Ivan March – The Sonic Insurrection pt. 1

Kia ora, crüe.
Welcome to ICWT 36 (or 37, 38, 39 or 40). To be honest, having written a number of year-end and special editions of ICWT over the years, I’ve lost count of where we’re at, numerically speaking. Still, the main point is this: hello, hooray, and welcome back to the nourishing bosom of ICWT.

As you’ve no doubt noticed, the world is awash with anxiety-raising (and/or trauma-inducing) catastrophes, and ICWT’s ongoing mission is to exorcise your fears and frustrations via the medium of deafening shitnoise. Obviously, you could argue that it’s pointless to be hyping bands that give a fuck in a world where giving a fuck has little to no discernible impact. None of the bands I write about will restore your faith in humanity, and all of us are stumbling across a nightmare landscape filled with outrages and atrocities. Life is understandably unbearable for many, and our emotional bandwidths are often overwhelmed. At times like this, the power of music to bolster our resolve can easily be compromised.

In my youth, scores of punk and metal bands spoke of a desperate future filled with post-apocalyptic peril. These days, those forecasts feel factual rather than fictional. To my mind, that means the music that manages to punch through all the doom and gloom and grab hold of my world-weary heart – or kick my fat ass into gear – matters all the more.

Raucous music is ecstatic, and in that transcendent revelry lies the freedom and catharsis we crave. For those fortunate enough to have the time or space to do so, cranking a thumping hardcore or metal track is often a transformative experience – if only for a moment in time. I’d say, grab hold of as many of those moments as you can. Life is short. Pogo while your knees still work.

Clearly, I have to keep listening to new punk, hardcore and metal-punk releases in case my (as-yet-unborn) mutant grandchildren ask me what I did in the Oil Wars 2.0. I look forward to telling them that I served alongside the bravest bloggers, sacrificing our valuable time while pumping out verbal diarrhoea about horrible-sounding bands.

For now, ICWT will continue to highlight passionate bands, many of which scream and shout about advocacy, activism, and the myriad ills of capitalism. I’m one of those pain-in-the-ass ‘everything is politics’ guys, too, and I make no apologies for that. However, the good news is, I’m not here to lecture you about the joys of Anarcho-syndicalism. I promise you this: if all you’re looking for are some ‘fuck everything’ tunes to drown out the stresses and strains of everyday life, ICWT features plenty of nihilistic noise.

I’m not here to judge your reasons for enjoying ear-wrecking music. I’m simply here to help replenish your emotional arsenal with high-octane bangers. (At least until we’re all incinerated in the furnace of nuclear armageddon. Happy days.)

As always, thanks a million for stopping by. I appreciate the time and effort you’ve expended to wade through my barely literate ‘reckons’. I am an old dog, but I’m not ready for the pet cemetery just yet. It remains a pleasure and privilege to throw a cyber-arm around your shoulder and shout about noisy bands and the cultural influences that shape the music we love. (And I swear that this is the only long-winded introduction to ICWT you’ll have to endure all year. Thank you for your continued forbearance.)

Here’s to all the bum-flapped rockers and dumpster-diving rollers who keep our collective blood pumping. And here’s to you and yours, too.

Go easy on yourself, kia kaha, and keep fighting the good fight.

Alright, here we go: ICWT 2026, engage.

xx

Fugazi – Albini Sessions

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was thrilled to discover that Dischord Records had uploaded Steven Albini’s In on the Killtaker sessions to the label/Fugazi’s Bandcamp page. The legendary Albini-engineered ‘proto-version’ of In on the Killtaker has been fervently discussed and partially bootlegged for years. Here’s the (very much) abridged story of In on the Killtaker‘s first incarnation, if you’ve not heard it before.

In 1992, while demoing tracks that would eventually appear on In on the Killtaker proper, Fugazi encountered a few stumbling blocks. Deciding to shake things up and try a different recording setup from their usual Inner Ear location, Fugazi decamped to Chicago’s famed Electrical Audio Studio, which was helmed, of course, by renowned studio engineer Steve Albini. Albini had offered Fugazi a free recording session, and the band and Albini hit it off like a house on fire. In less than a week, 12 songs were recorded and mixed.

However, on the drive home from Electrical Audio, the members of Fugazi began to have misgivings about the recording session. Listening to a cassette playback, they felt the session didn’t quite capture the oomph – the livewire energy – the band were after. The good news is that Albini felt exactly the same, so no egos were bruised when Fugazi decided to shelve the Electrical Audio sessions. Over the years, a few tracks from the Electrical Audio sessions leaked online, and they were, as you’d expect, hotly debated. But this is the first time the entire Albini-recorded version of In on the Killtaker has been made available in legit circumstances.

In on the Killtaker was/is a crucial LP in Fugazi’s discography. It was the first Fugazi album to appear on the Billboard charts, marking a breakthrough for the band in commercial terms. Neither of those markers means much to me or, I imagine, many other Fugazi fans. What’s far more important is that In on the Killtaker saw Fugazi pushing past their previous artistic boundaries and delving deeper into post-hardcore.

In creative terms, In on the Killtaker was more adventurous than Fugazi’s previous releases, although everything the band has released – from its early years to Fugazi’s last (and arguably best) studio album, The Argument – has been rightly applauded. In on the Killtaker remains one of my favourite Fugazi releases, and it’s fascinating to hear the Albini sessions in all their rough-and-ready glory. Personally, I think Albini’s In on the Killtaker sessions sound fan-fucking-tastic. What a treat for fans: a magnificent alternate version of an indisputable classic. (Proceeds from the album are being donated to the non-profit Letters Charity organisation.)

(Dischord Records)

Terminal Filth/Axfear – “Trailer”

Italian label Agipunk Records recently posted a very enticing trailer for an upcoming split featuring two absolute crust behemoths: German stenchlords Terminal Filth and Seattle deathcrust crew Axefear. I’m looking forward to this one immensely. Axefear’s 2024 Prophetic End LP was annihilating, and Terminal Filth’s last release, Traces Towards Oblivion, was a certified skull-crusher, too. Not gonna lie; I feel breathless with anticipation for this split.

(Agipunk Records)

Abyecta – Inténtalo o Muere

Life is full of uncertainties, but there is one thing we can all rely on – namely, the recommendations of the contributors to Sorry State’s weekly newsletter. For example, the on-point write-ups of Sorry State staffer (and Public Acid and Scarecrow) member Jeff Young are always worth paying attention to. I spotted Jeff’s name attached to the Bandcamp publicity blurb for Abyecta’s Inténtalo o Muere 7”, which is a sure sign that something (extremely) tasty is on the boil.

The once-Chile, now-US-based Abyecta was formed by the band’s guitarist and vocalist, Carolina, and the Abyecta’s latest two-song release is their most metal-driven yet. Groups like Poison Arts, Gudon, and The Clay are cited as reference points, which makes perfect sense, given the galloping mix of classic Japanese hardcore and metallic riffs powering Abyecta’s latest tracks, “Inténtalo o Muere” and “Amo y Esclavo”. Much like Ayucaba’s Operación Masacre LP, which was 2025’s best punk-metal release by far, Abyecta’s new EP perfectly balances the darker thrust of UK82 with the pyrotechnic riffs of 80s metal and the snarl of fierce mid-80s Japanese hardcore. Abyecta’s latest EP is energetic and anthemic, featuring scores of fist-raising moments. Two songs are not enough, though; bring on an LP, asap.

(Metadona Records)

Rocky & The Sweden – Punk’s Pot Head

Relapse Records’ recent reissuing of Lip Cream’s oeuvre has garnered plenty of attention. However, don’t overlook the work of fellow Tokyo punks Rocky & The Sweden, whose early work, and a brand new album, have also been recently released by Relapse.

Rocky & The Sweden have sporadically released albums since their bong-busting 1998 debut, Total Hard Core. The band’s thematic focus – weed, weed, and a little more weed – has remained fixed throughout their career, as has Rocky & The Sweden’s sound. Rocky & The Sweden’s latest release, Punk’s Pot Head, is another blistering celebration of Sinsemilla and speedy riffs, with the band’s sizzling hardcore as stoner-stonk-worthy as ever. The only real difference between Punk’s Pot Head and Rocky & The Sweden’s earlier releases is the contributions of newer guitarist S-Park Sweden, who, fyi, fucking rips.

Tracks like “Up in Smoke”, “THC”, and “Chain Smoke” explode with blazing riffs and synapse-scorching leads. Elsewhere, “Killer Weed”, “Burning Again (One More Burn), and “R&R Highway” feature rock-solid hooks and technically impressive six-string gymnastics alongside all of the expected rawness and intensity of Japanese hardcore.

One of the greatest strengths of the underground Japanese punk scene is the number of long-lived bands exhibiting righteous staying power. Sure, many of those bands only release new music once in a blue moon. However, as Rocky & The Sweden’s Punk’s Pot Head proves time and again, it’s quality, not quantity, that counts.Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.

(Relapse Records)

Hope? – Hell on Planet Earth

Sometimes, punk bands burn through all of their anger, energy, and all of their best material on their very first EP. That’s totally fine, by the way. There’s really nothing better than a stone-cold classic 7” debut. Unfortunately, some bands then follow up a storming 7″ with a 12″ release that feels decidedly undercooked or, even worse, overlong. Thankfully, that’s not the case with Hope?.

With members drawn from Minneapolis and Portland, OR, Hope?’s recent Hell on Planet Earth LP follows on from the band’s solid 7”, Your Perception is Not My Reality. Like Hope?’s first EP, the band’s full-length debut is stuffed to the gunwales with the kind of thickset, barrelling crust that’ll hit home for anyone with a fondness for the prime years of Profane Existence and Skuld Releases.

Hell On Planet Earth’s cover art lets you know instantly that classic crust purpose-built for the worst of times awaits within. Nausea, State of Fear, Misery, Doom, and Sacrilege all spring to mind while spinning Hell on Planet Earth, with Hope?’s duelling guttural vocals, hulking d-beat, and fired-up lyrical focus underscoring all of the hallmarks of definitive crustcore.

Releases like Hell on Planet Earth tap into a vital vein of resistance, with Hope? serving up a much-needed emotional release along the way. Crank Hell on Planet Earth while staring at the 24/7 livestream of exploding buildings and boiling oceans and you’ll appreciate that Hope? have constructed a pulverising conduit for our collective rage. As the world falls apart, Hell on Planet Earth gives us something to hold on to. Hope?’s first full-length release is an essential purchase for diehard fans of consummate, crushing crust.

