PROFOSS "S/t" tape Ep, 2018

Sweden. The only country in the world where toddlers are lulled to sleep with the Mob 47 double cd discography and teenagers have to learn all of Zlatan's punchlines for their high-school finals (of course, I will stick to the first proposition of the theorem in this review). I have been told by a renowned anthropologist (also known as my mate Paul) that a common rite of passage for Swedish teens includes listening to the same d-beat song, relentlessly, until studs grow out of their backs, thus being deemed an adult ready to take on the big bad world and attend punk festivals. Sounds pretty legit to me. He also told me that an ancient 80's punk mating ritual was to sing the lyrics of Asta Kask's first three Ep's for a whole week standing under the window of your betrothed. The recipient of these horrendous serenades often went insane and it was not uncommon to see the singers being attacked by wolves because they were often really shit singers. This does make one shudder and I think we should all be thankful for the disappearance of such inhuman and cruel customs and glad to welcome modernity with its more progressive practices of dick pics or toxic dating apps. I am still partial to a bit of Asta Kask though.

So yeah, Swedish punk it is then. Profoss (meaning provost in English) was a rather short-lived band from Malmö belonging to the long käng hardcore tradition, that specific brand of fast, hard-hitting, raw punk music spawned by post-Discharge hardcore punk acts like Anti-Cimex, Shitlickers or Mob 47. It would be overambitious to do a comprehensive history of what quickly became its own hardcore genre (and I may not be the most qualified for this to be honest) but undeniably, not only did the style always maintain its level of popularity nationally (quantity often matching quality), but it spread progressively to all parts of the world throughout the following decades. I sometimes thought of the early examples of the genre as being conceptually more furious, faster versions of the Varukers (who came to life a little before), meaning a Discharge-influenced punk sound but harder. I don't see, however, proper käng bands as d-beat bands - although the common overarching Discharge influence somewhat makes the qualifier unavoidable. Both subgenres are close cousins and inbreeding is not rare but the distinction must be made in terms of scope, d-beat bands relying solely on Discharge and on bands relying solely on Discharge while käng bands work on a wider array of bands. If you want to be a pedant twat during parties, feel free to find a poor innocent bastard and proceed to explain to him or her all the crucial artistic differences between Meanwhile's d-beat, Warcollapse's crust and Diskonto's käng. It always goes well.

One band that has seemingly never been as popular as they are today is Totalitär. There are, I think, several reasons why the band (who ironically played very few shows) reached a widespread cult status. The riffing has to be the main one as Totalitär's guitar player always came up with riffs that were a bit more complex than your usual dischargey scandicore ones but often proved to be catchier and more rocking without being rock'n'roll (if that makes sense). As a result, the songs can be more memorable and have a wider appeal than, say, Svart Parad's primitive writing. Totalitär's sound is dynamic, energetic, raw but palatable, aggressive and angry but not brutal and their discography is solid and consistent when most other 80's bands folded after releasing just a couple of Ep's "back in the day". I myself prefer Anti-Cimex's impact or Mob 47's unparalleled energy but Totalitär's indisputable hooks and hardcore essence make them a genuine classic punk band. However, there were very few strict Totalitär style bands up until the 2010's. Even during the 90's when d-beat and crust solidified Discharge as Sweden's favourite flavour, I cannot think of any band sounding significantly like Totalitär. There were, to be sure, bands with rocking riffs (like Uncurbed for instance) and bands with a distinct raw käng sound (notably in Uppsala) that could be said to have a Totalitär influence (like Abuse maybe) but none that were primarily Totalitär influenced. Enter the 2010's and bands like Profoss.

For once France was not late to the party and in fact might have had a good hand in getting the table ready with Bordeaux' Gasmask Terrör's early 2010's recordings (and to some extent Architects of Death from 2008) showing clear signs of consummate Totalitär love. Things had been cooking for a little while though and a band like Skitkids significantly heralded what was to come while Fy Fan certainly started to piece it together. Swedish bands did not dick around for long and Malmö's Infernöh showed everyone how it was perfectly done and it wouldn't be far-fetched to claim that to this day Infernöh's totalicore remains the benchmark. Unsurprisingly Profoss had a member in common with Infernöh, Jona who also played in the aforementioned Fy Fan and it was recorded at Blakklodge Studio that is run by Jonas another members of Infernöh (it seems to have been a fairly popular name for people from that generation). Perhaps surprisingly, two members of Terrible Feelings, a band I personally really enjoy but I know many dislike. Their bad. 

What makes Profoss so good and one of my personal favourite Totalitär style bands is how they managed to balance the riffing style and the hoarse furious vocals you're bound to expect in this template with a pummeling production that confers a relentlessness reminiscent of '84 Anti-Cimex or 90's Swedish d-beat bands. As a consequence the recording sounds absolutely unstoppable and the expertise is second to none. The band even dared to include two mid-paced numbers (one very Uncurbed-dining-at-Totalitär while the other is a top notch Discharge scorcher) for the kids to mosh and go crazy in the pit while middle-aged punks stand at the back with their arms nodding. There is one additional song on the tape version (released on Pissed Off Records, a Malaysian label that released materials from Fy Fan, Crutches or Tarantüla before this one) so that even if you own Adult Crash's vinyl version there would be some benefits for you. It's unfortunate that Profoss did not soldier for long and I would have loved to see more goodness from a band that epitomised raw and potent Swedish hardcore.

