Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 17): DISABLE "...Slamming in the Depths of Hell" Ep, 2020

Surprisingly, only two punks bands, to my all-encompassing knowledge, went for the name "Disable" despite the very punk-compatible implications of the meaning and the presence of the crucial dis prefix: one from Łódź and one from Atlanta (which we will cover today). It is unlikely the latter ever heard of the former since the Polish Disable were mainly known locally and only released a cdr demo in 2003, although they were also active for a little while in the mid-90's (it had members of Homomilitia and Lost so it's quality stuff and was recently reissued if you are not a poser). Therefore our Americans must have felt pretty good about themselves with this apparently still available moniker. And if you will allow a cheesy dad joke I take full responsibility for, Disable are definitely able to Dis.

I don't know whether the Atlantans are still going strong - they hopefully are - but their first demo was released as early as 2010 so that they can be said to have been relatively experimented in the D-game when this Ep came out. Arguably, Disable is a perfect example of a typical 2010's d-beat band. They could never be said to be main-eventers - like a Physique for instance - but they certainly belonged to the upper-mid-card if I may use a wrestling metaphor. This might have to do with their town of origin, Atlanta, which, from an outsider's perspective at least, cannot really be said to have a "punk town" status and nowhere as authoritatively cool as New York or Portland or Richmond these days. In any case, they enjoyed some nice records and notably a split with the ever prolific Warvictims from Sweden but I see ...Slamming in the Depths of Hell as their crowning glory, and not just because of the unsubtle Discharge reference in the title.

The past decade saw a formidable shift in the d-beat subgenre and the roots of this evolution that took this hardcore punk philosophical praxis by storm can be found in the 00's, with bands like No Fucker or Contrast Attitude for instance. This transitional decade was not particularly rich in strict "just like" d-beat bands, possibly because everybody had gotten bored with the 90's d-beat wave that had heavily lost steam by the 00's and I suppose people just did not see much point in mimicking Discharge beside a couple of nerd-focused exceptions like Warcry. The glorious comeback in the 2010's was different because, whereas bands mostly concentrated on Discharge imitation before, the new breed went heavily for Disclose's and distortion and a cult for the band and Kawakami rapidly developed. They became a legend. A band whose d-beat style was once rather unique suddenly turned into a significant source of inspiration and I believe Disable illustrates this move (they don't use not one but two different Disclose fonts for nothing) along with bands like Disease or Aspects of War which we have already tackled in this series.

Disable started out as a much rawer and primitive affair and guitar player Jeremy (who left the band at some point) originally handled much of the vocals while on ...Slamming in the Depths of Hell bass player Ben is in charge of the shouting and screaming during and possibly after the gig. To be honest, I prefer Ben's voice to Jeremy's as it is lower-pitched and sounds closer to the original Discharge impersonators and bands like Cracked Cop Skulls and even Hellkrusher or Final Warning or maybe Varukers (a British vocal vibe, but I could be going deaf too). And you know I am a sucker for doubled vocals in my d-beat and in this case it confers an old-school feel to an otherwise pretty modern take on the distorted d-beat style. There is a lot of Disclose in the mix ("duh" as Gen Z's would probably agree) but Disable do add some dis-crasher influence as well, especially in the drumming and the use of pedals and Japanese bands like D-Clone or Contrast Attitude are lurking in a quite visible background. I like it a lot and the mid-paced "False flag" is a wonderful idea although it might have been wiser to put it on the other side. A very solid Ep released on Brain Slash and Audacious Madness, a then very young label I am very fond of.  

Finally this writeup would be incomplete if I did not mention the split with Warvictims. It did sound odd when I listened to it for the first time and for good reason (so I am not completely deaf after all). As the band explained on bandcamp "the songs were all sped up in order to compensate for the excess length of the tracks" which is one of the punkest I have ever read about a record. Noise not music indeed.

