"Atropello!! - Peruvian Hardcore Punk Compilation" tape, 2020's (?)

Let's deal with the elephant the room first: of course this is not an original copy of the cassette. The hardcore purists - also known as "the snobs" - will all in unison grunt a collective "duh" and Captain Obvious will join in the smirking. I can't really blame them. Atropello!! is a hardcore punk tape compilation originally released in 1989 in Peru on a tiny label called Bakteria Tapes that only released two tapes and was probably run by a member from one of the bands called Cesar (thanks Discogs for that precious bit of trivia). The chance that a humble forty-something punk from Paris would own an original copy of the thing is therefore highly unlikely. But then haven't we all heard incredible tales of rare tape recordings somehow ending in the hands of an innocent, often undeserving but excited righteous youth? And I'm not just talking about the dusty practice tapes of your uncle Bob's shit prog band he did in high school (nope, it doesn't really count in this context), tapes he thought should be immortalised online and hope you'll take care of it. But after all, tape trading was all the rage in the 80's and it would not completely unlikely that a Lima punk sent a copy of Atropello!! to a similarly enthusiastic Paris punk (although I have trouble picturing what sort of hardcore tape he would have sent in return given the size of the hardcore scene at the time). Then this tape could have been gifted to me, after I showed credentials and was deemed worthy by the local High Punk Council and there could even have been a ceremony to mark this important passage. Right?

But no, of course not, I grabbed this unofficial reissue in Zagreb from the Doomtown Records distro table last year so it is quite obviously a homemade bootleg meant as a tribute to this very fine but largely unknown piece of punk history. Details about the 80's punk scene in Lima is relatively scarce although two documentaries actually exist (the first one being basically live videos) and can be seen on youtube (there was a short article published in 2012 in Maximum Rocknroll that you can find here) and you will be able to gather pieces of information here and there - which is of course something I love doing. This writeup doesn't claim to be a historical piece about the early Peruvian punk scene but it is still quite easy and fun to infer some elements. The scene very largely revolved around the capital Lima where about a third of Peruvians lived (the country being rather centralised), making the movement predominantly urban at that time. What better places for punk in the 80's than a South American capital? There was certainly no shortage of good reasons to get into it (poverty, political oppression, violence, corruption, you name it - like Autopsia did). Throughout this review, there will also be no shortage of wild guesses, potentially inaccurate assertions, erroneous data and gross misunderstandings, so feel free to correct me in the comments.

The early Latino hardcore scene has rightly become more documented in the past 10 years. Classic Mexican hardcore bands like MELI, Massacre 68, SS-20, Herejia, Atoxxxico or Histeria have all enjoyed reissues and the very noisy Medellin scene of the late 80's/early 90's is also starting to be resurrected, like the notably amazing reissue of Estamos en la Sima on FOAD Records (probably the best label when it comes to rerelease old materials because of the impressive care put into the booklet and the contextualisation). The old-school Brazilian scene has always been well documented and regularly reissued so I don't see it in the same light, contrary to the Peruvian scene that has remained rather in the shadow compared to DF or Medellin hardcore "de las ochentas". Yet, judging by the number of bands and the dynamism and energy of the music, it can be said that Lima was one hotspots of hardcore punk on the continent at that point in time (or perhaps I am also guilty of projecting too much and I just want it to be too hard). Since I bumped into 80's Peruvian hardcore, I have always had a soft spot for the sound and the scene, as short-lived as it might have been then - most bands did not make it to 1990 - certainly had its fair share of quality raw and pissed hardcore bands that were every bits as good as other Spanish-speaking contemporary acts and resonate meaningfully with the current tupa-tupa punk fashion.

If you have never heard of the Lima punk scene and never listened to an old-school hardcore band from Lima, Atropello!! is the ideal starting point as it includes 9 bands and 28 songs: one hour of genuine RAW PUNK. The most significant missing early Peruvian punk bands here would be Narcosis (whose '85 demo Primera Dosis is something of a cult snotty punk recording) and Leuzemia (class '77 style band with a contagious energy and brilliant tunes) but since Atropello!! claims to be a hardcore compilation it is not too surprising (second "duh" of the writeup). The Lima-based bands included were around for a short period of time - 80's bands often were anyway - during the second part of the decade and could all be said to be influenced not just by American hardcore, but also UK82, Italian as well as Brazilian hardcore and I suppose the classics of Spanish punk (RIP for example). At the end of the day, it sounds exactly like it should: angry teens trying to play fast punk music. Let's have it!

