black metal / crust punk

Impaling Force of Satan is the third and most recent album by Finnish black metal group Womit Angel, released in March 18. With twelve tracks – Armageddon Wolfpack, Ceremonial Coffin-Ceremonial Death, Forgotten Name of Evil, Goat Hellfire, I Kill Everything I Fuck, Impaling Force of Satan, Mr. Barbie, Nun Raping Rock n Roll, Planetary Destruction, Possessed Misery, Raping the Holy Part II and Rat Mouth Saviour – this record reveals a black metal fully compromised and effervescently mixed with punk rock, crust punk and hardcore elements, being the main characteristics of the songs an overwhelming rapidness and intense concision. Basically, Impaling Force of Satan can be best described as punk rock with black metal themes and vocals. 

The overall sound and the style of Womit Angel on this album is competent, coherent and very good. Despite the modest, even common ground premise, and the simple outlines of the songs, Impaling Force of Satan is an interesting and cohesive album. The general proposal of the record is continuously strong, but preeminently subtle, and the structure of the music can be described as formidably relevant. 

Womit Angel is not the first band to introduce punk rock elements in black metal. For several years, in their last albums, Norwegian legendary black metal act Darkthrone has improved their notoriety by doing this improbable, but effective mixture as well. Nonetheless, the style of Womit Angel reveals a creative and genuine approach, that makes this record in particular to be considered fantastically uplifting and very surprising as well. 

Impaling Force of Satan reveals itself to be a formidable album. Although too simple in certain aspects, with some songs being exceedingly short – the sixth track, the eponymous Impaling Force of Satan, lasts only thirty seconds –, this record will be an extraordinary surprise for enthusiasts of this particular genre blending. Although the album cannot be considered an incredible masterpiece, it’s fairly competent, efficient, full of qualities, and quite good on its overall musical terms and proposals. You will certainly not be disappointed. Impaling Force of Satan is a great and outstanding blackened punk rock album, that effectively realizes in a style close to perfection a mixture that apparently can be easy to do, but in practice, only a few can undertake with such an amazing level of striking ability. 
  

Wagner


 

ambient / experimental / shoegaze

metalcore / metal

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hard rock

classical / ambient

drum & bass / industrial metal

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progressive / thrash metal

nu metal

synthpop / new wave

techno / industrial

alternative rock

post rock

death metal

dark ambient / black metal

experimental rock

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gothic / industrial metal

punk

punk / stoner rock

Divide & Conquer is the debut full length by Norwegian crossover stoner punk act Bokassa, to be released via All Good Clean Records on March 25th. A little more than half an hour, the record has nine tracks: Intro, Last Night, Walker, Crocsodile Dundee, Genocidal, Five Finger, Here Goes Nothing, Retaliation and Stoner Anthem. A choleric album with a predominantly direct and furious punk rock essence, Bokassa works splendidly well the infusion of primitive and technical stoner rock elements into their music, unraveling a singular style that came as a result of a very audacious, ambitious and marvelously realized crossover, that crafted a vehemently genuine, surprising and strong hybrid genre, peculiarly brilliant, unexpected and astoundingly creative, like something you have never heard in your whole life before. 

Although their sound could be described as essentially crude, raw and hostile, there is an intense energy and an infuriating vibrating rhythm, splendidly adorned by excellent and thoroughly dilapidated melodies, sidelined by aggressive and stubborn guitar lines, that dictates the aggressiveness in one hand, but on the other, never leaves an intelligent sonorous intricacy behind. 

Divide & Conquer is fundamentally an amalgamated synergy of an aggressive sonorous explosion, ready to announce the end of the world. With vigor, objectivity and seriousness, Bokassa displays a formidable musical intensity, that elaborates, dilates and expands a more refined and exploratory, but nonetheless brutal and grotesque, new form of wild rock. With simple, but amazingly furious and highly energetic guitar lines, Divide & Conquer is an aggressive, corrosive and effectively consistent album, loyal to the most honorable traditions of punk rock, but never renouncing to the delirious traces that has solidified the graceful tonalities of their musical peculiarities. It becomes very clear that they worked hard – and very successfully – to develop an abrasive and formidable degree of authentic expression. And they have achieved this goal quite high, I would say. 

My two favorite tracks on this album, without a doubt, is the fourth and nine – Crocsodile Dundee and Stoner Anthem, respectively – which seems to be, at least in what concerns my personal musical tastes, the cherries on the top of the cake. Formidable songs, that explores and exposes the incredible versatility and the lucid abilities of a band that has an exceedingly bright future ahead of them, Divide & Conquer, after all, certainly has everything to be considered a fundamental masterpiece of the crossover musical phenomenon.   
    