Slamming in the depths of dis

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 16): DECLARATION "What is the reason for tomorrow?" tape, 2020

This lot definitely declare it, but whether it is a declaration of love or a declaration of war is up to the level of belligerence that the listener can muster in 2025. Absolute, uncompromising and uncompromised Love for the Dis or indomitable war on the world? Possibly both? Revolutionaries used to claim that there was a new world in their hearts which sounds romantic indeed and remains a great title for any emocrust album (points are to be gained through the addition of a screenprinted booklets providing translations of the lyrics into at least three languages). What no one really predicted was the (grave) new world growing in the dark heart of the old one, a brutal universe where power no longer even bothers to hide its inherent brutality under empty phrases. 

Declaration recorded this very fine tape only a few days before the Covid lockdown in Singapore in April 2020, this supremely odd time which we are all trying hard to forget and generally succeed in doing so (in the First World at least). On bandcamp, Declaration add: "Currently witnessing and experiencing the collapse of capitalism, the state and its people. The world will never be the same again". In the end, capitalism and states are doing quite fine indeed although you could argue that the people have a much shittier time remaining on their own two feet. What is the reason for tomorrow then? Does tomorrow really need any reason? It cannot be said to belong to us, as Cal's words once claimed, but I have faith that men, women and children will one day fight back in defense of our future and that punk bands will still be cosplaying as '82 Discharge and charge the best part of a twenty for an album you already the songs of and still gladly buy. That would make a great epitaph, right?

Upon first hearing Declaration, a radiant feeling of joy and warmth immediately took over my brain. The first minute of What is the reason for tomorrow? confirms what your inner self hoped it would to be: pure d-beat, unadulterated, untouched by influences foreign to the Discharge scriptures, an unsoiled oeuvre of mimicry and worship, a soundalike, like a band that had been frozen alongside a mammoth since the 80's and somehow emerged from their slumber in the 2020's. This humble tape was the quietly prodigious child of a bunch of Singaporean punks also involved in established bands like Pazahora, Siäl, Vaaralinen or even Life Lock (which would come as a surprise only to posers). As the saying goes, they know their shit and how to achieve it. There is no ounce of originality in the tape and its perfection originates from this absence. It is the most immediate d-beat language you are likely to find, it speaks directly to the D inside all of us (it is a little known but easily verifiable scientific fact that the D lives in each and everyone of us and can only be unlocked through repeated listens of Discharge, pretty much the punk equivalent of Illumination). If you think d-beat should only be the imitation of Discharge - a form of fundamentalism called dischargism - then Declaration is for you and I am glad to introduce you to them. 

As usual had they emerged from New York or Tokyo or wherever "cool" happens to be these days people would have been more curious and probably touched by their raw sound deeply rooted in early Discharge (somewhere between 1980's Ep's and 1981's Why if you know what I mean) using all the expected tricks to perfection (a special mention goes to the delightful mid-paced numbers). Cracked Cop Skulls (especially with the doubled vocals, which I personally am a sucker for) and Dischange also deserve to be summoned by the court as fellow comrades and students of the Discharge arts. I love that the drums are really upfront and provide that galloping vibe that allows d-beat to sound dynamic. Eleven minutes of plenitude.

This tape was released on Full Force Hardcore Destruction and might still be available somewhere. I suppose Declaration was only to be a studio project from the start and if it did not, Covid forced it to be. In any case, and even if the bands shall remain a mere footnote in punk history, they will alway have a special place at Terminal Sound Nuisance tower and that's a good enough reason for my tomorrow as far as I am concerned. 

What is the reason for d-beat?        

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 15): BOMBARDEMENT "S/t" Lp, 2019

France has long been known for a number of things but d-beat and, by and large, hardcore punk have never been one of them. Abstruse philosophical systems, cryptic sociology, pompous arrogant twats shit at foreign languages are however commonly and traditionally associated with a country that has, pertaining to our microcosm in recent years, also been largely responsible with the progressive normalization, if not the invasion, of oi music in the DIY punk scene. Only ten years ago one could have perfectly healthy and rectitudinous conversations with a foreign comrade about how tedious the 2010's postpunk revival was becoming or what the numerous reissues of UK82 bands said about the current scene while oi-related subjects mostly revolved around Hard Skin's banter. Nowadays, you're lucky if the name Rixe does not pop up in otherwise totally righteous chitchats. Being a fourth-generation Parisian, it was not something I expected and fell outside the scope of the imagination. I have exhausted many a shrink because of this unwelcome phenomenon.

