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)
Sometimes I feel the 90's often get a bad name unfairly, and I do not just mean the old age with adult diapers and Alzheimer, but also the decade's musical production. Being a man prone to right wrongs, even when I have actually been proven wrong, Terminal Sound Nuisance has often been a safe space for 90's punk records that are ignored or discarded to the £2 record bin, the pits of Hell for a record. This common dismissal of an objectively very rich decade is somewhat curious and maybe revealing of our modern mood. I am the first to admit that some 90's bands (it was also, after all, the explosion of emocore) did manage to seek new heights of musical atrocities, no mean feat considering the 80's birthed the New Romantics trend. Of course, the 80's always get a free pass, even the shite music recorded during this decade (cough cough Grave New World) can now be ironically enjoyed but the 90's are judged harshly. Perhaps the period needs its Stranger Things to be appealing again?
90's punk was an intensely creative period and literally dozens of subgenres solidified meaningfully or popped up during that time period. A lot of the DIY network we still deal with today was originally built in the 90's and taken care of afterwards. The decade was also the last days of pre-internet punk - what I love to refer as the Prelapsarian Era - and by the mid-00's the unstoppable march of social media on our listening and creative practices began for real, like an epic hog taking a dump on your mum's favourite flower bed. Absolute 80's worship was not as common and generic yet (except for Discharge worship obviously), and a lot of bands claimed that they wanted to do something new, which was perhaps a little paradoxical when one considers the amount of similar-sounding eurocrust or Swedish d-beat bands, but then you did have some genuinely free punk music. Nothing should be idealized but nothing should be overlooked. The 90's remain too undocumented or unloved and this series, like many before, is also about showing some appreciation to bands that toyed with the original anarcho sounds and took it into a new decade
Enter Stracony from Kołobrzeg on the Baltic sea, one of the best bands that took a classic 80's UK anarcho variation and used it to create their own sound. If you are a cynical, perpetually angry bastard, you could say that the band suffered from the Portland Syndrome, a condition that implied that if you were from a cool punk city (usually from the U$ of A or Japan) you would get much more acknowledgement than if you happen to be from the arse-end of the world (aka a poor country), even if you played exactly the same music. Nothing to do with Portland per se but at the time I brilliantly synthesized this theorem, Portland was all the shit and anything coming out of there was applauded. It can easily be replaced with New York, London or Paris nowadays - assuming your sole musical ambition is to play a Fred Perry fashion show - and the place can be a record label too. But then, some 25 years later, what does it matter? Punk has always been made up of trends, fashions and is ruled by the cult of hype and instant fame like all aspects of cultural life. One just has to be curious and keep in mind that punk is an international movement and not just a showcase for egos and if people want to miss good music because it does not come from the right place, so be it.
Stracony were quite popular in Poland and the distribution of their Uważajcie - Bomby Wiszą Nad Waszymi Głowami album was good since it was released on Tribal War Records in 2000, the label being based in Portland at the time (lol I know right!). The Tribal War connection definitely made me buy the album. I was closely following the label's production and always loved the releases, and still do for the most part, and the striking cover left little doubt as to the band's sonic stance and politics. It was also a time when I realized the international quality of the punk scene and completely embraced it. Polish punk was massive and it made sense to give it a go for that reason as well. To this day, I still believe that this work is one of the best anarcho albums of the 90's and an unsung classic, like most old-school anarchopunk records of this era (with some exceptions which we will see).
Fun fact: the first time I met my future wife in 2017, we actually talked about Stracony. Her being Polish and very knowledgeable about the scene, we started chatting up about Polish punk bands and I did my best to impress her with my astounding expertise. Little did I realize that my appalling pronunciation led to some misunderstanding and at times she stared at me like I was just making up bands with strange names. One of the bands I could not pronounce the name of properly was Stracony (the gold medal in my terrifying attempts went to Insekty Na Jajach). Later on, after I described the Lp's cover, she finally understood my mumbo jumbo, and confirmed that the band was very popular and pretty much a classic. Ironically "stracony" means "lost". You cannot make that up.
But let's get back to the record. I found the Love and friendship Ep in the ¥300 record bin at the Punk and Destroy record store in Osaka (it was originally the record's actual price). It might seem like an odd location to find a Polish anarchopunk record but the Ep was released on Peace Punk Records, a short-lived Japanese label from Tokyo that released materials from Social Genocide, Dios Hastio and Peaceful Protest (could there be a connection?), so the presence of Stracony was not extraordinary. The production on the Ep is much rawer than on the very clean-sounding latter album and it confers to the songs a very old-school youthful vibe, so that if you don't know the band you could very well believe the year was 1985. The influences are quite obvious early Chumbawamba (especially in the changes of danceable beats and the versatility) and Alternative (in the positive punk energy) immediately comes to mind. Crass is not completely out of the picture but in terms of comparison Stracony would be a dynamic, spontaneous and a shambolic teenage take on this music monument, which, from my perspective, is a massive compliment. I just love the impetuous genuine energy of the music, of the snotty angry male/female vocals and the catchy hooks in the songwriting (yes, even the reggae part) are irresistible. It just sounds fresh and unself-conscious. You can sense the band just believed in what they were doing and you cannot fake that. No recording date is included but the six songs of the Ep actually appeared previously on a tape entitled Nowy System and released in 1997 on Qrva Sistema, a prolific tape label in the 90's. There is no release date either for Love and friendship but my best guess would be 1998 but correct me if I am wrong.
At that point in their "career", Stracony were sonically not far at all from another Polish band that also worked on that Chumba-meets-Crass-Records sound called Kanada. This band's run was short (from 1989 to 1991 I think) and they were apparently not very well-known so that it would be difficult to assess that Stracony had been in some way influenced or inspired by an older band with a similar music (old-school UK anarchopunk with mixed vocals in Polish, a bit moodier maybe), but whatever the answer is, the fact is rather fascinating. The last number of the Ep is an instrumental with some trumpets, an instrument that I generally avoid at all costs in punk music but actually works (it would be used a lot more on the Lp) and, well, Armia and their horns were also brilliant so maybe Polish punks are just good at arsing around with them. The Ep comes in a DIY foldout cover with the lyrics about religion, revolutionary violence, the traditional Polish family or NATO being translated into English and Japanese.
This is a little jewel of sincere and bouncy old-school anarchopunk and should be a part of any decent collection if you are into that sound.