Profoss       

FILTHY HATE "S/t" tape, 2018

Tokyo's Filthy Hate is the perfect example of a band I was late to the party for. I have no idea why no one sent me an invite, it's not like my address is hard to find or anything. Or perhaps there wasn't a party at all and Filthy Hate belong to the "obscure bands department", a strangely defined world that does not seem to have any fixed definition in fact, an object of respect and prestige in the hardcore punk realms, especially among the Higher Punk Council. Knowledge of "obscure bands" - real or faked - is what separates scholarly nerds with plebeian punks who are content to listen to properly recorded bands whose quality has been globally acknowledged instead of rough amateurish 4 track recordings like real punks do. The twats.

So yeah, no one bothered to mention that band to me and I had to just bump into it by myself, rather recently. Needless to say that I had to fire some employees in retaliation. Truth be told Filthy Hate are not exactly the most notorious act so that my magnanimous self only fired two of them, one whom I suspected to listen to shoegaze on his free time so he had it coming anyway. Alea iacta est. The band's League One status can be explained by a small quantity of vinyl releases, namely a flexi Ep in 2011 on their own label and a split Ep with Midway Still, a English indie punk band from the early 90's (you just cannot make that shit up). Definitely not what would get you in the punk charts. It would be a hyperbole to claim that Filthy Hate proved to be a life-changing experience but they are certainly good and relevant enough for me to be upset that I did not include them on my Japanese crust compilations. Oh well, it's not like anyone noticed I guess.

Filthy Hate started in 2010 and were formed by members of Isterismo, Tantrum, Deathtribe, so that you already know the music will be lying on the noisy side of life. This tape was released in 2018 on Black Konflik Records, a well-established and respected Malaysian label that I follow closely and specialises in the release of cd versions of raw hardcore and crust records (old and new) but sometimes also cassettes. This particular one is highly convenient since it includes Filthy Hate's first two tapes, 2012's Possessed To Satan on the first side and 2010's Hatred Stench Corpse on the other, the titles of both should give you serious clues as to what these Tokyoites are all about: old-school thrashing hardcore crust. And if you are still unconvinced songs like "Speak Italian or die" or "Dirty Rotten Flannel not Dirty Rotten Imbeciles" should hammer it home. 

Because the production on the first side gives the impression that it was recorded under water, it does require some getting used to, but once you are ready it is pretty much a mid/late-80's fast and dirty UK hardcore feast with several singers and heavy references to Concrete Sox and Electro Hippies and even gruff stenchcore moments à la Deviated Instinct or Napalm Death (the rather odd melodic hardcore song stuck in the middle of it does not spoil the fun). I like it a lot but cannot help thinking how brilliant it would have been with a different sound production like Asocial Terror Fabrication's for instance. The second earlier recording benefits from a clearer production, with more of a traditional crossover vibe maybe, with Sox and Hippies still firmly at the helm and Cerebral Fix as the guest referee. There is also a different singer - a lady I believe - to support the gruff crusty one and on the whole it is another win, all-out 80's crusty metallic hardcore (with again one strange melodic song so I assume they must have lost a bet and are cursed to include at least a number like this on all their recordings). Very enjoyable and the band borrows an Antisect riff so it instantly raises the dopamine level in my brain because I'm an easy man to please. 

This tape would easily deserve the vinyl treatment, with some remastering maybe, especially since that crossover thrash sound seems to be quite fashionable these days  (or more than it was last decade anyway). If you love old-school crust, give Filthy Hate a chance, you will certainly find something befitting there.

Filthy hate    

ΑΤΟΜΙΚΗ ΣΧΑΣΗ "Ακροβάτες Στο Κενό" tape, 2018

I first learnt about the label Extreme Earslaughter in 2017 when I read about a coming discography of Industrial Suicide (or Βιομηχανική Αυτοκτονία as they are known in the non-posing world), that classic Greek band virtually unknown outside of Greece and of the crust elite. Of course, excitement grew exponentially at the Terminal Sound Nuisance headquarter. A very limited run of a tape including rough late 80's recordings from a gruff metallic crust band with a grim name is the equivalent of a holy miracle in these quarters, if not the proof of the existence of God. Further investigations indicated that the man behind this operation was none other than Vagelis from the excellent Παροξυσμός, a band I was already following closely. It basically all made sense. 

Readers of the blog are well aware that Greek crust is definitely my thing and I have written about this localised take on the old-school crust genre - whose unique defining specificities, I would argue, make it an actual subgenre - on numerous occasions and the band Ατομική Σχάση (aka Atomikí Schási meaning Nuclear Fission) gloriously ticks all the boxes. If I were a judge at the Crust Olympics I would give them a 10 for sure. I knew this 90's Athens band before this reissue through the enigmatic Same Old Madness blog (it's been inactive since 2017, sadly) that was bent on archiving all the Greek punk bands that ever existed with absolutely no information about any of the bands beside the names and dates. Needless to say I spent hours exploring that rich but ultimately rather inhospitable place, discovering absolute gems in the process, among which Ατομική Σχάση. That Extreme Earslaughter in 2018 decided to resurrect this 1995 demo, Ακροβάτες Στο Κενό, is a selfless gift to the world. And that's what I love about this label and about this tape: it's what they represent. This humble tape, with only 100 copies made, is a labour of love, passion, dedication, of the immortal DIY spirit in the face of the commodification and the artificialisation of our culture. This tape is the opposite of the online crust pants contests and of bands constantly promoting themselves, it is for the genuine lovers of crust, and I would argue that this applies to Greek crust as a whole itself, it is how you identify the trve kvlt. If I was the bouncer of an exclusive crust nightclub I would ask people who want to get in what their favourite Greek crust band is and if they are unable to answer then it's back to the cheap neocrust club down the road. 