The first band on the tape is called Kaos General (!) with 5 songs (their whole '88 demo in fact), one of my favourite here. They play raw rabioso urgent hardcore punk, not far from the Mexican classics or a more primitive take on Anti-Dogmatikss and IV Reich, but you can also tell that they played a lot of US hardcore (on that level you've got to love the introduction to "Permanecermos hasta el final" that was liberally borrowed from Minor Threat) and I love the angry and easy to sing along chorus. The eponymous song "Kaos general" sums up what 80's raw punk was all about and is an instant classic. There is no official reissue yet but I hope it's just a matter of time. Next up are Panico and we are in even rawer territory. The tone is more melodic and slower, the first song being basically a crude adaptation of 4-Skins' "Chaos" with a lot of heart and energy while the second one is a simple but effective tupa-tupa number with a good tune. Probably more UK82 than properly hardcore I suppose but I like it. Just two songs for Panico but a demo was recorded in 1985 with 4 more songs on it that was reissued on Ep in 2012. 

The next band is Ataque Frontal, undoubtedly the most famous Peruvian hardcore band on the tape and in general. This is the first 80's punk band from Peru that I heard of, not a massive feat since their legendary 1988 Ep was released on a Paris label called New Wave Records that was also responsible for putting out a couple of records in the 80's from the likes of Abaddon, Heïmat-Los or Agent Orange and whose founder was apparently in touch with some punks in Lima. This Ep can be said to be one of the best Latino hardcore punk records from the 80's and the three songs on the tape are absolutely ferocious. Ataque Frontal were once known as Guerrilla Urbana, probably the first hardcore band in the country (their first gig apparently ended with shots from the police, a legend-creating moment), whose first demo was released as a split tape with HHH on another Paris label called Jungle Hop (not sure what the Paris-Lima connection was all about but I should ask). The songs "Sobreviviré" and "Memorias" were actually originally written under the name Guerrilla Urbana. The production here is, obviously, raw but if anything it highlights the anger and the urgency. You can tell it's the late 80's and some moments remind me of Negazione or even Heresy, although Ataque Frontal were punkier and closer to Massacre 68 or MELI. Hardcore aficionados must know them already but if you do not the Ep has been reissued. Brilliant shit.

The following orchestra is Kaos. Now with a name like this you would expect a particularly chaotic and spontaneous affair full of teenage energy and angst that would somehow make out for the general lack of musicianship. You would not be wrong. I am pretty sure every country has its own punk band called "chaos" and Atropellos!! includes no less than 3 songs from the band, all live recordings so you better get prepared. The result is of course rough, direct and punk-as-fuck with that distinctive original tupa-tupa style, far from all the contemporary wannabes. I love the vocals and how angry the vocals sounds like as he is really screaming his head off. Kaos even have a song entitled "No!!!" that has too many "oi! oi!" and ends up in some sort of proto-grindcore anarchy which is quite something. The band has actually been reissued several times and some of the demos are genuine Latino raw punk gems that stand as Peruvian hardcore at its most rabid, the kind that kill posers. 

The next band G3 almost sounds pop after that and indeed they are possibly the most skilled band here. They were formed by ex members of Autopsia (who are also on the compilation) and even won fourth place in a Non-Professional Rock contest. I'd be proud and I'm sure they were. G3 were more influenced by the Boston hardcore scene than their comrades (rest assured that the sound is just as raw) and they played really fast with that typical flow and some great tunes. They were rather successful and even got to tour. The two songs on the first side were taken from a rather good-sounding (all things considered) live recording from 1989 while the other two are from a studio session from 1987. Not my favourite take on hardcore but still a very apt band with that instinctive USHC energy. 

Next up are Curriculum Mortis are they are a massive kick up the arse. This long-haired punks are the only metallic band on the compilation and as such, proudly flying the crossover thrash flag, they do indulge in some cheesy 80's solos that are really quite fun. The classic 80's thrash metal bands must have been influences but I am hearing a lot of UKHC as well like Heresy, Concrete Sox or indeed early Napalm Death (possibly because I suck at crossover and these are my references). What I love here is how raw,  primitive and just super punk Curriculum Mortis sound. They probably wanted to be the next Slayer but they ended up epitomising what skint punk teens listening to Slayer were able to produce in a DIY fashion. And personally I much prefer that second option. The band must have a quiet cult status since Nuclear War Now reissued their demo in 2022. 

The following band is Autopsia, the only band along Ataque Frontal I was familiar with prior to coming across Atropello!!. Autopsia had some of their songs off their grandiose Sistema y Poder demo tape from 1985 reissued as an Ep which I knew entitled Poder, Represión Y Corrupción in 2006 (notably thanks to the Medellin label Sin Temores that also reissued the Panico demo as well other Peruvian classics like Maria T-T y el Empujon Brutal). The original recording is far longer and it is absolutely brilliant. Sistema y Poder exemplified the essence of raw tupa-tupa Latino hardcore punk, a unique sound specific to a time and place that cannot really be duplicated - although Ignorantes arguably come close. The vocals are gruff and aggressive, you really have the impression that the singer is personally pissed at you and at the world and he probably was. The energy and the tension is impressive on the tree songs included on the tape and I strongly suggest you dive into into the whole recording. The parallel with classic Mexican hardcore is relevant but bands like Riot Squad or Ad'Nauseam are also points of comparison and perhaps some deutschpunk too? But in the end this stands as a sound-creating recording.