(Desolate Records)

B.O.R.N. – 8 Tracks

Back in 2023, I included Birmingham, Alabama punks B.O.R.N.’s Belligerent Onslaught Relentless Noise debut on my list of the year’s best EPs. The group’s chainsawing raw punk is harsh, dissonant, and abrasive, and much like similarly-minded outfits Disclose or Physique, B.O.R.N.’s sound is primitive but potent.

B.O.R.N.’s new 8 Tracks 12″ mixes crashing crust with sizzling layers of static noise, driving d-beat, and metal-tipped riffs. Blistering tracks like “Powder Shipments”, “The Farm”, and “Local Outsider” maximise their sonic ugliness while ensuring B.O.R.N.’s acidic riffs and piercing solos cut through the onslaught with eviscerating sharpness. It might seem incongruous to compliment intentionally inaccessible raw punk on its technical prowess, but credit where credit’s due: B.O.R.N.’s approach is smarter and a hell of a lot catchier than your bog-standard noise.

B.O.R.N.’s 8 Tracks is a withering blast wave that warrants repeated listens. There’s a lot of scorching raw punk out there, but not much of it is instantly memorable. That’s not an issue for B.O.R.N., though. The band’s visceral tracks burrow straight into your marrow.

(Self-released)

Dissekerad – Väggarna Rasar

Dissekerad frontman Poffen (aka Per-Olof Frimodig) has served time in a host of well-regarded bands, including Exploatör, Krigshot, and, of course, the almighty Totalitär. Dissekerad’s other members are no slouches, either, with ties to groups like Brainbombs, Avskum, and more. The point is, Dissekerad’s members are veteran noise-mongers well acquainted with making a deafening racket.

No surprise, Dissekerad’s fourth album, Väggarna Rasar, is another prime slab of Swedish mangel, and it’s also the band’s best release thus far. All of the raw Scandi hardcore here is stripped of any fripperies, honed to the edge, and then it’s slathered in grit and grime to ensure Väggarna Rasar sounds more noxious than dumpster swill. Bonus points for Väggarna Rasar also being Dissekerad’s heaviest release yet. The band’s steelier elements are beefed up and given more room to swing, and the propulsive bass and gut-punch drums right here will rattle your cage, good and proper. If you loved Exploatör’s 2025 LP, Apokollaps, you’re sure to embrace Väggarna Rasar’s similarly bare-boned approach to full-tilt, pummeling Scandicore.

Väggarna Rasar is reaping a fair amount of applause online. All of it is warranted.

(Desolate Records, Phobia Records)

Hiatus – Sanctus Propaganda Sessions Vol. 6

I loved 2025’s Sanctus Propaganda Sessions Vol. 4, which featured NYC crust bands Flower and State Manufactured Terror tearing through a couple of fired-up live sets. Sanctus Propaganda Sessions Vol. 6 sees Belgium band Hiatus doing the same, although Vol. 6 is also tinged with sadness, given the passing of Hiatus frontman Willy in 2024. Unhinged singer Mirelle guests on the track “Hell Is Near”, and Vol. 6 is very much a tribute to Willy’s time in the crust punk trenches. (It’s also a benefit release, gathering funds for people experiencing homelessness). Hiatus’ well-established gruff-core sound – think Doom-via-Anti Cimex – is raw and abrasive, and it features plenty of bulldozing punch. If you’ve not sampled Hiatus before, check out the band’s 2023 album, Out of Hand, which is as guttural and gristly as any of the band’s well-regarded 90s releases. RIPower Willy.

(Sanctus Propaganda)

Mental Slaughter – Feedback // Warfare

Australian label Televised Suicide and US label Iron Lung have co-released a couple of gnashing/crashing releases from Aussie bands in the past; see Gaoled’s Bestial Hardcore and No Future’s excellent Mirror LP. The two labels’ latest collaborative release, Feedback // Warfare, is from Aussie outfit Mental Slaughter, which is an on-and-off side-project featuring members of the aforementioned Gaoled and No Future. Mental Slaughter’s Feedback // Warfare cassette is labelled thus: “for fans of/by fans of Languid”. I’d count myself as a diehard Languid fan, and while it would be hard work for any band to come close to levelling up to Languid’s mind-melting intensity, Mental Slaughter’s pummelling d-beat rips and rages in all the right places. Expect screaming solos, clobbering riffs, and concussive bass and drums. Crushing Neanderthal noise – kinda perfect.

(Televised Suicide, Iron Lung Records)

Life Expectancy – Sold

Life Expectancy’s Sold cassette is touted label Iron Lung as a surefire recommendation for fans of Physique, Confuse, Gloom, Death Dust Extractor, and Disclose. I’d back that endorsement to the hilt. Life Expectancy’s ultra-harsh crust welds a blown-out industrial cacophony to radioactive riffage; the brutal torrents of noise being pitch-perfect for devotees of max-dissonance and blowtorch-styled d-beat. Poverty, hopelessness, and society’s rack and ruin are apparently unpacked on Life Expectancy’s latest super-harsh ‘songs’. But good luck figuring any of that out without a lyric sheet to peruse. Life Expectancy’s 2023 cassette, Decline, set a high bar for sheer audio obnoxiousness, and the good news is, Sold is grimmer, uglier, and even more listener-unfriendly. Pro tip: Save yourself some time and note Sold down alongside the recent Hope?, Dissekerad, and B.O.R.N releases for your year-end ‘best of ’26’ list now. Sold is highly recommended, of course.

(Iron Lung Records)

Draümar – S/T

Oslo four-piece Draümar released a snarling EP, D’Krig, via Adult Crash back in 2022. The band’s new self-titled full-length is released by always-interesting label Static Shock, and Draümar’s first 12″ feels like a step up from their previous work. Opening (and closing) with brief Carpenter-esque synths, the rest of Draümar’s 12” debut hurls firebrand Norge hardcore at you at a pedal-to-the-metal pace. A cover of early 80s Norwegian punk band Bannlyst (“Herrene”) features original Bannlyst vocalist Finn Erik Tangen, and with murder, prejudice, fascism, and ecological destruction on the rise, there’s plenty for Draümar to rage about throughout their hook-strewn debut. Draümar’s 12″ debut is as punk as punk gets. I’m guessing Draümar smash it out of the park at K-Town.

(Static Shock Records)

Verdict/Nightfeeder – Död Åt Tyranner

Spoilers: Verdict and Nightfeeder’s recent split, Död Åt Tyranner, is a dream-team matchup that hits every mark. In case you missed it, Nightfeeder features members Disrupt, Consume, Deathraid, State Of Fear and more, while Verdict’s members have played in Totalitär, Meanwhile, Exploatör, Warcollapse, 3-Way Cum, and plenty more bands, too. If that line-up intel doesn’t get your motor roaring, you should check your pulse forthwith.

All of Nightfeeder’s previous bulldozing releases have hit home for yours truly, and Verdict’s last LP, 2023’s Rat Race, was an absolute mind-smasher, too. The fact that Verdict and Nightfeeder’s split is out via Phobia Records is, of course, another sign that you should pay close attention, and what Död Åt Tyranner brings to the table in real terms, is veteran musicians creating some of the most propulsive and powerful punk of their lives.

Verdict’s seven tracks are warp-speed, wall-punching triumphs, with “I’m not Built to Last”, “War on the Streets”, and “Mass Hysteria” being some of Verdict’s fastest, tightest, and fiercest songs yet. Even when the band (marginally) slows down on “Narcissistic Piece of Shit?”, it still feels like being trapped under an M1A1’s tracks.

Same-same Nightfeeder. Truth is, Nightfeeder sound better and better with every release. Hammering tracks like “Climbing the Walls”, “Life’s Foul Pit”, and “Shit Filled Paddock” are some of the most bruising songs in Nightfeeders’ already heavyweight arsenal. Nightfeeder throw out hooks and shout-along lyrics galore, and while their colossal d-beat batters and bruises, it’s the catchy detail within their barrelling song’s that’ll snag and hold your attention.

Död Åt Tyranner is an end-times onslaught that channels its raging chaos with merciless accuracy – all killer, no filler; a stone-cold classic split.

(Phobia Records)

Skallar – 2026 EP

Note the Celtic knotwork, and check out the ominous, sci-fi/fantasy black-and-white cover art; you know what you’re getting here. Baltimore, Maryland, band Skallar’s 2026 EP features unrelenting, pitch-black crust. Post-apocalyptic bleakness mind-melds with medieval grimness, and words like brutal and intimidating are apt descriptors of Skallar’s Bolt Thrower-worthy sound and aesthetic.

Skallar’s latest chugging tracks are heavier than funeral rites, and they’re a notable improvement on the rawer songs featured on Skallar’s 2024 demo. Dark and dense songs like “Nuclear Reality”, “Death Rattle”, and “Tranquillizer” are hard-hitting conflagrations of stench-drenched d-beat and growling crustcore. I’m surprised an on-point cassette label hasn’t snapped this one up. Although, obviously, that could still be on the cards. In any case, for now, Skallar’s 2026 EP awaits your eyes and ears on Bandcamp. It’s a full-throated/fist-raised recommendation for fans of Stormcrow, Sanctum, Hellshock, and After the Bombs.

(Self-released)

System Maintains – 3 Song Demo

Richmond, Virginia label Sex Fiend Abomination released a bunch of great demos in 2025, including Pray to be Saved’s 6-song cassette, which was one of last year’s best releases, demo or otherwise. System Maintain’s recent demo is another certified ripper, and it’s sure to go down as one of this year’s most savage demos. The Charlotte, NC, band’s ultra-raw punk-metal (or metal-punk, take your pick) explodes with the blown-out and scuzzy energy of the earliest years of hardcore and speed metal. “The sound of your sketchy uncle’s Metallica and Bathory tapes played through a wrecked boombox” is how Sex Fiend Abomination sums up System Maintain’s sound and vision, and that’s a fitting description of the fuzz-fucked shredding and accompanying cacophony right here. Tune in for migraine-inducing riffs, gruesome af vocals, and pounding drums; street skaters, heshers, and gutter-dwellers rejoice.