Fortunately I don't have the gatekeeping mentality (and I am far too much of a wimp to be a bouncer, even at a kids party) and Terminal Sound Nuisance is all about sharing and loving so here is your opportunity to show off and feel superior with a delicious if little-known metal crust band. Details about Ατομική Σχάση are scarce to say the least. The band formed in 1993 in Athens, only self-released this demo in 1995, the bass player Haris also played in the first lineup of Ρήγμα (I reviewed the excellent first Lp here) and that's about it I'm afraid. Stylistically, the music is pure old-school crust with that characteristic Greek sound and songwriting. It is very epic with a dark melancholy atmosphere enhanced by keyboards (Greek crusties just love their synth don't they?) very much in line with what Χαοτικό Τέλος. The band blends heavy mid-paced metallic crust like the aforementioned forefathers as well as Axegrinder, Ξεχασμένη Προφητεία or Misery (clearly) but they also tread into faster and thrashier territories reminiscent of Ναυτία, Anti-System or even Hiatus. Apocalyptic synth stenchcrust at its very best. I particularly love the sense of narration and storytelling in this recording with the band taking a genuine breath with an instrumental acoustic song in the middle. You can tell that they really cared about the atmosphere they wanted to create and about the tools they could create it with. The sound is pretty raw compared to today's bands and I guess that with a more polished production this would have easily deserved to be released on Lp at the time but it what it is. I don't mind it at all, if anything it conveys an even more organic vibe.

Fantastic stuff, great label, love music, support the scene and all that.  

THE CRUST

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part ): SMELL CORPSES "5 track" tape Ep, 2022

If there is one thing that punk taught me - beside the fact that poor hygiene can be considered a proof of one's dedication to the movement by platinum punks (to my mother's eternal despair, I must say) - it is that it's an international movement. One that we should value for it. While the random wanker on the street will probably only listen to popular mainstream American pop music and its local equivalent (because who doesn't want to be American?), the proud punk, the one who cares, who connects, who is blissfully oblivious to basic tuning and fiercely unbothered with dodgy musicianship, will fearlessly strive to discover noisy music that most people won't listen to anyway, done by fellow punks all around the planet. The knowledge that we are part of a worldwide DIY underground movement always felt quite glorious and vertiginous at the same time. Sycophantic me, I know.

But how is that possible in a world that looks so fragmented, polarized, dislocated, dangerous, rooted in prejudice, fear and high shipping costs? There is no easy answer to this but I am sure clever people who have been provided with grants from official institutions to explore this issue as part of their PHD program and publish a thesis that no actual punks are going to read will come up with something major. In the meantime here is my pissant take on the subject: punks basically share a common language. In spite of all our differences, we understand the language of punk. Because of the tremendous diversity of backgrounds, we all have specific stories to tell and there is no denying the very real impact that historical processes, to be understood materialistically, have had on all of us. Living conditions, gender, race, poverty, national origins, all define and sometimes divide us and even I am not enough of a naive zealot to believe that owning a Doom patch suddenly makes everything alright. And yet, we share a tacit common language, a common set of cultural references, shared DIY practices, a penchant for spiky hair and the habit of being chased down the streets by hard blokes on mopeds. And we all love Discharge, right?

Whenever I hear the average vapid Joe (or Olaf or Carlos or Piotr or Jean or however dull people are idiosyncratically known as in your area) claims that he listens to "a bit of everything" when what he really means is that he listens to any old crap that he is subjected to when shopping at Asda, I feel like getting my Smell Corpses tape out of my pocket and make him listen to it while patronizingly explaining that this is my version of listening to a bit of everything: the usual d-beat raw punk formula tastefully done by a punk band from Thailand. I'm sure this was what Marx meant when he claimed that workers of the world should unite.   

So Smell Corpses are from Thailand, from Phisanulok to be accurate, in the North of the country (not that I would initially have known since I have never been) and this delightful recording of d-beat raw punk seems to be their first gift to the Gods of D. Or is it? The band also appeared on a DVD compilation released in 2018 entitled Kawakami Forever 2017 and including Singapore-based bands like Lifelock or Braincëll who have already been dealt with on Terminal Sound Nuisance. Of course, I am going in circles but who isn't? As for the present recording, it was originally self-released as a cdr in 2018 and reissued on tape first in 2021 on the Japanese label Harimau Asia (who also released material from The Rebel Riot from Burma) and then in 2022 on Full Force Hardcore Destruction, a reliable label responsible for tapes from Lifelock or Declaration, both bands that already paid a visit to this series. As I said, going in circles.

With such honourable connections, the careful reader will have understood that Smell Corpses deal in noisy d-beat with a taste for distortion and for the Japanese style. The production is, indeed, quite raw and unpolished but it conveys a sense of urgency and direction that fits the genre. I am reminded of the early days of D-Clone and Contrast Attitude in its most primitive form (the vocals do not lie) but the band still keeps that nightmarish hypnotic vibe that characterizes the Disclose sound or indeed that of Disease. Of course I like it a lot. The last two songs are sung in the Thai language and I have to say it is the first time I hear a punk band in this language and it sounds great and completely d-beat compatible. 