​Wagner

progressive metal

dark ambient

post rock

shoegaze / psychedelic

symphonic doom

grindcore

alternative / metal

dark ambient

indie rock / pop rock

punk rock

rock / blues

funeral doom / black metal

noise / drone / spoken word

heavy metal

death metal / black metal

Serge

dream pop

jazz / krautrock / post rock

electronic / idm

techno

rock / experimental

stoner / doom

psychedelic doom

black metal / doom / thrash

thrash metal

metalcore

drone / ambient / psychedelic

folk / rock

thrash metal

punk / hardcore

post rock / psychedelic / progressive

punk / hardcore

According to Wikipedia Exploding Head Syndrome or EHS can be described as “a condition in which a person hears loud imagined noises…These noises have a sudden onset, are typically brief in duration, and are often jarring for the sufferer.“ Apart from the imagined noises this album respects this definition.  These ten tracks are a great Christmas gift to piss off your or someone else’s parents.

Exploding Head Syndrome is a Norwegian band hardcore (angry) punk band that came into existence in 2010. Two thirty-year-old childhood friends had an idea and a couple of months later a band was created. Their first album was a self-titled EP in 2011 followed by a first full length album called ‘Disciples of Reason’ in 2013, which received good reviews.  NRK Pyro, Norway’s leading hard-rock music show, even declared them as “one of the most exciting new Norwegian bands.” The members of the band have also known their fair share of grief after the death of bassist Bjørnar. This however didn’t keep them from writing new material and thus creating the new album ‘World Crashes Down’

As I have said before their music can be described as hardcore (angry) punk. Immediately after the short intro it becomes clear that EHS gets away with this description. The first song, ‘Wasting Away’, although a bit more poppy than the other tracks, gives you a very good idea of what the album is about. A voice expressing a great sense of anger, lyrics that are both to the point and catchy combined with spine shivering guitar riffs bring about a large amount of energy. Together with the in-your-face attitude that comes with them the band has created an album that I can listen and dance to all day long. 

Sometimes a hardcore or punk album can be quite monotonous. With ‘World crashes down’ this is not the case and this thanks to the sequence of the songs. It’s like the entire album is a season of a TV show and every song is an episode with its own story. The pilot, being of course the first track, introduces you the different characters, being the vocals, guitars, drums…, and after watching/listening to the season finale, the last track, you can’t wait for the next season to air. 

My final conclusion: A band to binge watch. But: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!” (Track 04 The Fine Line Between Hardcore and Hipster)



​Michiel

black metal / crust punk

symphonic metal

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funk / alternative

synthpop / electronic

post punk / alternative / indie

hard rock

black metal / shoegaze

grunge / alternative rock / punk

rock 

bandcamp

post punk / alternative rock

alternative rock / noise rock

hard rock / heavy metal

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grindcore

bandcamp

With Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation on vocals, San Diego grindcore outfit Anal Trump comes up with a short and vicious assault. The longest song on this album is eighteen seconds long and I had to listen four times while writing this thing. So yes, this is sick, gore grindcore in perfect Anal Cunt / Napalm Death tradition. It comes with a lot of shit that someone named Donald Trump has been spewing out, like 'I'd Date My Daughter', 'Build That Wall' and 'Breastfeeding Is Gay'. So if you miss Seth Putnam, hate Donald Trump, think music should be torturous and have no problem with the fact that downloading this release will last longer than actually playing it, you need this.

black metal / thrash metal

black metal

punk / alternative rock

doom / sludge

​Serge

sludge

A free three-track ep from Canadian sludge deities Dopethrone, which, by the way, is completely free to download if you wish. So why write a review about it? After all, every Dopethrone fan should know about this ep already, and most of them should already have it in their digital collection, no? Well, like I said, "should". I know that there are some lazy stoners out there that haven't checked out the crushing 'Shot Down', the grinding 'Drifter' (my favorite) and the pulverizing closer 'Skag Reek' yet. Maybe because it's monday morning and they still need to get the weekend out of their systems. Good new, this ep can help you with that by knocking you out cold...

black metal

The Scandinavian countries have always been the place to be for decent black metal and Swedish trio Astrophobos are here to prove that. Since their inception in 2009, they've released an ep and a full-length, now followed by this triumphant four-track. These songs resemble some of the all time greats, including Satyricon, Dissection, Immortal and so on and comes with an excellent production, solid enough to blast the wax out of your ears. My favorite track is the epic 'The Cadaver Monarch', a massive piece of (mainly) slow, grinding black metal in the vein of some of the best Dimmu Borgir songs. This ep certainly is a must-have for ever self-respecting black metal adept, that's for sure... 

crust / post-metal / sludge

In a faraway future, when our civilization is left in unrecognizable ruins, a number of new people will form tribes and start all this madness all over again. London, UK based supergroup Morrow created the soundtrack for this post-apocalyptic world, and what a massive beast that album has become. Crust, post-metal and sludge with violins and cellos accompanying the more traditional instrumentation, intense, heavy and  often straight-in-your-face music that is quite hard to categorize. The band is huge, featuring a massive number of guest vocalists and narrators speaking or screaming in different languages. This certainly is a strange but highly immersive experience.

