK’s early LPs (and the band’s much-loved split with Extreme Noise Terror) influenced countless hardcore punk musicians. Gabba was a bona fide rebel, through and through. RIPower, kid.
The death of long-time Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell was also a huge loss. Motörhead’s influence on hardcore punk has reverberated across the ages, and Campbell’s long tenure with the band spawned plenty of high-octane releases. (I’d argue that albums like 1916, Bastards, Inferno, and Sacrifice feature some of Motörhead’s toughest-sounding tracks. I’ll throw Orgasmatron into the mix, too. Orgasmatron slaps.)
Campbell’s loss was deeply felt in both the metal and punk communities, a testament to his muscular riffing, scruffy charisma, and rock-solid work ethic. Everything louder than everything else – forever. RIPower, sir.
Massacre System – S/T
Raleigh, NC, label Bunker Punks has released a bunch of gnashing ‘n’ smashing music over the years, including 2023’s instant-classic Screaming Death split, which features roaring tracks from Destruct, Scarecrow, Dissekerad, and Rat Cage.
Bunker Punks’ latest release is the four-song, self-titled debut from Richmond, VA, outfit Massacre System. The band’s EP kicks off with a screech of static, before Massacre System get down to business, dispensing grim-toned hardcore inspired by Stoke-on-Trent’s finest.
Everything here is super-abrasive, and much like the aforementioned Destruct, Massacre System use the visceral rawness of their production as a weapon. At points, the band redline their engine, pushing tracks into full-blown, wall-of-noise territory. But in the main, Massacre System remain locked into relentless, sledgehammering d-beat.
Rough, tough, and brutal as a battleaxe, Massacre System’s debut ramps up expectations for the band’s next bout of audio carnage. Pro tip: Don’t sleep on Bunker Punks’ next drop. Hit the ‘follow’ button on the label’s Bandcamp page forthwith.
(Bunker Punks)
Heretgia – En un món en guerra, l’heretgia és la pau
Heretgia’s formidable debut, En un món en guerra, l’heretgia és la pau, will definitely feature on plenty of year-end lists this coming December. The Barcelona-based band’s four-song EP injects bone-rattling bass into growling stenchcore, and chug-heavy guitars power colossal-sounding tracks like “Dansa de la mort” and “La selva culpa”.
Heretgia stretch things out on the synth-laden “Ombres del no-res” and bring the industrial-sized crusher down on “L’esperança ofegada”. All the makings of a first-class trampling crust are here, but that’s not wholly surprising, given Heretgia’s singer and guitarist, Francesco, also features in the ranks of crustcore behemoth Terminal Filth.
Fans of the Amebix school of stench-crust will love this stuff. But Heretgia aren’t necessarily looking to the past for inspiration. The band’s debut is clearly influenced by the horrific things happening right outside your door, and, like the best stenchcore bands, Heretgia bring the weight of the world to bear on their bleak and bruising tracks.
Staggeringly good. Highly recommended.
(Self-released)
(Thanks to DIY Conspiracy guv’nor Mittens XVX for pointing this one out to me.)
D.S.B. – Substitute
Originally released on CD in 2004, Substitute is the second full-length album from Japanese hardcore band D.S.B. (Or the third if you want to include the band’s One Shot One Kill split with Warhead, Extinct Government, and Zone.) Much like D.S.B.’s classic Blood Sucker Records debut, Wings Continue To Strive With Unchanged Mind, Substitute is crammed to the gunnels with blistering hardcore that’ll hit home for fans of Death Side, Nightmare, Judgement, and the aforementioned Warhead.
Substitute features brand new and re-recorded tracks (plucked from earlier in D.S.B.’s career). The band recorded the bulk of Substitute after returning home from a successful tour offshore, and it’s clear D.S.B. were firing on all cylinders when they stepped into the studio, because Substitute’s volatile tracks are honed to the fucking edge.
Substitute is getting a long-overdue vinyl release thanks to go-to Philadelphia label General Speech; the label’s well-earned rep for spotlighting explosive Japanese punk continues at pace right here. Much like previous General Speech reissues from Frigöra and Excrement, Substitute is an absolute must. Doubly so for bona fide fans of classic Japanese hardcore.