Alright then, this is the first attempt at an interview for Terminal Sound Nuisance. The idea is to have a friendly talk with people from "da scene" who, I feel, have insightful things to say about punk-related topics I have been interested in since I the dawn of time, more or less around the year 2012. I have been toying with the idea for quite some time in order to Discussions about the ramifications and evolution of hardcore punk, about how we collectively relate to music, how the internet has affected how we related to and write music, how we connect with the story of punk as a subculture, the importance of context in the process of creating music and so on. I guess this is a pompous way to say that we are going to get shamelessly nerdy and feel good about ourselves. Ideally, the interviews will prove to be thought-provoking or even, though I cannot stand the word, "inspiring", but more realistically and at the very least, they will incite you to blast some Discharge in order to piss off the Man and that is good enough for me.
Today, we are sitting down with Luc from Bordeaux, rebaptized A Luc at Tomorrow for this occasion. If you have never heard of him, Luc is our renowned Discharge and käng expert on the national level. His resume speaks for itself: he is a two-time recipient of the D-beat Without Borders award, has coauthored the very successful self-help guide book Where there is a will, there is a waaaayyy and his former band Gasmask Terror represented France for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest making it to the 37th position (the country's highest ranking to this date) and is currently the Head of the Department of Käng Studies at the Sorbonne. We will be talking about Discharge's Why, the 90's d-beat wave, Discharge worship, käng hardcore, the evolution of Discharge worship, Disclose and even more serious stuff like the impact of streaming on our perception of classic hardcore music or alarming concerns like the recent popularity of Grave New World.
A LUC AT TOMORROW
Terminal Sound Nuisance:Alright then, let’s get right into the heart of the matter and start with the prehistoric period of hardcore punk: Discharge. Common punk sense has long established that there are three main ways to discover Discharge. a. The metal way through the band’s influence on famous 80’s metal acts like Metallica; b. The UK punk way through famous bands like The Exploited or GBH who borrowed from Discharge; c. The hardcore way through the revered 80’s hardcore scene in the U$A where the name Discharge kinda floated around. What and when was yours?
A Luc At Tomorrow: Mine was a mix of A and B. I started to show interest in both punk and metal simultaneously, circa 1986 – possibly even 1985 (I was 12). I first had a very short Pistols / Clash phase but it didn't last long as I was soon introduced to louder sounds by a couple of school mates: GBH, Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Chaos UK, Dead Kennedys… but also Eskorbuto and Kortatu since I grew up in Iparralde (the North/French side of the Basque Country) where "rock radical vasco" was all the rage. Anyway, 1986 was the year crossover and thrash metal hit big time and there was no way escaping it – with grindcore soon to follow. I immersed into both punk and metal at the same time, and have loved both "genres" ever since. Discharge came to my attention really quickly, they were an established household name by then and you'd see pictures of Metallica or Slayer members wearing their shirts. It was a name that popped up all the time as they were obviously very influential, but it took a little longer before I first heard them.
TSN:A first encounter with Discharge through "Massacre Divine" could be enough to deter the listener from the band for at least a decade. What was the first Discharge record or song you came across? What did you spontaneously think about it? Did you charge your hair?
ALAT: My initial interest in hardcore and punk started around the time Grave New World came out. Haha, bad timing, right? That was my first exposure even though I hadn't listened to it yet. I remember seeing the cover art in a metal magazine, reading a couple of really bad reviews, so for a while I didn't pay much attention. But in the corner of my mind I knew Discharge was more than that, since the name was mentioned pretty much everywhere, their shirts were worn by all the cool bands, etc. But information was hard to come by. No internet of course, I yet had to discover the world of fanzines and tape trading, I was super young, lived in a small town in rural Southwest France, had no connections in "the scene", so I had no idea what was up, how to acquire cool tapes and records. First I'd swap tapes with the other two guys in my school that liked louder music, but everyone had very small collections and limited knowledge at that point. Strangely enough, this older guy who lived in my street, literally one block away, was ALWAYS wearing a Discharge shirt. He probably only owned one band shirt because he had it on his back every time I'd cross his path. I never talked to him because I was this super shy skinny little boy and he was a couple years older (a huge gap when you're 13!) and looked intimidating. One day I walked past his apartment building and this super loud, super aggressive punk music was blaring out of the window. I KNEW it was Discharge, and it sounded fantastic. It reminded me of a more chaotic, noisier GBH, because that was my only point of comparison back then. Haha. Fast forward a few months, I'm not sure why but I remember getting tapes of Discharge-influenced Swedish bands (Anti-Cimex…) BEFORE I even heard a full Discharge record. The first Discharge record I heard was Why. It's still my favorite to this day.
TSN:It could be argued that "Why", released 40 years ago, is one of the most influential punk records of all time and the impact it had is overwhelming. Why do you think it still is the object of such fascination and how much of a game-changer do you think it was at the time of release? Many people don’t consider Discharge as a real « hardcore band ». Do you?
ALAT: I've come to realize over time that most people consider Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing as the quintessential Discharge record and I understand WHY. It's cleaner, tighter, has a huge guitar wall of sound that appeals to both punks and metalheads. But for me Why is their cornerstone. It takes the intensity of the early EPs to a next level, it's savage as hell, and the production is stellar! Every instrument sounds amazing and well-balanced on Why, the guitar and bass tones are perfect. A few years back I even played the drums in a one-off Discharge cover band named No Feeble Bastards with some friends, we only covered the Why record – all songs played in order. It was so much fun. Anyway, I understand why some people won't consider Discharge a real "hardcore band", especially since the term hardcore is a very American thing. But they totally are first wave hardcore pioneers, just like Black Flag were in the US. Rooted in early punk, but taking things to a whole new level sonically.
TSN:For a long time, post-1984 Discharge was something of a joke, banter and a subject loyal fans did not really want to get into (like the early Blitz fans actually). However, once deemed terrible albums like Grave New World seem to have taken a cult status recently and some people even claim to love the thing. What is your take on the taboo era of Discharge? Do you think that it is so bad that is ironically good? Did you enjoy it when your first heard it?
ALAT: Like you pointed it out, it's so bad it becomes ironically good. It is such an anomaly it becomes fascinating. But let's be honest, it's pretty unlistenable. I do own a copy but have never managed to listen to the full album in one sitting. Those vocals are insufferable. The music I can stomach though, and Dissober proved it wasn't THAT terrible by speeding up their cover of "Grave New World" and playing it in the 1982 style. That cover is actually pretty raging!