Sentido Común are next and, as I'm sure you have come to expect, play typical raw hardcore punk with a love for a particular binary beat. Only two songs (the band's discography is very limited) but they do the job in an aptly disorderly fashion and the chorus to "Con la violencia no!" is a high point of the whole compilation. The final band of Atropello!! is Descontrol, something of a cult band - deservedly - thanks to their excellent '87 demo Productos de las Circunstancias that was reissued last decade but is now about as affordable as a meal in London. However on the compilation only the song "Utopia" originally appeared on the demo, the other two numbers being live songs which account for the even rawer sound and how upfront the vocals are. Still the energy and impact are unbelievable and these three songs give a relevant glimpse at how furious Descontrol were. They cannot be said to be 100% from the tupa-tupa philosophy and I can hear a lot of Italian hardcore, like EU's Arse, Indigesti or Declino, and Spanish raw punk classics like IV Reich. As I said the two live songs are rough so I advise to go to the demo too. Top band who were apparently thrown away from a gig once by the Maoist party Sendero Luminoso for being an imperialist band playing music contaminated by foreign influences. That's pretty cool.  

One cannot but assume that Atropello!! will enjoy an official reissue in the future (it will have to be a double Lp which may make labels hesitant) to allow the punk masses to discover a little-known scene and prove that hardcore is not synonymous with the US of A. I have read about a tape reissue from Helvetet Records but have never seen it advertised and it is not on the website so who knows. 

Atropello!!

        

LASTSENTENCE "Solitude" tape Ep, 2017

Alright, I'm back. It would be something of an exaggeration to claim that I'm back "from the dead", although it would certainly make me sound really cool and I'd become the "Phoenix of Crust" which would definitely boost my online popularity and the status of Crustus Immortalis would probably increase engagement on the blog (whatever that means). The closest from the Hades I have been to since the last post was when a pizza delivery guy almost ran me over last week though. So no, I just had things to do - "IRL" as twats say - and lacked time to sit on my arse and write far too enthusiastic words about unlistenable music that few very devoted people love as much as I do. Am I happy to be back? Indeed, old bean, indeed. What I am trying to eventually achieve through Terminal Sound Nuisance is still not quite clear, beside offering something to read instead of a like button and a click culture, but I keep getting back to it anyway. They say that the journey is more important than the destination but then you often find on inspirational posters in people's bathrooms so it is difficult to take seriously. Quixotic I presume.

I won't be doing an actual series for once and will just write about recordings that I like or that I find interesting, the only common attributes being the sacrosanct tape format. The material difference between a demo tape released in 1992 and another one twenty years later is absolutely huge although they are both technically punk tapes. Once the most relevant cheap DIY format, ideal in its very nature for its convenience in order to share and spread your music, has the tape become something of a romantic punk shibboleth, a material tribute to a golden era, the format almost as important as the music, seemingly carrying a message by itself? Still, tapes have remained relatively cheap and you could argue that most people interested in our little niches have always owned, or rather never stopped owning, a tape player anyway so that the contemporary trendiness enjoyed by tapes do not matter that much. It must be different for the people who are too young to have lived in the original era of tapes. How do they see tapes? After all, it was never a relevant format to them, they were born in the mp3 era and I don't see many bands releasing cdr's either.

All this to say that I will be writing about tapes without any real unity of time and place even though I realize that, for all the criticism, I myself have been buying quite a lot of tapes in the past 10 years - more than ever before in fact - so that we will not go too far back in time in general (with delightful exceptions of course). And because I was dying to deal with something completely different to the last series about Japanese crust compilations, the first installment will be... a fucking "Raw-noise mangel attack" from Osaka. I picked it at random and yet I am back right where I stopped. I suppose it says a lot about my tape collection.

Lastsentence (the spelling possibly picked in order to differentiate themselves from the legions of preexisting Last Sentence) can be said to be one of those bands that fans of the subgenre are acquainted with and enjoy to a well balanced, reasonable extent, but that people with a casual liking to Osaka noize will very likely be totally oblivious to. Why bother with Lastsentence when you have Ferocious X? Well, precisely. If you cared to bother with Ferocious X then why not get an extra slice of goodness from the same crew? Think of Lastsentence as the third band of a "3 crasher mangel acts for the price of 2" hardcore punk deal. The band has been going for a while now, made up originally of members from Devastated Goes, Nationstate and Ferocious X (duh) with a first demo released in 2008. The band was a different animal at that time as they had a female singer (Oda from Nationstate) and the music was much more distorted, very close to Ferocious X actually (duh again) as their Beginning of the Closed Mind can attest. By 2011, the sound changed and guitar player Nabe took on vocal duties. Rawer and not as distorted was the guitar and the band focused more on the heritage of Frigöra and early Gloom, the space between them, rather than the "wall of noise" school. It was the right choice because not many bands go for that raw distorted Mob 47 vibe and the energy is contagious when it's done well in a pummeling mangel fashion. 

