punk & hardcore

Heavy, blunt, very angery and very tough hardcore. Short as fuck, but hey, we’re not writing a space opera here. Hard hitting shit that does what it is supposed to do.

I love how the name of this band sums up the sound here so well. Ugly as fuck metallic hardcore drenched in reverb. Vocals are nasty, riffs are disgusting. Eight minutes of stank. BOSH!

As fun as it is to hear the very origins of Gwar (at least in regards to full length albums) and how the monstrous characters involved transitioned into this outfit from past project(s), I find myself not enjoying this record as much as I thought I would. Hell-O seems a bit unsteady on its feet. It’s not that the band perhaps are not clear on what they want yet; no band makes this kind of…

Fast as fuck, furious as fuck, and FUN as fuck as well! The latter element there is often missing in a lot of records. Like, it’s OK to have fun in punk or metal, folks, it really is!  Anyway, Down The Drain has a clear production that really helps this set of 23 belters hit home. Despite the clarity, the record isn’t overproduced, and it feels like Vitamin X are playing in the room with…

Does exactly what it says on the tin. What we got here is the Electro Hippies side of the 1986 split with Generic (top band name) reissued with phresh Jeff Walker art a la scum and spread to the far corners of this disgusting world by Jeff and Bill’s Earache records imprint / sublabel, Necrotic Records. As for the music, Electro Hippies are pure crust punk chaos; far past the realm of d-beat and into…

Don’t you love it when your biting political (or societal) message is wrapped up in totally fuckin’ moshable hardcore punk? Here, the flavour is metallic d-beat; straight up 80s Discharge worship and variations on that admittedly narrow theme, but with an extra chunk of heaviness for good measure. Don’t expect to have the wheel reinvented, but do expect to jump around.

A compilation of the Bad Seed and Mutiny EPs, but worth your time for the inclusion of additional tracks from the Mutiny sessions. Some of these are incredible, like “Pleasure Avalanche”.

Mutiny leaves off where The Bad Seed EP finished. Descending further into madness, there aren’t as many stand out songs IMO (“Sonny’s Burning” and “Wildworld” are timeless but the sheer carnage here leaves most “post” punk bands in the dust.

The best thing about X Ray Spex is super cool frontwoman Poly Styrene. There is nothing wrong with XRS musically – the brass is actually a refreshing touch on the regular early punk template – but her voice is what keeps me coming back to this record. I love the way it like, I dunno, breaks (I’m shit at describing vocals, sorry). I first heard this group when Casey Chaos from Amen put them on…

Some of the best d-beat I’ve heard in ages. Fast as fuck, furious as fuck. 9 tracks of blood pumping hardcore carnage. Love it!

Cool little EP from Doom in the Corrupt Fucking System era. I prefer this to the album even, as it’s short, sharp and hits you right in the fucking face. “Financial Coup” is as good as any classic-era shit. Fucking outstanding.

Intense shit, but would you expect any less? It feels like the bass strings are gonna come out of the stereo and strangle me. Shit is on fire. This thing does not stop. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore that’s for sure.

The name and the art tells me that this is leftovers or additional tracks from the Bastard sessions. Whether or not that’s true, the songs are a little rougher around the edges both in production and also in delivery. Still, there’s a handful of fucking great tunes here.

Bastards is the 4th album from UK crust/grind project Fukpig (5th if you count 3 and The World Is Weakening as individual records). The first noticeable thing about Bastards is that the production is fucking huuuuuuge. As for the tunes, the rabid, hate-filled bile is still in full effect, but there’s more crust here than grind, with those elements pared right back. It still kicks hard as fuck, though.

Really cool and interesting hardcore / punk with a big undercurrent in the “oi” style (without really falling into that genre at all). Highlight of this thing are the riffs, which are pretty powerful. The drumming is fantastic and the vocals are gruff and in your face. A fucking solid 20 minutes.