TSN:The Discharge influence in the 80’s quickly spread, notably in Sweden where armies of young punks embraced the band (and still do) creating a Discharge-inspired genre of their own. As a world-renowned expert in Swedish hardcore and head of the Department of Käng Studies at the Sorbonne, could you give us some sort of chronology and defining moments of the Discharge invasion of Sweden in the 80’s? How and when did you get drawn to the Swedish hardcore scene? And why are they so good at it? Is it because they are taller and better-looking than us?
ALAT: You'd better off ask a Swede about the chronology, I'm nowhere near the expert you assume I am, haha. I'd say a bunch of dorks in bands like Skitslickers and Anti-Cimex probably started it. My introduction to Scandinavian hardcore was the "1984 The Second" compilation on the French label New Wave Records (featuring tracks by Sound Of Disaster, Krunch, as well as Finland's own Mellakka), and I remember vividly getting a mixtape in the mail from Rak (of Sodan Tragedia band and zine) featuring full EPs by Anti-Cimex and Mob 47 amidst a few other international bands. They all left a lasting impression right away, the extra pinch of rawness and brutality appealed to me in a big way. In the late 80s I totally immersed myself in the up and coming death metal underground, trading tapes like a maniac, and the Swedish scene was fascinating… Unsurprisingly, the punk and death metal scenes in Sweden had strong ties – a lot of original dödsmetallers had a punk background. I have no idea why it caught on and spread like that in that particular neck of the woods though. Fuck the spoiled Swedish master race though, you bunch of handsome, tall, smart humanoids. Haha.
TSN:On the contrary, the massive U$ hardcore scene of the 80’s - which most would call the cradle of hardcore - did not seem to be that much into Discharge in the early 80’s, with some exceptions, although the Stoke-on-Trent lot could be said to have been « the hardest core » then as early as 1980. Do you have any theory as to why that is? Where, apart from Sweden, do you think were located the best early Discharge-loving bands in the 80’s?
ALAT: I find it intriguing how some bands had a huge impact on local scenes far away from their home turf. Discharge in Sweden, Disorder in Finland, Finnish hardcore in Brazil, Chaos UK in Japan, bad oi! in France… Sometimes it's due to bands touring and leaving an impression, but not always. Sometimes you can blame it on a handful of influential local scenesters pushing/promoting certain bands. Still happens these days, I guess. Discharge's imagery and obsession with war was prompted by the geopolitical context of the time – Thatcher had just been elected, the Falklands war was soon to follow, the Cold War was in full swing and the threat of nuclear annihilation was real, with the UK at the forefront: the US maintained a stockpile of nuclear weapons in the country throughout the cold war. US punks had other concerns, and wrote lyrics and music from a different point of view. But I'm just scratching the surface here, we could make a deeper analysis. Every country seemed to have at least one Discharge-like band in the 80s: MG-15 in Spain, Eu's Arse in Italy, Subversion in Belgium, The Iconoclast in the US, Crow in Japan, etc. But truth is nobody did it like the Swedes.
TSN:The worship continues. Sometimes I am under the impression that Discharge have never been as popular and cult as they are today. Do you share that opinion? Do you see any meaningful differences with 90’s Discharge worship for example?
ALAT: I think Discharge has always been popular, since day one. What may have changed over time is the target audience. But I feel there's always been a solid core of Discharge lovers. It's more spread out today though. US hardcore kids are way more into Discharge than they were in the 90s, that's for damn sure.
TSN:Although there were certainly genuine Discharge-loving and mimicking in the 80’s (Discard being possibly the first?), the 90’s marked and codified the creation of Discharge love as a style and took it to its extreme and logical conclusion with the birth of the d-beat genre (with Sweden being unsurprisingly at the forefront of the movement). When did you become really aware of d-beat as a proper genre? How did you relate to the 90’s wave? Did you feel it was a natural evolution or a silly-but-enjoyable trend?
ALAT: It's hard to tell exactly when the "d-beat" thing really took off and became a "genre" per se. I remember the terms "Discore" or "Scandicore" being used loosely as early as the late 80s or very early 90s, then when the Swedes started coming up with the first Dis- bands, we used to call that "Dis-beat". The term "D-beat" (or D-Takt in Swedish) started sometime in the 90s and I suspect people like Jan Jutila in Sweden and Kawakami in Japan may have coined it, or at least helped make it popular. I'm just speculating here. When the 90s Dis-tsunami hit the shores, I ate it all up… It just popped up at the right time: I was growing out of my death metal phase at the time as the scene was oversaturating. Black metal was taking over and I couldn't relate to it politically and musically, so the whole Swedish / Distortion d-takt explosion provided a perfect alternative. It had a slightly similar vibe, a very dark/desperate imagery, and in hindsight I realize a lot of former dödsmetall kids were also involved (some members of Dischange, Skitsystem, Disfear, etc were in death metal bands prior.) It was like a gateway back into punk.
TSN:I remember reading in one of your old zines a rather nasty review of a Disfornicate Ep. Did you get bored of Dis-bands at some point? Almost 30 years after the first d-beat wave, how does it hold up according to you? How outdated is the Distortion empire?
ALAT: Haha yeah, Distortion releasing the Disfornicate / Disregard split 7" was a turning point for me, the Active Minds phrase "Dis is getting pathetic" really made sense at that point. That's when my interest in all things "Dis-" started fading a little bit.
TSN:Where and when do you locate the first proper, just-like Discharge hardcore punk bands (pre d-beat wave so to speak)?
ALAT: I believe there were a handful of bands in the UK trying to sound like Discharge very early on, but none of them actually achieved it. You can tell GBH or The Varukers were possibly heavily influenced by them. I'd say Discard in Sweden and Disattack in the UK were probably the first ones to actually mimick Discharge by ripping off the name, logo, layouts, and lyrics.
TSN:Were you aware of Disaster? And more largely, were many people familiar with Disaster at the time of "War Cry"? They are seen as a classic band today but what about then? Also, do you remember the first time you came across the phrase « d-beat »? Did the genre have other names before it settled on « d-beat »?
ALAT: Funnily I was aware of Disaster early on for the sole reason my friend Alexis, whom I used to skate with all the time back in the Basque country, started his own punk zine circa 1990 or 91 and he conducted an interview with Disaster by mail! I didn't get the 12" until a few years later though. Like I told you above, terms like "Discore", "Scandicore", and "Dis-beat" were all used randomly prior to "D-beat" taking over.