This tape is for the d-beat raw punk diehards, for people who like it noisy and genuine and who support the international d-beat mafia. If you are brave enough the band the Thai label Inhuman Assault released Smell Corpses' second tape Slaughter Still Continues in 2023. Trigger warning: it might harm posers.

SMELL CORPSES

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 13): DESPAIR "Visions of the Inferno" Lp, 2018

I sometimes find myself caught up in my own moral principles and therefore do not practice what I vehemently preach, namely to not judge a book by its cover (to be applied metaphorically as from my experience most novels, especially North-American, can be judged by their cover which makes the phrase rather odd) or its reputation. As vaguely bothered as it makes me feel in terms of the petty values I insist upon holding, I do happen to love bands before I actually play them just by reading the "ex and current members of" list. It goes without saying that I am sometimes violently proven wrong but let's not engage in an excruciatingly exhaustive excursus about the culprits as not only do I not want to find horse heads in my bed again, but more importantly I have been told on several occasions that it bores readers. In fact my brother once suggested I indicate the time it'd take to read the full review for busy readers, which sounds like encouraging laziness to me. It's like asking how long will the Sore Throat song be. Are you really that busy mate? What are you, a banker? Does this keep me from being waylaid by swarms of admirers on my way to buy baguettes? Does it fuck.

But yeah. Reading, accidentally, about a d-beat project involving ex and current members of pretty classy bands got me interested: Despair had Cordie on guitar who by then had already played with drummer Bryce in Raw War and Kaiten, Chris also on guitar from the mighty Decontrol, Foat from Limb From Limb, Fear of Tomorrow and Total War and John formerly of the underrated Dödsfälla on vocals. The thought that "it's gonna be a good one that" did accost my mind, never to really leave. This more or less justified belief is a bit like morning drinking: it sounds good on paper but can end up to be a disaster (pun intended). Despair can be said to be a band that I loved before listening to in spite of a generic moniker - in addition to the Osaka crusties you will unsurprisingly find three black-metal bands with the same name on Discogs but also a ridiculously cheesy Russian power-metal band that comes highly recommended if you're having a bad day) that still makes sense considering the genre. At least they did not go for Dispair (not a bad band by the way but you know...).

As mentioned, I was a little late to the party and only heard about the band when they had presumably already passed (their final gig took place in June, 2015), which I felt a little upset about but then it happens to me often with obscure family members so I didn't make too much of it. Upon playing the album on youtube (unglamorous I know), Despair instantly revealed themselves as a cracking "just-like Discharge" orchestra, a restrictive but ultimately fulfilling and engrossing sub-category of d-beat, not unlike what the saltwater crocodile is to its Nile cousin: the subtle difference is in the details.  

Before Visions of the Inferno Despair thought wise to record a self-released demo tape in 2015 that illustrated emphatically what the band had in mind and several songs from the demo would be rerecorded and vastly improved for the Lp (released a good few years after it was recorded). The demo of Despair must be seen as an antechamber to their album as the Lp magnified the real qualities and traits exhibited on the first recording. Despair's demo was, well, essentially a punk demo, that is to say an allusion to what would come (admittedly it is easier to say in retrospect). This maniacal Vancouver unit is particularly enjoyable because they partake in the difficult task to replicate the philosophy of the first 90's d-beat generation of Dischange, Disaster or Disfear, not just in terms of sound but also in terms of their original praxis, one that is as close as possible to Discharge itself. This is Discharge-loving d-beat instead of d-beat loving d-beat, if you know what I mean. It even looks like a 90's d-beat record. The direct Discharge references may overwhelm some (who will gently and mercifully be called "posers") but I am not one to flinch at open Discharge love, especially when it has song titles like "...and they still ignore", "Life's massdestruction" or "Visions of the inferno". 

The interplay between the guitars impresses, the guitar players do not step on one another's studded boots and while I am conservatively not in favour of two guitars in an orthodox d-beat band, Despair stands as one of the very few modern examples where you can actually hear that it makes sense (I am reminded of Anti-System on that level at times). The bass has that old-school dirty reverb sound instead of the usual grinding tone and I love the fact that the vocalist does not rely on pedal effects or forcefulness (two common flaws in contemporary d-beat bands) for the Discharge rendering, he just goes hoarse and angry but still understandable, not unlike on the Discard Lp (possibly a relevant reference in terms of conception when it comes to Despair's Lp) which confers a genuine hardcore punk edge to the whole. The Lp does have imperfections here and there but they are meaningless because Visions of the Inferno succeeds in doing exactly what it set out to: absolute Discharge worship with a taste refined through solid knowledge of the D word, an ear for the good aggressive riff with a cracking guitar sound and a sort of contagious "charged punk" collective drive. Beside let's not overlook that it is a full album, not a mere Ep, so that it is harder to make it sound coherent and whole, the story is longer to tell. The fact that it was mastered by Kenko kinda goes without saying and is the icing on the nuclear war.