sludge / noise rock

Ready to be hypnotized by repetitive, almost ritual, sludge doom? Well, than the first part of this burdensome split is something for you. Black Tar Prophet for Nashville, TN, specializes in thick, harsh sludge with samples instead of vocals and the result is mesmerizing and immersive. It could very well be the soundtrack for a David Lynch movie about Dante's 'La Divina Commedia', or something. Iron Gavel basically follows a similar pattern with harsh guitar riffs and pummeling drums but seem to throw a thick sauce of noise rock over the whole thing. In any case, this split comes highly recommend to anyone who wants to scare the shit out of people...

death metal

Headbanging time! Drop whatever you're doing, play this one loud and bang the day away. This band from Montenegro, featuring members from Abhoth, comes up with bloody delicious thrash induced death metal. Slayer meets Obituary and Testaments meets Dismember, which obviously means fingerlicking riffs, a fierce tempo and deep guttural growls. However, it might be interesting to notice that these guys never let brutality get in the way of musicality, which is a massive plus in my book. The level of variation is high, the mid-tempo parts are immersive as hell and 'Demigods' is a world class death metal track. This album certainly is a highlight in 2016's death metal scene.

death metal

This strictly limited 7" (250 copies) is meant to be an appetizer for the upcoming debut of American trio Impure Consecration. I'm not sure when the full-length will be released but if you're a fan of old school death metal, you might start preparing to feast on the corpses of your enemies. The two songs on this single are primitive, harsh and unforgiving pieces of death metal, quite similar to some of the oldest works by Morbid Angel, Sepultura or Vital Remains.'Apparitions of a Malevolent Spirit' for example, completely reeks of the early eighties when extreme metal started to take form with its growling voice, it's chaotic riffing and it's nutsack piercing drums. Try it, it's good for you....

black metal / death metal

I have no idea where Blood Harvest keeps finding these ancient school bands. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a time portal to the early eighties in their office. Take this Supremative ep for example, an intro with gregorian chants, followed by chaotic and psychotic noise, moshing on the thin line between black and death metal. The tempo is murderous, but so seem to be the intentions of this whole thing. This Spanish act blasts and grinds its way through your eardrums, right into wherever your soul is situated. I'd recommend this thing to all the old schoolers out there. Maybe to the new death metal kids too, hoping this music will devour and destroy them completely...

punk / metal

One is a metal band, the other a collective of punks. Both play heavy music, preferably loud. Both have recorded one brand new song and a cover of the other band. But the whole thing kicks off with a song they wrote and recorded together. That song, called 'Imitators' is an intense piece of punk-metal, guaranteed to start a moshpit or at least a decent headbanging session. The whole thing feels a little Exploited-like, you know, thrash metal meets punk. Other bands that often come to mind include Overkill, Anthrax and The Unseen. This really is a fun crossover ep by two of Essex' loudest bands, exceptionally suited for those who long for the good old days of both genres...

noise rock

Dissonant music doesn't always have to be metal. Take this impressive six-track split for example. Opening with a brilliant piece of noise-rock in 'Something Better', American trio Buildings comes up with one of the best things in the genre I've heard this year. The other two tracks are just as much dissonant delight, bringing everything from Unsane over Godflesh to The Jesus Lizard to mind. Fellow countrymen Volunteer add a few hints of sludge to the whole noise-rock sound, perfectly completing this already stunning split. This is something for fans of Vandal X, Today Is The Day and Neurosis, maybe, probably. I don't know. This is noise-rock perfection...

metalcore / metal

Although metalcore usually isn't my thing, I do feel some sympathy for these youngsters from "De Kempen", a geographic region in Belgium, claimed to be "silent". Well, nothing is silent on this debut ep, on the very contrary. With their mix of fast hardcore, melodic metalcore and metallic extremes these guys are preparing for the bigger stages. This is pure aggression, dressed in something that seems to be influenced by everything between Alexisonfire, Parkway Drive, Trivium and Gojira. There are some brilliant passages, plenty of variation and sheer power, everything a good metalcore band needs. So yes, this is highly promising. We'll hear a lot more from these guys in the near future...

punk rock / garage rock

I admit, I was completely wrong about this album. To be honest, I was expecting some lame ancient Iron Maiden rip-off, probably from looking at the cover and band logo. However, what I got was something completely different, something that made me turn up the volume immediately. Swedish rockers Nightmen come up with an infectious blend of garage rock and punk, reminding me of a mix of Ramones, Sex Pistols, Blondie and The Cars. This is a tremendous throw-back in time and an absolute must-have for fans of sweet but raunchy rock 'n roll. I promise you'll be quickly singing along with songs like 'I Only Want You', 'Go Go' and 'Tonight Is The Night'. Awesome stuff...

electro

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Since we're dealing with strange music, let's introduce this electronic dance single by Morgane Lhote (ex-Stereolab), A.K.A. Hologram Teen. Yes, strange, because even though the whole thing reminds me a lot of a blend of French house music and acts like Add N To X or even Kraftwerk, there is a great deal of joyful experimentalism in here. It also reminds me a bit of the acid house and new beat scene in the late eighties and early nineties, two scenes that I secretly loved back then. I still love them today and I quite like this single too. So check it out, get your rave-pants on and prepare for a little party with Hologram Teen. It'll be fun, I promise you.