(Sex Fiend Abomination)

Culture Shaping Violence – Echoes from the Dark

Another day, another top-tier NYC crust release. Recorded by Joe Nelson at D4MT Labs and released by go-to underground labels Distorted Sedition and R.I.P. Peace Records, Culture Shaping Violence’s Echoes from the Dark demo oozes gloom-drenched, apocalyptic vibes. Pounding stenchcore, anarcho-punk, and a brief burst of dungeon-synth are put to excellent use on aggressive yet atmospheric songs. Fans of Antisect, Nausea, Tower 7, Flower, and State Manufactured Terror will find plenty of juicy crustcore to gnaw on here. Culture Shaping Violence’s reverb-slathered assault hits all the expected marks, but tracks like “Devour Our Sons” and “No Shared Purpose” also offer something grimmer and gruntier than your stock-standard fare.Echoes from the Dark is a first-rate first release; Culture Shaping Violence are a band to keep a close eye on.

(Distorted Sedition, R.I.P. Peace Records)

Terminal – Βόρεια Του Βορρά

Βόρεια Του Βορρά is the second full-length release from Greek hardcore band Terminal. Much like the band’s previous endeavours, Βόρεια Του Βορρά is chock-full of hulking hardcore and barking vocals that unashamedly tip their hat to Finnish-influenced d-beat. Terminal’s tracks hurtle along, and there are passages here that tick the Anti-Cimex or Tragedy boxes as much as hitting the Terveet Kädet, Rattus, or Riistetyt mark. Terminal’s songs wallop as they gallop, and the band’s burly approach is a great fit for fans of globetrotting hardcore.

Arüspex – The Death Instinct

Californian five-piece Arüspex caught the ear of plenty of neo-crust fans with their 2023 full-length Hawthorne & Henbane. The band’s latest LP, The Death Instinct, feels darker than their last. Black metal’s chill plays a large role in the band’s sound, although Arüspex’s neo-crustiness and melodic sensibilities certainly haven’t disappeared. The band mix grim vocals with sweeping instrumental passages, and, expertly recorded by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios, tracks like “Traitors”, “In the Black”, and lengthier requiem “The Only Constant”, are enveloping and enthralling. Not everyone loves the dramaticism of blackened crust – or the emotiveness of neo-crust – but there’s no denying Arüspex’s latest release is engrossing, smartly arranged, and often heart-gripping. The 12″ version of The Death Instinct also comes with lyric zine full of the band’s political musings, including Arüspex’s thoughts on “the rapid decline of human civilization”.

(Fellowship of Enemies)

Fuckin’ Warheads – S/T

Charlotte, NC, band Fuckin’ Warheads sound like a car crash. The band ram six ultra-punishing songs on their self-titled Bandcamp release, and Fuckin’ Warheads’s Scandinavia-via-Japan-styled raw punk is crusty, crude, and unashamedly boneheaded. There’s no fence-sitting with this one: Fuckin’ Warheads are as lo-fi as a Discharge demo, and you’re either on board and down for the rough-and-ready ride, or you’re more than likely to be fleeing in the other direction. Primitive, challenging noise for those days when all you want to do is headbutt a wall or two.

I loved this one. But I’ll forgive you for thinking otherwise. Like System Maintain above, Fuckin’ Warheads are definitely an acquired taste.

(Hardcore Headache)

Reek Minds – Eternal Reek

Portland band Reek Minds specialise in ‘fast as fuck’ hardcore. All of the band’s previous releases have featured full-bore/red-lining tracks, and unsurprisingly, Reek Minds’ Eternal Reek EP features more of the same. Reek Minds’ 2024 LP, Malignant Existence, was an absolute face-melter, and the band have no problem equaling Malignant Existence’s intensity on Eternal Reek. Sub-minute tracks like “Refuse To Comply” and “Surging Hate” feature lightning-fast shredding, blasting drums, and gruffly spat out vocals. Longer tracks, like “Aesthetic” and “L.O.P.”, stretch things out to the 2-minute mark, with blitz-speed breakdowns and blistering riffs duking it out.
If you’re a fan of Reek Mind’s earlier releases, you can rest assured that Eternal Reek maintains the same punishing pace and features the same impressively violent sound. Breathless, battering, and maniacal; hardcore done right. Absolutely pummeling.

(Black Water Records)

Siphon – Stark Raving Mad
Bleakness – Blurred Visions

Siphon hail from Richmond, Virginia, and the band’s Stark Raving Mad EP is released by much-loved Portland, Oregon, label Black Water Records. Stark Raving Mad features four rapid-fire tracks that’ll suit fans of Stockholm-via-Tokyo hardcore to a T. Stark Raving Mad is an apt title for the madness/mania this epoch has inspired, and Siphon certainly draw from all the ‘war-all-the-time’ insanity right outside your door. The band’s EP is done and dusted in five minutes flat, and it’s a short, sharp, and cathartic blast of straightforward hardcore. It would have been nice to hear a few more tracks. But then, wanting to hear more obviously signals that Siphon are on the right track.

Also out via Black Water Records is Blurred Visions, the latest release from French trio Bleakness. The band blends urgent death rock, gothic rock, and post-punk on brooding, atmospheric songs. There’s certainly plenty of ‘punk’ here, but Bleakness toy with just as many alt-rock motifs. Bleakness cover a lot of ground on Blurred Visions, meaning the album will likely be embraced by a wide swathe of fans of shadowy, melancholic rock. To be honest, I didn’t think Blurred Visions would resonate with me, but Bleakness’ energetic mix of goth rock’s darkness and post-punk’s propulsion swept me up in its thrall. I hit repeat as soon as Blurred Visions finished; call me converted, mon ami.

(Black Water Records)

Unarmed – Gloomy Skies//Screaming Vultures

Black Stormcrow Tapes and Phobia Records released a compilation of Swedish crusties Unarmed’s initial run of recordings (from 1994 to 1999) in 2024. Unarmed’s brand of über-guttural crust ticks all the old-school boxes. There’s nothing groundbreaking about it. But there’s nothing weak or embarrassing about it either. Unarmed simply deliver solid 90s Euro crust.

I hadn’t expected to hear from the band again, but here we are, staring at Unarmed’s brand new Gloomy Skies//Screaming Vultures LP. Unsurprisingly, Unarmed’s latest endeavours will no doubt hit the spot for fans of comparable(-ish) bands like Warcollapse, Doom, Deviated Instinct, or 3-Way Cum. Nothing on Gloomy Skies//Screaming Vultures ventures outside the expected. However, production-wise, things have improved for Unarmed, with their latest tracks sounding heavier and heftier than in the past.

Unarmed are still dishing out the same 90s-inspired caveman crust, and I, for one, have zero problems with that. The ten tracks on Gloomy Skies//Screaming Vultures might not be revolutionary, but they’re delivered with plenty of gusto and grunt. More to the point, Unarmed’s feral primitiveness and Orc-like gruffness are what made – and continue to make – the band. Brand new vintage crust, sounds great to me.

(Phobia Records)

Cross – Human Spirit

New York City band Cross released a breakneck demo, No Beginning, No End, at the tail end of 2023. Like their demo, Cross’s new Human Spirit 12” makes for a pummeling experience. Thrust, momentum, and velocity are the key attributes here. Human Spirit’s super-dark tracks rip, roar, and rage at the top speed, and Cross stamp down hard on the gas to create a pulverising wall of noise throughout. I wouldn’t call Cross a metal band, as such, but there’s an undeniably steel edge to their sound. Human Spirit is the perfect follow-up to Cross’s excellent demo. Yet another hardcore knockout from the Roachleg Records stable.

(Roachleg Records)

Kläpträp – The Infernal Machination…

Kläpträp describe themselves as “drinkers, thinkers, and stinkers”, and that’s a fitting summation of the German/UK band, which includes malodorous luminaries from Doom and Visions of War.

Kläpträp’s The Infernal Machination… LP is chock-a-block with pungent crustcore that’s driven hard by anarcho-punk’s bite. Kläpträp singer Anita howls her head off/heart out, while bassist and co-vocalist Faxe adds barks and grunts into the fierce and festering stew. Doom drummer Stick pounds the tubs, and VOW guitarist Stef dishes out razor-wire riffs. So far so crustcore, right?

There’s really nothing unexpected or novel about The Infernal Machination…, but the LP is filthier than a fatberg, which is always a welcome treat. Even better, Kläpträp maintain their squalid sound on Infernal Machination… while managing to up the band’s heft. Kläpträp’s previous releases were rotten to the core, and The Infernal Machination… isn’t polished in any conventional sense. However, the songs within (many of which are re-recorded demo tracks) sound brawnier and hit harder than Kläpträp’s earlier endeavours.

Kläpträp hold fast to their primal DIY spirit throughout The Infernal Machination…, and if you love slithering around in punk’s dankest sewers, you’ll find plenty of putrid crust to enjoy.

(Phobia Records)

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Every so often, Last Rites publishes a long-form feature under the Diamonds & Rust banner, where writers dig deep into the musical (and cultural) aspects surrounding some of their favourite releases. January’s Diamonds & Rust was authored by OG Last Rites scribe Zach Duvall, and Zach dived into Faith No More’s Angel Dust. It’s a gem of a write-up: classic album + enthusiastic writing = win-win.

Youtuber Analog Attack has been on a hot streak recently, releasing a run of great videos, including a series of top-notch vlogs exploring the history of Japanese punk. Videos include: crucial CD-only releases, Mentai Rock classics, A+ Japanese reissues, and a deep dive into the accomplishments and ongoing influence of Hiroyuki Kishida (aka Chelsea), famed guitarist of Death Side, Paintbox, Poison Arts and more. Analog Attack’s regular ‘What are you Listening To’ vlogs also continue to be a source of light in a darkened world, with fun guests and new and classic underground releases being discussed with welcome enthusiasm.

If you’re wondering how popular Japanese punk is nowadays, long-running UK broadsheet The Guardian recently published a lengthy article on Lip Cream (and a few other Japanese punk legends) to coincide with the reissue of Lip Cream’s discography via Relapse Records. That level of bright and shiny coverage would have been unthinkable – or at least extremely curious – a few years ago, but alongside much of Japanese popular culture, the nation’s punk scene is clearly having a moment.

Whether you consider that publicity to be a net positive or a very much a negative obviously depends on your level of anxiety around gatekeeping (i.e. who’s allowed to know what), or perhaps you have concerns about the commercial exploitation of underground artists. (It’s worth noting Lip Cream fully supported the reissuing of their discography.) Either way, it always feels strange – and even downright exposing – when corners of the underground that we hold dear are somehow caught in the mainstream spotlight.

