Friday 19 October 2012

Death Sentence "Death and pure distruction" Ep 1982



This Ep is as good as Death Sentence were short-lived. Basically, and I say this in a non-hyperbolic fashion for once, "Death and pure distruction" is one of the very best record of the UK82 genre.

Now that I have everyone's attention, let's dissect this unsung English punk-rock wonder. Death Sentence could be assumed to be from the North of England, where aubergines are not to be taken for granted (or so I have heard). More seriously, I initially thought they were from the Leeds area since this Ep was recorded in a Leeds studio. Besides, "Death and pure distruction" was released by a label called "Beat the system!!" whose field of expertise was punk-rock from Northern England (The Fits, Antisocial, Uproar, One Way System) and Scotland (External Menace, Chaotic Youth), and in fact, there is one compilation Lp creatively entitled "Total anarchy" that includes all the aforementioned bands. But I was all wrong, since Death Sentence were from Northampton. Oh well, there's still "North" in the town's name...




But back to Death Sentence. This Ep is their sole vinyl appearance and it was released in 1982. As you can see from the cover and backcover, the band had little graphic skills. Like countless other English punk-rock bands of the 80's, you have a picture of the boys in a working-class environment, not posing before a brick wall this time but right in the middle of a construction site. Funnily enough, the two on the left of the cover stare epically on their right side while the two on the right just smile at the camera. Ahhhhh... the golden days of youth. On the backcover you have a lot of pictures of the lads rocking out during the recording session. To be fair, you can't really discern that well their faces at times because they are small black and white pictures with black writing on it. But regardless, this record looks so amateurishly punk that before you even listen to it you know you will be in for a proper slice of vintage punk-rock. And when you have actually played it, you realize that proper punk-rock is an understatement: this Ep absolutely rules.




Death Sentence was certainly a band of its time as the looks of the boys suggest with their boots, studded jackets and spiky hair. The four songs on this Ep epitomize everything I love about that genre. It is fast and basic, it is sloppy, it is snottier than a six-year old on a rainy day, it is pissed, spontaneous and distorted. The shouted vocals are really at the front of the music and have this juvenile feel with a distinct English accent. The drummer must have been heavily into Chaos UK's "Burning Britain" and Disorder's "Complete disorder" as you can spot the particular drum rolls so cherished by the Bristolians (and keep in mind that this was only 1982). The guitar is effortlessly distorted, the bass sound is buzzing, and while the band's influences are pretty obvious, this is done in  such a fresh, direct manner that it can't really fail.

Contrary to a lot of modern bands, Death Sentence appeared to be utterly unselfconscious just like you can be when you are a spotty teenager with only a bleak future ahead of you. The pattern of the Ep's first song, poetically entitled "Death and pure distruction", is strongly reminiscent of early Discharge and Varukers and definitely points at the direction many raw hardcore-punk bands would take. The other three songs are pure UK82 jewels bringing Instant Agony, the fastest Abrasive Wheels numbers, Subhumans, Partisans, Ultra-Violent, Uproar or Mau Maus (minus the vocals) to mind, but I would argue that they are even better which is no small feat. There are some catchy singalongs on the chorus too, which make all the songs almost too good to be true. The lyrics are not included for some reason, but, from their names, one can venture that they deal about war, destruction, the army and having no future.




The band was one of the few multi-racial punk bands of the UK82 wave as there were two black kids in the band. Not only that, but these two boys were also twin brothers.

Now let's have a really geeky moment. If you look closely at the Ep's name it is "pure distruction" and not "pure destruction" (even Discogs wrote it "destruction"). This is clearly a nod to Discharge (the band thanks them as well as all the "hard core punks") and probably the very first "dis" joke in punk history. No wonder Kawakami from Disclose quoted Death Sentence as an influence. Finally, one may suppose that the band Victims of War, half the members of which would give birth to Extreme Noise Terror (the other half being Raw Noise), took their name from Death Sentence's song "Victims of war". I know no one gives a fuck. I'll be off then.

14 comments:

  1. THEY ALSO RECORED A DEMO IN 81 WITCH I HAVE POSTED ON MY BLOG

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes I know. I actually ordered a cdr from you with the demo and that Ep a few years ago. I subsequently was lucky enough to find that Ep in a store for pretty cheap.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have this record but struggled to find out much about the band. Be great for them to see this and do a biog! Cheers for your endeavors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I wish I could have more information about them. This Ep is definitely one of the best of the genre but the band is only briefly mentioned in "Burning Britain" for instance. A shame really...

      Delete
  4. They weren't from Leeds, Northampton band but that's all I know

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ok, I have edited the post. Thanks. I must say I had some troubles finding decent information about them...

      Delete
  5. Great Blog, cheers.
    ,Death Sentence have a track on the Mortarhate compilation WWNYFP "Nuclear Assault" might not be the same band , but one of Sick on the Bus reckons he was in 'em

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Before writing this post I had wondered whether they were actually the same Death Sentence. On the comp, the voice is a little different to this Ep, but the music kind of fits. But then, Northampton's Death Sentence seemed to have been most active around 1982 and WWBYFP was released in 1985... How mysterious? It could have been the Canadian Death Sentence too.

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the blog... Makes for an interesting reading... I'm steve .. Drummer and founder of the band.. I might be able to fill in some gaps, so ask away.. I can tell you that we were indeed from Northampton and yeas we were the first and original Death Sentence. My brother Mick is not a twin😊.. I am 11 months older. Sadly Dave lead vocals passed away a couple of years ago but Glen bass player is alive and well.. I am stoked to know people still appreciate our music. I guess we played our hearts out cos, we had something to say.. Pity did not see any financial reward for our efforts.. Lightbeat records ripped us off... And from what I understand Barry Lights is still making money from many of the great bands he signed up in the 80,s... When the band split, we all went on our way... I'm in Sydney now.. Enjoying the lifestyle. BTW.. Melbourne has a very active punk scene... Anyway time to go.. Happy to provide info on request.. Cheers Steve - DRUMMER..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hallo there.

      Thanks for the comment! It is always a bit difficult to find solid information about Death Sentence. Was there any other studio recordings apart from this Ep and the demo? Perhaps a decent live recording?

      Sorry for the mistake about your brother. I guess that the picture being a little blurry and the fact you looked quite alike (at the time anyway) mislead me into thinking you were twins.

      I am sadly not really surprised about the record label being a rip-off. It seemed quite common in those days...

      Thanks Steve for commenting.

      Cheers

      Romain

      Delete
    2. Actually, I do have a specific question for you. Was the name of the Ep "Death and pure distruction" meant to be a Discharge pun? I am a huge Discharge fan and I can't think of an earlier example of an explicit reference to them than Death Sentence. And well, as a drummer, I suppose they must have been an influence on you at the time.

      Thanks again

      Romain

      Delete
  7. Hi Romain, sadly no other recordings and gigs we played lacked any such technology like video cameras.. If only!! We had some crazy gigs on the pub scene.
    My brother and are close so no offense getting us mixed up..

    ReplyDelete
  8. The name did make reference to discharge but not many people got it at the time!! They were a real influence.. I loved the early days practicing in our mums kitchen.. Id love to tell the story!..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! I am very glad to hear that! My theory was that Death Sentence had been the first band ever to make a Discharge pun :)

      Delete