Hummingbird Of Death (such a brilliant name) absolutely do not fuck around. This record is a stunning example of how to perform lightning fast grind/powerviolence with a DECENT production and still blow people’s fucking heads off. Yes, there are moments of sludgy, head-nodding riffery, but for the most part this is complete sonic destruction at break-neck speeds. Totally fucking awesome.

Now this is fukken thrash metal! Hyper speed, hyper energy, hyper intensity! Tracks like “Mother’s Day” and “Funky Noise” are basically just straight up grindcore, but the intensity doesn’t really let up for the whole record, even in the more sensibly-paced numbers. Production is nice and clear; bass is fantastic and super prominent without dominating the mix; the riffs are balanced well and the drums are hard-hitting as hell. Too many good tracks to mention…

Heavy shit, savage shit. There’s a perfect production on this; the balance between raw and well made. It really helps the loaded powerviolence hit home. The whole EP is loaded with this infectious energy that just makes you want to move. Great 7″.

I see a lot of butthurt reviews for this thing, as if all these fucking Converge hipsters have never heard a grindcore / hardcore / powerviolence split before and are mad that the whole thing only lasts a few minutes lol get the fuck out of here with that shit. Converge bring the energy with “Runaway” – the production is massive and the drums sound fantastic. Dropdead sound as new and as fresh as ever….

Honky Reduction era (so bare bones Hull and Randall) ANb hits like a steel girder to the side of the head. You ain’t getting up from this one, homie. 7 tracks in 4 minutes: classic ANb in top form (and the sample here is amazing, I use it IRL too often tbh). Gob are an interesting one. They have the energy of “looser” powerviolence outfits like Spazz or Man Is The Bastard but there’s another…

You must understand that this review is from someone going in blind to the world and legacy of The Fall. At the time of writing I know them as a revered and extremely prolific British band that are held in quite a high regard. I Am Kurious Oranj is indeed a kurious listen and first impressions remind me of early XTC or even Killing Joke in some ways, but my comparisons are mostly trite, I’m…

ENT stuff is a roaring tide of aggression, which is exactly what you would expect, and the material is around the same kind of quality you get on the original Holocaust… record. Great shit. Filthkick are a variation on a theme. Leaning more towards the crust punk end of the spectrum, they kick you in the face (filthily, no doubt) with their rabid, grind-tinged punk attack. A venomous little split, and a classic of the…

It may have been rerecorded 5000 times but this, the original, you cannot argue with it. Comparisons to Napalm Death are of course apt, but ENT have their own raw punk energy that is propelled along with flashes of absurdly fast d-beat from drummer (here, at least) Stick. The record has surprisingly good production too, excellent levels of clarity for something so filthy and soaked in piss and cider.

Quite possible one of the greatest live releases of all time? I had this 12” and I sold it because I’m an idiot, I used to enjoy listening to this thing at full volume. Danzig’s voice sounds absolutely fucked and Henry Rollins clearly doesn’t know the words to “We Are 138” but it’s worth it for the churning, unforgiving monster that was the sheer brute force of 80s Misfits. An absolute classic!

All Skrewed Up is Skrewdriver’s debut album, before the band was resurrected as a white power group. It’s an interesting document, an early entry in the scene, and also, to be honest, a pretty enjoyable if not a little typical escapade in British punk. 12 songs in 26 minutes is fine with me. Interestingly enough, their debut has the best sound and musical performance of any of their records that I’ve heard so far. When…

Absolutely deplorable shit in every sense of the word. I would write more about this, but none of it would be productive or positive. The world would be a better place without this EP in it.

Solid fucking effort from Wattie & co. You can really feel the absolute loathing for Thatcher on this one. It is incredibly relevant still in a time where such hatred for the Conservative Party is once again rife amongst the community conscious of the UK (some cunt is voting for these twats though). Anyway, this album is fucking great. Not the best, but still fucking great. Fairly heavy for punk, full of hatred and bile….

Banging single, especially the A side, which hits like a truck. “We Need Support” on side B has its moments, but both the production and songwriting for the title track are far better. The video is great too. Top street punk / skate punk style stuff.