On this 2017 recording, recorded at the infamous King Cobra Squat, a new guitar played got recruited but the sound recipe remains the same with songs that will fit right with your usual Frigöra-holidaying-in-Osaka morning routine. Lastsentence do well what they set out to, with gusto, and even if they are a humble Osaka "raw-noise mangel attack" and will not shatter the earth crust, it is not, by far, a bad spot to occupy. It is in fact a brilliant tradition to proudly represent. Since 2018 (I think?) the band has had Jacky Framtid on vocals (the drummer Aladdin actually joined Framtid earlier) and he does the job with obvious passion. The Solitude tape Ep was released on Doomed to Extinction Records, a label with more than a passing fondness for Japanese crusty hardcore that I warmly recommend if you like your punk obscure and noizy (the label had released a split between Lastsentence and Tokyo's Voco Protesta two years before that tape). This will appeal of course to the completists but the average Swedish hardcore fan will dig this too.

Solitude

Japanese CRUST (compilations) Against the Millennium (part 4): "Yotsuva - Japanese Noiz Cruster Comp" Lp, 2009

When a kid gets into punk, he or she often makes it very loud and very clear through dodgy hair dye, randomly drawn circled A on still pristine denim jackets, typically shit early attempts at a mohawk or the sudden disappearance of every safety pins in the house. Parents aren't exactly excited and not too chuffed to have to tell your grandparents aka their own parents - rather embarrassingly - that you're "going through a phase" and that they shouldn't pay too much attention when their once adorable grandson or granddaughter now cannot stop ranting about how the final bloodbath is coming and is just around the corner or some shit. Know what I mean? 

When it is indeed a mere phase, you can all laugh about it years later when the former snotty little punk has finally accomplished his or her destiny and become a mediocre accountant in a boring shithole and spawn two horrible children. Mum would be so relieved that you quickly dropped the bondage trousers and the torn Exploited shirts (although nothing could be done about the still half-infected tattoo of an oddly shaped skull that your mate Paul did during a party while on mushrooms) and became presentable and proper enough to be introduced to her own old high-school friends who grew up to be much more successful. When it is not a phase (meaning when you're still rocking the haircut by 25), well, things are more complicated, aren't they? Parents often beat themselves up, convinced that they must have done something terribly wrong and have basically failed dramatically at parenting. If not, why would their beloved offspring wear what can only be kindly described as a bum's rags, play in a dreadful band called The Riot Cunt Boys and stop eating meat. By that point, the grandparents would have already blamed the mother repeatedly (because in a patriarchal society it's always the mothers who take the blame) for the revolting hygiene of their grandkid and the neighbours gossiped relentlessly about the parrot-looking youth living next door who often gets bullied by "real men".

Why such subtle sociological analysis you might ask? Well, have you seen the cover of the Yotsuva compilation 12" Ep? What would the gran say? It has to be the crustiest picture of a human being that you have ever seen. There's so much hair you can't even see the face of that punk and he probably can't see shit either. It looks pretty much like a scarecrow who lost his comb or the hidden punk baby brother of Cousin Itt, the opposite of presentable. And isn't the creature a little scary as well? If I bumped into that crusty punk at midnight in a poorly lit dark street, I would maybe think that Sadako, instead of dicking around in old wells, just got into Deviated Instinct and is on her way to haunt fake punks who like shoegaze and Turnstile. In any case a mere cursory glance at the cover of Yotsuva is enough for even the least discerning of us to understand that it is an unhealthy, unmitigated slice of crust-for-crusties (noise-not) music. To make sure everyone got it the subtitle Japanese Noiz Cruster Comp was added. Just to be safe.

There are only four bands on this compilation (or would it be more accurate to call it a four-way split?) but the lineup is fantastic and I personally see the record as something of a classic Japanese crust record and a highly relevant snapshot of a time period. One of the most chaotic and noisiest bands of a subgenre already based on chaos and noise opens fire first: Tokyo's Isterismo. It did take me a few years before I understood what the hell they were trying to do first and second to genuinely enjoy them. Emphaticalness might be the key word here. Imagine early Gloom and Frigöra teaming up to create a band doing covers of Plasmid and Asylum and then make it noisier, faster, blow it out a bit more and add an obsession for the amusical side of Italian hardcore like London 77 or Fottutissima Pellicceria Elsa. An intentional fucking racket indeed from a band known and sought after precisely for that. Like Tantrum, Isterismo sang in Italian and these three songs belonged to the early years of the band, my favourite era as I always thought the later Lp was rather disappointing. These Tokyo crusties went on to play in bands like Solvent Cobal or Haava. I recommend the compilation Lp Tokyo Crusties (duh) which you can still find for quite cheap if you want your senses to be assaulted by the band's early period.