D.S.B. aren’t often mentioned in the same hushed tones as other legendary Japanese noise-makers, but Substitute makes an excellent case for why they should be. Incendiary hardcore, guaranteed.
(General Speech)
Catastrophe – Cries From The Gutter
Catastrophe’s Cries From The Gutter LP captures the distrust, disillusionment, and desperation that define classic anarcho punk*. Even better, Catastrophe channel their grim missives through a heavier-than-usual filter, adding darker, weightier, and crustier elements to their A+ vinyl debut.
(*See also: Cries From The Gutter’s striking cover art, which screams definitive anarcho punk.)
Of course, the concerns of 80s anarcho punk are all the rage once again: economic devastation, societal collapse, maniacal leaders, and the spectre of nuclear annihilation. Lyrically, Catastrophe dig into all of that, with tracks like “Fear Of Death”, “Cries from the Gutter”, and “Blind Led To Slaughter” matching gravelly metallic riffage to gruff-yet-passionate messaging. (Album closer “World In Decay”, is an absolute death-punch, btw.)
Cries from the Gutter explores hopelessness and a long list of contemporary horrors. But there’s more than enough ‘fuck the system’ defiance within to get you through another grey day and/or another underpaid shift. Cries from the Gutter is purpose-built to bolster your resilience, with Catastrophe’s guttural anthems lighting a bonfire under the ruins of capitalism.
(Symphony of Destruction)
Spiritual Law – S/T
I’d advise affixing a neck brace before dropping the needle on Spiritual Law’s self-titled, full-length debut. This one’s a real bone-breaker. The kind of LP that’ll make you want to throw bricks through cop car windows. Even if Spiritual Law are, in fact, a friendly bunch of German/Austrian lads.
I’d not heard of Spiritual Law before pressing play on their recent, 10-track LP. The band hail from Bavaria (“from the banks of the Inn, Salzach, and Danube rivers”), and I don’t know what they’re putting in the water over there, but Spiritual Law’s super-dark “Hinterland Hardcore” is annihilating. Tracks like “Pressure Stomp”, “Deliverance” and “Live, Lie, Laugh” feature jawbreaking d-beat, metal-armoured hardcore, and enough high-pressure tension and release to reshape your entire psychological framework.
Spiritual Law combine mid-tempo and mosh-heavy breakdowns with ultra-fast explosions, and the band’s tracks are like a carefully calculated form of torture, ratcheting up to incendiary finales. Spiritual Law’s full-length debut is an absolute beast; hard, fast, and meaner-than-mean. Killer album cover, too. Das ist fantastisch.
(Discos Enfermos, Human Future Records, Broken Skull Records)
Poison Ruïn – Hymns From the Hills
Poison Ruïn are real ‘critics darlings’. Drowning in adulation, the band receive untold media coverage, and the lengthy press release unpacking Poison Ruïn’s new album, Hymns From the Hills, reads like The Canterbury Tales. There’s so much hype orbiting Poison Ruïn’s scything music-making that it’s almost painful to find yourself caught in its glare, and this time round, it feels totally justified.
Hymns From the Hills is Poison Ruïn’s most diverse-sounding recording yet, seeing the band stepping out from under the shadow of the castle portcullis. Poison Ruïn’s mix of anarcho punk, lo-fi metal, post-punk, and oi! is fleshed out with a Killing Joke-esque stomp on “Pilgrimage” and “Puzzle Box”, a New Model Army-worthy* tone and tempo on “Lily Of The Valley”, “Serpent’s Curse”, and “Hymn From The Hills”, and even the latter-era experimentalism of Talk Talk makes an appearance on “Howls From The Citadel”.
Poison Ruïn are clearly a talented bunch, and Hymns From the Hills sees them broadening their creative palette in more interesting and inviting ways. Mixed by Jonah Falco (Fucked Up, Career Suicide) and mastered by Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Trapped Under Ice, Integrity), Hymns From the Hills sounds sublime; crisp, warm, and still thruming with Poison Ruïn’s usual self-recorded liveliness. With bigger hooks, more memorable songs, and plenty of guts and gusto, Hymns From the Hills is well worth the hype.