People say that the Sex Pistols can’t play, but this thing has always sounded far more put together to me than most punk from this era. On the other hand, you have the nay sayers who suggest that the Sex Pistols are just a pop band with distorted guitars. As is often the case, the reality is somewhere in the middle. Now, I’ve never been a big fan of the hype around these guys, in…

A raucous collection of tunes with that trademark cheeky ANL “we’re up to no good” vibe shot right through them. I would say the usual matters of working class British punk are addressed, but so are less tread topics for early punk such as being a sexual pervert, the excitement of waiting for the “Snowman”, or how much the band hate rock and/or roll. We Are… The League is well written, well performed, and a…

Wild shit across the board. Crossed Out sound raw as hell on this. Blasting, uncompromisng powerviolence of legendary status. What more can I say? Fuck, what more do you want? MITB on side B is always a treat because you never know exactly what you are going to get. The patented blend of bass/drums PV and skull-hollowing electronics never gets old for me (there’s some guitar here too for good measure).

Legendary anarcho-punk record (the first?) that needs no introduction from a prime idiot like me. The production is just to die for; I could listen to this thing on a loop for days. The bass pops out of the speakers and slaps me in the face. On top of that, this is a fantastic set of songs, from “Do They Owe Us A Living?” to the catchy as fook “Securicor”, and everything in between. On…

Squeezing FOUR bands on a 7″ at 45 RPM is a bold move but fuck it this is powerviolence. Let’s run this down: Sidetracked coming at me like some mad preacher screaming down a megaphone in the middle of the street, backed with a powerviolence three piece, of course. A refreshing approach, I’ll say that! The interestingly-named Surfer James have a much fatter sound. Really blows your fucking neck out, with huge pit-widening riffs and…

The first Exploited full length starts everything off with a bang. Boasting a now dated but still fantastic production job (the drums hit like sacks of sand but the bass pops through the mix like a needle though wet paper), Punks’ Not Dead sets out to prove to the 1980s exactly what is declared in the title. The title track, “Cop Cars”, “Blown To Bits”, “Dole Q” and “I Believe In Anarchy” are all instant…

Cool but rather typical crust punk with heavy d-beat elements. Have listened a few times now but always end up wanting more.

Savage dual vocal crust with death metal and grindcore elements. Very well produced, with a decent balance of raw aggression and aural clarity (it’s a hard balance to achieve for many, trust me haha – but this band nails it). Vocals range from throat shredding shrieks to bellowing growls, which is just lovely.

Is the album title spelt incorrectly on purpose? Discharge with Rat is probably my favourite incarnation of the band since the classic days. I’m probably biased there because this was the version of the band that I first started seeing live here or there around the UK when I was a young’un. Either way, Disensitise has a raw, demo-like quality without sounding like complete shit. Snare drum is the chef’s special of the day, with…

Manson Child! Manson Child! Manson Child! Fucking hell, honestly… with that “epic” out of the way, Shootin’ Up The World isn’t too bad. Granted, the vocals, as per the two albums before this, are absolute fucking dogshit (with all due respect), but musically this is the strongest of the three Discharge “experiments” of the 80s and 90s. I still wouldn’t recommend checking it out unless you have a strong stomach for monotony.

Apathy: the album. The analogue production and the bubbling post-punk (to become “deathrock”) is fantastic but Rozz Williams delivers his vocals in such a way that he sounds like he is already done with this band before it has even begun. Yeah I get it, that’s part of the vibe, but things are delivered with such a nonchalance I’m left wondering why I should ever bother give my time in return to listen to it….

Yikes. I’m not sure which of these two songs is the worst. Not sure what I can offer here without descending into just purely ragging on Jerry Only. The production is nice, I guess.

