"Fuck The Legion, Fuck The Lyrics, Fuck The Lot Of View! Vol.2" compilation tape, 2015

I have absolutely no idea how this compilation tape ended up in my pristine collection. Distros sometimes, when shipping prices allow for it, stick in parcels a couple of records they have been trying to get rid of, the ones that have been sleeping in boxes for too long and take up much needed space - a thoughtfulness usually formulated as "I've added extra gifts and goodies for you" - when you pass an order. I'm not blaming them and sometimes you do have nice surprises although more often than not the gifts end up sleeping in other boxes in non-distro homes. Cycle of life. This tape belongs to the first category of nice surprises. I suppose it landed here through a Greek distro (either this or someone broke into my place and planted the thing for me to write about it) but I can't recall which. If I'm being honest I had completely forgotten about it and I'm not even sure I ever played the fucker before this review. Not so long ago I still had a loyal employee taking care of the sorting for me and he selected only the most listenable material Terminal Sound Nuisance gets sent. It was truly a painful daily process and I was thankful to have him - I would often scratch him behind the ears and feed him treats - as he prevented me to suffer the indignity to endure German metalcore or random Californian post-skacore (please refrain from sending such dross). Tragically he progressively got deaf and he had to be put down. Fuck the Legion, Fuck the Lyrics, Fuck the Lot of Views! Vol.2 was one of the tapes salvaged by my sorely missed partner. Thanks mate.

This 100% DIY production comes from Greece, from a label called Stand Against Vivisection Records based in Kavala that started in 2004 and might have folded in the 2020's (the last release is from 2022). Looking at the catalogue, one has to admire the variety of styles it released, from cracking postpunk (Πανδημία and Κωμωδία Θανάτου), brutal grindcore (Agathocles and Mixomatosis), classic 80's punk (Mellakka or Απόγνωση) and angry crust (Παροξυσμός). I would venture that the label maybe just originally happened to support the network of friends and take part in worthy projects and then grew into helping out from times to times. There were three volumes of Fuck The Legion, Fuck The Lyrics, Fuck The Lot Of View! - the silly reference to Chaotic Dischord always makes me giggle like a school kid upon hearing a fart - the first one from 2013 included the aforementioned incredible Πανδημία, goth punks Era of Fear (both Athens bands did a split Lp shortly after), Luftslott and Καρκίνωμα (who did a split tape with the rather popular antifa oi punk band Ομίχλη in 2001). All the songs on the tapes were recorded live in Kavala so it's about as raw and urgent as you can expect. As for the the third volume it was in fact a vinyl Lp, a fairly ambitious undertaking, with Kavala SS (who also appear on the second one), Ταραχές, Eristetyt (yes, Eristetyt ) and Etuaste, the last two from Finland.

The chances of anyone knowing about the four bands included on this second volume are rather slim unless: you are a punk from Greece or Istanbul and were around then and there; you were an angry local neighbour who had to sleep through all this noisy punk shows of these bands; or you are a massive Greek punk nerd and probably scared all your friends away a long time ago. The first band is he Κοπρόσκυλα (meaning "dirty dogs" or maybe "stray dogs") from Athens, a rather short-lived experience since the 9 songs on the tape were the band's only studio recording apparently. These songs were actually originally released as a cdr demo in 2010 so they were not exactly new at the time of release of this compilation. Information about The Κοπρόσκυλα is scarce to say the least but my sharp ears were already familiar with the vocals that must belong to the singer of Πανδημία (and these days of Πυρ Κατά Βούληση). I love his singing style so even though the music of  The Κοπρόσκυλα cannot be said to be Earth-shattering, the nine songs run pretty smoothly indeed. The band played dynamic and energetic punk-rock with some good hooks and singalongs but they are neither fast enough or melancholy enough to really grab the listener by the throat although they were certainly solid and tight enough to stand as a reliable local band.