(Relapse Records)
Dente Canino – Guerra Mundial
Brazilian band Dente Canino’s Guerra Mundial debut is hot, loud, and concussive. Dente Canino’s evil, primitive punk boils the raw anger (and untamed energy) of early South American hardcore, and you can’t avoid the influence of 80s Scandicore on such a corrosive-sounding album, either.
Dente Canino paint a grim picture of life in Brazil as your existence unravels, the stink of cordite fills the air, and society fractures beyond repair. If you’re hungry for guttural hardcore that channels the collapse of capitalism and the Mad Max world that awaits survivors, then Guerra Mundial’s chaotic tracks will satisfy your hunger. Brutal, barbaric, and battering; hard hardcore.
(Self-released)
Φορμόλη – Tombs Of Hell
Φορμόλη hail from the sun-baked clines of Akraifnio, Greece. Not that there’s anything remotely clement about the trio’s second album, Tombs Of Hell. A rabid mix of grindcore and crust is the name of the game here, with Φορμόλη’s high-speed tracks scooping up the dirt of Doom and Disrupt while delivering bad news at Terrorizer speeds. There’s a thick odour of stenchcore here, too, a layer of scabrous filth, and with the number of DIY labels involved, it’s clear that Φορμόλη have a solid rep in Greece’s subterranean punk scene.
(Septic Aroma Of Reeking Stench, Nothing To Harvest Records, Extreme Earslaughter, Aspects Of Noise, Gore Kitty, Self-released)
Klonns / Zenocide – Split
Next month, I look forward to writing about the Japanese band Klonns’s G.A.M.E.S LP, which is released on May 1st (via US label Iron Lung and Japanese label Black Hole). In the meantime, Klonns’s split with fellow Tokyo citizens Zenocide serves as a very tasty entree.
Zenocide are one of those bands that throw everything into the mix – black metal, sludge, hardcore, anarcho punk, crust, post-punk, doom, whatever – yet somehow Zenocide still have a coherent, and increasingly raging, sound. Klonns also mix and match subgenres, adding the throat-punch of NYHC to the raw rage of classic, and often crusty, Japanese hardcore. (Think Lip Cream covering Agnostic Front-ish.)
The two bands’ split serves as a great introduction to Klonns and Zenocide if you’ve not sampled their wares before. For long(er)-time listeners, Klonn’s tracks are heavy-hitters, featuring more crossover hardcore than ever before. Zenocide’s two contributions are great, too; they’re both heavyweight, percussive tracks that stick to the path the band carved out on their 2025 EP, GASpels.
All up, a solid split release offering two distinct yet tempting slices of Japanese underground music; the discographies of both Klonns and Zenocide are well worth exploring.
(No Sanctuary)
Faucheuse – Comme Un Poignard
Bonjour, mon ami. Faucheuse’s Comme Un Poignard LP is obviously going to pop up on the radar of many punk fans. The French band’s second full-length has enjoyed plenty of press coverage, and it’s easy to hear why. The Bordeaux-based Faucheuse features current and former members of d-beat stars Bombardement, and, like the aforementioned, Faucheuse tracks like “Avalanche”, “Comme Un Poignard”, and “Mon Ombre” combine hardcore punk’s urgency and rock’n’roll’s hooks.
Faucheuse move further into rockier territory on “Mon Ombre”, “Étincelle” and “Pacte De Feu”, and much of Comme Un Poignard is extremely listener-friendly, which isn’t a criticism by any means. In fact, it’s arguably a bold move, and Faucheuse’s vocalist Émilie Bresson has certainly never sounded catchier. Comme Un Poignard has a lot to offer for fans of seeking hook-heavy, electrifying punk. Much like Bombardement’s recent work, Faucheuse explore the creative boundaries of hardcore while keeping one foot firmly in the d-beat camp.
(Symphony of Destruction)
Yambag – The Psycho
Like every one of Cleveland band Yambag’s previous releases, The Psycho features faster-than-a-speeding-bullet hardcore. If supersonic fastcore isn’t your thing, there’s really nothing here to recommend. Yambag’s tracks are genuine mind-scramblers; all crashing instrumentation and spitting vocals delivered at breakneck speeds. There’s nothing much else to say about The Psycho, which isn’t to suggest the EP’s lacking. It’s certainly aptly titled, and all you really need to know is that Yambag’s style of whirlwind music-making is like getting smacked in the choppers with a baseball bat. In-fucking-tense.