Friday The 13th is one of the better things that Jerry’s Misfits put their hand to. Not that the bar was particularly high with the competition from other releases in this era, but Friday The 13th actually has sessions that sound like the band is trying. The songs fall somewhere between sounding like Devil’s Rain and Jerry’s recent solo outing. The production is also surprisingly rough, but IMO this works in the band’s favour. I…

Batcave is up there with Belief… and the first demo as some of the best stuff Fukpig ever did. The production on this short EP is fucking MASSIVE, the guitar enveloping you like a giant wall of deadly force. The drums are also fantastic, especially the blastbeats on “One Of A Thousand Ways To Steal Your Liberty”.

This World Is Weakening is the “fixed” version of 3. You’ll find less wooly production, more balanced instrumentation and more audible vocals (which is nice, obviously). In comparison to the modern remaster of 3, This World Is Weakening seems like a bit of a pointless endeavour but trust me this album was a breath of fresh air into these songs back in 2014. Both versions still warrant investigation today, as Fukpig had truly developed their…

Like Misery Index on crack cocaine. Fukpig really hit the ground running and Depths Of Humanity is a masterpiece in my eyes. It is, truly, one of the most under rated and slept on grindcore / crust demos of any era. The band would go on to become something slightly different, but this first view into what they were about is incredibly good and well worth your time.

Bombs Of War takes the same (or very similar) set of songs from the band’s original demo The Depths Of Humanity and reimagines them somewhat. The differences are marginal, but the production is significantly different. I’m not sure if there was a big lineup change or what; I’m not sure what would warrant the rerecording of all of these songs into a second demo which is arguably not as good as first. If you do…

Jerry really set himself up to fail here. In what world would a re-recording of the Graves-led tune “Descending Angel” ever be better than the original? In fact, I’m pretty sure “Descending Angel” is one of Graves’ own songs (he brought many to the Misfits) which rubs salt in the wound even more. But yeah, everything about this single is absolutely pointless, and pretty awful to be honest. The live version of the B-Side from…

I was 22 when this came out. I was a vinyl-buying devotee of Devizes Records, and the very minute it was possible to do so, I ordered the 3 album on 12”. Spewings… was OK, but Belief… was fucking savage, and having seen the band live a few times I was now as pumped as I could be for the next Fukpig installment. 3 came and it was just… there. I can’t really remember thinking…

I fucking HATED this shit when it came out. Little did I know how much worse it would get (looking at you, Devil’s Rain). I’ll be honest, thanks to seeing the Jerry-Fits live a bunch of times and also thanks to the DeA.D. Alive! CD I really started to appreciate some of the newer tracks, especially “Land Of The Dead”. The chorus is mad catchy. Jerry’s Danzig / Elvis attempt on “Twilight Of The Dead”…

Cunnilingus and hardcore punk brought us to this! It says a lot about your relationship with a band when one of your favourite albums by them is a covers album but fuck it, Undisputed Attitude is the shit. Slayer are angry as fuck and it translates perfectly into the world of hardcore punk. They absolutely fucking kill it here. (As a side note I totally didn’t need to hear Tom Araya singing about putting his…

Random find of the day goes to this fantastic little split EP. Both bands are new finds for me. Ulcer are on the more brutal, “grindcore” end of the powerviolence spectrum, with a bludgeoning production intent on smacking you into the ground. Failure Face on the other hand have a bit more of malleable nature to them. The songs are tightly sprung and bounce around with that undeniable hardcore punk energy. The vocalist is on…

My first boogie with Failure, and hyperspeed, manic powerviolence is the order of the day. Clear, organic production allow the riffs to breathe over the barrage of vocals and blasting drums. Ona Snop are another beast altogether, absolute savage fucking unstoppable barrages of sound paired with riffs that could make a corpse get up and mosh.

Pretty uninspired, straight forward d-beat style stuff with that “dark” edge that was trendy as fuck around maybe 2010 or whatever. My only real surprise here is finding out that this wasn’t put out by Southern Lord. If that were the case then my “dark and mysterious modern hardcore” bingo card would have been well and truly full. I’m being facetious of course, and Usurpress are hardly a bad band. It’s just I feel like…

Not to be confused with the self-titled Disrupt demo/7″ from 1990, this archival release combines unused material from two split releases into one banger of an EP. Spinning at 45 RPM and only about 11 minutes long (both sides combined!) this is really the perfect way to experience such music. The quality sounds incredible, and the production is fantastic. Fucking great shit.