The humungous Death Dust Extractor grace us next with three horrendous noise cavecrust songs and it sounds exactly like it should. Do you love early Doom and Sore Throat? Have you always thought that Japanese bands Mindsuck or Abraham Cross did a magnificent job revering Doom and Sore Throat? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you threw a bit of Terminal Filth Stenchcore into the mix and a spoonful of unhinged Osaka crasher crust? Well, it's your lucky day and these three songs are tailor made for your sick tastes in music. A pretty unique band indeed.

Lastly are the third band to enter the crust arena and they are possibly the lesser known of the four stenchmen of the apocalypse. They were from Hida-Takayama, in the Gifu prefecture, a region known for its mountains and I wouldn't be surprised if the members of Lastly were all actual feral kids living in the wilderness of these mountains, eating roots, throwing shit at each other and communicating through noises before they learnt how to speak at age 20. In fact they might have learnt how to play crasher crust before the linguistic skills. This is savage relentless noizy crust praying at the altar of Gloom and Collapse Society and must clearly be seen in the same light as Isterismo, D-Clone or Zyanose. Nothing new here, it's all very well done, by the book, but you might argue that Lastly missed that bit of personality that would have helped cement their spot in the Japanese crust pantheon. You could say they were a mid-table crust bands but then the Japanese league was perhaps the best in the world at that time so it is already remarkable. These four songs (one is not listed) were the first appearance of Lastly on record and they pack a serious punch, I actually like them better than their first cruder more noisepunk Ep while the second one was closer to Contrast Attitude. 

Finally the listener is rewarded for his or her persistence with three songs of noise insanity by the mighty Zyanose. Thanks to a serious and globally solid discography Zyanose have definitely become a reference in the Confuse-meets-Gloom-at-a-crust-convention-held-in-a-mental-asylum. It's still pretty much a musical freak show but one that has become more respectable with time. I have written extensively about these Osaka nutters and I don't feel I need to reiterate because, by now, you know what I am talking about.

As a conclusion, Yotsuva (I haven't been able to find where the name comes from so information is welcome) will delight the most monomaniacal of us and if you are looking for variety then I suggest you keep away from it. However if you crave for your dose of crasher crust it is the perfect choice and a high quality product from the best noise dealers around. A perfect compilation as far as its intentions are concerned: in 15 minutes it succeeds to do perfectly what it claims to do on the cover. No bullshit, just crust pants. Another winning endeavour from everyone's favourite supplier Crust War Records.

YOTSUVA!

  

Japanese CRUST (compilations) Against the Millennium (part 3): "混沌難聴大虐殺 (Konton Damaging Ear Massacre)" Lp, 2005

Osaka. Third most populated city in Japan, legendary punk spot, historical epicenter of the crasher hardcore style and home to that massive plastic red crab. I only stayed there for a couple of days in 2018 for the All Crusties Insane Noise Victim festival because of its smashing lineup, along with rather cheap plane tickets, that prompted me to go there on my own, like a nerd armed with determination and resolve, with the desire to spend far more than reasonable in notoriously busy record stores. Before I traveled to Japan, I had been told Osaka was supposed to be a place where people were rather outgoing and a bit rough as well, something of a raucous, boisterous city as opposed to the more conservative Kyoto. It was described to me as the Marseille of Japan and you'd know what it means if you have been to the South of France. And of course, I had very good time, got absolutely plastered at the Konton bar (a very apt name for the place), got lost on my way back to the hotel, found a fellow punk randomly who kindly took me there (to my great embarrassment I realized the next day that he happened to be Framtid's drummer...) and obviously forgot to take off my boots when I came in the building. Proper French class.