I had planned on writing a long-winded feature on Lip Cream to coincide with the band’s reissues, but Bandcamp beat me to the punch, publishing a lengthy primer on the band in January. I saw plenty of other coverage of Lip Cream at the time, too, so I threw in the towel before even getting started. I doubt I would have added anything interesting to the conversation, tbh. (Lip Cream’s classic Kill Shout Ugly LP often gets all the acclaim, but keep in mind that the band’s follow-up, Close to the Edge, is a total riot, and Lip Cream’s 1989 self-titled LP is the band’s real hidden treasure.)

Maximum Rocknroll recently published its year-end ‘25 lists, which are always worth a thorough browse. Don’t forget you can find Terminal Sound Nuisance boss (and crust savant) Romain Basset’s reviews on MRR; Romain’s focus on crustier/heavier bands will be of interest to anyone reading this post. Of course, MRR also has a host of other well-regarded writers on board!

Other interesting sites to explore include: Counterforce – for those inclined to forage in the world of markedly anti-corporate punk, Counterforce is a valuable resource.

Sorry State – the label/record store’s weekly newsletter features always-interesting blurbs and opinions covering brand new releases and much-loved underground classics.

And last but not least, DIY Conspiracy continues to spotlight underground bands and features a host of great interviews; see, for example, G.A.Z.E: Playing Hardcore Without Fear of Breaking Limits. If you’ve not heard it before, G.A.Z.E’s self-titled 2025 LP was one of the year’s best. Highly recommended for fans of Burning Spirits and ripping Finnish hardcore.

The post In Crust We Trust: Vol 36 appeared first on Last Rites.

Kia ora, crüe. Welcome to In Crust We Trust’s end-of-year soirée. Apologies for turning up unannounced like this. I know it’s been a while since we’ve talked. But I missed your ugly mug, and I thought it might be nice to get the gang back together for a tête-à-tête about this year’s tastiest ear pollution. The truth is, I haven’t written much of anything for quite some time. But I figure you’ll forgive a little rustiness on my behalf if I serve up a tempting enough buffet, right?

Fair warning, my end-of-year list will likely be a crushing disappointment if you’re a cooler-than-thou tastemaker/podcaster. Honestly, I’m not up to speed on anything. I don’t have a clue who the latest hip band are. Or what the latest subcultural trend is. The good news is, I’m not arguing that the full-length releases gathered below represent the ‘best’ punk or hardcore albums from 2022. (And I’m not ranking any band over another, either.) For better or worse, I’m simply shining a light on my favourite punk and hardcore releases from the past 12 months. I realize you’ll have heard many of my choices already. But, fingers crossed, you discover a fresh (albeit rotten-sounding) treat or two.

(FYI: there’s another ICWT end-of-year feature dedicated to my favourite EPs and demos incoming. I know, overkill, once again. You’re welcome.)

Many writers summarize the past year in music in their introductory remarks. But to be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to punk scene dramas in 2022. I spent most of the past year isolated and worrying about housing and financial insecurity. Of course, the stress of a cost-of-living crisis amid an ongoing pandemic didn’t help. At one point, I had to sell a significant chunk of my hard-earned record collection to pay the bills, and yea, that hurt like a motherfucker.

I don’t mean to sound like my troubles stood out. Obviously, millions are experiencing tough times, emotional or otherwise. I’m really just telling you that I found the past year trying to emphasize a more positive point.

The silver lining to a challenging year was that the music that hit home for me in 2022 hit that much harder. I’ve never appreciated music’s cathartic promise as much as I have in the past 12 months. The music I loved grabbed hold of my heart, shook me – hell, even saved me – and that music played a crucial role in helping to stitch my life back together after I attempted to end it this year.

Apologies if that last line triggers painful memories or aggravates any unhealed wounds. Talking openly about mental illness is essential, but I appreciate that’s not why you’re here today. The point I’m making is this: music supported me until I could find the strength to walk on my own this year. I am fortunate to be here, and 39 years after I bought my first punk and metal LPs, noisy music means more to me than ever.

Speaking of which, the music below features a selection of hard-as-nails d-beat, stenchcore, crustcore, raw punk, and rabid hardcore. Horrible noise for the worst of times – you know the deal. Everything here is either caked in crust or crust-adjacent. But don’t get too hung up on specifics. I often use the word ‘crust’ to signify a vibe as much as a strictly defined sound. Doing so can sometimes upset punk’s pedants, which doubles the fun, tbh.

If you’re curious why your favourite release from 2022 isn’t listed below, it’s likely because my end-of-year picks are entirely subjective. You might have drafted a different list of knockout releases. Hell, you might think my choices are downright appalling. Both of those scenarios are fine by me, my friend. Diverse opinions ensure underground music remains a dynamic and creative environment. A little passionate to and fro keeps the blood pumping.

Before you dig into all the noise below, there are a few caveats.

First, some of the phrases/ideas below have appeared in my writing elsewhere in 2022. You’re not going mad if you feel a sense of déjà vu.

Second, I bid farewell to the hellscape of social media this year. That decision was one of the best things I ever did for my mental health. Unfortunately, that decision made it much harder to keep track of who was playing what in which new band. Apologies if that means some of the intel below is off the mark.

Lastly, Bandcamp and a few obscure blogs and YouTube channels kept me updated on electrifying new releases in 2022. However, there’s every chance a few subterranean success stories slipped by unseen. If that’s the case, feel free to let me know what kick-ass releases I’ve inadvertently overlooked.

I realize the cacophonous tone of my end-of-year list suggests I’m a chain punk fanatic. Strictly speaking, that’s not true (except when it is). I like a lot of different music: death metal geek, Sonic Youth fiend, Hawkwind obsessive, Fall devotee, dub enthusiast, psych-rock connoisseur, free jazz admirer, and I probably shouldn’t say this out loud, but my relationship with the Grateful Dead is getting pretty hot and heavy too.

My music tastes are eclectic. But I’d be the first to admit that my favourite punk and hardcore releases generally fall into a similar sonic orbit. My advice: check out plenty of other punk and hardcore end-of-year features for a broader overview of this year’s rowdiest releases.

One thing to note is that there are no releases from Aotearoa New Zealand or Australia below. There were a host of great releases from the Antipodes this year. However, as a citizen of Aotearoa, I always like to write a stand-alone end-of-year feature highlighting releases from the ass end of the world. That article was published by DIY Conspiracy this year.

Okay, enough introductory bullshit. Another year has passed. I survived, barely. Clearly, you did too. Let’s count ourselves lucky and spare a thought for those who didn’t make it.

If you’re struggling right now, know this: I see you and hear you. Your time and place on this earth are valued.

Obviously, the music below isn’t going to eradicate all of the problems plaguing our lives. But we should always appreciate noisy music’s potential to offer us shelter and respite. That’s why we’ve all gathered here today; to pay our yearly tribute to the purgative power of shitnoise.

My eternal gratitude to the Last Rites crew for allowing a tofu-munching cuck like me to sully this site’s pages. And cheers to Negative Insight, Terminal Sound Nuisance, DIY Conspiracy, and Sorry State’s reliably kick-ass newsletter for all their great content this year.

Of course, thanks to you, dear reader. I’m fully aware that there are far more plugged-in and popular writers than me out there. It means a lot that you’ve taken the time to visit In Crust We Trust. Cheers for continuing to support independent, underground endeavours.

Here’s to you and yours. Stay safe. Be well. Hail Santa.

Kia kaha.

Hellshock: S/T

This year, PDX legends Hellshock returned from the wastelands wielding a mammoth self-titled LP that hammered their revered status home. Featuring some of the veteran band’s most crushing riffs (we’re talking Bolt Thrower-worthy, kid) – on some of Hellshock’s most ominous-sounding songs – the group’s full-throttle LP was breathtakingly heavy and packed to the gunnels with brutal instrumentation. Hellshock’s end-times imaginings evoked the eternal void opening its obliterating maw. Of course, the band dove in, delivering a pitch-perfect LP for fans of the grimmest, the grimiest, and the most guttural strains of crust and hardcore. Another neck-wrecking triumph. Another instant classic from Hellshock.

Label: Black Water Records
Bandcamp: Hellshock

Decomp: Condemned to Earth

Gravel-gargling vocals and filthy metallic punk fuel PDX crusties Decomp’s engine. The band’s first full-length, Condemned to Earth, featured a bass-heavy blast of thickset crust and barreling d-beat. MONSTROUS and GRIM were the keywords here, with Condemned to Earth‘s dirty chugging riffage (and blazing leads) serving up a superb example of heavyweight crust’s punishing prowess. Tune in for super-tough and super-dark audio violence. Like Hellshock above, Decomp’s pummeling noise will appeal to scum-punks and rivetheads alike.

Label: Black Water Records
Bandcamp: Condemned to Earth

Rigorous Institution: Cainsmarsh

Rigorous Institution’s Cainsmarsh LP is phenomenal. I’ve said it before, but if having your skull cleaved in two while you’re high on glue sounds like fun, then Rigorous Institution are the band for you. Cainsmarsh‘s psych-crust MO was as mind-melting as it was mind-mangling. Anarcho-punk, stenchcore, and post-punk boiled in a vat of primordial and paranoiac gunk. Gloomy synth and stonk summoned eldritch apparitions as Hawkwindian atmospherics framed Rigorous Institution’s channelling of Axegrinder and Amebix at their apocalyptic peak. Utter magick.

Label: Black Water Records, Sentient Ruin, Symphony of Destruction
Bandcamp: Cainsmarsh

Burning//World: Peace is No Reality

Two pivotal elements underpinned the brain-frying brilliance of Burning//World’s Peace is No Reality LP. First, the New Jersey raw punk band’s songs were all delivered at disorientating speeds (like a series of knockout punches), leaving zero chance to orientate yourself, let alone catch your breath. Second, while Peace is No Reality was unrefined and corrosive enough to dissolve a corpse, all the instrumentation within still felt muscular and armour-clad. Forget brittle-boned raw punk; the guitars, vocals, and helter-skelter drums here were all classed as heavy-duty weaponry. Peace is No Reality also felt utterly authentic. A truly ear-piercing soundtrack for your crummiest days.

Label: Blown Out Media
Bandcamp: Peace is No Reality

War//Plague: Manifest Ruination

Minneapolis veterans War//Plague have spent the past 15 years howling about myriad social injustices while paying tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. The band’s latest release, Manifest Ruination, showed no signs of exhaustion. If anything, War//Plague sounded angrier than ever. The band’s stampeding blend of urgency and insurgency was fired-up and battle-ready throughout Manifest Ruination. Post-punk, thrash, and stenchcore bolstered War//Plague’s harsh riffs, gravelled vocals, and fist-in-the-air mix of Scandi and US influences. Rough. Tough. And gruff. Authoritative crust, through and through.