     

This album is rather difficult to find these days but if you do happen to see it, don't dick around and jump on it (and do elbow your way to the distro if needed). As you can imagine all the lads kept playing in bands after on a more or less permanent basis with John joining the excellent and already discussed Genogeist, Bryce currently doing Reaktori, Foat Dead Hunt and Malakili while Cordie (also referred to as "the riff machine" in some quarters) just started his thirteenth band since 2015 last month, a formidable feat that got him to be nominated for the Vancouver Punk of the Year award this year.

Visions of the d-beat

    

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 12): LIFE LOCK "2018 E.P." Ep, 2019

Little do people know (or care to) that, beside this Singapore lot, there are two other bands with a similar name: a melodic hardcore Lifelock from Turkey and some sort of depressive and dark Bathory-Cimex metal-punk act Lifelöck from Brazil (with a tape called A Non Nuclear Nightmare which is an odd title for an evil band since it is officially the best sort of nightmare). As far as I know, none of these three bands have been sued by Doom for the use of the name of one of their top songs which is a relief (I swear this will be the only crust-related dad joke of the review). What would we become without Discogs? You can't escape record porn.

I don't suppose the Istambulis were thinking about Doom (and after all the phrase "life lock" is meaningful without being tied to a preexisting reference), the Brazilians must certainly have and the Singaporeans just did without hesitation, naturally, like a stud flying instinctively toward a punk leather jacket. Still, even though the nod to Doom must be factored in, Life Lock cannot be defined as Doom-like. Of course, lovers of the Brummies will feel at home with Life Lock - after all both share a common love for things of the D - but their respective program diverge. This review is not meant to explore the roots of Doom, that'd be an ambitious endeavour as we often tend to overlook where the legendary band's music originates from since they are more often seen as influencer rather than influencee. But let's just throw here that they initially intended to work on the gruffest side of 80's Swedish hardcore (Svart Parad, Asocial and all). Life Lock do not although they, rather cheekily, used Doom's cloud logo as the cover of the first version of the present Ep, a self-released tape (to be fair Abraham Cross played the same trick in the 90's). Life Lock have always been pretty clear about their main sources of joy: Disaster and Disclose.

Such a masterplan is straight-forward enough but it does require a songwriting flair for the simple but perfect riffs, vocal pattern, distortion level and primitive drum beat, things that Life Lock clearly demonstrates. They remain faithful to the source material with a "wall of noise not music" vibe expressed through blatant but always loving Disaster and Disclose rip-offs. Even more accurate perhaps would be the theory that Life Lock is the answer to the question "What if Disclose had been a radical Disaster-worship act?". This is an existential interrogation, the kind of which often arises after a collective boozing session at 2am. Definitely after the gig. Even if your hearing and eyesight are not what they used to be, the Ep is replete with Disaster references. Life Lock cover "Devastation" (sample included), use the Disaster font to write their own name, the first song "Our glorious(?) dead" directly refers to Disaster's "Glorious?", "Hell's inferno" to the line "Hellish inferno" in Disaster's "Inferno". Being fair play, Life Lock do indicate "Thanks to Disaster" on the backcover and the song "Grows in fear" is more akin to a blissfully obvious Disclose tribute. Who said d-beat was a one-trick pony?

This marvelous Ep was recorded in 2018 and released on Brain Solvent Propaganda and Symphony of Destruction. I haven't been able to get an idea of how active the band was or maybe still is. They did release a handful of tape, among which the quite manifest and rhetorical Who'll Make Noise Not Music?!! in 2010 (with a recreation of Discharge's iconic first Ep but with "Disaster" painted at the bottom of a studded jacket, in case you needed to be reminded of where they were heading toward) and And For What (you know what they mean, yeah?) with an even nerdier cover using the very same picture of the two armed soldiers as Disaster used, except these soldiers, instead of the perfectly acceptable gasmask faces, now have the cabbage heads of Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. What a combo. 

The Singapore scene has proven to a new wider audience to be very dynamic and lively for the past 10 years with bands like Siäl and Lubricant being quite successful abroad and needless to say that punk 2.0 certainly contributed to that well-deserved interest. However, one must not forget that Singapore punks have been playing noisy crust and d-beat (and more generally hardcore) for a long time as solid bands like Minus, Blinded Humanity or Pazahora (members of which play in the aformentioned Siäl) can attest. For those ready to nerd out, I recommend giving a listen to the Singapore Punk Holocaust compilation cd released sometime in the 00's.

But in the meantime blast some Life Lock, arguably the Disclosest band to Disaster. 

LIFE LOCK

 

Last Night a D-Beat Saved My Life (part 11): DECADE "A Deadly Game of Make Believe" Ep, 2018

People who claim that Discharge-mimicking bands all sound the same are both right and wrong, although they are probably sorry to be right but wrong to believe they are. Well, partly. But at the end of the (domes)day it all depends if you are trying to express praise or contempt, approval or blame. On the one hand, you could very well mean that the bands all sound the same just as they should in a wonderful communion of love for Stoke-on-Trent antiheroes, their intentionally strong similarities illustrating a punk togetherness that has few, if any, comparisons in the music world. Or, on the other hand, you could very well mean that Discharge-loving bands all sound the same because they are uninspired, incapable of writing their own music and see originality as a cardinal sin. It really is a matter of perspective, two antithetic ways to look at the phenomenon.