ambient / experimental / neoclassical

Eilean Records

øjeRum is Copenhagen based musician and collage artist Paw Grabowski. Since 2014, he released several albums but this is his first one on Eilean Records. The compositions on this album somewhat reach the avant-garde scene, but are still gentle, calm and quite immersive pieces of minimal music. With this minimal and often repetitive approach, these tracks are very interesting to explore. They show different sides each time, sometimes reaching out to classical music, sometimes almost medieval folk and sometimes calm and soothing ambient. So yeah, like most of Eilean's releases, this is a highly recommended piece of work, one I will be listening to quite often from now on.

avant garde / experimental / ambient / noise

Eilean Records

Another odd and quite varied album from Eilean Records, this time by German sound artist Florian von Ameln. And this album should be seen exactly like that: sound art. Some of the track on 'Rvvr' could barely be described as music. I mean, 'The Last Before Settlement' partially consists of bleeps, bird sounds and minimal drones until the real musicality fades in. Yet, that doesn't make this album any less interesting. It remains an adventurous journey, loaded with weird noises, strange electronic and acoustic passages and a mystical atmosphere. The more you listen to 'Rvvr', the more a map of an otherworldly, imaginary universe opens. Truly recommended material...

black metal / crust

It looks like these will the most varied brieviews yet, from punk over experimental ambient to electronic music and now a fierce slab of blackened crust punk, courtesy of Minneapolis, US residents Feral Light. Yet, it isn't just brutal and aggressive crust you get here. These guys are obviously inspired by the ancient Scandinavian hordes, judging from the awesome riffs. Yet, they also bring in the layered sound from today's post-black metal scene, turning these little pieces of extremity into hypnotic metal songs. As far as crust is concerned, these guys are well on their way to become my favorites in the genre. Try it out, you'll be pleasantly surprised, if you survive the trip...

avant-garde / experimental 

Merdumgiriz

Controversial, weird, angsty, insane. Those are words you can use to describe this strange album by Turkish experimental act Viranesir. The former extreme metal act has been banned from facebook and bandcamp for their often questionable content. This time, they deliver a firm kick in the nutsack of the metal industry by combining technical death metal drums with spooky synths and a massive avant-garde attitude. That way, this album reminds me more of acts like Virgin Prunes, Sex Gang Children or Alien Sex Fiend. It feels like this album was meant as a pop-induced middle finger to one industry, but unintentionally it has become an interesting piece of dark cult album. Yep, that's talent, no matter how controversial it is...

death metal / thrash metal

Headbanging time again, right now with Italian quartet InAllSenses. This ep has been released awhile ago but for some reason it escaped my attention. If you're a fan of strong but melodic metal, this should not escape yours. This is a great crossover between old school thrash metal and the melodic death thrash of the Swedish scene. A little In Flames, a little Testament, a dash of Arch Enemy and a hint of Fear Factory, but all perfectly fitting in with today's metal scene. I'm absolutely sure that songs like 'The Anthem Of Revolution' will cause massive moshpits wherever these guys play this stuff live, moshpits where young and old extreme metalheads will have the time of their lives...

grindcore 

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Well, here's another album that is completely void of musicality, not because it consists of a bunch of field recordings and noises but merely because this is raunchy porngrind, goregrind or whatever you like to call this stuff. Hyperspeed drums, thick riffs, screams, squeals and other torturous noises will continuously blast through your speakers until your sanity is sick of it and leaves that deranged body of yours. Don't worry, you don't need your sanity to enjoy this album. All you need is a bunch of good friends, a mouthgag and plenty of sick bondage equipment and you're ready to go. Have fun being tortured by this shit. And yes, in this case that's probably a compliment...

doom / folk / ambient

One long track, about forty minutes, divided into four pieces of gloomy, highly atmospheric music, blending elements from doom metal, folk, classical and dark ambient ànd featuring an appearance by Thomas Helm (Empyrium), that's what this strange gem delivers. Created by Iranian one man act The Unknown (Aria Moghaddam) and aided by Kevin Pribulsky from US band In Search Of, this album is a brilliant piece of work. There aren't even so many doom metal elements present. The majority of the music is orchestral and symphonic ambient and quite immersive if you ask me. It fits perfectly in today's post-metal/rock scene too with its elaborate soundscapes and hypnotic riffs . Beautiful stuff...

stoner rock / psychedelic rock

This album by Berlin, Germany stoner rockers Samavayo is their first one as a trio. There used to be more members but apparently, three is enough to make a blast of an album. 'Dakota' is a groove and fuzz-loaded riff-beast which will undoubtedly get your wasted ass shaking. Yet, these aren't simple in-your-face stoner rock tunes. These are quite complex pieces of work where psychedelic rock meets alternative rock, grunge even. They show a great deal of musical craftsmanship and songwriting abilities.The more you listen to the album, the more layers of fuzzy bliss you will discover and the more you will like it. I have no favorite songs, as I simply like to play this thing loud and ride along with the grooves. Awesome...