But let's get back to more interesting matters. Beside the great music that everyone knows, I often associate Osaka punk with elite crust pants, vast knowledge of punk and with words, very specific neological phrases created to describe the sound of a band. These are combinations of familiar word commonly used in the punk world, that are, strictly speaking devoid of literal sense, but very rich in evocations and pregnant with meaning if you "speak punk". Know what I mean? This linguistic practice cannot be restricted to Osaka, of course, it's a national phenomenon and most crust or d-beat bands do it - they could be legally bound to for all I know. A quick glance at the Inferno Punx photo book published in 2003 and edited by influential Osaka punks, Jackie (Framtid and Crust War), Mitsuru (Gloom) and Jhonio (Gloom, Defector and others) illustrates what I mean: Deconstruction's sound becomes "Ultra collapsing noise crust", Collapse Society are referred to as "Ultra-scandi Tokyo crusties", Frigöra as "Scandi-magnum crusties torpedo" (I like that one) or Condemned as "Primitive blast crust core". There are many other telling examples of such imaginative portrayals in reviews, fanzines, on record's inserts and of course on bands' logos themselves, like the iconic Gloom logo for instance and Contrast Attitude's "Dis noise attack survivor", Effigy's "Grinding metal massacre", Death Dust Extractor's philosophical "Destroy death energy" and plenty more. In fact, this phrasing was adopted by a lot of bands outside of Japan, notably Physique and their "Disbones crasher" or Fragment's "Total noise fuckers". It can arguably get very redundant, if not lazy at times, but I like how cryptic it really is as these nonsensical phrases are coded for punks. It's fun, folkloric and validating I suppose. In my tiny mind it is very associated with the culture of that place.

And all that for some noisy punk bands. 混沌難聴大虐殺 (Konton Damaging Ear Massacre) (the word "konton" can be translated as "chaos" and it's also the name of a tiny punk bar where I lost my usual sense of moderation, so that gives you an idea) was released in 2005 on none other than Crust War Records. A pretty close knit affaire indeed as Jackie also provided some art, Framtid Takayama the text and Defector Toyo and Jhonio did the design. I have said it many times but I will reiterate because it is my blog: I love town-based compilations. They provide a fair but biased (there's always a curator) view of a specific scene at a specific time. The theme of the Lp is crystal clear: noisy hardcore punk for noisy hardcore punks. All the songs were recorded in 2004 so I imagine it had been planned well in advance to make time for the bands. The artwork reeks of classic crust punk imagery so the more timid listeners might be willing to avoid this one but it'd be a mistake because the Lp is more diverse than it literally looks like and claims to be. 

The opening band is Framtid and I don't really need to introduce them at this point. In the second part of the 00's, they just sounded unstoppable as they maximised the traditional gruff scandicore formula, making it sound more aggressive than ever thanks to triumphant guitar arrangements and riffs, this manic ultra energetic Osaka crasher drumming style and intense vocals. Like Gloom covering Svart Parad and Asocial. Excruciatingly good. Framtid are a tough act to follow and Poikkeus have been picked to take this tricky spot. Poikkeus is the kind of bands that I am familiar with but never really cared for at the time. Japanese punks never show restraint when they get involved and like Frigöra sang in Swedish because they loved Mob 47, Isterismo in Italian because they took "Chaos non musica" very seriously, Desperdicio in Spanish because they overplayed Destruccion and Voco Protesta in Esperanto because they romantically believe in the power of language as a tool to unite people, Poikkeus went for Finnish because they revered Propaganda Records. It does take a lot of courage and dedication to try to sing in Finnish, I'll give the band that, and their distorted take on the traditional Finnish hardcore sound of Kaaos, Melakka or early Bastards must be commended. I like the amount of energy they put in, especially with the first song, but it is sometimes too punk-rock oriented for my tastes and the songs are a little long. I prefer my Finnish hardcore fast and furious with generous pints of snot but this is well-executed enough.

I had absolutely never heard of Kruw before playing this Lp and a damaging ear massacre they are certainly not. The band was active for most of the 00's and played tuneful, old-school hardcore, but the first number sounds almost like a late 70's punk band (like Anarchy maybe with the lyrics in Japanese). The second one is much faster, with still a clear guitar sound which makes quite a contrast with the rest of the lineup. High-energy hardcore with a slightly crazy punk vibe. I wouldn't listen to Kruw all night but I welcome these fresh songs in this context. Adixion are next, a band with an interesting history. They had been active since the early 90's and used to call themselves Addiction back when they were a very different animal. Originally, up until the mid-00's, Addiction played excellent UK82 influenced punk-rock with singalongs and great spirit and you could argue that they were one of the best bands - not to mention one of the earliest - working on that sound around in the 90's (let's remember it was the heyday of bands like Tom & the Bootboys, Discocks, The Kickers and the whole Pogo 77 Records scene). Their switch to Adixion was also a musical switch as they started playing a more experimental and dissonant, not as regulated you could say, kind of hardcore music. I am a man of recipes and while I can really enjoy Addiction, Adixion are not my cuppa. This said I appreciate the fact that they were included on this compilation and this is exactly what makes such endeavours interesting and even challenging.

The other side of the Lp is, undeniably, much more in line with the Osaka crust orthodoxy. And we start off strong with Zoe and their groovy blend of Amebix and Zygote. Zoe was very much Taki's (from Gloom and Defector amongst others) baby and a grand opportunity to rename himself "lightning baron" which makes him sound like a crust superhero I suppose. I have always loved Zoe and almost twenty years after their demise I realize how genuinely original they really were and I cannot think of a band really working with the same Amebix-as-language predicate. As for the songs you have two rerecorded numbers that originally appeared on The Last Axe Beat (that I covered extensively here), the very Zygotish "New world" and the supremely Amebixian "Zygospore". It's good stuff. Did I mention they loved Amebix?