(Convulse Records)
Synaptic Isolation Syndrome – Consuming Mental Isolation
Egide – Demo
I wrote an article recently about a bunch of the best submissions from Demo Fest ’25 (the fund-raising project launched by anti-corporate punk portal The Counterforce). Demo Fest ’25 featured 70+ bands, and there were fair few demos that fell into ICWT’s orbit of interests. I can’t include all of those right here, but here are two of my Demo Fest ’25 favs.
Synaptic Isolation Syndrome’s Consuming Mental Isolation demo features A+ crasher crust – noxious d-beat and raw punk dunked in torrents of putrid noise. With current and ex-members of Warkrusher, Portal Tomb, and Eulogy in the band, it wasn’t a huge surprise that Synaptic Isolation Syndrome’s demo was so strong (or so stinky). It’s a dead cert if you enjoy the wall-of-noise approach of Gloom, Abraham Cross, Doom, or Physique. (Word is, Consuming Mental Isolation cassettes will be available soon via go-to label SoreMind.)
Egide’s demo was another out-of-nowhere knockout. The band’s four-track release is fueled by stench-drenched crustcore, and Egide display an astute sense of balance, mixing crushing metalpunk and blackened crust with atmospheric passges summoning visions of untamed wilderness. Highly recommended heavyweight crust that combines grim mindscapes with expansive landscapes. (Egide has close ties to Québec City crusties Anéantix; their demo is well worth a listen to.)
There are no Bandcamp embeds for Synaptic Isolation Syndrome’s or Egide’s demos. I would wholeheartedly encourage you to click those Demo Fest ’25 links below instead.
Synaptic Isolation Syndrome – Consuming Mental Isolation.
Egide – Demo.
Esperanza – Freedom and Equality
Japanese punks Esperanza have been kicking around the Hiroshima punk scene for a dozen or so years, and Freedom and Equality is the band’s first 12” release. Many of the expected adornments of Japanese punk are entirely absent on Freedom and Equality. There are no Burning Spirits-like guitars, no wild Kansai-inspired hardcore, and there’s no feral crasher crust or Disclose-styled raw punk, either.
Instead, on Freedom and Equality, Esperanza tear through eight tracks of scorched-earth, UK82-driven punk. Like the most authentic corners of the Japanese punk scene, there is a searing, blue-collar honesty at work here. Esperanza have zero time for fineries, fripperies, or showboating. This is the sound of the daily grind; ugly and tough, a life forged through struggle and strife.
Press play, and bands like GBH, The Varukers, and One Way System will spring to mind; as will everyone’s go-to inspiration, Discharge. There’s a fierce d-beat directness to Freedom and Equality, ensuring the album buzzes with an uncompromising attitude. Whether you can decipher Esperanza’s lyrics or not, there’s no mistaking the band’s commitment to the cause. If you’re looking for something fresh yet familiar – and something that features plenty of raw instrumentation as well as dirty, melodic hooks – then Freedom and Equality awaits.
(Metadona Records)
Death Knell – Another Life Consumed in Undiluted Hell
There are only a couple of songs available to stream off Death Knell’s second LP, Another Life Consumed in Undiluted Hell. Thus, I’m basing this assessment on roughly four minutes of music. Not that that matters, per se. From the sounds of it, Death Knell’s latest release sticks to the band’s usual crusty recipe, which is heavy enough and features enough crossover thrash to have earned the band their own Metal Archives page.
Essentially, Death Knell sound muscle-bound and taut as a wire. Some crust bands ply the ultra-raw/ragged route, but Death Knell maximise their sonic mass and tensile strength, sounding both mammoth and tight-as-a-drum. There’s still plenty of buzzing distortion and gruff vocals to enjoy. Plus, you don’t title your album Another Life Consumed in Undiluted Hell and affix Dante’s Inferno-style artwork (and Celtic knotwork framing) without matching that to fittingly dark and grim music.
I presume the rest of Another Life Consumed in Undiluted Hell doesn’t deviate from the formula above, which makes it a hard rec for fans of big, burly, and brutal crust.