If this doesn’t make you want to move then I don’t know what will. Incredible crust punk music, with the right sprinkling of grindcore elements to keep things interesting. Production is a bit grim, as to be expected from a 1990 DIY release, but everything hangs in a nice balance and can be heard in the mix. The songs are fucking killer, and this EP makes me want to drink cider and run around in…

If I had to describe this album in as few words as possible I would say: it’s fucking class. Traditional black metal riffery underpins a punky (dare I say) black’n’roll-infused set of songs. I don’t mean BnR as in, endless boring ass d-beats, I mean genuinely sleazy, head-nodding tunes that invoke hazy memories of the exploitation world of the 1970s, helped along of course by the amazing artwork and that inherit Finnish sense of melody…

Cool hardcore punk with jacked riffs and with a super organic feel to the production. Nice bit of d-beat, shouty screamy madness and whatever those kinda back and forth two part riffs are called where you bounce around like fuck in the pit. I dunno what the fuck I’m talking about. This is great, though.

Imagine if Chat Pile came from the Midlands, then you’d have something very similar to Rainbow Grave. Boasting line-up royalty with members having played in Doom, Napalm Death and Scorn, Rainbow Grave’s debut churns your guts with disgusting bass guitar led hymns of misanthropic venom. Wailing, screeching guitars and even a saxophone bolster the noise element of this bare bones attack on your senses, whilst the vocals mock and chide you into submission. Hideous shit!

What an unusual and endearing sound. First impressions come across like a mixture of Oi! and the post-punk recipe perfected by groups such as Joy Division. An interesting mix for sure. Comparisons to acts like Black Magick SS would not be incorrect to make (particularily in regards the ethereal wails found in opening track “Sailing To Other Lands”), but there is a more of an earthy, grounded feel to the songwriting from Longbow (and overall…

20 minutes of intense powerviolence carnage that is sure to blow your dick off. Expect the usual blasting juxtaposition of fast and slow, from tense passages to all-out blastfests, led with rabid, barked vocals. Production-wise this holds up really well too, with a drum sound so clear that most bands in this kinda genre can only dream on it. Great shit.

Man that cover art is eye-catching as fuck. I’ve kinda become desensitised after years of listening to grindcore and death metal but there’s something about this one that just hits you right on the “disturb.exe” button (or is that “disturb.dmg”?). Anyway, this shit pares down the harsher elements of crust punk like Doom, Discharge etc and fills the void with the harsh, deep tones more associated with thrash and early death metal. The d-beat roots…

Bloody typical that the first Chaos UK album I decide to check out is a cover’s album, but who cares really? This shit is fucking great. Production is raw but also perfectly balanced, you can hear all the instruments clearly and the guitar/bass tones are fantastic, rumbling along with a lovely crunch to them.

And just like that, it’s as if the 90s hadn’t even happened. Gone are the absurd genre experiments, back are some of the classic players. Peace and harmony is restored to the world because Discharge are playing d-beat again. There are some metallic holdovers remaining in the sound but generally this is punk as fuck and an absolute relief to hear after a trio of listless, rudderless albums. Take away the remixes at the end…

Is it possible for a band to ape themselves? To rehash old shit into new shit? Of course it is. But in the case of Discharge, there’s the peculiar fact that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of bands the world over (many named Dis-something) who have happily gouged at the niche that these guys carved for themselves in the eary 80s. So I think we can give Discharge a pass then, for revisiting the…

Ahhhhh fucking hell! I wanna put on a (vegan) leather jacket and go out into the street and headbutt a racist neighbour. I also have a strong urge to wear Dr. Marten boots and start drinking cider for the first time in my life, both of which I can only attribute to over-doing it with the d-beat madness of this record as of late. Honestly, this thing is fucking great. I look back now –…

