Wesh to Sweden, the Formative Years (part 2): Avskum "In the Spirit of Mass Destruction" cd, 2000

Sweden is bloody everywhere. 

Even the most superficial glance at the hardcore production of the last three decades is enough to realize how important and influential traditional Swedish hardcore has been for the punk scene worldwide. In fact, a mere five minute walk into the luxuriant yet slightly frightening sonic jungle that bandcamp has turned into today would allow the casual listener to find dozen of bands of the scandicore (or käng or whatever terminology turns you on) variety or, at least, proudly claiming to belong to that well-presented group with educated hashtags. This is not a particularly original realization and you could argue that I am just stating the obvious here, but just take a moment to think about the large and evergrowing number of Swedish-flavoured bands all over the world since the 90's. While the impressive quantity and quality of Swedish hardcore bands in the 80's pretty much ensured that there would always be solid representatives of the branch in Sweden, it still did not necessarily entail its spread into every corner of the punk world. After all, Italy had tons of brilliant bands too but, in comparison, there aren't that many bands outside of Italy that are openly influenced by the vintage sound of Wretched, Indigesti or Impact and try to replicate it, whereas I presume that even my granny could name ten mediocre copies of Anti-Cimex in a heartbeat. 

 

I am not qualified enough to assess the Swedish hardcore influence worldwide in the 80's (but I would love to read articles about this), although it is well-established fact that Doom just wanted to be Discard when they first started and that the UK hardcore wave was well into the sound of their Nordic cousins. I am sure there were many individuals outside of Scandinavia dreaming about Crude SS and Mob 47 but it did not translate into a mimicking frenzy at the time outside of the country. I would venture that the generalization of the classic käng sound started in the 90's and its development can be seen in the same light as its contemporary neighbours': the d-beat and crust waves. Of course, in that decade, things were probably not as compartmentalized, narrow and clear-cut as they are now and the frontiers between the three genres were fluid and they often intersected and fed each other. After all, all three were, to varying extents, the children of Discharge, part of the same family and fearless agents of the Discharge legacy. By the time I caught that train around 2003, the spirit of the 90's wave was still fresh and strong and I remember having long, tumultuous arguments with like-minded friends about the similarities and differences between crustcore, d-beat and scandicore. It never quite ended in a punch-up but I remember a particular heated conversations about the possible classification of State of Fear, a band we held in very high esteem at the time. Good times indeed. 

 

I remember exactly why I picked Avskum's In the Spirit of Mass Destruction. I had never heard of the band but the description proclaimed that it was a classic 80's band that had reformed but sounded "better than ever, paying tribute to their hardcore roots while still offering something fresh for the new generations". Those were not the exact words but we all know the drill. Since I was still very gullible and rather insecure about the level of my knowledge in hardcore punk - and thus about my hardcore credibility, a thing that appeared to critically matter judging from some lyrics - the prospect of getting to know a "classic Swedish band from the 80's" was exciting indeed and I recall, in a sensible move, adding another reformed classic, Totalitär's Ni Måste Bort, from the same record label, Prank Records, to the order so that, to this day, I tend to unconsciously associate both bands because I first heard them at the same time. Of course, looking at the number of Totalitär-ian bands today, it is safe to say that Totalitär have become a much more popular and influential band than Avskum, but it is a rather recent phenomena and I don't remember it being quite the case in the 00's although I could be wrong. Such considerations were of course foreign to me in 2003 and I played the cd's to death. My initial fear that they might sound like cheesy new wave or terrible crossover (like, I imagined, many reformed bands did and let's face it I wasn't that far off the mark) was rapidly dissipated. Avskum quite literally fucking rocked. 

 

The official party line of the punk elite is that, however good Avskum's later material might be, their 1984 Ep, Crucified by the System, remains their genuine moment of hardcore glory. And it is quite right. As temptingly easy and intellectually lazy it is to consider any old 80's recordings as a classic moment, therefore untouchable and irremediably superior to anything that might come next, Crucified by the System is undeniably a work of genius, although probably an unintentional one (the best, ain't they?). According to The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk, after the release of Avskum's first demo a local reporter "thought that they wanted to be a garage band, but it was still like cavemen. In other words, they hadn't even reached the level of a garage band. This was meant as a bad review but nothing could explain their music better!". And how true is that! I guess the raw hardcore punk sound of early Avskum combined with the very gruff vocal style of singer Gunnar make the cavemen comparison understandable. However, in addition to all the typical käng characteristics and savage aggression a nerdy punk is rightly entitled to expect from a Swedish hardcore Ep released in 1984, Avskum were more tuneful than most. Just listen to the opening riff of "Glöm ardrig Hiroshima" and to how melancholy, dark and just beautiful it sounds like. And of course, in another context, those vocals could be the work of a wounded caveman, however it is a caveman trying to sing - for real - because he is desperate and in pain, like a morose, glum Anti-Cimex or something. To me, "Glöm ardrig Hiroshima" is - like Rappresaglia's "Attack", Anti-Cimex's "Warmachine" or RIP's "Policia no" - one of those perfect hardcore songs that are even improved by their flaws and age very well. 