But a band may very well rhapsodize about Discharge and yet not sound like a d-beat band. It sounds ludicrous but is not. Deathcharge's Plastic Smiles was a case in point with three copies of Discharge songs free of the infamous beat. A bit of a cheeky endeavour I suppose. Still, Plastic Smiles referred to those Discharge's mid-paced numbers that belonged to the acceptable era of the band, namely between 1980 and 1982, so that even though the D was not technically beaten, the Ep did worship at the right altar. As much as I would like to pretend that Discharge stopped in 1984, they did not and if Warning and The More I see can be considered as amusingly cheesy metallic punk records that retrospectively sound quite adorable, like listening to an elderly person try to use modern slang, inflicting the pompous Grave New World upon the punk world was far less forgivable and basically shitting the already damaged bed. Modernity, in its inscrutability, has seen the rise of bands claiming that they actually enjoyed this era of Discharge and strive to emulate the grave new beat. 

Is it postmodern irony? Fanaticism gone wrong? An unhealthy passion for perms? A bad diet with deficiencies in d-beat minerals? Who knows, but it sounds like ordering tap water at the pub on a first date. But after all Final Bombs have always loved and emulated mid-80's Discharge and even though I find the music absolutely revolting, I really do respect the passion. But what do I know about good taste, I cantillate to Blyth Power in the shower. In any case, there is no denying that a band such as Final Bombs love Discharge (and love is very deaf) as much as a band such as Meanwhile. Do they sound alike? Absolutely not. 

Among the current bands wearing their love for the Discharge era that was once taboo on their sleeves are Decade from Toronto, fine dis lovers mostly known these days for their appetence for Grave New World (as can be witnessed on their daring World Stopped Turning Lp and the rather good split Lp with Fatum). They started as a much more traditional d-beat unit such as can be heard on their first Ep, the brilliantly entitled A Deadly Game of Make Believe. I knew Decade before they turned "grave" and was well impressed upon hearing them for the first time. A Dead Game was originally released on Runstate Tapes, a Montreal-based label that specializes in cassettes of often small bands with an inclination for noisy raw hardcore and has been responsible for many good releases since 2013. The proper punk spirit if you know what I mean. This Decade recording was so punishing and relentless that it inevitably got reissued on vinyl through Rawmantic Disasters from Berlin (the name of the label includes both "raw" and "dis" so I suppose nobody will feel aggrieved if I don't detail further its field of expertise). 

From the opening of the gates, Decade unleash the fucking fury here and they are not messing around. Pummeling and dark Hear Nothing-era d-beat hardcore (think early Disfear and the "just-like-Discharge" 90's school) played with an intensity that few bands are able to reach. Classic riffs, a buzzing bass and drums well in front in the mix. However, as Discharge-inspired as Decade rightly demand to be seen, the band manages to infuse some originality to the otherwise aptly executed, tried and tested orthodox d-beat formula. There is a vibe of dementia and madness in Decade's music, a sense of pervading insanity blending with the customary anger the subgenre is based on. 

Through the addition of samples, noisy arrangements, interludes and transitions, saturated guitar effects (bordering on so-called noisepunk) and peculiar vocals, Decade do stand out. Of course, the vocals will cause the listener a Marmite reaction: you will love it or hate it. I have to admit I disliked it at first as I did not find it really contribute anything to the otherwise excellent "we <3 Discharge" record and thought it merely emphasized the fact that they were dicking around with too many vocal effects pedals. It was fantastic when Destino Final did it but it did get old quick and it still remains a major flaw in far too many contemporary raw punk bands. But playing the Ep again and listening closely I realized that indeed the vocals were not just gratuitous but actually conveyed an atmosphere of extreme dementia that can be found in some Japanese bands. I assume the intended effect was to bring some volatility and a slightly different edge by playing with the vocal and guitar textures and the traditional d-beat songwriting. May the aficionados have no fear though, Decade still very much rely on high referentiality and strict obedience to the Discharge rulebook. They just took some liberty with it and quite possibly had some psychedelic tea beforehand.

A Deadly Game of Make Believe stands as a fun d-beat Ep and one that I often go back to although it did not really hit me at first. Decade get to tell a very familiar story in a slightly different way here and they have to be commanded for it. Would it work on a full length? Well, I would have loved to see them try but this is highly unlikely to happen. As for the cover, it's not exactly bloodcurdling but the level of cheesiness is high (it does remind one of Ignorance or Thisclose actually) and I cannot help but think that it heralded the grave new venturesome Decade. It must be the shades and the arm-crossing contest.

A deadly game of make Discharge

Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust: Genogeist "S/t" demo tape, 2018

And Portland does it again. 

I have been whining on many occasions like a proverbial sad bastard about how PDX (that's how punks who are not posers call the town) has, time after time again, given birth to brilliant hardcore punk bands. I am not sure why it is. Perhaps the younger generations basically emulate the good music and bands that preceded them, thus ensuring the continuity and survival of local quality punk. Does good music basically spawn further good music? Being able to watch Hellshock or Dog Soldier or Harum-Scarum or Autistic Youth or Tragedy (the list really is endless) is a considerable advantage in your formative years. As young punks we all used to look up to and admire older punks, sometimes just slightly older really, with starry eyes and a bit of envy because they all seemed to play in cool bands and were thus undeniably much more self-confident than your spotty self trapped in rampant insecurity. In that PDX context it would probably inspire you to sound as good, or even better than them, and basically to write good songs. Good music calls for and attracts good music, it is a magnet. It creates a dynamic that will lead people to move to this place in order to be part of this movement, immerse themselves in the energy and contribute further good music. From afar PDX is like going to Hollywood to make it as an actor or actress but for punks who are into Discharge cosplay. If you need another metaphor because you are under 25, it is like a massively popular motivational Instagram post that everyone strives to emulate.

