Tuesday 3 May 2016

The Chronicles of Dis (Part 9): Realities of War "Constructs of life" Ep, 2011



This one is a little personal I suppose.

I got Realities of War's "Constructs of life" in 2012 while visiting my friend Steve in Leeds. I had not been there for a few years and the trip was prompted by the opportunity to attend a great show he was putting on at the 1in12 Club in Bradford with Antisect, Hellkrusher and Cress (no less). A top gig which saw giggle like a 16-year-old fanboy at my favourite punk venue and some catching up with an old friend, it was bound to be a great weekend.



On the second day, we were chatting about our past and future respective projects and he told me that he had been singing with a dischargy band called Realities of War a few years back. Now, I was a little surprised (if not slightly upset) since I had literally never heard of the band and I do try to keep myself updated about what is going on in this part of the world. They had released an Ep, "Constructs of life", that had come out in 2011 but the recording session was actually much older, from February 2006. It took five years for the record to see the light of day and this slow process made me smile a little since it is quite the opposite nowadays, when bands usually release one Lp and two Ep's (often the demo, originally released as a tape, is repressed on vinyl) in 18 months, tour Europe and then split up leaving a hot trail of average records in their wake. I knew Steve had been singing for Project Hopeless in the mid-00's and I always loved his writing in his fanzine, Attitude Problem, which epitomized the politics and aesthetics of proper anarchopunk to me, so I was looking forward to listening to ROW. After all, it couldn't really go wrong: the band took their name from the first song of the first Discharge Ep and the booklet was replete with anarcho symbols. I was confident. Besides, I knew how much Steve loved Discharge. After all, he was the one to introduce me to Disaster. When we regularly wrote letters to each other, he would often say "and I am still listening to Discharge". Now, I guess anyone with even just a small amount of good taste in punk-rock could say the same: who isn't still listening to Discharge? Exactly. But in this case, I would read the sentence as meaning "I am doing fine and I am still here". Listening to Discharge had come to signify this kind of continuity and resilience in the face of daily life. And to this day, when I am being asked "How's life?", it is still what I mean when I reply "I'm still listening to Discharge (or Antisect or Amebix)". It is an encoded answer, to some extent, but those who love such bands as much as I do will know exactly what I mean.



But enough sentimentalism already. ROW formed in 2005 and, apart from Steve on vocals, had ex-members of Flyblown (from Essex) and Burning the Prospect (from the other Boston). Now, I have sadly never seen Flyblown live but their "The fear and the fury" Lp from 2005 definitely rates as one of the best British punk Lp's of that decade. It is a crushingly intense, almost excessively so at times, angry and powerful album that manages to sound savage and yet completely focused. It often struck me as the perfect balance between the heaviest brand of Scandinavian hardcore and British anarcho-crust, and the fact that the line-up also had (at least) one Swedish member (on drums) was of course meaningful in that respect. So even before playing the Ep, the Flyblown connection indicated that I was in for some seriously heavy hardcore. And then, flipping through the thick booklet on my way home, I realized that there were two guitars. That could be a problem. I was expecting something really Dis-oriented (couldn't help it and I'm not even sorry) but two guitars sounded risky. In fact, when someone usually mentioned a two-guitars D-Beat band, it was inevitably to talk about much dreaded sub-sub-subgenres such as "Rocking D-Beat" or, even worse, "Crust'n'roll". Bands daring to adopt such genres usually sounded like a cheap version of already cheap early-00's Disfear or mid-00's Inepsy. I am not necessarily against having two guitars when playing the Dis-thing but you really have to know what you are doing because I, for one, am not into seeing bad heavy-metal solos, cheap Lemmy impersonations and lazy D-beat paces spoiling otherwise relatively decent (at best) Discharge riffs. And besides, why would anyone want to do a "rocked out" version of Discharge? They were intrinsically a groovy band and the bass lines were rocky enough to start with. So I was really anxious when I got home, although, truth be told, I was not that worried about the quality of the music as Steve had never struck me as the kind to have Motörhead posters in the bathroom.






"Constructs of life" is a solid Ep. The sound is, as expected, heavy, pummeling and thick. The songs (which blend together through feedback) have a relentlessness that I always crave for that genre as it aptly reflects the idea of disastrous endlessness that pertains to Discharge. It should grab you and not let you go. My worrying about the two-guitar attack was unfounded. It allows for extra heaviness and a few tastefully wise guitar leads but the guitars never hide the bass, which is essential as D-Beat is a bass-driven genre if anything. Here the balance between the punishing, ominous sound of the guitars and the all-important groovy bass hooks is cohesive and effective: it just works very well. The riffs are probably more rooted in Scandinavia than Stoke-on-Trent in nature, I am reminded of Disfear or Skitsystem at times (especially on the metallic intro and a on a couple of breaks) or even Consume, and while the pace never strays far from Discharge, it is also harder-hitting. Swedish-inspired early 00's D-Beat in a word. However, contrary to Flyblown who used harsh, over-the-top anguished screams, the vocals on "Constructs of life" are actually much closer to the original Discharge and discharge-loving 80's anarchopunk bands. Like Cracked Cop Skulls, the band opted for vocal doubling which gives a very vintage energetic feel to the music and roots it in 80's territory. Since the music itself was already relentless enough, the idea to use the double tracking was brilliant, especially if it accompanies the bass work closely. As mentioned, I am reminded of old anarcho bands like AOA or even Icons of Filth and the presence of a few delectable spoken parts delights me.