(Self-released)
Warthodox – Anathema
Anathema is the first full-length release from Serbian crusties Warthodox. The band’s self-described “d-beat apocalypse” unpacks bleak topics like systematic torture, political oppression, media indoctrination, and senseless slaughter. It’s all grim-toned stuff, and with a couple of guitarists on board, Warthodox’s sound is heavy as a dump truck. (Think Disfear and Wolfbrigade’s beefiest eras.)
With gruff-as-fuck vocals, pounding drums, and armour-plated songs, Anathema ticks all the steel-clad, crustcore boxes. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but that’s not Warthodox’s game plan anyway. The band zero in on hammering their messages home with maximum focus and maximum brutality. Bulldozing stuff, as you’d expect.
(Self-released)
Drönraid – Who Killed Disfucker?
Disease / Disappoint – Split
Crow Noise – Live in GBG Sweden
US-based label/distro Distorted Sedition are one of those subterranean imprints you can implicitly trust to release the most abrasive crust and the gruesomest raw punk. Distorted Sedition releases like Knotwork’s all-fire 2025 Demo, Anomaly’s Collapse Of Industrial Civilization, Spirokete’s Song Of Spirokete, and Culture Shaping Violence’s Echoes From The Dark are all prime examples of the label’s skill when it comes to highlighting hideous underground noise. Here are three more magnificently dissonant releases from Distorted Sedition’s roster.
Drönraid’s Who Killed Disfucker? EP was recorded and mixed at Cult Ritual Audio, and then mastered by legendary studio wiz Shinge at Tokyo’s famed Noise Room. Unsurprisingly, Who Killed Disfucker? sounds awesome. Everything here, from Drönraid’s corrosive guitars to d-beat(ing) percussion and disembowelling bass, slams into you like a runaway truck. Drönraid’s “shit-licking raw punk” is as ugly as a festering ulcer, but that’s also what the band were aiming for. As such, the Narrm (Melbourne), Australian band’s debut is rip-roaring success. (Pummeling Disclose cover, too.) 10/10 for style and substance. A def rec for raw punk nerdz.
Disease and Disappoint’s split cassette is the kind of ear-fucking collaboration that über-raw-punk fans slather over for good reason. Macedonian band Disease have been pumping out gruesome noise since 2012-ish, and at no point have they updated, polished, or significantly beefed up their lo-fi sound. Disease’s three tracks feature the usual caustic insanity, which pays due tribute, of course, to the masters of such madness, Disclose. Disappoint hail from Jyväskylä, Finland, and their raw punk is a little heavier than Disease’s tooth-aching noise. Disappoint’s songs are lashed by feedback and harsh static, and while there’s a percussive hook or three to hang on to, the band’s shitnoise essentially burns like battery acid. I love this stuff, but admittedly, red-raw cacophonies like this have a limited audience.
Crow Noise are a raucous crust band from Kuantan, Malaysia, and their Live in GBG Sweden cassette was recorded in Göteborg on June 12th, 2025. Kicking their set off with a rousing cover of Deviated Instinct’s “Scarecrow”, Crow Noise tear through half a dozen savage-sounding original songs before finishing with a battering cover of Doom’s “Lifelock”. Live in GBG Sweden sounds fierce, and while the recording isn’t hi-fi, it still features plenty of power and punch. Crow Noise sound fired-up and on-form.
(Distorted Sedition)
Röt – The Harvest
I stumbled on London band Röt’s The Harvest release on Bandcamp, and I’m surprised I’ve not heard rumblings about it before. The Harvest tears out of the gate on the fittingly pummeling “The Cudgel Swings”, and from thereon in, it’s all chugging anarcho crust and red-raw metalpunk on clobbering tracks.
There’s plenty of weight to Röt’s threshing/thrashing sound, both sonically and thematically. Mixed and mastered by Chris Corry (Lifeless Dark, Magic Circle, Mind Eraser, and more), The Harvest sounds hard-as-nails musically. Lyrically, Röt paint scenes of dispirited souls wandering boarded-up streets; their hopes collapsed, their dreams shattered. Anyone with a fondness for the classics (see Amebix, Deviated Instinct, and Antisect, etc) will enjoy the forbidding crust that fuels The Harvest‘s creative engine.