Label: Phobia Records, Organize and Arise
Bandcamp: Manifest Ruination

Straw Man Army: SOS

The latest LP from New York City’s Straw Man Army, SOS, was as strange and as singular as its critically lauded predecessor, Age of Exile. SOS‘s innovative tracks remained tethered to punk, with anarcho-punk, post-punk, and hardcore being crucial markers in Straw Man Army’s eruptive sound. However, SOS‘s grim observations on the human condition also drew from psych-rock, alt-rock, and even the shimmery side of pop. Throbbing bass mixed with vocal tics and eccentric swerves and shudders. Straw Man Army ignore any and all genre boundaries, so if you feel like punk has grown stale, SOS awaits.

Label: D4MT Labs Inc Neurosonic Research, La Vida Es Un Mus Discos
Bandcamp: SOS

Crutches: D​ö​dsreveljen

Feral Swedes Crutches underscore why unwashed and ass-patched punk is a reliably good time. The Malmö-based group’s latest LP, D​ödsreveljen, featured the same unsanitary mix of d-takt and råpunk as all of the band’s previous releases – but that’s no bad thing. (I mean, no one complained about Motörhead turning in the same kick-ass album time and again, right?) Crutches do one thing exceptionally well: mining much-needed catharsis out of some of the crudest and ugliest noise around. Filthy fun, all round.

Label: Phobia Records, Not Enough Records, Profane Existence
Bandcamp: D​ö​dsreveljen

Ojo Por Ojo: Leprosario

I’ve kept a close eye on Mexico City’s Ojo Por Ojo since first encountering their fierce self-titled debut back in 2018. Nominally a hardcore band, Ojo Por Ojo also utilize crossover’s ferocity and raw punk’s crudity to bolster the band’s extra-brutal realism. Ojo Por Ojo’s sophomore full-length, Leprosario, was even better than their first. Gloomier, crustier, and sludgier – and infused with more necro nastiness – Ojo Por Ojo’s feedbacking sound evoked the crime, corruption, and systemic violence of modern-day Mexico. You don’t need to speak a word of Spanish to appreciate the unquenchable fire in Ojo Por Ojo’s belly.

Label: Cintas Pepe
Bandcamp: Leprosario

Osees: A Foul Form

Psychedelic rockers The Osees’ latest LP, A Foul Form, might seem like an anomaly on this list. However, the band’s founder, John Dwyer, has never hidden his love of punk, hardcore, or metal under a bushel. The Los Angeles “ear worm-farmers” have covered plenty of punk tracks in concert and the band cut loose with punk abandon every time they step on stage. After untold albums mixing psych, Kraut, folk, prog, and garage rock, A Foul Form found the Osees paying tribute to the sweat-soaked hardcore that’s inspired their ever-changing repertoire. To that end, A Foul Form was playful and joyful – even if the music within was blunt, harsh, and aggressive. A Foul Form didn’t stray wildly from the Osees’ usual sonic orbit, but it was great to hear the band explicitly celebrating filthier influences.

Label: Castle Face Records
Bandcamp: A Foul Form

Bad Breeding: Human Capital

The fourth full-length from Stevenage, UK, band Bad Breeding, Human Capital, was another erudite and strong-minded release. Hardcore-driven anarcho-punk framed Bad Breeding’s explorations of working class struggles and the pain of being trapped in the jaws of late-stage capitalism. Unlike many others, Bad Breeding don’t succumb to nihilism or dwell in hopelessness. Theirs is music with a razor-sharp message – activism, action, and community. Bad Breeding’s intelligent lyrics are reliably insightful and inspiring. Musically, Human Capital didn’t differ hugely from Bad Breeding’s previous work. However, set against a world inundated with crises, the band’s latest LP felt even more urgent and necessary.

Label: One Little Independent, Iron Lung Records
Bandcamp: Human Capital

Verdict: Time to Resign

Swedish käng band Verdict features a cast of long-serving punks who’ve played in a host of d-beat and mangel groups you’ll know and admire. Unsurprisingly, Verdict’s debut LP, Time to Resign, was an absolute ripper. The band’s all-guns-blazing tracks were solidly-constructed yet left bloody and raw around their edges. Serrated and riffs tore through sizzling songs as Verdict scrutinized a long list of the world’s woes. With dynamic vocals, pounding d-beat, and a neck-wrecking tempo, Time to Resign grips your throat – real tight – from its very first seconds to its last.

Label: Phobia Records
Bandcamp: Time to Resign

Lexicon: Devoid of Light

Seattle hardcore band Lexicon honed their ‘hardcore-infused noise-crust’ to an even deadlier degree on their 2022 LP, Devoid of Light. Somehow, Devoid of Light managed to be utterly untamed and yet tight as a gnat’s ass. Lexicon upped their songwriting skillset significantly. Production-wise, the band pushed everything further into the red. Fans of crasher crust and max-distortion raw punk will revel in all of the fuzzed-out piss ‘n vinegar blasted into their lugholes. And Lexicon’s ability to wrestle/maintain control over full-throttle tracks hellbent on violent self-destruction was wholly impressive. A truly destructive/deafening salvo.

Label: Iron Lung Records
Bandcamp: Devoid of Light

Doldery: Celestial Deconstruction

If you’re a punk-metal fiend or a metal-punk addict, you should immediately grab a copy of Singaporean band Doldery’s Celestial Deconstruction LP. The group’s first full-length combined gloom-laden d-beat with Neanderthal death metal. (Or, for an alternative description, try sledgehammering stenchcore that leans extra hard on its old-school metal influences.) Death metal unquestionably led the charge on Celestial Deconstruction. But fans of super-heavy crust and raw hardcore would still find a lot to enjoy in the album’s withering levels of hostility. Celestial Deconstruction was a gut punch – in the best possible way.

Label: Iron Lung Records
Bandcamp: Celestial Deconstruction

Mutated Void: Roses Forever

My favourite release from Seattle label Iron Lung Records this year was Mutated Void’s insane Roses Forever LP. The Canadian band’s sewage-dripping, no-fi noise is somewhat unclassifiable. Iron Lung described it as “brain-damaged skate thrash”, which definitely works on one level, but Mutated Void’s sound is markedly schizoid in tone and temper. In truth, I doubt Mutated Void spend any time worrying about the right subgenre tag. Roses Forever‘s psychotic songs sounded far more concerned with making sheer hellish noise for hellish noise’s sake. Embrace the madness, and you’ll survive the trip.

Label: Iron Lung Records
Bandcamp: Roses Forever

La Milagrosa: Pánico

La Milagrosa’s 2022 Pánico LP comprised Latino protest punk played at mind-warping speeds. The NYCHC band’s high-voltage debut called for freedom from bigotry, poverty, cruelty, and the million other stresses/pressures plaguing megacities worldwide. Max-fuzz met max-distortion, and throat-ruining vocals howled as a barrage of d-beat rained down hard. Pánico featured an abundance of firepower but also, cleverly, plenty of melodic hooks. Meaning Pánico sounded ferocious but not uninviting. If anything, La Milagrosa’s debut felt like an urgent call for all of us to get on board the punk rock bus.

Label: Iron Lung Records
Bandcamp: Pánico

Inferno Personale: In Ira Veritas

In Ira Veritas was the first full-length from Germany-based band Inferno Personale. The group features members from Italy, Colombia, Germany, and Argentina, and the acridest strains of hardcore from those locations are all critical markers in Inferno Personale’s sound. In Ira Veritas was red-raw and untamed and mastered by Shige at Tokyo’s Noise Room studio the LP’s instrumentation and vocals were caustic as an acid bath. Featuring re-recorded songs from Inferno Personale’s well-received 2021 demo – and a stack of other crasher crust-flavoured delights – everything here was propelled by pulverizing bass, biting guitars, and a Wretched-worthy fervour. A-class rampaging raw punk. What’s not to love?

Label: Symphony of Destruction
Bandcamp: In Ira Veritas

The Flex: Chewing Gum for the Ears

NWOBHC heroes The Flex delivered some of their hardest-hitting work yet on their third LP, Chewing Gum For The Ears. A decade into their career, The Flex sounded stronger and more antagonistic than ever. The Leeds-based band smashed the grit and grim of UK82 headfirst into 80s NYHC on Chewing Gum For The Ears. OG Massachusetts thug-core also made an appearance, as did harsher Japanese influences, with both punching their way through the mix. Mosh-ready guitars, barked vocals, and pummeling drums and bass seamlessly coalesced on jaw-breaking anthems. To hear The Flex maintaining this level of enthusiasm and musicality after ten years in the game was wholly impressive.

Label: Static Shock
Bandcamp: Chewing Gum for the Ears

Disease: To Hell With This Life

The latest speaker-melting release from Macedonian raw punks Disease, To Hell With This Life, combined incomprehensible howls with torrents of fuzzed-out, acidic guitar. (All of which paid due tribute to Kōchi City icons Disclose.) As per raw punk’s handbook, To Hell With This Life‘s abrasive songs dug into the pitiless realities of war, poverty, and imminent societal collapse. Forget nuance or subtlety, To Hell With This Life delivered precisely what Disease’s fans demand – mega-distortion + obliterating primitivism. Bonus points for having Shige from Tokyo’s famed Noise Room Studio cast his magic hands over the LP. Noise not music, forever and ever, a-fucking-men.

Label: Burning Anger, Rawmantic Disasters
Bandcamp: To Hell With This Life

Innocent: Architects of Despair

The full-length debut from Boston-based d-beat band Innocent, Architects of Despair, was recorded back in pre-Covid times. (Ah, bless, remember those halcyon days?) Finally released in November this year, Architects of Despair was an ear-slaughtering success. There’s a strong echo of Sacrilege in Innocent’s sound thanks to vocalist Samantha’s powerful, reverb-drenched howl. Elsewhere, Innocent stuck to their core strengths on Architects of Despair, fusing tough-as-steel dis-beat with rough-and-rowdy hardcore. Great d-beat albums are a dime a dozen, but Architects of Despair stood out with its ratcheting tension and explosive release adding extra oomph. An absolute filthy gem. Get some.

