Kurwa CRUST Przeciwny Systemowi! An anthology of Polish crust (1991-2022)

I am finally back after an unusually lengthy break from the blog. Not that I was insanely busy, although I'd love to pretend to. I just needed some time for myself, not unlike a distraught parent leaving his children alone in the wood for a couple of weeks in order to sort his life out or a wrestler who gets injured after attempting an elbow drop from the third rope. I even toyed with the idea of stopping Terminal Sound Nuisance altogether and find another hobby that would bring more attention to my once ravishing greatness and undeniable charisma, like food influencer or a shark whisperer, something contemporary. I even took a pretty pricy but eventually useless selfie class in July (I was unable to pass the test though, something to do with me being the antithesis of photogenic or something). What is the relevance of running a punk blog these days beside making you feel prematurely old? Maybe the quest for relevance is itself irrelevant in this day and age when quantity largely prevails over quantity. The term "content creator" is remarkable in this sense as modern "creators" are not even able to qualify what they offer and resort to the generic and vague term "content" and as pop culture gluttons we stuff ourselves with forgettable but mildly enjoyable shit. Oh well. 

The thing is, despite investigating a number of alternative options, I could not quite figure what I could replace the blog with, which must mean that Terminal Sound Nuisance has to be kept alive. The absence of answer was the answer. And so here I am again, ready to rock (reasonably because of my bad back) and entertain the punk masses, something I was born for although my mum would disagree firmly. 

All this blabbering to say that I am back with a solid CRUST and to get things going again I have something special for you: an anthology of Polish crust. As even the least discerning readers will have noticed (they are few, I am well aware that Terminal Sound Nuisance's readership is notoriously class and well sound), I have a soft spot for Polish crust and, because the genre has never ceased to be not only popular but also strong in this country, working on retrospective compilations made a lot of sense. Fun was had.

I have already written quite extensively about crust and punk in general in Poland throughout the years and re-reading my elegant prose for egotistical inspiration made me realize how prolific, vibrant and dynamic the scene was in the 90's. Indeed, the claim that Poland was a major punk stronghold during that pivotal decade (in terms of bands but also of touring destination) is true and even a quick superficial glance at classic bands like Infekcja, Homomilitia, Sanctus Iuda or Filth of Mankind (to stick to my initial plan) can prove enough to illustrate this. If the crust genre became less popular in many parts of Europe, Polish punks faithfully, loyally kept producing quality crust bands to this day. Many of these bands' reach does not go beyond the country's borders but if you bother looking for information, instead of waiting passively for information to look for you, you will make some new friends. But since you are most certainly a lazy bum, I am more than happy to take on that role.

While selecting and compiling the songs, I wondered with a Sartre-looking expression if Polish crust could be described as its own subgenre, like the Greek or Japanese schools of crust, or if it was merely crust sung in Polish. While I would argue that its identity is not as strong and peculiar as its aforementioned two cousins, there are enough common recurring traits among all the bands to hypothesize a "Polish crust sound". First, with almost all the bands singing in Polish, the language with its sonorities, dynamic accents, its flow and pronunciation has an impact on the overall sound and gives it an aggressive edge. Second, more often than not, right from the start, Polish crust has displayed a heavy, crunchy, dark metallic influence, not in the apocalyptic sense like the Greeks (with some exceptions) but faster, thrashier and keeping a raw intensity. It should be pointed out as well that, originally and distinctly, more than in any other countries, Polish crust bands must be said to have been some of the best examples of fast and pummeling 90's eurocrust, far more Hiatus than Doom if you wish and if the genre evolved along with the rest of global crust scene (Japan being the usual exception) these are the basis and basics.

Do these can justify and potentially cement the "genrification" of Polish crust? Probably not, such elements can be found in other scenes abroad, however they still stand as meaningful, defining traits running through a large enough body of works for me to offer cohesive and coherent compilations. By no means has Polish crust been undisturbed and insensitive to the various international crust waves as the comps can attest. Some bands are more progressive, to the extent of neocrusting at times, others are heavily infused with death, black or doom metal, but the similarities are sufficiently present and relevant. I chose to leave out bands that, I felt, as good as they might be thought to be, did not totally qualify as crust although they certainly had crust elements like Silence, Deczcz or Evil or some of the faster 90's anarchopunk bands. Or as my sensei would sometimes tell me when he was teaching me the way: "it ain't crust enough my little lad". On the other hand, I did include some bands that are often seen as pertaining to the early grindcore scene, like Toxic Bonkers or Grossmember, but shared enough common points with their crusty contemporaries at some point. Subjectivity, yeah? 

I tried to be exhaustive without but I probably missed out some bands, either out of sheer forgetfulness or because they were either just too obscure or because Alzheimer arrived early at the party. In any case, you are more than welcome to mention bands that could have made it here or to point out mistakes. The more the merrier like my gran would say, although she was mostly referring to wine I guess. There are 2 compilations with 43 bands and songs in total ranging from the proto-crusty year of 1991 to our fetid modern time. Thanks to the people I borrowed (well...) the pictures from.