I’m surprised some onto-it DIY label hasn’t snaffled this up. Fans of Rigorous Institution, Gnostics, Alement, and similar other axe-grinding bands should add the Röt’s debut to their playlists. Thumping stuff.
(Self-released)
Bödel – Dödsbringaren
Dödsbringaren is the first full-length release from Swedish råpunk/kängpunk four-piece Bödel. Wolfbrigade OG, Jocke Rydbjer, produced the LP, and one of the labels involved in Dödsbringaren’s release is Cimex Records, founded by Anti-Cimex drummer Charlie. Bödel clearly have the right support in place, and the band’s drummer, Micke, and guitarist, Arvid, also have plenty of experience in the extreme music trenches, playing in long-running death metallers The Crown.
Bödel’s vocalist, Leya, is also guitarist Arvid’s daughter, and she howls her lungs out on Dödsbringaren as Bödel cram a dozen breathless tracks into the album’s 25-minute runtime. Dödsbringaren finds a good balance between rawness and punchiness. There’s no denying the calibre of musicianship here, and while Bödel aren’t reinventing the wheel, their music is aggressive, barelling, and pretty much pitch-perfect for fans of old-school Scandi-crust.
Note: the CD version of Dödsbringaren also includes all of Bödel’s previous work, bulking the album out to 23 tracks.
(Flyktsoda / Cimex Records)
Ratpiss –Sex/Violence/Death
There’s nothing subtle about Québec band Ratpiss. But that’s not too surprising, right? You don’t name your band Ratpiss and go in for gentle folk balladry, and there’s certainly nothing sweet or nice about the band’s Sex/Violence/Death album.
Sex/Violence/Death is as raw as its primary talking points. Within, Ratpiss’ bassist/vocalist Erin screams, barks, and grunts her throat raw, while drummer Greg and guitarist/co-vocalist Tyler tear into crust(y), grindcore(y), sludge(y), and powerviolence(y) tracks. You could call the resulting filth rotten metalpunk or putrid punkmetal, either works. The main takeaway here is that life is a never-ending struggle from one poverty-ridden plague pit to the next. What is there to be hopeful about, aside from good friends and brief moments of orgasmic ecstasy? Hug your pals, then. Snog your heart out. And listen to Rat-piss(y) records. We’re fucking doomed. Make hay (and noise) while you can.
(Self-released)
Burned Up Bled Dry –Next Stop…Dead Stop…
Arkansas band Burned Up Bled Dry formed in 1996, released a couple of EPs via Slap A Ham Records, and then, like a million young bands, Burned Up Bled Dry disintegrated. Fast forward a decade or three, and with all the band’s members living in Arkansas once again, Burned Up Bled Dry are back with their debut LP, Next Stop…Dead Stop….
Aside from the heftier production values on Next Stop…Dead Stop…, nothing’s much changed for Burned Up Bled Dry. The band continue to feed downtuned powerviolence through a hardcore filter, delivering 25 songs in 26 minutes; you can do the math on that one – this rips. Burned Up Bled Dry also continue the blunt philosophical attack of 80s hardcore, and the band’s “this planet is a fucking train wreck” mantra is howled in anger, time and again.
Next Stop…Dead Stop… is out via Prank Records, and if you’re a fan of the much-loved label’s output – or devotee of Slap A Ham’s heyday – this one’s a dead cert.
(Prank Records)
Gunner –Reality Soldier
A few years back, Western Australian band Semtex 87 released a one-and-done demo that drew heavily on the story of an Australian man who stole an 11-tonne armoured personnel carrier from an army depot, and used it to ram a police car through the walls of a local cop shop. To be fair, the dude had a few legitimate grievances.
Gunner is a new band formed from the ashes of Semtex 87, and Gunner also draw inspiration from psychosocial volatility; in this case, the tortured psyche of a local man that a member of Gunner would regularly run into on their night shift. Gunner’s Reality Soldier 7” is aptly schizophrenic. The ripping negative hardcore here displays tightly controlled intensity one minute, and then unbridled insanity the next. It’s a mirror to our madness, of course; the edge at which we all teeter drawing ever closer. Gunner’s lyrics reveal a fractured mind, but to paraphrase the well-known adage, insanity feels like the only sane response to this increasingly insane world.
