thrash metal / punk

Years ago there was metal and there was punk, both of course spawning from rock 'n' roll.  However, then came The Exploited who added thrash metal riffs to their hardcore sound.  From then on, both genres often found each other, resulting in fierce and highly dynamic music.  Moshpits formed, stagedivers crawled on stage and crowdsurfers appeared everywhere. 

Punching Moses is a band from Cleveland, US.  This ep follows their debut full-length 'Impending Doom', digger deeper into the marriage between punk and metal and doing it with tremendous intensity and rage.  So I hope you're ready for this ride because if not, there's little chance of actually surviving it.

After an intro that somehow reminds me of bands like Anthrax, Punching Moses rages on with their signature hyper speed sound in the thrasher 'In The Gutter'.  From there, they never let go of the tempo and brutality.  In fact, in 'Humanity Pandemic' they even come up with some crushing blackened blast beats.

Verdict: if you're a fan of anything between Motorhead, Exploited, D.R.I. or Ringworm, you should definitely check this out.  This is hyper speed punk thrash at its best and at it's dirtiest.  There's is little else to say about this, so if you'll excuse me, I have to go punch something myself now.


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punk / hardcore

Here's another genre I haven't been listening to in a while, punk rock, or better, hardcore punk.  I guess the last time I gave this music a shot was when I frequently visited parties in squatted houses, watching anarcho punk bands play their energetic and aggressive songs.  Those were great times, even though I can't remember much of what happened at those events.  Yet, I clearly remember being in love with the intensity coming from the stage.

Swedish punkers The Bristles have been around since 1982.  I'm not sure how many albums they have released yet but this new one definitely is a blast.  This album is more or less an overview of issues and events over the past few years, including failed politics, gendercide, economic crisis and so on.  So no, the tone of the album isn't very positive but what do you expect in a world like this?

Musically, this is crushing punk rock at high velocity with raging guitars, brutal drums and pissed-off vocals, exactly like this music should be.  Here and there some samples are included, mainly as an intro for another sonic kick in the piss-stained testicles of the established (but failed) society we live in.  The amount of energy and intensity is massive.  I can easily imagine these guys one stage, crushing everything in sight.

To conclude, if you're into punk you should check this out.  I would even suggest grindcore fans to give it a shot since both genre drive on similar elements.  Furthermore, I'd like to nominate The Bristles for song title of the year with brilliant titles like 'Sweden, Where God Only Comes To Shit' and 'Waiting For Lina From Human Relations'.  If that doesn't convince you, let's turn the anarcho-level to the max with "'Viva Fake (Punk On Sale)' and 'Consumption To Death'.  


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blackened crust punk

Broken Limbs

​Before we prepare to celebrate this wonderful time of day, named 'evening', let's plunge in some more vile music once again.  This time we're meeting a band that doesn't seem to care what style of music they play, as long as it's aggressive, dark and completely messed up.  We're going for Philadelphia (US) for this one and we're in for a sickening ride.

The album opens with the longest track, 'Kali Yuga (The Lightning & The Moon)', which is about five minutes of chaotic blackened punk, intelaced with some gloomy death rock.  The tempo is extremely high, the riffs are borrowed from hardcore punk and the vocals scream a hole in your soul.  'Ressurection' adds a hint of thrash metal to the whole, which surprisingly adds some melody to the whole.

That aspect is quite welcome because there's little to no melodic elements, let alone atmospheric parts.  Instead, Cape Of Bats blast their occult black punk through my speakers at high velocity and a brutal intensity.  Although most of this album will sound like absolute chaos to the untrained ear, there are these awesome deathrock influences, often reminding me of the fastest songs by Christian Death for instance.

Yet, don't get me wrong, I'm not sure if deathrock fans will appreciate the sheer violence and the haunted screams.  It mostly takes me back to those obscure black metal albums that even Candlelight or Season Of Mist were quite weary of.  It's occult induced punk at an insane level, only suitable for the die-hard fans and will leave the rest behind with a severe headache.

So take it from me, this album is extreme, and that's means a lot coming from someone who has seen and got used to nearly every extreme outburst of music, from metal to harsh noise.  Cape of Bats takes several genres to new levels of sickness, including a bit grindcore in 'Blue Hands'.  In all, 'Violent Occultism' is exactly what the title predicts and comes highly recommended if you think most extreme music is pussy-tunes.