TSN:Alright, let’s tackle the most famous d-beat band ever: Disclose. You are also something of a Japanese hardcore punk nerd so I’m guessing you followed the band early. What was the first Disclose record you bought? What did you think then? Just another 90’s dis-band? Did you notice that there was something special about them? Today, they are seen as this legendary iconic band but was is always the case? I remember people being much less enthusiastic about them in the 00’s. And in the 90’s? And what is your favorite Disclose record?
ALAT: I was heavily into Disfear et al when I came across a review of the first Disclose 7" (Once The War Started) in a great Swiss zine named No Sanctuary. Sounded right up my alley, so my friend and I stuffed a few dollars in an envelope and sent it to Overthrow Records. We were blown away by it. It was everything we loved about the Swedish bands, but I thought they were even better. That 7" actually didn't sound THAT distorted compared to a lot of their subsequent releases, and to this day it remains one of my favorite Disclose records. They were pretty popular in Europe, but I guess at some point they were so prolific that people paid less attention? But their popularity still grew and by the early '00s the US started paying attention and they suddenly got huge. Other than the first EP, some of my personal favorites include "A Mass Of Raw Sound Assault" 7", "Nightmare or Reality" 12", and "Apocalypse Continues" 7".
TSN:Looking on YouTube or bandcamp gives the impression that there never have been as many bands from all over the place flying the d-beat flag through the #d-beat. Do you share that impression? Why does the dis phenomenon never ends? What is its essential appeal? Could you define what is a good d-beat band and a bad d-beat band in terms of music and visuals? Do you have to actually play a Discharge beat on the drums to be a Discharge-loving band?
ALAT: I dunno, I guess d-beat punk can be related to some sort of primal trance. I'm sure theorists like Jan Jutila would possibly draw a parallel with ancient traditional African beats or something. There is something inherently primitive, organic, and driving about it. There's a bazillion bands flying the d-beat banner these days, and the good bands tend to be lost in a sea of mediocrity. The absolute worst d-beat move is obviously double bass drumming! Also I can't fucking stand all the generic artwork featuring bullet belts, winged skulls, or the Discharge typeface, it's all been played out to death… Worst of all is words like "D-BEAT", "RAW", "NOISE", etc. in record/song titles. This is a no-no! As for your last question, look at bands like Final Bombs (Japan) or Price Of Silence (Sweden), they don't necessarily do the d-beat thing yet they're some of the best Discharge impersonators around!
TSN:You played in an openly käng-inspired band and your current band Bombardement is even more Dischargish. Why do you think the Discharge wave never really took in France, be it in the 80’s or the 90’s (with some rare exceptions)? Did you see Gasmask Terror as a way to even the score with this sad cultural fact? What was your own first attempt at playing d-beat?
ALAT: The first true Dis- band in France was actually a -charge band, haha. It was a short-lived early 90s (or late 80s?) Parisian band known as Surcharge who didn't do much. Which is unfortunate because they were pretty awesome, and I know you can back my words. In the 90s, the South West seemed to be the hotspot for crust and d-beat sounds, with Enola Gay paving the way in the small rural town of Auch, followed by Disbeer and Sickness. Another highly overlooked band from the same region was Four Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles, who started as a straight up HNSNSN cover band, but ended up writing original material by popular demand. Even though it has a few goofy lyrics, I consider their 10" as the best French d-beat record ever released. It sounds just as good as any of the Swedish bands that were coming out on Distortion at the time. But this was still pretty marginal. I didn't start playing music until my mid 20's. Gasmask Terrör initially started more or less as a joke (hence the stupid name, which was just generic punk words put together randomly), we were really into Totalitär at the time and wanted to start something along those lines since there were hardly any bands in France playing that style in 2003. We approached Shiran to play guitar because we knew he loved Discharge and Disgust even though he was primarily a doom metal musician, but I don't think we had actually planned to record more than a tongue-in-cheek, cliché Dis- demo or something at the time. The band ended up lasting 14 years, releasing many records, playing hundreds of shows on 3 different continents… definitely far beyond our initial plan, haha.
TSN:Let’s tackle some broader issues. The internet revolution has drastically changed our ways to relate to and listen to punk music. Once extremely obscure, mysterious and rather small local bands are now instantly accessible and hailed as 80's classics. On the one hand it is can be said to be the greatest democratic revolution making punk available to all, on the other many now take the free and instant access to every band ever for granted. What’s your take on this? Do you think the internet age has changed the way we relate to bands, even our own, and even how we write music?
ALAT: Yeah, a lot of bands that once only had local exposure, sometimes only playing a handful of poorly attended local gigs, have blown out of proportion thanks to the internet. And I'm sure this is also partly why so many bands are getting back together after years/decades: a mix of midlife crisis, nostalgia, and old retired punks Googling the name of their old band only to find out a bunch of nerds across the planet consider them legends, when hardly anybody gave a fuck back then. It can be pretty deceiving, but the web pretty much rendered the notion of "underground" obsolete. Everybody has access to everything without much effort or time now. On the other hand, it's kinda cool that people pay attention to what happens beyond their home turf.
Of course, pre-internet, information and access to music wasn't as convenient as it is now, it required a lot more work and involvement. Another huge difference is that a young punk today has well over 4 decades of stuff to dig through. Punk had only be a thing for a decade when I got into it, so obviously there was much less material out there. But yeah, having access to much less music, you'd play what you had on a far more regular basis.
So yeah, of course it all has an impact on the way we write music. When hardcore started, there wasn't any hardcore to mimic. Members of early hardcore bands grew up on Led Zeppelin, or Stooges, or Cheap Trick or Kiss or whatever their older siblings were listening to at the time, and that probably had an influence on the way they played their instruments. Nowadays a hardcore band has over 40 years of hardcore music to digest so chances are they may play it by the numbers. Hardcore bands are influenced by… hardcore bands. Guess that's the fate of pretty much any aging musical subgenre, like a serpent biting its own tail.
TSN:The amount of information about new punk bands and new records feels overwhelming at times. Do we produce too much? Are you still as enthusiastic about new bands? Have social media exacerbated the impact of trendiness, fashion and ultimately equalized our culture? How do you personally proceed in order to get to the really good stuff?