The next band, Ugly Shadows, is not actually from Greece but from Istanbul, Turkey. They were around in the mid-00's and had members of Poster ITI (a very likable charged UK82 type band that had a good run and covered The Bristles) and Era of Fear. The mid-10's were the zenith of the postpunk revival and Ugly Shadows must definitely be seen in that light, as belonging to that mood of the time. To be fair the band's punk energy (especially with dynamic drumming and the shouted female vocals) puts them more in the "dark punk" category than the melancholy goth one. They are more angry than they are depressed if you like. The production is pretty basic here which works with the songwriting and adds some urgency. The lyrics are in English and you could easily namedrop PDX bands like Moral Hex or Dead Cult, class French exports Litovsk and also prepare some invitations for Barcelona's Sect. Know what I mean? Ugly Shadows are not reinventing the wheel but they sound honest enough in a genre that quickly became a cheap excuse to tour and a bandwagon one could easily jump on. There are four songs here, two that appeared on the self-titled 2015 Ep and two on the 2014 cdr demo. After the demise of the band three members went on to form Crudez, a very apt and accurate, albeit short-lived, Vice Squad-meet-Lux band. Members later on went on to play in bands like Die In Vain or Rotting System, and, in singer Gicem's case, in the Paris-based Zevk.

On the other side of the tape you will find the local heroes Kavala SS, who only ever appeared on this tape and on the third volume so I strongly suspect some (very) close ties with the label. I haven't been much of a fan of adding "SS" to your band's name. First because you always have to explain that it's not dodgy because Crude SS and Tampere SS did it and second because you grandmother would be very upset indeed if she saw you wearing a shirt with SS on it (but then, she actually saw SS soldiers in the flesh so she kinda has a point). I didn't expect to enjoy Kavala SS that much but they proved to be a good, fun listen reminiscent of classic 80's Finnish bands (they don't cover Tampere SS or Bastards for nothing) with crazy vocals not unlike 80's Japanese bands (they cover The Execute, just to be safe). The band also cover Rudimentary Peni and the lyrics to "Ύμνος Στον" are an adaptation of a poem by Fernando Pessoa who would have probably been very curious to hear it indeed. Who said punks did not read? As I said, it's fun and rather well-done although they probably loved covers a bit too much.

The final band of the compilation is also the best one: Toxic Minds. Forget the name pointing to crossover mountains, Toxic Minds play heavy, intense, aggressive old-school crust punk, the Greek way. Although not precisely prolific, this Thessaloniki act has been around since 2009 and the six songs included here were either taken from their unreleased 2012 cdr demo or are rehearsal recording. Therefore don't expect clean produced crust music, this is for the trve fans. The rawness, the primitiveness of the sound unmistakably remind one of older Greek bands and I would suggest Toxic Minds lie somewhere between beefy angry hardcore bands like Απολίτιστοι or early Πανικός and gruff metallic crust monsters like Ατομική Σχάση and Ανθρωπινος Ληθαργος (even though they are not as metal oriented or as epic as the national founding bands of the genre). If you close your eyes and listen to their songs here you would believe they were released in 1995. Absolutely brilliant stuff and Toxic Minds are the reason why such humble compilation tapes are crucial to the punk scene (and my personal encyclopedic knowledge of course). Stand Against Vivisection released their full Lp in 2017 and while it doesn't really have that cavemen crust feel anymore the album hits very hard and sounds absolutely furious with that typical Greek hardcore intensity but a perfect production highlighting the savagery of the songs. Fuck me.

For all I know there could be copies of the tape floating around and it's well worth investigating.  

Fuck fuck fuck

Acoustic Grinder / Turmoil "If you feel right you have to do it: suicide / Wanted" split Ep 1994

Great art is often tied to a specific time and place so that, in order to grasp its meaning, you first have to understand where it comes from. Indeed, there are records of which you can tell the year of recording or the place of birth in a heartbeat, or rather, in the context of this blog, in a drum-beat. Is the Acoustic Grinder/Turmoil split Ep great art? Fuck no and thanks fuck for that too. But nonetheless, from the very first chords, you can tell its sound reeks of the true political DIY crust/grind/whatever spirit of the early 90's then prevailing in Europe and on a rainy sunday, it is really all you need sometimes. For those of you who'd rather play American-influenced middle-class indie-rock, the emergency exit is on your left. And please never come back here.