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sludge / punk

​I just got back from Desertfest Belgium when I remembered the review submission for this ep.  I recall reading the tags 'punk' and 'sludge', a combination that might seem a bit odd but works quite well.  On the other hand, in that case we're probably dealing with hardcore again.  Whatever you want to call it, here's a shitload of energy on a seven inch vinyl disc.

Vandersloot hails from Haarlem in The Netherlands, a country with a rich musical tradition.  The ep contains six rather short songs, but that doesn't mean it's not intense.  'Socially Stabbed' and 'Frustration' are sick pieces of hardcore punk with brutal vocals and a lot of distortion.  'Absurdisme' takes on a slower approach, firmly settling this band in the sludge scene.

Vandersloot name Karp and Godflesh as their main influences, which is quite audible indeed.  However, listening to the brilliantly titled 'Only Morons Love Guns', there seem to be some elements from bands like Terror or Agnostic Front as well.  That in-your-face attitude in every single riff, drum hit and vocal is blasting and never loses its grip.

This is the stuff for moshpits and walls-of-death.  With Desertfest still in the back of my head, I can see these guys tearing down the Vulture stage with an aggressive and intense gig.  No doubt they will sell-out this seven inch after that steamroller passed through...


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hardcore / thrash / crossover

Every time I read the words 'working class' in a biography, I'm reminded of the old English punk scene.  However, it's a fact that most of the bands in the extreme musical genres come from that working class. Many of them play this kind of music to wake people up and try to improve the situation, or just to express their frustration and despair.  So basically, it's ironic that metal is a thriving economy these days and several countries actually count on their metal bands to increase their bruto national product.  Finland, Germany, USA, Japan and England all have bands earning them lots of money from all over the world.  

But how about Serbia?

Well, I have no idea about the metal scene in the ex-Yugoslavia territories.  Once in a while an interesting band finds the way to my inbox and I must say, I'm often quite surprised about what these bands come up with.  Nadimac is such a band.  Formed in 2003, Nadimac had the sole intention to play a fast and aggressive kind of music.  It never mattered how the music can be classified.  It's fast and intense and it's all about the tough life in a certain underappreciated class of human civilization.  

With vocals in Serbian, it's not easy to break through and gain popularity outside of their region but that doesn't seem to matter for these guys.  They recorded numerous e.p.'s, demos, splits and songs for compilations and played all over the Southeast of Europe.  'Manifest Protiv Sudbine' is their fourth official full-length, loaded with furious, extreme music.  What they do, might not be very original but the way they do it, is amazing.  

Maybe it's safe to say that Nadimac blends thrash, punk, hardcore, death metal, speed metal and grindcore together, resulting in thirteen furious songs (and an intro), reminding me of bands like (old) Sepultura, Tankard, Anthrax and Dead Kennedys, to name a few.  Most of the songs follow a similar path: ultra fast riffs, pounding drums and pissed-off vocals (and often some death growls).  There's little to no place for melody or atmospheric passages.  No, these guys are just out to create havoc and play in front of immense pogo-pits.

I'm not going over the songs individually with this album.  Mainly because all the songs are quite similar, which doesn't mean that there's no variation whatsoever on this album.  There is little variation, I admit, but these guys know how to write a decent punk rock song and turn it into a death/thrash crossover track.  That being said, these are also some very talented and/or experienced musicians with a flair for speed and brutality.

So if you like fast music once in a while and you're in for any of the genres I mentioned somewhere in this review, this could really be your cup of tea.  However, most of all I think this is a band that's best to be enjoyed live, either moshing until the bones in your body (or someone else's) shatter or waking up and doing everything in your power to make this world a better place.  The choice is yours...



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crust / d-beat / hardcore

Monday morning, perfect time for some fierce aggression, hyperspeed riffs and pissed off vocals.  It's been a while since I reviewed a crust album and to be quite honest, I wasn't expecting this kind of anarcho-punk with this full-length since it comes from a grindcore label.  The cover too has some death metal/grindcore looks and the band played at Obscene Extreme Festival this year.  But of course both genre are somewhat comparable so I think it's no big surprise that EveryDayHate comes up with something like this.  This label knows a thing or two about ruthless aggression and intense guitars and proves it again with a crushing album..

'Domedager' is already the third album by this Swedish quintet who have been arond since 2006.  Since then they have been creating havoc everywhere they go.  This album contains all the right ingredients to make them a big name in the genre, perfectly fitting in with bands like Disfear, Skitsystem or Wolfbrigade.  Yet, I do feel that there's a bit more musical ingenuity in some of the songs.  Guitar solos and often quite groovy riffs indicate that at least some of the members are metalheads who are into bands like Motorhead and Poison Idea.