The listener is then brutally attacked by two songs of Ferocious X, then still a relatively new Osaka bands immersed in a relatively old Osaka tradition: playing emphatically furious käng hardcore with a lot of distortion. If Poikkeus decided to sing in Finnish because they revered Riistetyt, Ferocious X went for the Swedish language because they dreamt of Disarm and Mob 47. Or - much - closer to home of Frigöra, the Japanese hardcore band that pioneered the notion that hardcore could very much be used as a second language in the 90's, that substantially singing in Swedish (or in any other languages tied to a legendary hardcore scene) was a way for you to sound closer to the source material. I think that it does make sense conceptually but it also does make for some odd syntax moments and I cannot wait for a Japanese bands to sing in French because they like Les Béruriers Noirs (they won't dress as clowns hopefully). To get back to Ferocious X, I only got into the band rather recently (by which I mean 10 years ago) and was unaware of them in the 00's. They are one of the oldest - if not the oldest - bands doing the blownout crasher käng thing still in activity, have produced some solid records throughout the years and even though they may not be as popular as other Osaka, these two songs are absolute hardcore tornadoes of anger, distortion and just plain dementia in the pure local crust tradition. The drumming, courtesy of Takayama from Framtid, is insane and the vocalist (formerly doing similar noises in Reduction) sounds like a howling rabid seal lion. If you know, you know as the kids say.

The second Suomi band of the record comes next under the guise of Laukaus and I actually like them better than their brother in arms Poikkeus. Laukaus were snottier, with a touch of UK82, maybe just punkier, with a clearer guitar sound and overall less effects. They are very reminiscent of Bastards and Kaaos (just listen to that bass sound) with a spontaneous sense of fun and a "two fingers in the air" attitude. This is hardcore to pick up your nose to while drinking cider outside of the venue if you know what I mean. The song "Poisiukaa" even made me want to pogo (briefly and just metaphorically but still more than usual). The band's three Ep's (on Distort Label Records, Putrid Filth Conspiracy and Pogo 77) are also very strong and let's just hope that someone will have the grand idea to release a discography because Laukaus could rightly be considered as one of the very best Finnish hardcore of their generation. Not a mean achievement when you're from Japan.

Finally Konton Damaging Ear Massacre ends on a very crusty note with two songs of Defector, the band vastly known as being "post-Gloom". There are elements reminiscent of Gloom of course but you could always tell that Defector craved to create something a little new and different, not to the extent of going free jazz as they still very much want to destroy your ears and the little sanity you have left. There is precisely an atmosphere of insanity, chaos, lunacy in their music as the band plays with song structures and paces, maybe not unlike Confuse's latest period but with still Osaka crasher crust tools. It might be a bit too chaotic and loony for some but I have always found the band very endearing and an interesting sequel to a legendary band whose legacy permeates the compilation textually and paratextually. 

Is this a must-have, a classic, a compulsory record to own, a genre-defining moment? Not really. There are some brilliant moments indeed - the whole side B actually - but other songs leave me a little cold. However the album must appreciated for what it is, a snapshot of a portion of the Osaka scene at a given point in time so that it reflects what was happening there and then. Beside the bands included are quite diverse for a Crust War Records production and the album must be given some praises for it. 

As much as the unreasonable part of me would have loved to be punished by crasher hardcore crust bands playing the exact same thing for 30 minutes, the reasonable one also appreciates some variety and the discovery of bands I did not know. That's what's called wisdom apparently.

Konton Konton Konton

    

 

  

Japanese CRUST (compilations) Against the Millennium (part 1): "Crust Night" cd's (2001-2004)

Summer is here, the heat is here, shirtless obnoxious twats are back too like wasps bent on ruining your lunch (they extra points if they are on mopeds) and the shitty job is (tragically) still here as well. Isn't this the perfect, ideal time to take a look at some Japanese crust compilations from the 00's in order to get inspired and pick the right shirts for festivals, the ones that will have the rest of the audience stare at you in awe and envy? You have to enjoy these little moments in life even though the said precious shirt might eventually and unexpectedly "disappear" from your tent only to "reappear" on another bloke's back the next day (true story that, I still mourn for that missing Electro Hippies shirt I never had the guts to reclaim because, to be fair, the other guy was definitely harder than me). But anyway, I have been toying with the idea of just chatting relaxedly about some nice Japanese records, nothing I haven't said before I guess but then isn't life structured around repetitions aimed at reaffirming and confirming what our inner selves are all about? It's a bit like connecting with your inner crust pants instead of your inner child. Crusties not hippies or something.