Reality Soldier is a deep dive into a world where nothing makes sense aside from the senseless. To quote Gunner, “what separates us is much less than what we might imagine it to be”. Reality Soldier’s deranged hardcore is a reminder of how thin the membrane between the rational and irrational truly is. Some days, it’s hard to decide which is which.
(Helta Skelta Records, Iron Lung Records)
Triste –The Darker the Night – the Brighter the Stars
German band Triste’s sophomore album, The Darker the Night – the Brighter the Stars, sounds massive, crushes all, and features a slew of cross-genre elements that’ll hook dumpster divers and metalheads alike.
Triste cite bands like Bolt Thrower, Meth Drinker, Primitive Man, and His Hero is Gone as inspirations, and while there’s no doubt that heavyweight crust has influenced Triste’s musical journey, that’s not the main focus here.
Death and doom metal play leading roles on The Darker the Night – the Brighter the Stars, but Triste’s onslaught of bone-crushing riffs and growling vocals does feature plenty of stenchcore-friendly (i.e. Bolt Thrower-worthy) elements to lure curious punks in. Musically and lyrically, Triste offer the best of both worlds. The band aren’t breaking new ground, per se, but if you’re a fan of the point where doom, death metal, and stenchcore collide, The Darker the Night – the Brighter the Stars is well worth a visit. Apocalyptic tracks for world-shattering times.
(Self-released)
Disthroat / Necropolítica – Split
I knew diddly-squat about Spanish bands Disthroat and Necropolítica before reading a recent Maximumrocknroll review of their split LP. Disthroat and Necropolítica both feature long-serving members of the punk rock fraternity, and both band’s sound unwashed, authentic, and wholly dedicated to the cause.
Disthroat’s crustcore is rough and gruff, with dual vocals, and several of the band’s tracks on their split with Necropolítica veer into gruesome grindcore territory. Disthroat’s sound is tight and strong, while Necropolítica’s contributions are rawer and more lo-fi. Necropolítica’s more primitive recording style does mean you’ll be cranking the volume a lot more to appreciate the finer detail within their songs. Although, I’d argue the differences in fidelity here are advantageous, offering two different takes on old school crustcore.
Ultimately, I think Necropolítica’s tracks are great, but they’d have definitely benefited from a little more production punch. (Especially for ancient, tinnitus-ridden fans like me.) That said, I’ll take raw and honest punk over the latest batch of painfully calibrated stadium crust every time. If you feel the same, make sure to check out Disthroat and Necropolítica’s split.
(Zaragoza Desorden Records, D.I.Y. Koło Records, Romantic Songs Records, Demons Punk Records, Mal Presagio Records, Victim Records, Hecatombe Records)
AG-3 – Covert Strike
Oslo band AG-3’s recent Covert Strike cassette tears the fucking roof off. Covert Strike is filled with fast, raw, and aggressive songs: “a drone strike on all the senses” – 100% agreed. AG-3 released a great demo a few years back, and Covert Strike’s blistering tracks are harder, heavier, and harsher. (AG-3’s vocalist, Leah, turns in a next-level performance here, too.)
The war drums are deafening, millions are suffering, and I don’t know about you, but my neighbourhood looks like it’s about to implode any second. There’s a lot to be angry about, and there’s a lot to be stressed about, which is where AG-3’s bass-blasting onslaught enters the frame to wipe your worries off the map. Pure, unadulterated raw hardcore. Breathless stuff.
Convicted – Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise
Göteborg, Sweden, crusties Convicted have a lower-fi sound than the album art adorning their Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise album might suggest. Recorded in the “freezing cold Högsbos industriområde,” district, Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise combines metalpunk, stenchcore, and d-beat. The album’s DIY, rehearsal-room production is rough around the edges, and that either underpins Convicted’s DIY mission or squanders their talents – I’ll leave it up to you to decide.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with squat crust or a cruder vision of stenchcore. Convicted’s raw sound certainly matches the raw anger expressed on their politically charged tracks. Vocalist Eli gives it her all on the band’s songs, and Convicted inject a little grimy death metal into proceedings, adding an extra dose of darkness. Personally, I think Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise would benefit from better production values. No polish is required, but there are intricate riffs and solos here that would hit a lot harder if supported by a heavier sound.