Label: Side Two
Bandcamp: Architects of Despair

Terminal Filth: Death Driven

The obvious clue to Berlin band Terminal Filth’s area of expertise is in their Deviated Instinct-referencing moniker. Unsurprisingly, Terminal Filth’s barrelling full-length debut, Death Driven, also referenced the enduring influence of groups like Antisect, Axegrinder, and Extinction Of Mankind. Terminal Filth’s anvil-heavy crust oozed apocalyptic doom as reeking and hulking dirges mixed with more sharply pointed attacks. Death Driven provided the best of both worlds; the primordial darkness of old and modern-day crust war rage. Perfect for fresh-faced and ancient crusties to sink their rotten teeth into.

Label: Agipunk
Bandcamp: Death Driven

Disclone: Harsh Raw Affront Vol. 1

Austrian band Disclone’s 2022 cassette, Harsh Raw Affront Vol. 1, combined four of the band’s previously released EPs. Technically, that means Harsh Raw Affront Vol. 1 wasn’t a ‘new’ release. And yea, I’m cheating by including the CS right here. Luckily, anyone reading this blurb is bound to be a badass rule-breaker, right? (Just kidding! I know we’re all fuckin’ nerds.) Like Terminal Filth above, the not-so-secret clue to Disclone’s interests lies in the band’s name. Fittingly, Harsh Raw Affront Vol. 1 featured a barrage of blown-out Disclose worship that focused on the horrors of war and society’s endless ills. Listening to Disclone feels like hanging onto your sanity by your fingertips; the band’s self-described “shit-licking crasher mangel discore” smashes subtlety and nuance to smithereens.

Label: Doomed To Extinction
Bandcamp: Disclone

Sorrow: Black Crow

As the latticework on Black Crow‘s cover suggests, the debut album from Polish trio Sorrow extolled the Olde Gods of stenchcrust. (Think: Deviated Instinct and Bolt Thrower brawling in Axegrinder’s encampment.) Black Crow featured all of the time-honoured stench-ridden motifs; dark themes, murkier music, and a portentous aura shrouding all. However, with every member of Sorrow taking a turn singing/howling, there was more vocal variation here. Sorrow painted Doomsday-cometh scenes, blending bleak emotionality with heavyweight musicality. Tune in for a fierce mix of gloom-saturated punk, death metal, and sewage-streaked crust; see similar forbidding bands like Last Legion Alive, Filth of Mankind, and Stormcrow.

Label: Sanctus Propaganda
bandcamp: Black Crow

Ohyda: Pan Bóg Spełni Wszystkie Pragnienia Lewaków… I Dojdzie Do Katastrofy!

The third full-length from Polish band Ohyda was as violently off-kilter as the rest of the band’s fascinating discography. Razored riffs, pounding drums, and harshly echoing vocals all played essential parts. But they were just the initial ingredients on Pan Bóg Spełni Wszystkie Pragnienia Lewaków… I Dojdzie Do Katastrofy!. Jittery and skittery hardcore danced around each other as Ohyda constantly adjusted their pace from a walk to a sprint and back again. And ice-cold undercurrent meant nothing ever settled into a comfortable rhythm, with Ohyda drawing on darkened influences from near and far. Awesome stuff.

Label: La Vida Es Un Mus Discos
Bancamp: Pan Bóg Spełni Wszystkie Pragnienia Lewaków… I Dojdzie Do Katastrofy!

Ammo: Web Of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy

New Jersey hardcore band Ammo bludgeoned their fans with whatever weapon was closest to hand on their debut LP, Web Of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy. Old school, new school, chainsaw or mallet, it didn’t matter. Ammo tore into every one of Web Of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy‘s brain-buckling tracks like it was the last song they’d ever play. The pace was breathless, the tone intimidating, and if you want your hardcore to leave a great big scar, Ammo’s got you covered. Brute force strength plays a significant role here. But Ammo also cleverly placed deep-set hooks into their otherwise bombarding songs. Web Of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy was remorseless.

Label: Static Shock Records
Bancamp: Web Of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy

Destripados: Lenguas Venenosas

The latest album from Portland, Oregon’s Destripados, Lenguas Venenosas, hit like a runaway train. Lenguas Venenosas was a full-frontal assault on dehumanizing injustices, and with members drawn from far and wide, Destripados brought a crucial immigrant perspective to the fore. Blood-boiling punk and foot-to-the-floor hardcore tussled it out on Lenguas Venenosas‘ Spanish language tracks, with inspirations like Discharge, Totalitär, and (insert your favourite all-fire Latino band here) fuelling Destripados’ engine. Lenguas Venenosas‘ in-your-face aggression captured the frustration we all feel living in a world bent on self-destruction.

Label: Symphony of Destruction
Bandcamp: Lenguas Venenosas

Visions of Chaos: S/T

Visions of Chaos are a Berlin/Athens duo whose 2022 self-titled cassette featured some of the most blown-out, and ear-shattering punk from this or any year. Visions of Chaos’ first full-length featured deluges of primitive guitar awash in waves of sizzling distortion; think red-hot acid being injected into an already inflamed earhole. Unintelligible vocals and caveman-from-hell drums only added to the frenzied storm of madness. Call it an impenetrable cyclone of radioactive static. Or a ceaseless barrage of disgusting noise. Pure (raw as raw gets) pandemonium. Tie a shoestring round your head, you know the buzzzzzzz.

Label: Sistema Mortal
Bandcamp: Visions of Chaos

Farce: Unspeakable Tragedies

If you enjoyed the mayhem/madness of Visions of Chaos above, Farce’s Unspeakable Tragedies cassette might also float your noise pollution boat. Recorded in a quick/ugly/fuck-you fashion in the Finnish band’s rehearsal room, Unspeakable Tragedies was virulently lo-fi. Of course, the tape’s unselfconscious crudeness and its red-raw dissonance were huge positives. Farce’s chainsawing guitar tone stood out amid all the clatter, mangling everything with gut-churning relish. Chalk up another ultra-obnoxious good time.

Label: Sistema Mortal
Bandcamp: Unspeakable Tragedies

Hellish View: The D​-​Beat Chainsaw Massacre

The incendiary music of Minneapolis, Minnesota, raw punks Hellish View has always tipped its hat to Kawakami and kin. However, the band’s latest horrorshow, The D​-​Beat Chainsaw Massacre, featured more prominent Discharge worship. Hellish View’s label, Desolate Records, said to expect a few psychedelic twists and turns, which aren’t unheard of in the depths of the raw punk realm. More tripped-out noise certainly came into play. But in the main, like Hellish View’s previous releases, The D​-​Beat Chainsaw Massacre was bleeding-raw in tooth and claw and acidic enough to strip the skin from bone. Another A-grade abrasive feast from Hellish View.

Label: Desolate Records
Bancamp: The D​-​Beat Chainsaw Massacre

Nightfeeder: Cut all of your Face Off

The lineup of Seattle bruisers Nightfeeder features a host of road-weary veterans who’ve been dishing out trampling punk and hardcore for donkey’s years. All of that experience was put to excellent use on the band’s Cut all of your Face Off LP. Nightfeeder’s blistering full-length debut featured well-crafted (and reliably anthemic) d-beat and crust-caked hardcore. Nightfeeder weren’t remotely interested in hiding their strengths behind a layer of hiss or static, with Cut All of Your Face Off‘s mammoth-sized production perfectly suiting the band’s strain of ten-tonne, chest-pounding punk. Catchy, heavy, and brutal as hell, Cut All of Your Face Off was an absolute monster.

Label: Self-released
Bandcamp: Cut all of your Face Off

Exist Enslaved: Endless Stench of Morbid World

Muscovites Exist Enslaved’s debut, Endless Stench of Morbid World, featured a lot of squalid stenchcore. However, unlike most of Exist Enslaved’s Sistema Mortal labelmates, their music wasn’t shrouded in an impenetrable wall of feedback. The songs on Endless Stench of Morbid World were crude and grotesque, and they stank to high heaven. However it was the saw-edged metal – specifically, bleeding-raw 80s thrash – that upped Exist Enslaved’s fidelity. Endless Stench of Morbid World was overflowing with gunk from the gutters of punk. But much of Exist Enslaved’s appeal rests on that rancid old-school thrash powering its way through the mix. Great stuff.

Label: Sistema Mortal
Bandcamp: Endless Stench of Morbid World

Mock Execution: Killed By Mock Execution

The full-length debut from Chicago’s Mock Execution, Killed By Mock Execution, featured a pick ‘n’ mix of different eras and variants of disease-ridden hardcore. Mock Execution’s label, La Vida Es Un Musc Discos, noted the band’s sound is a hybrid of Doom, Gloom, Gai, Kaaos, and the “entire early 2000’s Crust War catalogue”. That’s bang on target. But make no mistake about it. But Killed By Mock Execution was also thoroughly modern in its ferocious temper. The LP saw Mock Execution careening non-stop through the realms of crasher crust and raw punk, with their fists raised high. Killed By Mock Execution was a thundering tribute to the Godz of sonic belligerence.

Label: La Vida Es Un Mus Discos
Bandcamp: Killed By Mock Execution

Nosferatu: Society’s Bastard

It says a lot about Texas hardcore band Nosferatu that five labels got behind their latest – and, the word is – final release. Society’s Bastard was a hell of a way to go out. Recorded at D4MT Labs, the 11-songs on Society’s Bastard were all delivered at breakneck speeds. As per, Nosferatu’s whiplashing guitar and battering bass, drums, and vocals crashed and clashed in a murky maelstrom. Koro, Die Kreuzen, and Siege are often referenced when discussing Nosferatu. Those are fair comparisons, but to Nosferatu’s credit, there was always something unique about their uncompromising (and always ear-wrecking) sound. A knockout final punch.

Label: BLAP Tapes, Pig Master Tapes, Roachleg Records, Unlawful Assembly, Sound Grotesca
Bandcamp: Society’s Bastard

Skrot: This System Has No Heart

The title of Gothenburg, Swedish band Skrot’s full-length debut, This System Has No Heart, hits the proverbial nail on the head. Within, Skrot’s brutal-sounding tracks focused on life’s equally brutal realities. Skrot’s members have strong ties to the DIY community, and like many in that community, they clearly know their history. This System Has No Heart sounded utterly authentic, harkening back, in parts, to classic 90s crust. D-takt and råpunk were crushed, mangled, and reassmebled on super-dark songs. Best of all, Skrot revealed a deep appreciation of the core essentials of bulldozing punk.