Some more metal influences are shown in the twin-guitar solos of songs like the punishing 'A Mera Gift'.  'Gubbvrak' could actually have been written by Lemmy and company. However, for the main part this is simply intense and brutal d-beat, crust or hardcore punk, perfectly illustrated in songs like 'Själviskt Helvete' or 'Paria'.  These songs grab you by the troath and beat you severely with their massively wroth sound.

After a short intro which already shows that these guys don't only listen to crust-punk, we're immediately treated to hyperspeed crust punk and from there on it never ends.  '13 Procent' brings a bit of punk rock melody to the whole, another element that's often repeated.  This gives the music some very welcome variation and makes this one of my favorite tracks.  'Trygghetens Pris' even seems to borrow some riffs from groove death metal like Entombed, which is obviously awesome.

Since my Swedish is about as good as your Swahili, I have no idea what this band is so angry about but I can image it has something to do with the current state of our society and about consumerism. To check on that, I've tried to translate some of the titles. 'Du Ska Lida' means 'You'll suffer'. 'Trygghetens Pris' means 'The Price Of Safety'.  'Varje Dag Är En Domedag' translates as 'Every Day Is Judgement Day'.  So yes, you can say there's a bit of social criticism in here.

So yes, the tempo is intensely high and so is the level of aggression.  Most of the songs drive on these amain guitar riffs and hardcore punk drums.  Add some of the most ill-conditioned vocals ever to the whole and you're in for a wicked performance where crowdsurfers and stage-divers have to be constantly on the look-out for the position of the moshpit and the wall-of-death.  This is music that leaves no survivors, no prisoners and  definitely knows no mercy.


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punk rock / post punk

With all the overproduced, extensively complex and often electronic music these days, one might almost forget that there's also a wide range of musicians who love to keep it simple.  They don't need anything but their guitar to make their statements.  If we're speaking about making statemens, the punk rock scene should clearly step to the foreground.  Since the seventies punkers have been kicking against the pricks, standing on the barricades and shouting out their anarchy lifestyle everywhere in the world.

Punk indeed never dies.  It ages a bit, that's true but it's always nice to hear some uncomplicated songs about everyday observations.  Enter Kansas City punk artist Este Leon, the man behind the solo project Braggers.  Russian Winter Records released this fine debut and it's a great throwback into the early days of punk, and post-punk for that matter.

The eight songs drive on a mid-tempo drum beat and simple guitars which accompany a rough but strong voice.  Most of the songs remind me of old punk icons like Sex Pistols, The Clash or Dead Kennedys but also of post-punk bands like Joy Division, Psychedelic Furs or The Jesus and Mary Chain.  Yet, we're not done there.  At times Braggers comes close to the darker, experimental scene where projects like Bain Wolfkind roam.

In all their simplicity, songs like 'Brighter Day', 'Better Life' or 'Brand New Day' are excellent songs with a pretty decent live-capacity.  Here and there I can imagine an enthusiastic audience singing along with the lyrics and building a party in front or, or why not on, stage.  I just might be one of them but more likely I will be shaking my ass somewhere in the back with a strange smile on my face while I observe all these people dancing.  



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Epileptic Media

Well, time to get off your lazy arse and initiate a moshpit in the middle of your living room.  Leave all your prejudices, right-winged ideologies, animal cruelty and authoritarian ideas at the door or be completely destroyed by the brutal force Indoctrinate is. 

Indoctrinate is a band from Vienna (Austria) which plays furious d-beat hardcore and throw a few metal and grindcore influences in their sound as well, just to make things worse.  This results in a malapert 7" that has a lot of power.

The single opens with a speech about the use and abuse of prisons, followed by the song 'August 19'. What strikes me the most in this track, is the musical quality.  The mix of punk and metal makes this an awesome song that might become one of my favourites in the genre.

'That'll Be The Day' opens with a speech about slavery and oppression.  This song shows the same songwriting abilities as the other side, though it is a lot slower.I'm quite stunned by these Austrians.  This is not just brutal hardcore; this is extreme music from a surprising high quality, blending several of the extreme genres and turning them into a tremendous face-slap for your concience.  

Indoctrine clearly is a threat to society but that's a good thing, this society needs to be destroyed and start over...


