Ten years ago, back when the blog was still vaguely respectable but did not make any money and I could not afford a butler, I reviewed Hellkrusher's "Dying for who" Ep from 1992 and reading it again today, I realized I was going to write pretty much the same thing about this seemingly immortal band even though they did not send me a free shirt after the first eloquent review. But I am not one to hold grudges, thankfully for me, and today's Ep was released exactly 20 years after Dying for Who which will probably make everyone involved feel old but is still a testament to the band's tenacity and inflexibility. Punk-rock trends - and there have been a lot of them since 1992 - have never seemed to affect Hellkrusher's sound or approach to punk in the least. In fact, I am sure that everyone could be playing skacore tomorrow and the band would still keep delivering their classic brand of d-beat thrash unperturbed and oblivious to the cool hardcore kids suddenly wearing porkpie hats and doing Madness covers but with mosh parts. But then that's something most of us would wish to be able to ignore.
I saw Hellkrusher live a couple of times, notably in 2012 supporting Antisect at the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford, and they were always solid. We all know first times tend to be biased and prone to sentimentalism but my favourite memory of them was the first with their performance at the Scum Fest in London in 2007, which was actually their reformation gig (they had not played since 2001). It was a brilliant one I remember very fondly and everyone was up for it. Since then, Hellkrusher is the kind of band I buy all the records of without really thinking much about it. I am never overexcited about a new record of theirs but I'll always get it nonetheless. It is just something I do almost instinctively. The existence of such a long-running band is almost reassuring. I know what to expect from them and I would say they also know what people expect from them. "Just do you!" as the corniest beauty influencers would say to the band. Just do Hellkrusher.
After such profound and thought-provoking words of wisdom, what's exactly on this record? With the Doomsday Hour Lp (arguably still the band's shining moment and an absolute classic 90's Discharge-inspired record that I played a lot), the Geordies created their own brand of metal-tinged d-beat thrash with gruff vocals that they have built upon since and has become instantly recognizable. The arrival of Scoot on second guitar certainly gave the band's a heavier, more metallic, darker sound but they never covered their "We <3 DISCHARGE" tattoos. Their songwriting reflects how orthodox British-style d-beat and raw metallic hardcore can blend harmoniously. The result is positively predictable because it has to be, it is the very essence of the genre, a constant barrage of discore, a nightmare that continues. I like the fact that the band always kept it raw and never went for a cleaner production so that you instantly know that you are dealing with a proper punk band and not American hardcore jocks or pompous Slayer fans who rate guitar solos on a scale from 1 to 666.
Hellkrusher have that distinct dirty Northern hardcore/crust feel and you can tell that they emerged from the vibrant scene that gave birth to many classic UK bands. They are basically keeping it old-school in a world where everyone is trying to imitate the old-school sound. The two songs on this split Ep are classic Hellkrusher and would work well if you were to introduce the band to an ignoramus who does not know them. Expert Discharge-loving metallic hardcore inviting Anti-System and Nausea to their casual gritty Northern crust pub. Classic d-beat riffs, gruff aggressive vocals with that typical British scansion and a vintage reverb (just the right amount). Job done.
On the other side you have three songs of Bristol's Bulletridden, a band that unfortunately did not get much recognition outside of England. It is clearly a shame as I have personally always rated the band which, in the music world, is often considered as a very high honour and the punk equivalent of being complimented by Dwayne Johnson about being in great shape (not that it is likely to happen to me). As a staunch fan of the cruelly overlooked Gurkha, I closely followed the artistic career (well) of singer Martin and of his rather unique diction, style of growls and hoarse, almost strange vocal tone and caustic, dark lyrics. One of the few punk singers to growl narratively, so to speak, with words you can understand (to some extent).
I remember being in the audience when The Reckoning played at Scum Fest although I don't actually remember The Reckoning, a short-lived project from which Warprayer and the present Bulletridden emerged, in 2010 for latter. Despite very blurry recollections, I knew deep down or pretended to myself that the gig had been brilliant and therefore closely followed the aforementioned bands' evolutions. I did see and liked them both live but I think Bulletridden were more convincing on record. They had that wicked, dirty and crunchy metallic - but inherently punk - guitar sound (courtesy of ex Bomb Blast Men Chris) that I am such a sucker for, with direct riffs. Apparently, the idea behind the band was to do something like "The Accused meets Coitus" and "heavy but not metal" (let's thank Ian Glasper's The Scene that Would Not Die for the wisdom). I can certainly can hear some of the dirty groove of Coitus' crusty metal-punk sound (both bands would eventually release a split Lp in 2018) but also Genital Deformities's oft forgotten 90's era where you can find that similar snotty, punky delivery and I would add some of the heavy aggression of stenchcore revival bands like Limb From Limb or Sanctum. Listening to these songs again, I realized I had forgotten a little how good the band was and the greater appeal it could have had because they brought something different (punkier maybe?) to the metal-crust banner behind which Orcs like to gather and trade pieces of advice about sewing techniques.
The band also made the wrong and almost naive choice to release cd's when the format ceased to be relevant in the eyes of "the scene" and was becoming about as sexy as a David Cameron mask at an orgy. Too bad. If the first album Songs Written Before Jumping out of an Eight Storey Window illustrated well what the band wanted to achieve, it was a little too long for a first attempt, the second one Upbeat Noise for Downtrodden People's enjoyed a better, heavier production. During their decent run of six years (they split up in 2016), the band was rather prolific and in a fair world you would see the few remaining crusties in your town wearing cider-stained Bulletridden shirts on Sundays.
This split Ep is the perfect record if you want to both taste something familiar (Hellkrusher) and also be introduced to a lesser known band (Bulletridden). It was released in 2012 on Antisociety and is not too hard to find (it was a very ambitious pressing of 1000 copies).
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