On the other hand, maybe they also have shite bands in Portland, we just never hear about them. Maybe the town's best-kept secrets are actually its terrible bands that have to be contained in order to safeguard the good reputation of Portland. What would people think if they knew the town was overrun with skacore revival bands or Smash Mouth cover bands? I trust the local punk police with its unlimited trendsetting power will do its best to keep the city's name untarnished. And if they plan to hire at some point, they know where to find me. 

So Genogeist is yet another class PDX crust band if you have not already guessed. The love story between the city and crust music is famous and seemingly unbreakable. I mean, you could do an advent crust calendar with only PDX crust bands (seriously, I did). A few months ago in Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust I touched upon others bands from the area, namely crasher crusties Horrendous 3D and the Sacrilege-loving Terminal Conquest and because the scene is rather incestuous, a member of Genogeist played in the latter. In fact, the people involved in Genogeist also got their hands dirtier than they already were in Dödläge, GAASP, Vastation and Decomp - bands that I rate very highly indeed - so it is little wonder that a coalition of such craftpersons would result in something remarkable (well, there have been exceptions to that rule but common decency and basic cowardice force me to remain silent on the matter). And of course, Genogeist absolutely rips. In fact their 2019 Lp is one the strongest crust albums of the decade and it would probably make it to my personal top 10. It just sounds and looks stunning. But before this gem the band recorded a five track demo tape in 2018 which is what we are all religiously gathered for tonight.

Granted, the tape was pretty limited with only 100 copies being made which may account for its relative obscurity. I distinctly remember - and I am sure many others unfortunately also do in spite of themselves - rambling inarticulately about the Genogeist demo upon hearing it, even to people who are not into crust at all. Even to random strangers apparently. As if I were twatting innocents in the face with emphatic praises about the band. But what can you do? I am an enthusiast. I am not completely sure about the name "genogeist", the prefix "geno" meaning "race" or "family" and "geist" is the German word for "mind" ("ein gesunder Geist in einem gesunder Körper" as my brutally scary German teacher used to tell our class while specifically staring at me for some reason) so I suppose it suggests an idea of an overarching collective mind which would go well with the futuristic dystopian robotic imagery of the band and the anguished and unhinged vibe of the music, each reflecting the other. This cohesion and fluid link between form and content is meant to create a sense of crazed technological alienation for the self and the collective alike, an idea that was notably at the core of SDS's super intense Digital Evil in Your Mind (and Ameber although with a different songwriting), a brilliant and unique work on which Genogeist clearly built and developed the concept further. This is basically the definition of cybercrust: half-punk, half-machine, 100% crust. They could have gone for robocrust or mechacrust too but I am thankful they left crustmorpher out.  

The band has often been compared to later SDS, and rightly so, but AGE's Four Wings Lp must definitely be mentioned too as this rather underrated album of exploding and rocking metallic crust explored very similar themes to SDS's and Genogeist's visuals actually hint more to the Niigata's legends. Therefore, one would be right to argue that these PDX punks pay tribute to the aforementioned periods of those Japanese bands, not just in terms of music but also in terms of message and aesthetic stance. And clearly, the music absolutely smokes. Relentless Antisect-ish Japanese-styled metallic crust with a sense of atmospherics, ripping solos, angry gruff vocals, rocking mid-paced filthy metal moments and a relentless energy (let's throw a bit of Disturd). Japanese-inspired crust is often associated by the average singleton to the distorted blown-out crasher crust school of Gloom, Collapse Society, Zyanose and the likes but the SDS way is just as meaningfully influential and part of this magnificent equation.

This is a very strong punishing recording with a heavy but still raw production, the sole minor issue being the level of the cymbals that sound a little distracting. Black Water would release a visually stunning full album the next year that further highlighted the band's furious referential take on the Japanese greats. A supernova cybercrust cracker and as I said, one of the best crust albums of the decade. The tape was released on Malaysia's very prolific Black Konflik Records and Sickhead Records. 

Praise the cybercrust                    

Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust: Nocturnal Scum "S/t" 12'' Ep, 2018

Germany has always been a bit of an enigma for me. I am not just talking about the success of Rawside or some of the transcendentally cheesy haircuts that many famous athletes wore well into the late 90's. By any standards, Germany has the best network of alternative punk venues anywhere in the world. Even smaller towns have their own autonomous centers provided with cheap rents, actual stages, sound systems and bars (and pissed punters of course). And I won't even get into Berlin's Hausprojekte or Leipzig's insane concentration of alternative spaces hosting gigs and political activities. If Leipzig was turned into abs, it would be Cristiano Ronaldo's: rock-hard. Obviously German towns, especially the ones mentioned above but also Hamburg or Bremen and others (not including München, who would like to live in a golden right-wing magnet?) attract large numbers of foreign punks looking for cheap places to live and great punk action. Some Berlin gigs don't have any actual German-born punks and it does not even affect lager sales. No wonder punks from all around the world move over there instead of Paris where it is horribly expensive, dirty and where punk gigs take place in shitty bars selling stale beers run by landlords who don't give a damn about any music, let alone punk. If you asked the twats, you could just as well be putting on Drungeon and Dragon events as long as the nerds get drinks (arguably people don't really get pissed when playing the game but what do I know). At least, I presume they won't take speed in the bogs.