I like this a lot more than I have any right to. I fucking HATED The Devil’s Rain, but on the other hand I’ve seen the Jerry-era 3-piece multiple times with multiple line ups (the one with Dez on guitar and Robo on drums was by far the best) and I fully enjoyed their live shows, regardless of how pointless the Jerry-led band is when on paper. The sound here is fast and loose, and…

I think I prefer the songs on the S/T EP – these are the tracks that made me fall in love with Sunami after all – but the production here has got to be the best on any Sunami release that I’ve heard. The riffs and beatdowns just seem extra fucking hard as well, the ending of “Step Up” is just absolutely fucking off the chain, fam. Gulch’s bass drum is like a mule kick…

Solid, nasty, evil-as-fuck sounding crust punk from the greats of the genre. Got this CD from the band way back at some random gig. There seemed a point where Doom were all over the UK underground (perhaps they still are and its I who hath becometh the hermit). Anyway, the production is a little brittle but otherwise this kills. It also seems a lot longer than it actually is, I guess because I associate crust…

All over the shop, ants in your pants, frenetic punk music with art house leanings. I guess this is an early precursor to the no-wave scene? Not my area of expertise so apologies if that’s not right (edit: RYM has it down as No Wave music). This is fuckin’ carnage, kinda reminds me of Half Japanese or even early Locust stuff. Was really cool to find out Ikue Mori drummed on this thing too.

Tight as a duck’s arse blasting hardcore with top-tier production. Whether hitting top speed or falling into sick two-step style grooves, everything is firing on all cylinders. A short review for a short review, but damn. This shit rules.

The only thing I can compare this to is some sort of band on a punk version of the whole Captain Beefheart thing. Like, the original incarnation of Anal Cunt is an extreme evolution of this shit right here. Am I right in thinking that this is so punk that its not punk anymore, in fact it is even barely music? Like someone gave The Cramps far too many horse tranquilizers and a bad tape…

Oohhh hooo ohhhhh Illuminataeeee. Imagine my face when this dropped, as a hater of Devil’s Rain! Fortunately, on repeated listens I am very happy to report that this has much more go in it then Devil’s Rain, and I’m actually very excited that Jerry Only has launched a solo career (or at least put out a solo record). Realistically, and respectfully to Jerry and co. having the right to tour all those years as Misfits,…

I’m fairly new to Sunami so perhaps that’s why I don’t get the “more of the same” feeling that many other reviews reference. Off the bat though, the S/T LP (a stretch, at 17 minutes lol) doesn’t hit quite as hard as earlier shit like the S/T EP or the split with Gulch, but is still pretty entertaining. The production has a bit of a step up in quality, which is nice, but generally, I…

Never, never, never again! If this doesn’t make you get up and go then you may be a lost cause. Love the B-sides too, those short, sharp shocks of songs are the perfect expression of punk in my eyes. I’ve had this 7″ for donkey’s years but don’t play it often enough. Great shit.

Intense, raw powerviolence. I’ve definitely been sleeping on Crossed Out, which is another one of those legendary names that I’ve just never got around to checking out. Honestly though, the sonic impact that this thing has is just fantastic. This 7” is the shit. It’s sound is atypical of a lot of the tropes of the PV sound but also intensely emblematic of the scene and movement. This review is garbage but trust me this…

Not gonna win any awards for originality but deffo should be winning awards for splitting heads: this shit is intense. I can imagine the kind of pits that open up for this kind of thing and that should tell you all you need to know about Habital Offender. The production is rougher than most “hardcore punk” but lends to the music infinitely because of this, especially in the faster passages. More often than not things…

Solid, funk-influenced hardcore from a Cleveland, OH outfit that features some of the dudes from Mushroomhead, namely one-time vocalist Jason Popson and classic-era guitarist John Sekula (known to MRH fans as JJ Righteous). You can tell immediately upon firing this up that Sekula is playing; that dry, super thick guitar tone that immediately reminds me of M3 comes bursting out of the speakers. As far as the funk influences go I think these are held…