Still, that’s self-recorded, basement crust for ya. Not everyone wants to sound like a beefed-up beast; additive-free authenticity is more important to some. As it stands, Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise is a solid release. It’s honest, real, and unashamedly raw.
(US and European presses of Soaring Reality of Nature’s Demise will be available through Primitive Future Records and Drunk Scum Records soon.)
S.A.I.G.O.N. – S/T
I know as much about S.A.I.G.O.N. as you do. In fact, you probably know a lot more, given I live half a world away from S.A.I.G.O.N.’s home base in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
What I do know, for sure, is that S.A.I.G.O.N.’s self-titled debut is as heavy as a tank. The band’s songs arrive thick and fast, with all guns blazing. For a trio, S.A.I.G.O.N. make a hell of a racket, and like many sonically brawny crust bands, S.A.I.G.O.N.’s tracks draw from a crossover-friendly well of inspiration. S.A.I.G.O.N.’s super-aggressive sound channels staunch political statements, too. Tough-as-steel hardcore, through and through.
(Self-released)
Maced – Kaos Blasting Noise
Late last year, I wrote an epic-length article about Aotearoa New Zealand label Razored Raw. Included within was a blurb about the NZ grindcore band, Maced. I love how Maced project filthy grindcore through a punk rock lens on their politically charged songs, and I’m looking forward to Maced’s next studio recording immensely. While we wait, the band recently posted a live rehearsal, Kaos Blasting Noise, recorded on the ol’ Tascam Portastudio, on YouTube. It’s all blown-out, shit-fi stuff, with Maced’s off-the-chain energy on full display.
Maximum ear-fucking noise: FFO Napalm Death, Unholy Grave, ENT, Excruciating Terror, etc.
ICWT Bonus Features
In case you haven’t consumed enough concussive noise, here’s a recent ‘Live on KEXP’ set from Iron Lung. Pretty cool to see the long-lived duo smashing it out with as much gusto as ever. I can hardly wipe my ass these days without needing a rest stop. To see Iron Lung in such great shape is downright inspiring. I need to up my game; 10,000 steps be damned. 20,000, here I come.
Sayōnara, WAYLT?
Last, but not least, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve referenced the YouTube channel Analog Attack over the past few years. Host Mike Foster’s been a stalwart supporter of the kind of music we all hold dear, and one of AA’s funnest features was the channel’s regular ‘What Are You Listening To?’ videos, which saw Mike and guests chatting about old and new releases with super-engaging, nerd-level energy.
Mike’s recent (and sudden) announcement that WAYLT? was coming to an end was sad. But he also posted a video on his YouTube channel detailing the depression and anxiety challenges he was facing at present. Those issues are infinitely more important than making videos about obscure releases, and while the chances of Mike ever reading this line are slim to none, I wanted to wish him well in his recovery.
Plenty of fans of loud music also battle long-term mental health issues, and like a lot of people, I was first attracted to punk and metal because they were hugely cathartic in that regard. I often find writing about music stressful and have taken breaks when needed. However, I always return to the keyboard because writing about music is a way for me to give back to the bands and the scene that have supported me through tough times.
It’s clear that Mike’s entire AA project is a means for him to give back and pay tribute to the music that matters to all of us. Mike’s videos have brought a whole lot of joy to others, and I’m certain every AA fan would agree that Mike prioritising his health is absolutely the right thing to do.
Mike’s improved our collective wellbeing whether he knows it or not. AA’s in-depth and geek-tastic videos are audiovisual antidepressants and Mike’s channel has provided a warm campfire for many to huddle around while we shelter from the cold reality of life in the Anthropocene. Mike mentioned that WAYLT? could possibly return at some point, and I hope it does, but for now, a nod to Mike – and to everyone who contributes to the noisy music community – for putting in the work, and making the world a better place.
I’m not on social media, and thus, I’ve never interacted with Mike. But he’s absolutely brightened my day, and definitely improved my life. In a time of huge divisions, I love that we can still rely on noisy music to bring us together and remind us of the things that connect and sustain us.
Kia kaha to you, and Mike. Hugs all round, team.
Be well.