 

But I am not here to delve into Avskum's early career, a part of their existence I was not familiar with by the time I played In the Spirit of Mass Destruction for the first time and therefore did not influence my first impression of the band by offering me a point of comparison. This album was recorded in late 1999 and it was the band's third since they reformed in 1994, after 1998's Crime & Punishment cd on Distortion Records (obviously) and From Vision to Nightmare Ep on Retard Records. Avskum's reformation took place at the height of the 90's d-beat and scandicore wave and I presume seeing so many Swedish bands playing the very hardcore style you took part in creating ten years before prompted former members to resurrect Avskum. The new Avskum did not sound like the old one though. Vocalist Gunnar and drummer Pyri were still there but the original guitarist Nezze, who was not part of the new d-beat odyssey, was replaced by the original bass player Håkan and second guitar player Henke while Jorgen took on the bass duties. Gone was the brooding and furious raw 80's käng sound to make room for a far more rocking approach. I remember In the Spirit of Mass Destruction being described (possibly by Prank Records themselves) as a Swedish blend of Discharge and Motörhead and, while I revered the former, I did not enjoy the latter - and still don't to be honest. Mentions of "d-beat'n'roll" or "motörcrust" have always triggered a strong sense of suspicion and wariness (if not plain insult) in me and my gut instinct often told me to get the fuck out of here before it was too late and I had to endure terrible Lemmy's impersonations, double pedal drumming and heavy metal guitar solos. However I can see why a Motörhead comparison would be relevant in Avskum's case as they have that deep rocking feel and that overdrive power in the guitars and Gunnar successfully attempts at singing on classic d-beat hardcore punk, not unlike a motörheadish Disarm if you know what I mean. It is not exactly melodic but the tunes are definitely hummable, catchy and quite distinctive. This vocal style might not be everybody's cup of tea - it won't do if you are looking for the shouted kind - but I think it works perfectly here, somewhere between a more rocking Jawbreaker-era Jonsson and Meanwhile's Jocke, Gunnar's rough-hewn voice sounds powerful, angry and infectious.  

 

In the Spirit of Mass Destruction cannot really be described as a spectacular album. It is quite linear, homogeneous and not meant to crush you into the ground. But once you let yourself get into its rocking käng vibe, it is a very pleasant work and the more Discharge-inspired song like "Rebel vibe" and the brilliant mid-paced "The bomb is our future" work best for me. This album is not unlike, metaphorically speaking, "dad d-beat" in the sense that it is not drenched in distortion or insanely fast, cleanly produced and not harsh-sounding, aggressive but not furious, with a distinct sense of tune and clear singalongs, a very pure d-beat pace and a heavy rock influence that makes it the ideal soundtrack to drive long distance, scrap the kitchen clean or have a couple of pints at the pub with your mates to. A particular sort of Swedish d-beat in itself. The production, courtesy of Mieszko of Soundlab Studio (if you are into Swedish punk and do not own a Mieszko-produced record, you are clearly a poser), is crispy and guitar-driven with very upfront vocals, it is clean but not so clean as to lose the hardcore edge. This is probably the best work of Avskum after they reformed - but then I never really got into 2003's Punkista that sounded too polished and heterogeneous - and since it does not really sound like their 80's outputs, it feels a bit pointless to compare them. The dark and direct political lyrics are pretty sweet with a lot of class war-oriented rants against the system that puts us on our knees. I really enjoyed the classic line "Hitler is in the limo again". The cover is a bit of a mystery however and does not really reflect what the music is about although the drawing technique is not in question. A bunch of skeletal punks bathing in biohazardous waters coming out of giant sewer pipes with burning buildings in the background suggest bandana-wearing second-rate US-styled crossover rather than rocking Swedish hardcore for middle-aged crusties in need of a solid and tasteful mix of Meanwhile, 90's Cimex and Motörhead. 

 In the Spirit of Käng Destruction

 *about the title of the series "Wesh to Sweden": "wesh" is a slang word commonly used in France by the urban youth. It is derived from the Arabic language and can mean a variety of things like "hello", "what's up", "how are you?", "what!", "fuck" and the list goes on and on. Sorry if the meaning gets a bit lost in translation.