ALAT: At 48 it's obviously hard to be as enthusiastic about new bands as when I was 15. I'm much pickier now. As much as I'm trying hard NOT to be this jaded old fuck who thinks "things used to be better", I know I am in a way, but I'm trying to keep an eye open on what's happening. Sometimes you get good surprises. But I feel like in the past 20 or so years, nostalgia and rehash have been a mainstay in the punk scene.
TSN:Let’s have fun now and rank some favourite of yours. Let’s say that you are talking to a beginner to the hardcore punk scene. What 5 records or tapes would you recommend if he or she would like to get into the following :
- Five 80’s Swedish hardcore bands that loved Discharge very much:
Anti-Cimex - Raped Ass 7" Anti-Cimex - Wictims of a Bomb Raid 7" Skitslickers - GBG 1982 a.k.a Cracked Cop Skulls 7" Discard - Death From Above 7" Avskum - Crucified by the System 7"
- 80’s non-Swedish hardcore bands that loved Discharge very much:
Diatribe (US) - Aftermath demo/7" Eu's Arse (Italy) - split 7" w/ Impact The Varukers (UK) - Another Religion Another War 12" The Iconoclast (US) - Demo/comp tracks Doom (UK) - the early stuff. Basically a UK band paying tribute to Scandinavian bands that were paying homage to Discharge in the first place, haha.
- Five 90’s d-beat bands:
Meanwhile - any Disclose - any Disfear - s/t 7" Totalitär - they started in the 80s but reached their peak in the mid 90s in my opinion Times Square Preachers - Don't Be Numb! 7". The whole Uppsala crust scene was pretty amazing (Harass, Cumbrage, etc.)
- Five 00’s d-beat bands:
Warcry - Demo, Deprogram LP, Nausea 7", Savage Machinery LP. Bomberegn- s/t 7". Had to be seen live to fully appreciate. Framtid - Under the Ashes LP Kvoteringen - first couple of 7"s Contrast Attitude - any record, but LIVE is where they really shine!
- 10’s d-beat bands:
Kylmä Sota - 10 Tracks 12" Herätys - s/t LP Bloodkrow Butcher - Anti War 7" Rat Cage - Caged Like Rats 7" Final Bombs - There is no Turning Back LP
- Five ace Discharge covers:
Dissober - Grave New World is #1 of course. Genius move. Times Square Preachers - Maimed & Slaughtered, partly because the drumming is the closest you'll ever hear to Bambi's drumming. Totalitär - Born to Die in the Gutter Siege - It's no TV Sketch. I doubt there's a recorded version of it, but it was pretty awesome to witness live as they had this amazing guitar/saxophone trade-off solo going. Soulfly - The Possibility of Life's Destruction. Laugh all you want but I'd rather hear a shitty mainstream band cover Discharge than an umpteenth generic d-beat band these days. I had never listened to Soulfly before my work mate played this for me a few years back. It's a pretty raging cover, gotta love the bouncy drumming on it.
The full live set of Bordeaux's one and only "Why" cover band, No Feeble Bastards. You know you want it
TSN:To wrap it up and I want honest answers.
What is your favorite dis-name?
Recharge was a good move when all the bands were going Dis-, but I can't think of any really good Dis-name to be honest. Disclose was probably the best, in retrospect. Four Monstrous Nuclear Stockpiles was a pretty nice one too.
What is your least favorite dis-name?
There's so many bad ones. Disfornicate was mentioned earlier and it's hard to find worse. Disfear and Dissober were bad enough monickers, Disbeer too obviously but they were friends and didn't take themselves too seriously so they get a pass. In recent times, Disturd is a pretty embarrassing monicker, but we all know we can blame it on poor English skills from this otherwise excellent and friendly Japanese crust band.
What is your favourite Discharge song and why, why, why, why, why?
There's no way I can pick a single favorite song, but I have a soft spot for "Ain't no Feeble Bastard", which ironically doesn't even have a d-beat. Haha. (Side note: it's "Why why why BUT why", not "Why why why why why", no idea WHY so many people hear it wrong.) (TSN edit:very true that, shame on me, I'll NEVER AGAIN make the mistake).
What is your favourite, most precious piece of Discharge paraphernalia?
I don't really own crazy paraphernalia. But I do cherish some of my rare vinyl bootlegs, like the "Live in Philadelphia" LP (raging set!) or the "Live in Preston" 7" (mostly for the artwork/packaging… and unreleased track of course!) Oh, and does my retarded Discharge tattoo count? I designed it myself so it's pretty unique, haha.
"Troops of Tomorrow" or "Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne"?
GBH hands down because the band had such a strong impact in my teen years, but I gotta admit Troops of Tomorrow is an excellent record – Exploited's best by a long shot, if you ask me, even though I hate Wattie's racist ass.
"Wind of Pain" or "Wasted Dream"?
Wind Of Pain, no question. I remember exactly the day when I first heard it, back in 1994 or something. Chris of Urban Alert Records played it for me and I became obsessed instantly and ordered it straight from the Finn Records mailorder list in Sweden. When my band toured Japan in 2011, we covered "Misery" (we had been covering it on and off since the band inception) and at a gig in Yokohama – coincidentally booked by Koba-san who used to drum in Bastard – we were approached by a very drunk Tokurow-san (former Bastard singer) who asked if he could join us on stage to sing "Misery" with us. How could we turn down such an offer? It was a beautiful moment, I felt like a spoiled kid on Christmas day! PS: Wasted Dream isn't even my favorite Death Side record by the way.
Bombanfall or Svart Parad?
Fuck you and your impossible to answer questions, Romain! I'll say Bombanfall because they almost sound like proto death metal, and I LOVE death metal!
And the winner is!
Meanwhile or Disclose?
What the hell (on earth)? Come on, they're the best 2 Discharge worship bands ever. Maybe Disclose by a small margin?
Eskorbuto or RIP?
I was into Eskorbuto long before I heard RIP, actually they were one of the very first punk bands I heard, so they have a very special place in my heart. But they got a bit derivative as years went on. RIP had a smaller but better discography. I'll still pick Eskorbuto because they were a formative band for me.
Kaaos or Riistetyt?
Love both, but once again I heard Riistetyt first so they resonate with me more, especially the Valtion Vankina LP.
EU’s Arse or Underage?
Eu's Arse. Those unhinged vocals are the best.
"Massacre Divine" or "Shootin’ up the World"?
Neither, but Massacre Divine has better artwork… as well as "Sexplosion", featuring slap bass.