I got a bit excited during my multiple re-listens ahead of this review and for a moment thought I was coming here to write that Dark Thrones And Black Flags is my absolute favourite of the “punk”-era Darkthrone. But no, now I think on it, and digest the songs more, whilst it definitely has the coolest name (and thankfully no King Diamond vocals), it’s probably on par with F.O.A.D., and not quite as good as…

Well into the “Darkthrone with attitude” era (lol), came Circle The Wagons. Interestingly, from the Cult Is Alive onwards, the band transitioned from blackened crust punk to blackened heavy metal. This record doesn’t have the absurd falsetto vocals that its follow-up has, but it’s still pretty much raw heavy metal right down to the bone. This either works or doesn’t, depending on the individual track, but either way I respect Darkthrone for just y’know, doing…

On GWAR’s 7th studio album (8th if you count the soundtrack stuff they did), it would be easy to accuse them of going astray from their true sound. I think however, that would be an ignorant thing to say. Sure, it looks that way on the surface, but if you think about the Death Piggy days, and even the debut Hell-O, punk has always been a part of GWAR’s ethos. Sure, 90s-to-the-core “punk rock” stuff…

When the jump from Gorerotted to The Rotted originally happened, I wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the decision. After seeing the band live in The Rotted form in either 2009 or 2010, that opinion quickly changed and I got myself this CD. It is, to be fair, a really fun listen if you like your metal injected with the usual energy and bile you would get on a hardcore punk record. The opening one-two…

I love this earlier style of artwork that adorned many of the band’s releases in the beginning. Proper creepy shit. I’d be lying if it truly represented the sound however, at least here on Deathwish, which is bubbling with energy and completely alive, rather than spooky and ethereal and ghostly. Those elements would come later, even so, in this proto-post-punk stage, or form, Christian Death’s music was still very odd – charmingly so, of course.

First impressions: 14 year old boys taunting each other on CoD, set to Hatebreed jamming using Devourment’s gear. Fuckin’ wild if you ask me. Black magic. Satanic sick shit.

I have no idea where I picked these lot up from but this is a bizarre mix. Like… its almost hardcore, or post-hardcore even, as much as it is black metal or even folk or dare I say dungeon synth in parts. When you think of hardcore and black metal mixed together you either think of the crusty side of things, or the dark hardcore trend of the 00s and 10s, or you think of…

Weirdly unsettling stuff, with a backdrop of sexual menace. Imagine Big Black and Filth-era Swans fighting at a Ramones gig. I dig the retro art though, I really love those old sleazy vibes. I’m not sure if Pussies is for me but I’ve never really heard anything quite like this, so I’ll give them points for that!

Friendship, Loyalty, Commitment is probably the most un-metal thing to ever call a record, but y’know, for all of hardcore’s macho posturing, the message is usually one of positivity underneath. 25 Ta Life push that whole concept to 11 with this super-distilled shot of tuff-guy hardcore.  The music is absolute class though, with some amazing riffage and a raw but well-balanced production. Whatever you make of the vocalist, you can’t really deny that his style…

This was never really my thing but I caught Trap Them live at Roadburn festival many many moons ago and that cemented them in my head as a formidable musical force. Bliss Fucker, I guess, is a good example as any of the band’s dense, buzzsaw-worship sound. Sure, it’s not completely derivative Entombed-core, but the inclusion of the HM2 pedal always sets a tone (pun intended) about how a release will be received by me….

Hellripper are fucking class. Taking from the uhh, Midnight / Abigail / Naked Whipper school of thrashy, punky black metal, imagine Darkthrone’s late 2000s crust output pushed up to 11. A compilation, but a good section of material to get your jowls dripping for more. The record’s title gives you all the info you need on whether to press play or not. Personally, I think you should.

One of the best bits of grind / powerviolence records I’ve heard in quite some time. I find this channels Gets Worse kinda energy, with incredibly crisp and clear production but without sounding overworked. It really allows the carnage to breathe, and you can feel every blast, every blurry riff and every shredding vocal with equal intensity. Super recommended.