As a result, because of the amazing venues (sometimes getting subsidies to pay the bands, even shit ones like mines) and hordes of punks living there it is little wonder that touring bands often favour Germany. More often than not what is called "European tour" is basically six gigs out of twelve in Germany, two in Switzerland and sometimes one in glamorous Paris, but that's pretty much because we have selfie-friendly spots and we are on the way toward Barcelona and other much cooler places. This combination of ace spaces, punks from all over the place and countless bands touring should create dozens upon dozens of amazing local bands that should be able to export themselves. You would expect Berlin to be looking down on Portland and put Sweden to shame. Making Paris look like a kindergarten is not nearly enough Berlin. 

In fact, I cannot think of that many remarkable German bands in the field of d-beat/crust in the 00's and 10's. Perhaps most of the good shit remained local and did not reach the shores of Terminal Sound Nuisance but one would logically expect to be overrun with great bands. Even street musicians should be doing covers of Amebix and Anti-Cimex and not abominable covers of "Bella ciao" or, even worse, Manu fucking Chao. I am not claiming that there have not been good bands in those decades (Instinct of Survival are undeniably one of the best crust bands ever and I can think of a couple of genuinely enjoyable other acts), just that there have not been many considering the ratio of punks that are into crust and d-beat raw punk over there. I mean, there are more studs at German punk gigs than there are in Earth's sex dungeons. Are they just too busy looking good or too spoiled with great music to bother? Are Berlin punks just lazy bums? Am I just a shameless ignoramus? Will they retaliate against me? To crust or not to crust? 

But anyway. Whenever I hear about a solid crust band from these parts, I therefore get very curious, not to mention relieved, because of the potential, and it seems only fair to include a Berlin band in the Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust series, a motto that is probably tattooed on many a punk's arse in that very peculiar town. Enter Nocturnal Scum. Something of an odd choice for a name, not that I dislike it and "scum" is after all not an unusual substantive in a punk band's name (see Scum Noise, Scum of Society, Scumbrigade or Scum System Kill), but there was - and still is - already a crust band called Moribund Scum around so that it makes one feel there is a lot of scum in Germany. It is not like they were in a Highlander movie and there could only be one crust scum around I guess. There was room for two types of scum, the nocturnal and the moribund. That's diversity after all.

NS formed in 2015 and, as is often the case, it was not a first attempt at punk music for the members. Singer Katrien used to growl in the well-respected second stenchcore revival band Last Legion Alive, Isa and Janse played in Chorea Huntington and the very good Kriminal, Lassi also played in Kriminal and Gitshi was part of Katyusha, a local metal crust band, in the early 2010's. Back when they were still active (they stopped playing around 2018), NS was often referred to as "that band with Last Legion Alive's singer" and by "often referred to" I mean that I might have read it twice on the internet, one of which was actually my own doing. The connection cannot be said to be unintelligible. After all Katrien's vocals were particularly memorable in LLA, a well liked band in itself, and, without disrespect to the other worthy musicians, it makes sense that people mostly remember the band for her. 

This being said, NS and LLA don't sound alike, the former being more energetic and not as doom-oriented. The sound is purposefully raw as the six songs were recorded in the band's practice space so that the recording has that primitive, wild, feral quality (I am reminded of the early so-called "proto" years of extreme metal) and what the music may lack in heaviness is largely compensated with the crude energy and furious drive permeating the record. In terms of style, NS are pretty pummeling and certainly love their fast and epic thrashing stenchcore balanced with headbanging mid-paced moments with double drum and some death-metal leads. Good shit. They are not reinventing the wheel and don't claim to be. They give the impression that they play crust for crust's sake and love doing it in a genuine way. I am heavily reminded of bands like Limb From Limb, early Krang and Fatum (definitely, post-2015). I like the fact that they rely on energy more than on their pedal boards or effects. The music has that very spontaneous vibe, it is basically very direct and unpretentious and, while it cannot be said to be a major crust work, it is one that can be easily recommended. Especially with Katrien's demented vocals, the actual elephant in the room. I cannot really think of a similar vocal style in crust music and the closest comparisons I can think of on a Tuesday afternoon in November is a cross between Order of the Vulture's mad and evil singer and Meg's gruff throaty vocals in Excrement of War. She hellishly barks, gnarls and growls her way through the songs and manages to sound threatening and very dynamic. If my very mean scary maths teacher had been possessed by evil, she would have sounded just like her. The vocals in NS are impressive even if you are not into crust music (although it does help). 

I don't think the band was still active when this 12'' Ep came out through Angry-Voice Records in 2018. The artwork is simple but evocative enough and I like its pagan Amebix-like eeriness. And there is even a poster included. That is so retro. I love it. After the demise of the band, some members formed Terminal Filth, a 100% satisfaction guaranteed stenchcore band that has been one my favourite punk records of 2022. And while you are it, give Electric Masochist a go if you are looking for an over-the-top howling crust-pants-fueled distorted d-beat band to play at around 4am at your aunt's New Year's Eve party. 

Big thanks go to top geezer Martin for his help in the collection of information. Merci mec!        

     

Berlin Scum