Beside having a bloody great name, Acoustic Grinder emerged from the amazing late 80's/early 90's Belgian crust/grind scene. I couldn't find their actual date of birth, but I'd say 1990. Now, when you hear "Belgium", "crust" and "grindcore", there are only two words that can possibly come to mind: Hiatus and Agathocles (and if they don't, you now know where the exit is). Acoustic Grinder very much started off as an Agathocles-type band and in fact they even did Agathocles covers in their early days. On this record however, they dropped the blast-beat and opted for a "Private Jesus Detector meets Hiatus during an Intestinal Disease show at the Vort'n' Vis festival" approach. They offer three songs of raw and powerful, gruffy crust punk, that may be unoriginal but are of their time and are very well done. The neanderthal nature of the production (also called "no production at all") makes the songs sound even more energetic and adds to their sense of urgency. This is fucking brilliant and just what you needed for your cousin's wedding next month. As was often the case, lyrics are short, political and to the point: one song against the violent right-wing Flemish block, one against the 500th anniversary of the "discovery" of the Americas and the Native American holocaust, and finally one about suicide (I think!). Cut'n'paste artwork aptly reflects the lyrical content, in case English is completely lost on you. Although the record was released in 1994, these three songs were recorded in late 1992. Acoustic Grinder also had a split Ep with Entrails Massacre from Germany, a full Ep, as well as a split live tape with Extinction of Mankind. The band has been back together for a few years now and released a split Ep in 2011 with... Agathocles!

On the other side, you find Turmoil, an anarchopunk band from Istanbul, Turkey. I have to confess that I am not very familiar with the Turkish punk scene and when I listen to these tracks, I realize that's a crying shame. Apparently, Turmoil rose from the ashes of another band called Moribund Youth that was active in the early 90's and recorded two demos. While Moribund Youth lay on the US hardcore side of things, Turmoil was a more chaotic and noisy affair. There is certainly the influence of the fastest brand of worldwide hardcore in the music, but because it is a bit all over the place and especially because the vocals are very upfront and snotty, it reminds me of some British bands like Insurrection, early 90's Disorder, Dirge, or faster bands like Satananic Malfunctions, Atavistic or even Active Minds, although I doubt these were Turmoil's points of reference, with the possible exception of Active Minds, who were around by 1994 and, like Turmoil, used short songs with different paces and sharp breaks. If someone had told me that Turmoil were from Huddersfield and recorded a demo in april 1989, I might have believed it (after all they have a 10-second song like Sore Throat). Basically, fast and sloppy hardcore thrash with political lyrics and a DIY to the bones attitude. Songs about finding the real you and fighting back against religious alienation, against vivisection and animal abuse, against the military and the corrupt political system.

Turmoil seemed to be really into international cooperation since they also did split releases with Inkisição from Portugal, with the similarly shambolic Regeneracion from Mexico (I already talked about this lot in a previous post) and Depress from Malaysia. As I mentioned earlier, I don't know much about the 90's Turkish DIY punk scene but when you add Turmoil to the few other good bands I know of like Spinners, Dispute or Necrosis, it makes me thinks that there might be other hidden nuggets to be discovered. Suggestions anyone?

This Ep was released in 1994 on Grinding Madness records, a label that rather unsurprisingly was also responsible for records from Agathocles, Rot, Intestinal Disease or Active Minds. Reading the label's message in the record, I realized that Grinding Madness was meant to release a benefit compilation Lp called "Smash fascism" in 1995 with a cracking line-up: Disaffect, Disrupt, Subcaos, Agathocles, Disorder among others. Too bad it never saw the light of day.

You should be able to get this record in any one euro bin at decent gigs.  

Acoustic Turmoil