PS: Wait, no Broken Bones vs English Dogs? Ripcord vs Heresy? Priest vs Maiden? ZZ Top vs Thin Lizzy?
This is THE END of the interview. Massive thank to (A) Luc (At Tomorrow) for taking the time and playing the game. Hopefully it was a pleasant read for men, women and children too. Cheers mate and see you after the gigs!
Don't act so surprised, you could have seen this one coming from miles away. It was high time I dealt properly with the Swedish fury that came out of the 1990's and as a result, thanks to the utmost seriousness and humility that characterize me, I proved to be, as per usual, amazingly successful. But let's get to the customarily lengthy introduction first.
It is true that I have already touched upon the 90's wave of Dis-inspired hardcore punk that swept across Sweden in the two classic series about D-beat and Discharge love, namely The Chronicles of Dis and Sonatas in D Major, and with the glorious compilation The Beat to End All Beats. Besides, Sweden's crustcore heroes like Warcollapse or 3-Way Cum have already been reviewed at length on Terminal Sound Nuisance and even invited to the famous Christmas celebration A Crustmas Carol. So what I mean to say is that there is little point in rephrasing what has been thoroughly developed before. However, the scope of Käng of the North (I mean, lol, right?) is quite different. Indeed, it aims at covering all the different branches of Dis-centric punk schools that bloomed vigorously in Sweden while the previous series about the specific conception and evolution of d-beat and crust had an international focus, although Swedish bands obviously played an important part in both. Therefore, the inclusion of Meanwhile or Warcollapse on Käng of the North has to be seen from the synchronic perspective of the national explosion of käng-inspired hardcore and crust music in the 90's.
Even a well-meaning and open-minded individual untrained to the subtleties of the D-related subgenres would probably feel a little lost with this cryptic compilation and think that he or she has just been cruelly subjected to 75 minutes of the exact same song in a row played by 58 bands and, well, it cannot be denied that Käng of the North can turn into a rather confusing experience, albeit a potentially very pleasing, if not epiphanic, one. The primary purpose of the selection is not, however, to demonstrate that 90's Swedish discore was redundant and generic, although to an extent it was deliberately repetitive indeed, but to illustrate the subtleties and the very significant variations in terms of sound, pace, musicianship, vocal tones (and of course the degree of Discharge love) there were between the different subgenres. Käng of the North is as much about similarities as it is about differences and both can be very enjoyable. After all, isn't the devil in the d-tails?
The whole range of Swedish brutality is represented in Käng of the North, from the contemporary gruff 90's eurocrust style of Holocrust or Genocide SS, to the raw mangel mania of Krigshot or Dismachine, the "just like Discharge" style of Meanwhile or Discard, the raw retro punky käng style of Diskonto or Aparat, the massive and nasty rocking sound of Driller Killer or Wolfpack, the shitlicking chaos of Discontrol or Fucking Chaos (!), the rather clean and precise sound hardcore sound of Svart Snö or Sunday Morning Einsteins, the death-metallic vibe of Skitsystem, the pub-friendly cruising d-beat of Fleshrevels and Avskum, the anarchocrust vibe of Scumbrigade and ENS or the unbeatable riff-driven raw and raspy catchiness of scandicore's references Totalitär and No Security. 80's Swedish hardcore and its historic Discharge roots are, in varying degrees, the cultural and creative ties between all these bands and you will notice that, while some bands went for very clean and heavy "modern" production, others were quite content to keep a rough and ready sound, both takes of course making for distinct styles of hardcore but also conveying different intents and subjective tastes, although the bands could be equally influenced by Anti-Cimex, Doom or Svart Parad.
Undeniably, Sweden was a unique case in the DIY international punk scene in the 90's - and it still is even if many scenes have copied the käng style outside Sweden from the 90's on - and its number of Dis-oriented bands is particularly impressive (in fact, from a French point of view, it even looks insultingly superior). There could be many reasons for the development of this trend: the country's own specific hardcore background with its unlimited passion for Discharge, Mob 47 and Anti-Cimex combined with a couple of genuinely excellent and recognized driving local bands; the worldwide crust and extreme metal explosion in the early 90's; a strong rock culture nationwide; an easy access to practice space and instrument and nothing better to do in the winter. Or perhaps there was something in the water or, even more plausible, after misunderstanding the lyrics of Discharge, some benevolent punk pilots just dropped hundreds of copies of Why and Hear Nothing - literally dis, dis from abooooove - on Sweden's major cities.
We either live in strange times or punk's intellectual laziness is just more visible today. Whereas the overwhelming quantity of music instantly available is staggering, in parallel, most critical receptions of old and new punk works have been paradoxically reduced to monosyllabic comments on social media or youtube (when it's not just casually "liked") while internet's vicious equalizing process has caused the decontextualization of punk music. As a result, very different-sounding Dis bands are often being dumped in vague, ill-defined "crust" or "d-beat" categories, that are meant to stand for any band that plays faster and harder than Black Flag or GBH. Hopefully, the compilation will emphasize the sometimes subtle, but nonetheless real, crucial differences that define and distinguish Dispense from Dissober. As I pointed out, all the bands are essentially Dis-centric entities building on 80's käng in order to revive, rework, develop, replicate, toughen up, crustify or dischargify the legacy and I left out the US-influenced Swedish bands, the slower crust units, as well as the melodic hardcore, the 90's anarchopunk and the grindcore acts. I tried to be as exhaustive as possible but some 90's Swedish bands fitting in with my analytical postulate of research may very well have escaped my accurate panoptic vision, so feel free to add any band that I unluckily missed in the comment section. Or better even, send me the lossless files with the full bio will you?
I would like to thank Zeno for the rips he sent me a while back and proved to be very helpful in the making of Käng of the North. Thanks mate.