Label: Not Enough Records, Burning Anger, Rawmantic Disasters
Bandcamp: This System Has No Heart

High Command: Eclipse of the Dual Moons

Massachusetts barbarians High Command served up a tasty slice of ultra-adrenalized crossover thrash on their killer 2019 debut, Beyond the Wall of Desolation. The band’s new LP, Eclipse of the Dual Moons, featured more old-school thrash and epic trad-metal than it did disembowelling hardcore (more Slayer than Cro-Mags, essentially). In fact, I hummed and hawed about inducing Eclipse of the Dual Moons on this list, given hardcore’s attributes were less visible. Still, I loved the album, so here it is. Swords clashed, axes fell, and dark magic swirled. High Command tore through heavily muscled tracks as the war drums pounded and cut-throat vocals roared. Sound the horns! I’ll see you on the shield wall.

Label: Southern Lord
Bandcamp: Eclipse of the Dual Moons

Asbestos: Loud Noise Infection

The first full-length from Japanese metal-crust legends Asbestos, 1989’s The Final Solution…., is a stone-cold classic. (It was also welcomingly remastered/reissued by F.O.A.D. Records in 2022.) It’s been decades since Asbestos’ last studio LP, but any nerves about their robustness or relevance nowadays were instantly ground up and spat out by 2022’s Loud Noise Infection. The LP was a call to arms, with berserker riffs and growling vocals boiling on rampaging tracks. Vitriolic crustcore jousted with ironclad thrash as Asbestos howled about myriad social crises and tensions. Asbestos sounded as formidable as ever, and Loud Noise Infection was a beast. More than that, though, Loud Noise Infection underscored why commitment to the cause matters.

Label: Doomed To Extinction, Black Konflik, F.O.A.D. Records
YouTube: Loud Noise Infection

Repression Attack: An Endless Landscape of Ugly Shapes

Russian stenchcrust band Repression Attack inserted more psychedelic components into their 2022 full-length, An Endless Landscape of Ugly Shapes. Acid-fried elements had gnawed at the edges of the band’s heavyweight sound before, but saxophone, tribal percussion, and sinister soundbites played more prominent parts on An Endless Landscape of Ugly Shapes. It’s been a decade since Repression Attack’s last full-length release, and while they didn’t radically overhaul their sound on An Endless Landscape of Ugly Shape (metalpunk/crustcore are still the primary components here), the album is all the better for Repression Attack’s willingness to experiment and with technique and creative limits.

Label: Self-released
Bandcamp: An Endless Landscape of Ugly Shapes

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More Goodies: Non-Punk/Hardcore Favorites from 2022

Rock and Jazz

• • Binker & Moses – Feeding the Machine (Jazz)
  • Horsegirl – Versions Of Modern Performance (Indie rock)
  • Richard Dawson – The Ruby Cord (Experimental rock)
  • Sea Power – Everything Was Forever (Indie rock)
  • I AM – Beyond (Jazz)
  • Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia (Indie rock)
  • Black Country, New Road – Ants from Up There (Indie/Experimental rock)
  • Wet Leg – S/T (Indie rock)
  • The Comet Is Coming – Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam (Jazz)
  • Širom – The Liquified Throne Of Simplicity (Drone)
  • Suede – Autofiction (Indie rock)
  • Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful (Indie rock)
  • Avantdale Bowling Club – Trees (Aotearoa New Zealand Hip Hop)
  • Yard Act – The Overload (Indie rock)
  • Sun Ra Arkestra – Living Sky (Jazz)
  • King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (Psychedelic rock)
  • Built to Spill – When the Wind Forgets Your Name (Indie rock)
  • The Nightingales – The Last Laugh (Indie rock)
  • 40 Watt Sun – Perfect Light (Gloom rock)
  • The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention (Alt-rock)
  • Oren Ambarchi – Shebang (Experimental rock)
  • Black Midi – Hellfire (Experimental rock)
  • Zoh Amba – O Life, O Light Vol. 1 (Jazz)
  • Martín Escalante / Teté Leguía / Weasel Walter – Katyusha (Noise/Jazz)

‘Eavy Metal!

• • Ares Kingdom – In Darkness at Last
  • Grave Axis – Dismal Aeon (Primitive Death Metal – Aotearoa New Zealand)
  • Salient – To Conquer Hell (OSDM – Aotearoa New Zealand)
  • Fistula / Greenmachine – Split
  • Vacuous – Dreams Of Dysphoria
  • Wormrot – Hiss
  • Ken Mode – Null
  • Undeath – It’s Time… to Rise from the Grave
  • Artificial Brain – S/T
  • The Chasm – The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow
  • Mortuous – Upon Desolation
  • Inanna – Void of Unending Depths
  • Napalm Death – Resentment Is Always Seismic: A Final Throw of Throes
  • Heaving Earth – Darkness of God
  • Suppression – The Sorrow of Soul Through Flesh
  • Obscene – From Dead Horizon to Dead Horizon
  • Chaotian – Effigies of Obsolescence
  • Immolation – Acts of God
  • Fleshrot – Unburied Corpse
  • Astral Tomb – Soulgazer
  • Hammers of Misfortune – Overtaker
  • Faceless Burial – At the Foothills of Deliration
  • Anatomia / Undergang – Split

The post Best Of 2022 – In Crust We Trust: Fresh Full-Lengths For Rotting Dumpster Divers appeared first on Last Rites.

Destruct – Echoes of Life

The first two demos from Richmond punks Destruct were jaw-breaking triumphs, and the band’s full-length debut, Echoes of Life, is an absolute knockout too. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s noisiest punk grottos, Destruct slam Disclose-driven rowdiness into Discharge-fueled d-beat on tracks like “Wars of Attrition” and “(Symbols of) Human Failure.” The influence of Totalitär and Anti Cimex resounds on feral scorchers “Corrupt Dreams” and “Drain,” and violent vocals smash through walls of heavily built hardcore on “Mutual Destruction” and “Why Not Love.”

No question, Echoes of Life is obliterating. If you’re seeking anguished howls, decimating riffs, and bombarding percussion, there’s plenty of that. Plus, if you’re wondering what being crushed by a bulldozer feels like, see within as well.

Destruct’s music features familiar signifiers, but the band aren’t simply repeating an oft-told tale on Echoes of Life. Destruct sound ruthless and relentless while ramping up the intensity, and best of all, Echoes of Life sounds utterly massive and yet blisteringly raw throughout.

Formidable. Staggering. Pummeling. Echoes of Life is—as the kids say—fucking sick.

Out now via Grave Mistake Records.

Raspberry Bulbs – Before the Age of Mirrors

Six years on since their last LP, New York band Raspberry Bulbs remerge with a four-track recording filled with lo-fi blackened punk that’s as dissonant and unconventional as their previous work. The band’s fourth LP, Before The Age of Mirrors, features astringent tracks scattered with hooks—albeit jagged, tetanus-inducing ones. “Missing Teeth” and “Doggerel” sound like the Stooges covering Deathcrush, and Raspberry Bulbs channel Rudimentary Peni reinterpreting Transilvanian Hunger on “They’re After Me” and “Given Over to History.”

Nightmarish imagery arises from Raspberry Bulbs’ weird fiction fixations, and strange and paranoiac eccentricities reign supreme throughout. Sheer terror. Sheer insanity. Sheer brilliance.

Zodiak – TKY 2020

The three-song debut from Tokyo band Zodiak is the fourth release in French label Symphony of Destruction’s “Flexickers” series. Zodiak deal in searingly raw Japanese hardcore—the kind of world-eating noise that fans of Zyanose, Disclose, and Confuse devour. The vocals on Zodiak’s TKY 2020 7″ are provided by Californian singer JonCon, whose band Odio specialize in crusty Japanese-inspired cacophonies. TKY 2020 is best suited for admirers of nose-bleeding noise, lacerating guitars, and fierce grunts and growls. A+, all round.

Löckheed – Conflict Delirium

Just as I was about to submit this month’s feature, New Mexico label Blown Out Media announced their first release for 2020, Löckheed’s Conflict Delirium EP. Blown Out Media had a phenomenal 2019, releasing some of the year’s best raw punk recordings, including rip-roaring releases from Project GBG, Disapprove, Röntgen, and Step to Freedom. See below for the hammering new Löckheed track streaming on Bandcamp. See you next time for a fuller review of Conflict Delirium.

MobAttack – Warfare

Californian trio MobAttack’s full-length debut, Warfare, is their best release yet. The band’s extremely raw and rough-hewn hardcore is inspired by Discharge and Antisect as much as Disclose and Svart Parad, and Warfare is duly primitive and propulsive. D-beaten tracks whizz by in a rush of hoarse vocals and distorted / duct-taped riffs. Warfare is crude and coarse, with every second being more disordered than the last. Ear-splitting fun, obviously.

Affect – Fucked Reality

Swedish duo Affect’s second release, Fucked Reality, is a kängpunk free-for-all featuring the kind of stubborn shitnoise you have to scrape off the rim. Fucked Reality doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: full-tilt Disclose-worship meets amp-melting madness. Don’t waste your time looking for subtext or subtleties, because Fucked Reality is simply a whirlwind of mind-mangling Scandi noise. You get five obnoxious tracks and all of them are as raw as pissing razor blades.

Exploatör – Avgrundens Brant

Phobia Records are releasing Exploatör’s second LP, Avgrundens Brant, and the label are calling it the “album of the year!“. That’s a bold claim, given we’re only three months into 2020. But there’s no denying that Avgrundens Brant is a tour de force that’ll likely be a strong contender come year’s end.

Exploatör features members linked to well-known groups like Warcollapse, Brainbombs, Krigshot, Dissekerad, Disfear, Totalitär and more. Obviously, we’ve all been stung by all-star line-ups letting us down, but Exploatör avoid any ego-stroking or overcooked endeavors and concentrate on delivering a stampeding mix of d-beat, crust, and strapping hardcore.

There’s nothing fancy, showy, or even overly ambitious here—just veteran punks showing a deep appreciation of the pure joys of hurtling guitars, crashing percussion, and gruffly barked vocals. Heavyweight tracks barrel along at a demolishing pace, and while it’s way too early to decide if Avgrundens Brant is the album of the year, if you’re looking for definitive raw hardcore, Exploatör provide plenty of that, and more.