indie / punk

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Hailing from Cambridge, UK, indie punks Grieving throw a few energetic pieces of lo-fi rock music in our faces.And quite frankly, sometimes that is all we need. Their influences include Guided By Voices, Fugazi, Television, The Lemonheads, Bob Mould and Wolf Brigade, which could explain the varied sound of their songs. Sometimes they're emotional, coming close to indie pop while on other occasions they blast out of my speakers with a severe punk attitude. My favorites on this ep are 'Ownership' and 'Warmest Jets' but I also really dig the noisy and somewhat creepy 'Little Armoured'. In all, this stuff will certainly reach the many festival goers wherever Grieving do their stuff...

stoner rock

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Fuzz yeah, this is the shit. Well, it is if you're into bands like Mastodon, Baroness and Red Fang. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, USA, Howling Giant comes up with some infectious stoner rock, nudging towards psychedelic rock and doom.  The trio seemingly consists of nerds who combine their love for comics, space travel and downtuned, fuzzed-out guitars. Personally, I am more than ok with that, certainly if they keep on blasting out their massive sound in stunning songs like 'Mothership' or  'Exodus-Earth' and even in noise faceslaps like 'Dirtmouth'. My favorite is the doom track 'Clouds Of Smoke' but I have to recommend this stuff to any psychedelic stoner doomer out there.

doom / black metal

Give Praise Records seems to have a flair for interesting split 7" releases. This time, the label invited Ukrainian horde Moloch and Polish blackened doomers Gurthang. Moloch got the opportunity to open the split with an atmospheric intro and a massive track where funeral doom meets sludge metal. I really dig this song, but as far as I'm concerned, it could last for about twelve minutes instead of (barely) three. More haunting doom metal comes from Gurthang, who deliver another piece of crushing metal, not as raw and primitive as their colleagues but still damn immersive. The keyboards give the whole that awesome nineties sound. Yep, I'm a fan...

black metal

Iron Bonehead

Iron Bonehead is another one of those labels who somehow always succeed in coming up with strange and obscure gems to please the filthiest of ears. This harsh, chaotic yet melancholic tape by Finnish black metal duo Celestial Grave is a perfect example of that. The three songs on this ep are not loaded with blast-beats (except for closer 'Burial Ground Trance' but still contain the necessary elements to make this a fierce competitor in the raunchy underworld of the blackened scene. The music is primitive but at the same time shows a great deal of musicianship and songwriting skill. The whole is not so much a performance, more like a dark ceremony or a nocturnal ritual, driving on vintage riffing and powerful drums. For collectors of obscure blackened gems, this certainly is a must-have. For others, well, I guess a lot of fans of extreme stuff will like this. So check it out and allow yourself to dwell in the thick sound of Celestial Grave

black metal 

Into Dungeons Records

More obscure blackened filth, this time as a tribute to the 7" releases by German label Sombre Records. On this 7" we get some harsh, raw and primitive black metal, courtesy of four bands from the German underground. Intempestus opens with a grinding, punk induced song that will rip your head wide open. Antares comes with 'Revelations', a lo-fi piece of work that sounds as grim and haunting as this genre should be, and a well varied one too. Necrohell delves right into the old 'World Domination' compilation with their thick, grinding sound and relentless punk induced riffing. At the end, Vent comes up with a delightful piece of doomed and blackened audio-filth, my favorite one on this already impressive split.

Hardcore Punk / Powerviolence / Grindcore

'Boak' is Scottish slang meaning vomit or feelings of excessive nausea. That should already explain a thing or two about this ep. With four songs, in all not even seven minutes long, these Scottish canaille throws old school hardcore, grindcore and powerviolence in one massive heap of musical extremity. Yet, the whole thing is quite catchy if you're into this stuff, certainly because it's also loaded with weird samples. These songs can easily cause moshpits, walls-of-death and crowdsurfers wherever Boak decided to plan their next assault. My favorite is the last track, 'Pamplona' but the whole thing is so destructive that 95% of humanity will never be able to withstand the other tracks, HAH.

punk rock

Some genres never seem to change, and I'm not really sure if that's a bad thing or not. In a way, nothing really renewing seems to come from the punk rock scene. Yet, on the other hand, it's almost always uplifting music. Concerts usually are fun, CD's often make you smile. Besides, on every summer festival there is one of those joyous punk rock bands and they almost always succeed in entertaining the audience.

I think the Nancy, France residents Flood are no different.  On this second ep, after 'Calm Before The Storm' in 2014, these guys come up with energetic punk rock in the vein of bands like Blink 182, Green Day and Sum 41. It's not very original but it sure is quality. There are some great tunes to be found here too, highlighting in the highly dynamic opener 'Don't Blink' and follower 'Hometown'.