Here are the culprits that are bound to lighten up your New Year's Eve lockdown party, all tracks were recorded between 1992 and 1999 and I did my best to offer quality rips as usual:
01. Asocial « Rebound reality » from Distortion to Hell compilation cd, 1994 02. Meanwhile « Above our heads » from Remaining Right: Silence cd, 1995 03. Cumbrage « Forced to destroy » from Worlds Burning cd, 1997 04. Svårsmält « Apatiskt liv » from Distortion to Hell…And Back Vol.3 compilation cd, 1995 05. Time Square Preachers « Ain’t smiling » from Don’t Be Numb!!! Ep, 1994 06. Abuse « Var verklighet » from I Guds Namn? Ep, 1996 07. Greenscab « Människan É Sjuk » from Swedish HC Comp. cd, 1997 08. Sauna « Money » from People Killing People split Lp with Disrupt, 1994 09. Dissober « America did this » from Sober Life… No Way cd, 1994 10. Discard « Stand up and fight back » from Four Minutes Past Midnight Lp, 1994 11. Driller Killer « Who? » from Brutalize cd, 1994 12. Visions « Middle East » from Swedish HC Comp. cd, 1997 13. Aparat « Samhällets Bottensats » from S/t split Ep with Totuus, 1997 14. Dismachine « Morotsprofeten » from S/t split Ep with Cumbrage, 1995 15. Sunday Morning Einsteins « Sånger som den här » from Swedish Hardcore Must Die Lp, 1999 16. Atomvinter « Kravall » from S/t 10’’ with Start Snö, 1996 17. Victims « My revolution » from S/t split Ep with Acursed, 1999 18. Slaganfall « Words to regard » from S/t split 10’’ with Scumbrigade, 1998 19. Mörder « Lås Din Dorr » from Really Fast Volume 10 compilation 2xcd, 1999 20. Genocide SS « A new wave of hatred » from Hail the New Storm cd, 1997 21. Totalitär » Nytta, nytta, nytta » from S/t split Lp with Dismachine, 1995 22. Diskonto « Truismer » from Silenced by Oppression Ep, 1996 23. Disfear « Min elegi » from S/t Ep, 1992 24. Tolshock « Moraliskt horeri » from The Heritage of Violence Ep, 1999 25. 3-Way Cum « Poisoned by your greed » from Battle of Opinions Ep, 1993 26. Holocrust « Holocrust » from Arrogant State unreleased Ep, 1995 27. Dishonest « Mania for drugs » from Swedish HC Comp. compilation cd, 1997 28. ENS « Sexist scum » from Swedish HC Comp. compilation cd, 1997 29. Society Gang Rape « Regardless massacre » from S/t split Ep with Uncurbed, 1996 30. Scumbrigade « Being in a band is no excuse for being an asshole » from Really Fast Volume 10 compilation 2xcd, 1999 31. No Security « Med vilken rätt » from S/T split Ep with Crocodileskink, 1995 32. Dispense « When will it stop » from Nothing But the Truth Ep, 1993 33. Uncurbed « System sting » from Peacelovepunklife…Andotherstories Lp, 1998 34. Acursed « Liberate » from A Fascist State…In Disguise cd, 1998 35. Disregard « Chaos » from Distortion to Hell…And Back compilation cd, 1995 36. Avskum « Karma cruz » from From Vision to Nightmare Ep, 1998 37. Masslakt « Snut as » from S/t Ep, 1997 38. Fucking Chaos « Krossade… skallar » from Really Fast Volume 10 compilation 2xcd, 1999 39. Discontrol « Mental overload » from Neanderthal Crust: the Primitive Way split Ep with Demisor, 1999 40. Unarmed « Feeding the death » from S/t split Ep with How Long?, 1997 41. Wolfpack « No neo bastards » from Allday Hell Lp, 1999 42. Hall Keft « Den ömsesinnigt garanterade förintelsen » from Iron Columns compilation 2xLp, 1999 43. Dischange « Image of welfare » from Seeing Feeling Bleeding cd, 1993 44. No Admission « Depraved » from Distortion to Hell Again!! Vol.2 (the Demo Series) compilation cd, 1995 45. Snifter « Shades of your god » from Distortion to Hell Again!! Vol.2 (the Demo Series) compilation cd, 1995 46. Final Holocaust « Male oppression » from Your Own Holocaust Ep, 1997 47. Krigshot « Krigshot (Mob 47 cover) » from Iron Columns compilation 2xLp,1999 48. Kontrovers « Den sanna lyckan » from Skendedemokrati Ep, 1999 49. Bombraid « Life path » from Elegies from a Closed Chapter Ep, 1994 50. Skitsystem « Dödsmaskin » from Ondskans Ansikte 10’’, 1996 51. The Perukers « Spräckta snutskallar / Cracked copskulls (Shitlickers cover) » from GBG 1992 Ep, 1993 52. Harass « Religion spiller blod » from Swedish HC Comp. compilation cd, 1997 53. Disfornicate « Doomsday art » from …And the Darkman Smiles split Ep with Disregard, 1995 54. Zionide « Starved and disfigured » from Newsflash cd, 1995 55. Warcollapse « Bleakness over battlefields » from Indoctri-Nation Ep, 1993 56. Svart Snö « Ett väl utvecklat vansinne » from S/t split 10’’ with Atomvinter, 1996 57. Fleshrevels « I prefer lager » from Stoned and Out cd, 1995 58. Anti-Cimex « Scandinavian jawbreaker part I » from Scandinavian Jawbreaker Lp 1993
First, I wish to reassure my numerous faithful readers that their beloved leader and torchbearer of good taste in punk - if you need the vulgate I am referring to myself - is in rather good health and has been spared, so far, by that nasty virus roaming the streets and looking for an easy, and preferably weak prey to victimize, not unlike the "apolitical" skinheads of my youth who relished beating up teenagers who wore patches of Crass they deemed deeply offensive to their identity and anti-hippie religion. Those were the days. But anyway, I am sure that all my protégés will be relieved to know that not only do I stand uncontaminated but also that the Terminal Sound Nuisance staff has not been indulging in unproductive slothfulness in the past weeks. Indeed, their worrying natural tendency towards slacking, whenever it raised its ugly head, was harshly punished as I forced them to choose between listening to a 90's shoegaze mixtape or the whip (and they generally picked the latter as any sane person would). They were thus both incentivised and desensitised to work hard and provide their honourable sensei with the ground materials needed to complete his oeuvre, one that would, beyond dispute, replenish our mental energies and restore balance to the galaxy: three compilations of Japanese crust music covering thirty years of crasher madness, noiz addiction, apocalyptic stench and dove logos.
