Agathocles / Partiya – Split CD (2012)

November 28, 2021

Up until now I’ve been avoiding Agathocles split CDs to lower my risk of obtaining duplicate material that may already be on a 7″ that I own. Agathocles have a notorious back-catalogue of re-hashed shit (sorry, but it’s true), and as a collector on a budget I have put barriers in place to lessen the blow of unknowingly buying something that I already have. This was all well and good, until during a trade with a Canadian chum, I was gifted with a AGx split CD that is actually really, really good (and as far as I can tell, all original material). So, this no-AGx CDs barrier is now broken. Fucking great.

I’ve never heard of Partiya before. Hardly surprising, what with them being a rather obscure Russian crust band. All the songs and lyrics (and even the original name and logo) are in Russian, but are kindly translated for us English-speaking folk in the booklet. Thanks a million for that, because otherwise I wouldn’t even know what the name of this band was. I cannae write Russian on me keyboard! That would have been a pickle. Their material is fast and well-produced, and despite the language barrier and potential difficulty in obtaining their stuff I am now on the quest for more Partiya recordings!

Agathocles sound a bit dank in comparison the well-put-together Partiya, but it doesn’t take long for me to adjust. The sound here is really similar to the Mincer sessions, if not a bit thinner. This band know what they are good at, and seem to have fallen into a well-working system over the last 8 years or so. Blast blast blast, growl growl growl. What more do you want?

This little CD was put out through a collaboration of labels, so put aside a few minutes and check ’em all out. They are (in no particular order): No Bread, Black Cardinal, Wee Corn, Resist Label & Distro, Ok Punk Rock Records, Raw Distro and 83 Records. (2021 edit: It was also re-released on CD and 7″ vinyl by the above, plus the inclusion of Grindfather Productions, in 2014)