'Who Are We Now' seems a bit heavier, perhaps including some thrash metal influences but with the same great vocal lines and melody. 'Sappy' makes you want to bang your head a little, before it turns into a pop punk tune that would perfectly fit on an Adam Sandler movie soundtrack. The album closes with 'This Night', another heavy tune, more of the same perhaps but well done.

So if you're looking for something renewing, you might want to keep looking, but then again, you might want to stop looking for it in the punk rock scene. What Flood brings is nothing new but it's damn fun. Hell, I've been shaking my ass when I listened to the album yesterday, twice. And believe me, my ass only shakes when the music is good. In fact, I hope these guys become the new big thing in the scene. They deserve it...

Serge

rock / punk

Well, this is an odd album. Presented as "modern punk", this French quartet comes up with a live recording, following their debut which was released in 2014. On this live presentation, they played five songs from the debut, five new tracks for the upcoming album and a new track, written exclusively for this live registration. Yet, the whole raises some questions and made me look at my speakers in disbelief a few times.

Perhaps that's mostly because I know punk rock, and certainly the modern style, as a grainy, dirty and fast music style. If you mention "punk", I think about The Exploited, Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Kids. But if you mention "modern punk", I think NOFX, Sick Of It All, Bad Religion, Millencolin... You get the idea. Well, as far as I'm concerned, Electric Beans can drop the "modern" part and go right to back to writing these vintage punk rock songs.

And that's actually a good thing. Throughout the album, I'm constantly reminded of bands like The Kids, The Wolfbanes,The Scabs or The Paranoiacs perhaps. Yes, Belgian rock bands who brought a sense of musicianship and decent songwriting to the world of punk. While the music still has that raunchy, socio-critical edge, there are some damn good songs on this album. 'What The Hell' for example, or the heaviest song "Comptine Punk", which actually is the most punk rock song here.

What Electric Beans mostly remind me of, are the summer festivals. One hot afternoon, cold beer in the hand, band playing on stage, promo-girls handing out stuff you absolutely don't need and the smell of fatty hamburgers in the air. It's one of my favorite things of all time, and quite frankly, I usually love these moments more than I like the headliners. As far as I'm concerned, Electric Beans can play a lot of festivals this year. I'm sure they will make a lot of people happy.


​Serge

noise rock / punk

Time for an energetic slab of no-nonsense rock 'n roll, don't you think? I certainly do, since I'm already getting a little drunk. It's two in the afternoon but I don't mind. I'm thinking about starting a mosh pit in my living room, build a skate ramp in my kitchen and put a massive set of speakers in my bedroom. I'm alone, I can't skate and I will probably be evicted by my landlord for making too much noise but who cares, right?

Anyway, here's Hot Coffin, a band from Milwaukee, US. I know very little about this band, mainly because while writing this, I got myself another beer and I'm getting more drunk by the paragraph. I'm also way too energized by this awesome blend of noise rock and punk rock to focus on reading anything about the history of the band. Members have had some experiences in several bands before.

​The album opens with 'Whistle, Hawk, & Spit' and immediately I'm dragged in a vision about summer festivals and the raw intensity from noise rock and punk bands, even though this is probably the most post-hardcore related song on this album, it still is one of my favorites (I'm not really into post-hardcore, but don't tell anyone). From then on, we're on a massive wave of riffs, drums and rough vocals.

I can hear influences from Melvins, from Neurosis, from Bad Religion, from Sonic youth and even from Therapy?. But most of all, I can hear a bunch of rockers having the time of their lives. The album highlights a number of times, including the great songwriting 'Salt Away' and the mosher 'Hammer Throw'. But I also really dig the chaotic 'A Lesson In Sleep' and the closing track. I'm not going to mention the title of that last want. It would sound weird. Look it up and you'll know why I won't say ' I like...'

So yeah, buy this album, have a few beers, turn up the volume and let yourself go. After all, it's Saturday, the only day where you don't have to slave to society, family or other yapping 'obligations'. Have fun, get wasted and rock on...


​Serge

punk / metal

Sometimes I have no idea what genres to put on top of a review.  Usually, that's quite easy, mainly because the band or label tells us.  However, in some cases nobody tells us exactly what it is, so I take a look at the band's facebook page for more information.  In this case, even that is pretty impossible because these guys mention Punk, D-beat, Crust, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal, Speed Metal, Progressive Metal and Gothic Metal.  

So let's play the elimination game.

There is very little gothic metal to be found here, certainly not in the overdressed female fronted scene, so let's kick that genre out.  Punk, D-beat, crust and hardcore are quite similar and since they're all here, we can just combine them into the tag 'punk'.  Fast guitars, uptempo drums and an in-your-face attitude, that's what we get on these five tracks, reminding me of some old school punk bands and acts like Motorhead.

On to metal then, judging from the vocals, we're dealing with a death metal singer, or someone close to that.  Some of the riffs say thrash metal and the overall tempo says speed metal, leaving us with progressive metal and black metal to be detected.  I can't find them, except maybe for the blackened element in a very, very, very old school approach. So, out with progressive too since this is far away from acts like Dream Theater and company.