Ah, wow. Now this is just a glorious fucking mess. I mean, the cover art kinda tells you that before you even press play. Morgue Tar mix the bottom of the sewer style goregrind with d-beat , which is just glorious. I’m not talking about a bit of mince here that’s leant a little heavily into it’s punkier roots, I’m talking 100% d-beat crossed with gore. They should have called this Dismorgue.

Massgrav are fast as fuck. I first came across them on a split 5” with Yacopsae but then I forgot about them until I saw them live and was blown away by the speed of things. This War… is the first full length I’ve checked out and damn it’s amazing. Super fast hardcore punk on steroids. Fastcore is a genre I have neglected for some reason, in my life. It’s brilliant.

Starting things off with a Twin Peaks sample is always gonna get my attention. To be honest, it’s not needed, because Brother’s self titled is punishing powerviolence from the word go. It’s got that buzzsaw modern PV production but with an old school hardcore punk feel to some of the tunes. All in all, this is a nifty EP.

This is the first of two self-titled releases the band did. The first is called, technically I guess, just Locust rather than The Locust. As a historical listener, the most striking thing for me about this 7″ is how the band’s sound develops from the more rudimentary powerviolence approach of the 1996 splits into what we could consider the more recognisable Locust sound. Hydra-headed jackal-like vocal attacks punctuate intense stabs of grinding noise. Most importantly,…

I opened this review to start writing before the 5″ started, and it will no doubt end before I am finished. You gotta love 5″ records. They are ultimately pointless, but are so perfect – never has a format been more fitting to an individual genre, in this case grindcore. I’m not sure if this was recorded before or after the stuff on the MITB split, but this, whilst a lo-fi affair, is much more…

This is what I’m talking about. Forced Expression do not fuck around. This 7″ of blistering hardcore intensity takes us firmly into classic powerviolence territory. Bouncy riffs meet pummelling drums and intense vocals, just what the doctor ordered in regards to total sonic annihilation. Tidy!

Very angery. Straight up heavy as shit, balls out powerviolence. I love the aesthetic, I love the production, and I love the rabid vocals and unstoppable instrumentation. As with most compositions in this style, it doesn’t last forever, but it doesn’t need to. Highly recommended.

Across the decade of the 80s, a period of the latter years saw a thawing of the Killing Joke tribal post punk sound into a more accessible, new romantic or synth pop direction. The pinnacle of this was Outside The Gate, which seemed to alienate a lot of fans. The icing on that cake was the spoken word album that followed it, and Killing Joke almost seemed like a band that no longer knew its…

What can I say about Infest? At this point the band is beyond legendary in both the hardcore punk and grindcore / powerviolence circles. As much as I love the band (live they kill it) I’d never actually heard this self titled 7″. Shame on me, because its fucking incredible. This thing is the pinnacle of hardcore / powerviolence. The sound, the mix, the anger. Shit! Absolutely incredible record. Well worth checking out as its…

Come Clean is probably the poppiest Dwarves album. I attribute this to the direction the band took through the 90s, but they eventually came full circle (perhaps not to the original sound, but to the speedy, cheeky punk of old). Come Clean even has some industrial metal influences, (see the verses of “Over You” with its looped riffs and stomping programmed percussion). Its also a pretty short record, all in all. A tidy entry into…

My uncle, Terry Oakes, did the cover painting for this one. He did a few Exploited releases actually, I believe, although he mostly did fantasy novel cover paintings. Just a random bit of information for you there. Troops Of Tomorrow is primo old school Exploited though, before the thrash influences crept in. Its raw, ready and definitely rough around the edges. But wouldn’t it be shite if it wasn’t? This is punk after all. I…

All I know is that I don’t know nothing, right? Tell you for what, I didn’t know that Tim Armstrong was in this band. Shows what I know about punk (next to sweet fuck all now confirmed). Honestly though it’s a good thing, his Clash-style drawl puts me off both Transplants and Rancid, and what I’ve heard of Tim Timebomb or whatever doesn’t exactly inspire me, so if I’d known that Tim was in Operation…