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Halo Of Flies
Dead Tank Records
bandcamp

Wake up!

And if you have trouble waking up on this lazy sunday, it might be worth blasting Cloud Rat through your speakers.  You will awake, and so will the 3000 people living around you.  They will probably be pretty pissed of​f​ since you destroyed their homes with this brutal sonic assault, but who cares about neighbours anyway​, right?​
 
Cloud Rat is a female fronted band from Mount Pleasant, Michigan (US).  However, female fronted does not mean fairytale gothic rock and Mount Pleasant doesn't seem to be very pleasant at all.  What we're dealing with here is a furious grindcore punk attack at an immense paste and a violent atmosphere.

This is sheer brutality.

Qliphoth constists of seventeen songs that only the most extreme music lovers will appreciate.  I
consider myself a bit of a conn​a​isseur of the heaviest genres but even I feel quite uncomfortable
listening to this album.  That's ok by the way, not all music has to be soothing and relaxing.  Some music should bite, punish and crush people in an effort to...

...wake them up!!!

Now, within the brutality there is actually a lot of variation to be found.  Besides elements from
punk and grindcore, there​ are​ a few influences from sludge, hardcore and even a few breathers.  Yet, all these influences are buried in a deep layer of chaos and abhorrence and blasted towards the listener at a highly destructive velocity.

Grindcore fans will absolutely love this​,​ and live this will undoubtedly be stunning.  I can image the moshpits and wall​s​-of-death forming from the very first second of a show.  But, be warned, Cloud Rat leaves no survivors and knows no mercy.



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Hellthrasher  Productions

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yamabushi recordings     bandcamp    
 

You would think that by now all punk-riffs and all possible combinations have been written and recorded already.  After all, this genre is almost fourty years old now.  However, punk is still alive and kicking and definitely not yet ready to retire yet.  Obviously, there's still a need for punk-artists and lifestylers because our society, the one thing punk protest against, hasn't shown any signs of improvement, on the contrary.  The genre has been evolving, that's true, but the anger, brutality and raw power are still very present.

Now, I'm two years older than punk is and I haven't followed the genre that well.  I know the greats, Ramones and Sex Pistols and I know some punk rock, pop punk and hardcore bands. I'm not going to mention any of those here because none of them really are relevant to what I'm hearing at the moment.  Troglodydes might become one of my new favorite punk bands, mainly because of of the attitude and the rough, unpolished sound.  In only eight minutes this London based band has succeeded in bringing the genre back to the fast, pissed-off and brutal counter-attack it was in the first place.

There's ten songs on this e.p. All of them are short, ultrafast pieces of hardcore punk with a kickass attitude and a huge middle finger to modern-day society and the musical industry.  There's no room for complicated riffs or elaborate song structures.  In stead, Troglodytes focuses on intensity and slapping their audiences in the face with ruthless aggression, both in music and in vocals.  So, for the 'vintage' punk fans, this tape really is something for you.  At least, if you hurry because there will only be fifty copies of this tape available.

It's true what they say, Punk never dies.  



Serge

website

The Lords Of Altamont is a band from Los Angeles that has been massively inspired by the legendary festival at Altamont (a counterculture-era rock concert, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway in northern California).

What's in a name? The Lords Of Altamont have taken all that was good from this period and mix it up with some nice and dirty garage punk. This recipe has produced some great songs in the past.

Looking at the tracks on this album you can read it is a trip back to Altamont with all songs performed during that festival. Now, I am usually not one to get excited over a cover CD. I thought I knew exactly what to expect but I was in for a surprise. Right from the start the Lords raise the bar for themselves with a marvellous remake of 'Live With Me', they definately grabbed my attention.

With 'Six Days On The Road' I am completley sold. This already sleazy dirty cult classic has been given a makeover by the Lords; torned apart, ripped to bits, stripped down, poured over with bourbon and rebuilt with some excellent garage punk feeling to it, leaving me feeling extremly happy. From here on the album never lets you go. The record reaches a high with '3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds'. This song went straight to my "favorite" folder of my media player. This is a dirty, nasty, no nonsense garage punk version of a rock classic.

The Lords Of Altamont took a big gamble with this album. However, they really mastered it. They delivered some great late sixties rock 'n' roll and poured some stunning punk rifs in the mix. I for one will be present when they visit Belgium this fall, and so should you if you're in for a night of dirty ol' rock 'n' roll.

 

Cloves