Right, what do we have left?

Well, we got four fierce songs, borrowing elements from thrash metal and hardcore punk, raging on in sheer intensity and influenced by horror movies.  In fact, some horror movie samples are present on this album too. There is also an Ennio Morricone like outro, which obviously is somewhat calmer than the four nutkickers we heard before.  Recommended? Well, if you like your music to be fast, vile and dirty, you should get your hands on this piece of work, that's for damn sure.


​Serge

punk / grindcore

These guys are from the home state of, I believe, Slipknot but let's not get anymore comparison to them then that. These guys are angry, dirty, ugly, insane, and twisted as fuck. The music reminds me of a long time ago when I first heard O.L.D. (Old Lady Drivers), it has that chaotic catchiness going on.

They are more punk than metal but still metal as fuck in parts. They are a breath of fresh (well dirty) air in a clogged up music scene of "the same ol same ol"...The last track "Hit & Run" starts out groovy and continues the trend like they are a spacerock weed burning stoner rock band with the sick as vocals to boot!

Traffic Death - They are more fun than dying of mercury poisoning!


​Paul

rock / punk

Awhile ago, I mentioned the singing habits of French vocalists.  I knew if before, but since I founded this webzine, I became increasingly aware that these guys like to put in as much vocals as possible.  It has always fascinated me, but it has also irritated me on numerous occasions. Somehow, it often feels as a form of disrespect towards the musicians who do their best to make their music as interesting as possible.  Luckily, on some occasions the French prove me wrong.

Jimm is a one-man act from Paris, claiming to make 'electric metal'.  While researching this album (I lost the accompanying biography), I found a rant from a metalhead who absolutely despised the fact that Jimm used that term.  In a way, I can understand him but was it necessary to tear this album down as much as that guy did? Absolutely not, this is a fun album, loaded with energetic punk and alternative rock.

True, this is not a very original album.  You get ten rock songs with French vocals, some flashy solos and a decent dose of energy.  It also begins with the least good song (I'm not using the word 'worst' because it still isn't bad).  'Jamais De Trêve' reminds me a bit of acts like Calibre, especially in the vocals.  But from then on, we're on a nice journey through the heavier side of alternative rock music.

Most of the songs, and especially 'Jour De Gloire' or 'Je Cherche A M'Endormir' remind me of anything between Green Day and Foo Fighters, often enhanced with some influences from stoner rock and old school hard rock. The combination works quite well and I can easily imagine this act playing on one of the upcoming summer festivals.  I can also imagine several heads being turned into their direction and some rockers starting to dance.

There are more good songs on this album.  Halfway through 'Ton Souffre-Douleur' I see no reason to criticize this piece of work.  Yes, maybe it isn't metal.  Yes, maybe it is something for young adolescents.  But does it matter?  No, it doesn't.  In all, 'In[can]decence' is an excellent rock album, one that pleasantly surprised me on many occasions.  I wasn't expecting this groovy and immersive rock at first but after a few good listens, I might become one of those dancing rockers at that summer festival...


​Serge

punk / rock

Will today finally be the day on which I finish this damn review?  It's my third effort to write something about this since it arrived in my inbox.  The first time, my washing broke down, leaving my kitchen in a massive pool of water and soap.  The second time, my phone broke down, ruining some of my savings.  I wonder what goes wrong this time, but I can promise you, I'm finally going to finish this bloody review.

Perhaps it's not surprising that Finnish punk rockers Slap Betty cause all these trouble.  After all, they're known for cutting the electricity at festivals, getting into a car accident while on their way to take a picture with Santa and often reporting their guitar player to be missing.  Their previous album visited the Finnish charts and I think this one is going to do that too. If you're in for catchy punk rock and a good slab of bad luck, this is something for you.

The album opens with 'World We Leave Behind', a solid and raw punk rock song, written for the former prime minister and current minister of finances Alexander Stubb.  Yet, not all the songs are political inspired.  Most of them are simply strong rock songs, reminding me of everything between Ramones, Paranoiacs, Green Day and whatever punk rock band you can imagine.  Is that good? Fuck yeah it is.

Slap Betty doesn't care about trends, electronics, genres, nifty details or technical feats.  They just want to rock and that's exactly what they do.  Songs like 'List Of Things That I Hate', '27', 'Piece Of Me' and 'Time To Get Wasted' are strong songs, perfectly capable of setting an audience on fire, probably literally.  On 'High Class Hooker' it suddenly becomes clear that there's a bit of glam rock influences present too, reminding me of Motley Crue or Poison.

Anyway, this certainly is an excellent soundtrack for those who like to live on the edge and take risks.  I mean, this is perfect car cruising music but it might get you in an accident.  This is perfect live music but might cause the building to collapse on you. Is it worth the risk? Well, sure, why not, it's way better to get murdered by a solid rock album than by whatever games our politicians decide to play on us, right? So buy it, I dare you...