As the artwork and the thick, superb booklet with cardboard covers can attest, Realities of War were probably more an anarchopunk band having a go at the D-Beat orthodoxy, rather than an all-out D-Beat band: Crass font instead of the Discharge one, an antisectish logo instead of a dead soldier. Aesthetically and thematically, the booklet is replete with anarchopunk references and topics and while the lyrics themselves are short (but they need to be given the genre's requirements), explanatory texts developing the topics at stake and useful resources are provided as well. The songs are about the validity of a State-run society ("When will we ever learn?"), animal abuse ("Torture chamber"), state surveillance ("Orwell nation"), subservient conformity to social norms ("Complicit") and the need to do something positive and constructive with our punk lives ("Look within"). This is thoughtful, meaningful and caring political punk music coming from the heart. And there is even a free patch coming with the Ep. What more could you possibly ask for?










As I remember it, "Constructs of life" was a benefit Ep for the 1in12 Club in Bradford (it was recorded there by Bri) and it was released by Active Distribution, Crisis Point, Never Healed and Not Enough Records. Below is a link to an interview with Steve about Realities of War and "Constructs of life" that appeared on TrakMarx: Dis-interview   






And there is the bloody patch!


11 comments:

  1. I really like the sound they were getting at Studio 1 in 12 around this time. The Extinction of Mankind album from 2004 has a thick, great sound as well. I've never heard this. Great artwork. Thanks again. -ZM

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    1. You're welcome. I think they didn't go for very long but I really like the Ep, it looks, sounds and feels genuine. And I totally agree with your comment about the sound, check the After The Massacre album from 2007 (I think) as it has this same texture.

      By the way, I was wondering, do you enjoy Flyblown? I always thought "The fear and the fury" was amazing but I'd be curious to read your thoughts about it.

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  2. I've never heard, or heard of, After The Massacre. Grabbing it now. Thanks for the recommendation. That flyer with Ruin reminds me of how much I wish they could've had another release or three.

    I'm missing one of the Flyblown 12"s, and I believe it is the one everyone likes the most (Genocide?). Nevertheless, I like everything I have from them quite a bit. Great energy. It's been a long time since I heard Fury, but I seem to remember it jumping off the record; one of those recordings with a ton of vitality and aliveness. One of those records that reminds you of why you might love hardcore. I should add it to my stack of records to revisit. -ZM

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  3. un petit lien pour la route
    http://cvltnation.bandcamp.com/album/discharge-hear-nothing-see-nothing-say-nothing-the-cvlt-nation-sessions

    ya la meme chose pour amebix arise ainsi que pour misfits et dead kennedys....

    et la demo de underdogs, ca avance hahaha???

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  4. Cool, merci pour les liens.

    Je t'envoie les demos d'Underdogs que j'ai en ma possession. C'est un peu le bordel en termes d'ordre des chansons mais c'était comme ça sur le cd qu'on m'avait envoyé... J'espère que ça ira!

    http://www.mediafire.com/download/b3cf0r10vzdszzl/TUEOD%2BRIR.zip

    http://www.mediafire.com/download/b3cf0r10vzdszzl/TUEOD%2BRIR.zip

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  5. merci pour les liens romain, par contre c'est 2 fois le meme...

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    1. Je n'étais plus trop sûr de ce qu'il y avait exactement dans les dossiers car le cdr lui-même était hyper bordélique donc il est possible qu'il y ait des doublons... Mais c'est tout ce que j'ai.

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  6. okok mais la le lien est 2 fois le meme. ya que la 1ere partie du cd-r si le tracklist est correcte. or c'est justement la 2eme partie qui m'interressait (les titres 14 a 26).

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    1. en gros, tu as remis ce que tu avais deja posté....
      et comme tu as 2 lien mais que c'est 2 fois le meme, je me dis que tu as fais une erreur en les copiant...

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    2. Quelle buse je fais... Ok du coup la demo de 1983 est là http://www.mediafire.com/download/s6r4b69j47zzg7c/East_of_Dachau_-_demo_83.zip par contre sans les morceaux live car ils refusent de passer dans mon lecteur et je n'ai pas pu les encoder...

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    3. haha ca y est t'as compris.... ;-p
      MErci pour le mlien et tant pis pour les titres lives

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