Instead of engaging in pointlessly dull tasks like taking some fresh air or writing a lockdown diary showcasing the void at the centre of one's life, I decided to dive headfirst in the ruthless world of Japanese crust in order to extract its essence, its core, find meaningful ways to highlight it and create comprehensive but still palatable entries into the Japanese crust modes of expression. To be honest, it was no mean feat, and I am not just saying that to make myself look like an ideal of perseverance, it was a massive endeavour as I had to cut through hundreds of recordings spanning three decades to find songs that fitted my initial postulate. Since, of course, before I send the troops deep into Japanese crust territory, I had to think about what it was I was actually digging for. Doom-like cavemen crust? Epic Antisect-ish metallic crust? So-called Osaka-flavoured crasher crust? Or the specifically Japanese "crustifying" take on Swedish hardcore? Although an educated ear can always spot the Japanese crust bands, they nevertheless display a rather wide variety in terms of speed, mood and intent. What unite those bands, however different they might objectively sound, lie in the very articulate referentiality, the level of fervid intensity and the common hyperbolic tension that permeate the music. I have pondered about the identity and guises of Japanese crust in the past on several occasions for the blog, most notably in the series Japanese Crust vs the World and Noize Not Music is a Fine Art so I point you in these directions if you need more background information about and examples of Japanese crust's referentiality and thunderous vibe.
Because crust has been a genre capable of maintaining a high level of popularity and quality in Japan to this day, a single compilation would have fallen short of illustrating the density of bands and the different evolutions that crust initiated in a country where punk, in all its manifestations, is and sounds very special. In the end, I settled for three compilations, one for each decade. I am aware that this is not without its shortcomings. Some bands have been going for more than a decade - indeed the immortal LIFE could have been included on any of the three volumes - while others basically sit between two decades. On the other hand, many of the bands appearing on the first compilation, about the 90's, can without a doubt be considered as characteristically "90's crust bands" while many of the more contemporary bands have that typical overdistorted sound that is rather common these days and will, I am sure, be known as a typical "2010's sound" in the future. So while it might not be ideal, I still feel this is the most relevant means of classification available to me.
Another possible point of contention is, obviously, the selections themselves. As you can see, some bands that technically do not play crust music made the cut. In other terms, there are NON CRUST bands on CRUST compilations. Coming from someone who has always been despotically strict where crust boundaries were concerned, who never missed an opportunity to disparage mediocre crusty posers and who turned Terminal Sound Nuisance into the respectable establishment for elite level crust punx it is known for today, rather like a kosher tag but for the crust cult, the admission of non-crust music into a self-proclaimed crust compilation can be seen as somewhat problematic, disharmonious, if not blasphemous. But then, as cooler prevailing heads would offer, one also has to consider the aesthetics of the bands concerned. Although I am well aware that bands like Frigöra or Isterismo did not abide by the crust rules of music, they used a lot of crust references in their artworks or other paratextual elements so their presence does make sense in the broader context of such selections. Similarly, a band like Framtid never clamoured to play crust music as their obsession revolves mostly around the Swedish hardcore but their unabashed love for the raw mangel sound is precisely shared by many original crust groups so that in the end they are still in the vicinity and can therefore be invited to the party. The pure d-beat bands however were not included since the worshipping of Discharge belongs to a different, though related, genre.
I did my best to be exhaustive and relevant but unfortunately, and contrary to appearances and in spite of my resolve, I am not quite omniscient and I may have omitted some bands that I am either unaware of or deemed too far from the basis of reasoning I subjectively postulated. I wish I could have included cavemen crust acts like Indistinct Unrest, Crusthead Humanerror (yes, that is their name!) or A.K. but the songs were barely audible and unfit for human consumption, though if you focus long and hard, you can make out some tasteful grizzly shouts. Too bad. As for Condoom, I have sadly never got to listen to them but my heart, along with some obscure internet nerds, suggest that they too would have a rightful place in such compilations. What you do get in the end are three compilations that are about 70 or 80 minute long, with 102 bands, and as many songs, in total. As usual, my masterful compiling technique allowed me to equalize the songs like a boss for the most part and you will concur that listening to hours and hours of harsh distorted punk is not always the most pleasant of tasks, though it is clearly one worthy of the Crust Medal of Merit.
Finally, I hope you enjoy the compilations. They were, as usual, made out of love, and you should enjoy, immoderately and irresponsibly, the pummeling walls of distorted aggression and apocalyptic despair that make up this vernacular crust genre. For a long time, I was rather suspicious of, if not a little antagonistic to, Japanese crust. Of course, as any self-respecting punk with unflinchingly good tastes, I loved the metallic variety of the Japanese wave and praised bands like SDS, Effigy or AGE, but found much of the Japanese crust bands too redundant and too prone to imitativeness. With time, I learnt to appreciate the peculiar art of emulation and referential aesthetics so characteristic of Japanese crust (being a massive sucker for Antisect, early Doom, Sore Throat and the Bristol noiz helped too) and I have grown to become a genuine lover of their local adaptation of this multifaceted genre that has tragically vanished in many places during the past decade but that punx keep alive and well over there. And this commanding loyalty is something I greatly admire. Up the crust.
Below are the tracklists. I am currently uploading the fuckers onto youtube but my computer is old so it takes forever.
1989/1999:
AGE
“Exploding insanity”, Exploding Insanity mini
Lp, 1999 (Niigata)
LIFE
“Eco system”, The World Lies Across Them Lp,
1999 (Tokyo)
Truth
of Arize “The day after”, S/t demo
tape, 1998 (Kobe)
Crocodileskink
“Discrimination”, S/t split
Ep with Força Macabra, 1997 (Tokyo)
Victims
of Greed “Mouth head”, No Hesitation to Resist
compilation 10'', 1998 (Osaka)
Warcry
“Hope for a change”, Keep Drinking Attitude demo
tape, 1993 (Osaka)
Contrast
Attitude “Judgment of the cross”, Awave! / Now the World is
from CHAOS to another more CHAOS... split Lp with Acrostix, 2004
(Mie)
Effect
“Fight for freedom”, Effective Disaster cd,
2005 (Tokyo)
Voĉo
Protesta “Scarred”, Slave to Convention – a Tribute
to Doom compilation cd, 2007
(Tokyo)
Revölt
“Destiny of doom”, Crust Night 2002: the War Begins
for Them!! compilation cd, 2002
(Kumagaya)
Proof
of Existence “What will happen tomorrow”, Scriptural
Disaster Lp, 2003 (Yokohama)
Calamity
“Destroyed oppression”, Crust Night 2003-2004: Destroy
Amm War Bastards and we Know it!!! compilation
cd, 2004 (Tochigi)
Agree
To Differ “No justice in war”, System is Maintained by
Us. If we suspect it, we can Unite to Break the fuckin' System!!
split 2x Ep with Change, 2002
(Hiroshima)