​Serge

punk rock

Usually, I forward punk rock albums to my colleague Wouter who's specialized in this genre.  He doesn't live near me so we don't meet up that much.  Coincidentally, I saw him last Sunday at a football game but somehow I completely forgot to give him this album. On second thought, that might not be a bad thing, since I quite like this band.  They got a good sound, plenty of energy and some more influences besides the usual punk rock scene.

For Sore Eyes is a band from Brescia, Italy, formed in 2006.  Since then, they have been perfecting their trade, seen a few line-up changes and apparently writing some damn good songs.  Main influences seem to be some of the regular punk bands like Blink 182, Sum 41, Green Day or Alkaline Trio.  Yet, at times I'm also reminded of completely different acts, including Maybeshewill or Sleepmakeswaves.

Yeppers, this music is a great blend of punk and slabs post rock and I quite like that.  It's dynamic, powerful, melodic and immersive.  There are some great harmonies here, often enhanced by keyboards or piano, because why the hell not?  Those instruments add a lot of radio-friendliness to the whole.  Yet, even more interesting might be the fact that there are some awesome rock songs here, including opener 'Light In The Dark', 'A Better Life' and title track 'Nexus'.

Last Sunday, Wouter and I were talking about punk rock bands and about their inability to write decent ballads.  Yes, there are some good ballads by punk bands but admit it, they're quite rare.  Now, I have to say that For Sore Eyes managed to throw a very good one on this album.  'Aurora' is an awe-inspiring track, varied, dynamic and pretty damn heavy at times. 

But there's even more.  On 'Burn (Crashing Down)' I have a slight Iron Maiden feeling.  'A Call Out Of Nowhere' is an interesting space ambient track, even reminding me of Tangerine Dream.  Now, that was quite unexpected, no?  I'm not sure if that was intended but it certainly shows a highly versatile site of these youngsters. 'Dust' is a mix of punk rock and trip hop, another pretty nice surprise to be honest. Finally, 'Under The Sun' is just plain acoustic rock fun.

By now you should get a decent idea about the versatility of this group of youngsters.  On this debut, they play all their trumps and with success too.  This is a well-played, well-written and highly varied punk rock album which certainly has the ability to get them on big festival stages around Europe.  Expect to see a lot more coming from these Italians in the near future...


Serge

Crust / Power violence / punk

Damn, who new France could spit out such a great crusty as shit band like this? Meaty, angry, catchy, sick, dirty, and grimy! God damn it this shit is dope! I agree with the band, you get a taste of Weekend Nachos, Trap Them, All Pigs Must Die, and then some more violence!

Best description I could give is 80's angry punk modernized with some grindcore and death metal (musically that is, no death metal vocals here so don't get the wrong impression of what I am saying), they just have a few riffs here and there that are death metallish like but not much, just enough!

Every track is awesome, average song length is about a minute but they do have a very very long track, clocking in at 3 minutes 23 seconds Ha! The release is free on their bandcamp page so no reason to get it, however don't be a chump bitch and pay something for it so they can continue to produce more awesomeness. 


Paul

punk / noise rock

Some bands fall victim to the overwhelming amount of releases we still have to go through.  As I mentioned in my column about this past year (read), some albums have been delayed and others might never be reviewed because we simply can't handle all of them.  Then again, some albums suddenly seem to pop-up from somewhere in the huge pile and draw my attention.  This is one of them.

Death Of Youth is a band from Germany, founded in 2013.  Their main influence seems to be hardcore punk, and that have been what made me weary of it at first.  Yet, as you can see, I underhandedly added the term 'noise-rock' to the genres above.  There's a good reason for that too, otherwise I wouldn't do that.  Opener '55116' really is much more of a noise rock anthem than a punk song.

For starters, there's the tempo.  Death Of Youth seems to prefer a mid tempo approach, at least on most occasions.  That doesn't affect the aggression and crushing spirit of the whole by the way.  The raw, pissed-off vocals certainly have that in-your-face punk attitude but I can see this song being played by Melvins just as much as by Agnostic Front.  There's just as much Godflesh, Winter or Tool as there is Hüsker Dü or Gorilla Biscuits, to name a few.

Even when the tempo goes up, there's still is experimental, noisy approach, resulting in eerie feedback noises here and there.  And then there's also 'Eine jugend, die es nicht wert ist, erzählt zu werden', a song the combines sludge, shoegaze and blacked doom, or something like that.  This is a massive song.  If this still is hardcore punk, it's probably one of my all-time favorite hardcore punk songs, that's for sure.

This album is one of the reasons why I still refuse to like or dislike certain genres.  I don't consider myself a hardcore fan but I'm absolutely sure that there are hardcore bands that I will like.  Same with noise rock.  To be quite honest, I have no idea how to classify Death Of Youth ('Die Nacht Von Lissabon' could have been a Burzum song for crying out loud) but I certainly like what they came up with.  So check it out dammit!


Serge