In bimber there is no choice    

PART ONE:

01. HOMOMILITIA "Intro + To możliwe jest tylko tutaj" from Twoje Ciało Twój Wybór Lp, 1996 (Łódź)

02. HELLISHEAVEN "Sedes sapientiae ora pro se" from S/t split Lp with CREEPIN CORRUPT, 2009 (Lublin)

03. DRIP OF LIES "Lies" from S/t demo, 2009 (Warszawa)

04. SOCIAL CRISIS "Zachowaj spokój" from S/t split Ep with WOJNA, 2018 (Biała Podlaska)

05. FUCK FINGER "Zdrajczynie" from S/t tape, 2002 (Łuków)

06. S.O. WAR "Mili chłopcy z policji" from Bullshit Propaganda tape, 1998 (recorded in 1993), (Strzelce Opolskie)

07. UNDECIDED "Pokoj W niebie jak i na ziemi" from S/t tape, 1996 (Bartoszyce)

08. PATROMONIUM DEL PUEBLO "Pliczy się tylko muzyka..." from Pustka tape, 1999 (Dąbrowa Górnicza)

09. HUFF RAID "Insect" from Euro Tour Tape, 2017 (Toruń)

10. CEASELESS DESOLATION "Jutro" from Nicość Lp, 2013 (Lublin)

11. BURN THE CROSS "Thirteen" from S/t split Ep with HOLY EXTERMINATION, 2013 (Jasło)

12. FILTH OF MANKIND "The foundation" from They've Taken Everything - A Tribute to Icons of Filth double cd compilation, 2007 (Gdańsk)

13. SORROW "Black crow" from Black Crow Lp, 2022 (Poznań)

14. MITRĘGA "Przelana czara" from Kraina Wpływów split Lp with NON PRESIDENT, 2015 (Lublin)

15. CHORYGEN "Ścierwa" from S/t Ep, 2014 (Łódź)

16. DISABLE "Wojna 1" from S/t cdr demo, 2003 (Łódź)

17. STRADOOM TERROR "Kapitalistyczni hipokryci" from Głuchy Głos Protestu?... split tape with NON TIBI SPIRO, 1996 (Rzeszów)

18. ALCHEMIK SENDIVIUS "Cholerny sen" from Przeciwko Wiwisekcji demo/live tape, 1993 (Grudziądz)

19. GROSSMEMBER "Fucking pigs" from 4-way split tape with AGATHOCLES/DISCHORD/OPC, 1997 (Warszawa)

20. MIND "Full of dark memory" from S/t split Ep with DISTRESS, 1998 (Łódź/Berlin)

21. PIEKŁO KOBIET "W Pułapce Dziedzictwa" from Wyzwolenie Kobiet Wyzwoleniem Mężczyzn = Liberation Of Women, Liberation Of Men 10", 1998 (Łuków)

22. DISGUSTING LIES "Administracja" from Rich Man/Poor Man Ep, 1996 (Łódź)

PART ONE

PART TWO:

01. INFECKJA "Ziemia" from S/t Ep, 1997 (Wrocław)

02. ENOUGH! "Dlaczego" from Darkside tape, 1996 (Gdańsk)

03. CHORY "Krzyże hipokryzji" from S/t tape, 2000 (Bielsko-Biała)

04. HOLY EXTERMINATION "They need blood" from S/t split Ep with BURN THE CROSS, 2013 (Nowy Sącz)

05. WOJNA "Stołkowe kurwy" from S/t split Ep with SOCIAL CRISIS, 2017 (Poznań)

06. TOXIC BONKERS "Kłamstwa w imię Boga" from S/t demo tape, 1994 (Łódź)

07. HOSTILITY "Tak bardzo sie boisz" from ...I Niech Jeden Strzał... tape, 1995 (Białystok)

08. BISECT "Zdyscyplinowane ogniwa" from Nastepna Krwawa Interwencja tape, 1995 (Radom)

09. SILNA WOLA "Anarchistyczny Czarny Krzyż" from Zero Akceptacji Dla Państwa Chiny tape, 1997 (Lebork)

10. TRÜD "Samogwałt" from Wszechświat B tape, 2016 (Torun)

11. VICTIM OF TRUTH "Więcej" from S/t cdr demo, 2010 (Biała Podlaska)

12. DEATH CRUSADE "W zamian" from Rakieta//Bomba Lp, 2017 (Gdańsk)

13. MENTAL ABERRATION "Cywilizacja" from Okrutna Rzeczywistość tape, 1991 (Gdańsk)

14. RZEŹNIA "Machina spoleczna" from Żreć tape, 1996 (Opole)

15. NON TIBI SPIRO "666" from Głuchy Głos Protestu?... split tape with STRADOOM TERROR, 1996 (Rzeszów)

16. MONOTEIZM CO-EXISTENCE "A homo sapie" from Patrz I Odczuj! tape, 1998 (Kolno)

17. SANCTUS IUDA "Prawdziwe Oblicze Kapitalizmu" from Rząd-Korporacje-Wy/Zysk tape, 1995 (Białystok)

18. NON PRESIDENT "Aborcja" from S/t split Lp with HUFF RAID, 2018 (Wojcieszów)

19. SCUMSTADT "Ścierwogród" from S/t cd, 2018 (Łódź)

20. LOST "Jak długo jeszcze" from Strach Lp, 2003 (Łódź)

21. MONEY DRUG "Przymus Państwa from S/t split Ep with WIND OF PAIN, 1995 (Gdańsk)

PART TWO