But enough typical Paris moaning and whining. Thankfully we have Bordeaux. And sure, there have been, and are, solid punk bands everywhere but when it comes to d-beat or loving Discharge, the town has been delivering steadily for the past twenty years. The precise trajectory of this part of the scene is not the topic at hand (although it would make for an interesting read) and I will thus focus on a band that, to me, stands as the best this scene has had to offer so far: Bombardement. At the time of writing, Bombardement, despite not being Swedish (some of the members probably wish) or from Portland, have become something of a well-read reference in the global d-beat world and its immediate vicinity rich with its own language, quirks, idiosyncrasies and furious protocols. I assume people reading these lines (or liking the post on social media for the lazy bums) are already well familiar with the band and I will not question inconsiderately their knowledgeability or besmirch their good names by assuming the opposite. I mean, how many French hardcore bands are invited to play on other continents? 

But enough praises already, let's examine what makes Bombardement such a widely enjoyed d-beat experience. Taken as its substantial own subgenre centered around the imitation of life, d-beat has often been a boy club. Since the inception of its regulations in the early 90's, women seldom partook in this nerd-oriented stylistic endeavours so that the presence of a female singer in a Discharge tribute band is still of note and singer Emilie (who sang in the vastly different Monarch) does an amazing job here through an impeccable and conscientious rendering of the canonical d-beat scansion, flow and accentuation. Although not an element I particularly put an emphasis on, the vocals in such a narrowly construed genre have to display as much accuracy as possible. You cannot just shout at any given points in a proper d-beat songs, it'd just be unruly and a grave breach of the Law of Cal. But as respectful to the code as the vocals are, they still sound quite unique, raspy but high-pitched and passionate standing as a definite asset on this first album.

As for the music itself, it sounds absolutely massive, like a rhino charging rhino unstoppably, determined to get a job as a grey horse of the apocalypse. Experience speaks here with people previously dicking around in bands like Gasmask Terrör, Warning//Warning, Shock or the aforementioned Monarch. While a young spotty band would still be looking for its sound, with crucial conversations about "how many studs do we need to sound like Disclose?" running wild, Bombardement are naturals. They may no longer have perfect hairlines but they know exactly what they are going for and more important they know how to achieve their goal. On their 2016 demo tape, they covered Meanwhile's "The road to Hell" which is a big key of entry into the band's music (basically keeping with the spirit of first-generation d-beat bands). Of course, Discharge is always lurking but the prevalent influence is indeed Meanwhile's second Lp, a work that saw the band adopt a more rocking, guitar-led approach while still doing their daily prayers facing Stoke-on-Trent. Meaningfully, Bombardement have two guitar players so that the riffing never stops and the use of rocking leads does not impair the overall power of the music. To achieve this you have to recruit people who can actually play even if they don't wear the traditional d-beat robe. 

The Lp works on all levels because, beside the purposeful songwriting, they found the right balance between a heavy production able to highlight the details and pure hardcore punk aggression, and I am also reminded of early Warcry. I love the fact that they included two groovy mid-paced Dischargey numbers here that can even have you dance (yes, you) even though the last time you tried was in 2008 with the notoriously ass-grabbing Emma from Accounts at a colleague's leaving due. But let's not get into that. This is a pretty recent release and one of the strongest d-beat albums of the 2010's. Bombardement went on to release an Ep and an even better second album Le Futur Est Là with new singer Oriane whose lower pitch is as potent albeit more raucous and with lyrics in French, therefore illustrating once and for all that you can do the Discharge thing in Sartre's language (Emilie went on to - actually - sing in Faucheuse). 

Good news for you the record released on Symphony of Destruction and Destructure is still available and it looks brilliant and, dare I say it, pretty original for a d-beat record with a die-cut sleeve like 90's techno records you needed drugs to listen to. The road to Dis starts here.

Bombardement > Oi