Scavengers Circle – Beyond Repair

Formed by two members from Swedish band Suffer the Pain, Scavengers Circle drop an anvil-heavy debut in Beyond Repair. Smashed out in a single session, the six-track EP is gut-driven and features tracks that growl and prowl like a pitiless beast. D-beat, crust, and Motörcharged riffing provide plenty of horsepower, and fans of Wolfbrigade, Martyrdöd, and abundant Dis-this or Dis-that bands will enjoy Scavengers Circle’s grim and gritty hymns.

That’s not the end of things, though. There are gravel-gargling vocals and heavyweight kängpunk and stenchcore here that’ll prove alluring for deathcrust enthusiasts as well. In fact, Beyond Repair pretty much tramples over sub-genre boundaries as Scavengers Circle intertwine a raft of off-the-chain metal, punk, and hardcore influences. Great stuff.

Despairer – Unburdened

Unburdened is the second EP from Seattle four-piece Despairer. The band’s hefty metallic crust is constructed of big riffs and expressive howls, which share an aesthetic connection to groups like His Hero is Gone, Tragedy, and From Ashes Rise. Similarly, Despairer inject a lot of heartfelt passion and dynamic handiwork into their songs, and the four tracks here are all emotionally bruising encounters that mix angry, scathing, and rousing passages of music.

Despairer are dramatic without being melodramatic, delivering hot-blooded d-beat, crust, and powerhouse hardcore. Unburdened is animated and action-packed, but most of all, it’s evocative and soul-stirring.

B.E.T.O.E / End Result – Nuclear Stockpiles
Purgä – Noise from Hell

If music that sounds like an ear infection feels isn’t your thing, look away now. The MO of prolific Venezuela via Barcelona d-beat and raw punk band B.E.T.O.E is simple: take one chainsawing guitar, add incomprehensible yowls, and throw the lot into a concrete mixer with piledriving drums and bass. B.E.T.O.E share their latest split release with Los Angeles trio End Result, whose skull-splitting demo was covered in the last volume of In Crust We Trust. B.E.T.O.E and End Result’s Nuclear Stockpiles split is a fuzz-fucked massacre, which obviously makes it a dream come true for diehard Disclose, Shitlickers, and Confuse nerds. It’s crude, chaotic, and as ugly as your cum face—guaranteed.

The new flexi from New York Latino punks Purgä is as abrasive as hospital-grade bleach. Noise from Hell delivers six tracks in less than six minutes and the reverb-choked racket features eye-ball-melting levels of distortion. Purgä don’t so much play raw punk as attempt to corral pure pandemonium. Dissonant. Teeth-rattling. And plenty of killer bass lines, too.

Impulse – 6 Track Tape

There’s no Dis-guising Russian trio Impulse’s primary influences. Discharge provide plenty of propellant for the “Sovtek Noise Terror” that Impulse deliver. The band’s 6 Track Tape features an impressive assemblage of heavy-duty d-beat matched to equally hard-wearing hardcore. Screeching solos materialize amongst pulverizing riffs and snarling vocals, while percussion rains down relentlessly.

Admittedly, unrepentant Dis-worship can all sound very similar. But Impulse do a good job of adding an ice-cold edge to their sound. File alongside Fatum, Step to Freedom, Regime, and the plethora of other titanium-strength punk bands emerging from Russia these days.

Skumstrike – Execution Void

The members of Montreal metalpunk three-piece Skumstrike hail from Singapore, Ireland, and Canada, and the band’s influences are aptly multinational. You can hear groups like Shitlickers, Sodom, Framtid, Aura Noir, and Sabbat in their sound, but Skumstrike hurl their inspirations onto a gasoline-soaked pyre, light it up, and bathe in the inferno.

The power-trio tear through five powderkeg tracks filled with Mad Max-worthy blackened thrash / punk on their new Execution Void EP. Filthier than Skumstrike’s previous Pure Coercion EP, Execution Void also slathers on a thicker layer of crust, and Skumstrike don a heavier-gauge bullet belt, too. The band’s latest batch of tracks are foot-to-the-floor rampages. Fans of steely metalpunk, start your engines. Freewheel burning awaits.

Leech – Venus

Straight outta Funabashi, Japan, Leech specialize in blink-and-you’ll-miss-em blasts of grindcore, hardcore, and breakneck powerviolence. All of the band’s previous releases are fast, fierce and, like all red-raw powerviolence, an acquired taste. Leech’s latest batch of furious audio anarchy (i.e. their new Venus EP) features seven hideous-sounding tracks. As per, everything here is barely recorded and every track detonates like a lo-fi hand grenade. Expect bellowing vocals, churning guitars, and plenty of crust-caked abrasiveness.

Orphanage Named Earth / The Throne – Split

The latest release from Polish label Sanctus Propaganda is a thundering 12″ split showcasing the core strengths of fellow Poles Orphanage Named Earth and The Throne. Orphanage Named Earth’s “romantic crust” honors ancient traditions while exploring post-apocalyptic premonitions, and the band’s latest tracks—the percussive “One Tribe” and bruising “Fire in my Heart”—stick to the same atavistic path. Anyone who enjoyed Orphanage Named Earth’s well-received Saudade and Re-evolve releases will rejoice in the epic neo-crust, post-metal, and atmospheric hardcore here.

The Throne’s emotive hardcore is complementary to Orphanage Named Earth’s, but the band also dig deeper into shadowier spheres. The Throne merge raucous d-beat and blast beats in a pitch-black fusion of frenzied instrumentation. Even better, The Throne’s howling tracks here aren’t afraid to dive headfirst into far harsher and darker-sounding caverns either.

PS: Kudos to artist (and War//Plague guitarist) Andy Lefton, whose cover art for Orphanage Named Earth’s side of their split is *outstanding*.

ICD10 – Pleasure for Everyone

Word is, Philadelphia hardcore band ICD10 features a few members from Philly noisecore crew Fuckin’ Lovers, who dropped a virulent release, City Hippies, in late 2019. ICD10’s Pleasure for Everyone debut is also set to destroy your hearing and wellbeing. It starts out with a hot-shot of piercing feedback, and then heavy-duty acidic riffs and gruff, reverbed vocals kick in. Before you know it, ICD10 have burned through one stripped-down, staggering song, and then they’re onto the next bout of down-tuned audio hooliganism.

Unquestionable authenticity, maximum intensity.

Svaveldioxid – Dödsögonblick

Svaveldioxid’s 2019 full-length, Dödsögonblick, was one of last year’s best kängpunk releases. Recorded at Studio D-takt, Dödsögonblick wielded plenty of crude and corrosive punch. But D-takt studio wiz Jan Jutila decided to test some new equipment the studio had installed, so he opted to remix the album recently.

The results sound great. And don’t panic, a remix doesn’t mean Jutila has buffed or smoothed anything. If anything, Dödsögonblick’s guitars, drums, and cut-throat vocals sound even more belligerent and barbaric. Svaveldioxid were extremely pleased with the new mix as well, and the remixed Dödsögonblick, which you can listen to below, is set for release on cassette via Headnoise Records very soon.

DEMO MINI-FEST

Demos, demos, demos—I love ’em. To hell with polished edges and swanky production values; demos are all the more thrilling because they’re instinctive, rough as guts, and packed with potential. I stumble upon plenty of promising demos every month, but some have a visceral presence that lingers longer in my memory. All the releases below fall into that category, so I’m ending this volume of In Crust We Trust with a quick-fire round-up of some recent demolishing demos.

Arson – Savage Butchery Demo

UK band Arson have talent oozing from every greasy pore, which isn’t much of surprise, given the band features members from celebrated British bands like Mere Mortal, The Flex, Die, and Perspex Flesh. Unrestrained riffs and percussion set the pummeling hardcore template on Arson’s Savage Butchery Demo. But flashes of primitive punk, driving bass, and sharp songwriting swerves add abstract angles to the full-throttle aggression right here. Phenomenal.

Attestor – Demo

UK band Attestor’s demo is filled with torrents of muscular d-beat and hardcore that hit like a sledgehammer. Heavyweight hooks are threaded throughout careening tracks, and on-point lyrics examine the myriad personal and political challenges of modernity. Socially conscious and musically ferocious. An enthralling debut.

Nightfeeder – Rotten Demo

Most of Nightfeeder’s members also play in well-known Seattle punk band Deathraid. Nightfeeder’s Rotten demo combines catchy d-beat, crust, and chest-pounding hardcore, which isn’t a million miles away from Deathraid’s sound, either. Rotten features six thickset original tracks, plus a couple of differently flavored covers. If you love brawny crust ‘n’ roll, you’ll likely dig the battering brew right here.

Battlefields – 4 Track Demo

The four tracks on Pittsburgh band Battlefields’ 4 Track Demo feature mega-distorted and mega-obnoxious hardcore. Rapid-firing riffs explode in a frenzied melee, while spitting vocals and incendiary percussion detonate in mind-warping eruptions. I read someone saying that Battlefields’ demo was “too much.” I disagree. Pour it on, boys. Total audio warfare demands total commitment. An annihilating victory all round.

Targets – Demo

Also sitting high on the violent-sounding scale is Colorado band Targets’ recent demo. Expect super-negative blasts of hardcore, where the ferocity and intensity is dialed up to the nth degree. With tracks that sound as unhinged as a murder spree, everything here is blown-out and (((B.R.U.T.A.L))) as Hell. Horrible noise for when only the harshest hardcore will get you through.

Splitting Heads – Demo 2020

Demo 2020, from Chicago band Splitting Heads, is aptly cranium-cracking. The demo’s unrelenting tracks are chock-a-block with raw and bludgeoning hardcore. Plenty of clobbering and concussive old school influences are exhibited throughout, but have no fear, Splitting Heads clearly have all the drive, vigor and unabating anger of the best contemporary hardcore.

Masochism – Plague of Warfare

Masochism’s Plague of Warfare demo is released by Californian label Suck Blood, who’ve released similarly lawless music from Hate Preachers and Cruelty Bomb. Masochism’s demo throws d-beat, crust, and all sorts of septic-sounding chaos into a bass-driven meatgrinder. The result: guttural gutter hardcore that’s road-rash raw.

Echelon – Demo

Atlanta band Echelon’s recent demo features snarling hardcore +, and a little more of that killer Nicky Rat cover art we all love. Details about Echelon are scarce, although I’m sure someone plugged into Atlanta’s punk scene knows the scoop. What I can say is that Echelon’s demo is a fierce blast of scrappy and serrated hardcore, where gruff tracks that feel unhygienic and unpolished are still keenly focused. Brute-force sawtoothed noise. Highly recommended.

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