This will be a short four-part enterprise but the opening one is pretty massive it includes three records that were part of a series of compilations called Crust Night. There were four volumes of these compilations but we will only deal with the first three because I was never able to find the last one, Crust Nights 2005. A small discrepancy that will not impact your reading and listening pleasure I'm sure. Beside, a lot of bands appeared on the four volumes so that there were not that many newcomers on the last installment anyway. The Crust Night's were released on Tribal War Asia, the Tokyo-based label run by Masaki from the band Power of Idea - which accounted for the band's inclusion on the four compilations despite not being actually crust - and by Shige from Crocodileskink and engineer at the infamous Noise Room studio. The label released records from Japanese bands (some excellent ones like AGE's Four Wings and the very underrated Social Crime and Answer Crying) but also Japanese versions of European or American bands (like Warcollapse or Döm Dar). At the end of its run, Tribal War Asia started to work with hardcore bands from Malaysia or Singapore and I wish it had been able to go on and develop further in that direction but it was not to be.

Can the Crust Night's be considered as classic Japanese crust compilations that all soap-dodging foul-breathed Disclose worshippers should own? Well, in my opinion, the answer is mixed. First and foremost, to be blunt, the curation was quite uneven, if not patchy and even the sound level between songs is not always on par. While you could find some absolute gems that should be appreciated by punks loyal to the crust doxa and while it certainly provides a relevant snapshot of parts of the Japanese crust scenes, there were also very rough and rather forgettable songs. However, this might have to do with the philosophy behind the compilations too. The label ambitiously strove to release one volume a year so that I think he may have had to work with the songs that were sent to him, whether it was a scorcher or a band dicking around in the practice room. Not unlike a 00's Japanese crust version of the Bullshit Detector? I wish some sort of introduction to the compilations were included in order to describe what the Crust Night was all about beside being a record that your mum hates. All this is therefore very much left to interpretations. Second, well, they are cd compilations and outside of Japan this format has been ignored by most and is deemed to be about as uncool as your dad's pager that he's been keeping since 1998. Fortunately for me and you, it means that you can get these for cheap. This is not to say that the Crust Night's had nothing going for them. They were a great way to discover largely obscure bands that I would have never come across otherwise, especially in the pre-youtube years (also referred to as "prehistory" by people under 25). I got to become familiar with classic bands like Reality Crisis, Abraham Cross or Contrast Attitude through these. If you were to trim the compilations a little and select the 20 best songs, you would undeniable have a classic 00's crust compilation. 

The first volume must have been one of the first - if not the first - Japanese punk compilations I owned because back in the early 00's, Tribal War Asia records were pretty easy to find and, as I mentioned, rather inexpensive. It is unsurprising that I hold it quite dearly even if it was objectively not a game changer but at the time I was just enthralled to be able to discover all these exotic unknown noisy bands. I loved, and still do, how they looked. A simple foldout Ep sleeve with all the bands providing lyrics and some artwork, pretty old-school and simple. A very striking thing on these compilations is the absence of any Osaka band (apart from Argue Damnation). There could be contextual rivalries (what with it being a Tokyo label) that I am unaware of but, from a synchronic perspective, one can only be surprised and muse at the astonishing absence of the classic and now legendary Osaka crasher sound especially since a lot of top bands were very much active during the first half of the 00's (Framtid, Defector, Zoe or Ferocious X to name a few) and that the genre is indeed represented here. Again, this is left to interpretations and as I said there are probably reasons that I am clueless about. But let's have it, shall we? 

Crust Night 2001

The first volume starts strong with a raw aggressive classic crasher crust song (like early Gloom or something) from the oft overlooked Peaceful Collapse, from Sendai up North, a band that would have deserved a proper vinyl record but that never happened for some reason. Next are Reality Crisis, this time a well-known act from Nagoya that would start changing their sound a bit later in the 00's (the synth introduction to "Times goes by so fast" kinda already gives it away I guess) but we're very much still in the cavemen crust territory of Doom, Hiatus or Abraham Cross here, with a slight more polished production. This song also appeared on their split with Avskum. Two numbers of Power of Idea follow, two covers actually, Battle of Disarm and Social Crime respectively. Not bad in itself, they are energetic and angry enough, but I don't really see the point here. Speaking of Battle of Disarm, they offer a raw live version of "Control shit" (that was unreleased at the time I believe) that is pretty much what you would expect from this iconic 90's crust band although not their best take.

Then it's the mighty AGE from Niigata follow with a live version (again) of "Invisible future". The song is brilliant, total SDS-styled dark and rocking metallic crust and you can feel the energy and power. I am usually not a huge fan of live recordings but this is really good. Käng lovers Crocodile Skink are next with two cover songs, a cover of a classic No Security hit and of Within Range, an obscure Norwegian hardcore band from the late 80's that I have never heard of and this one feels unnecessary. Then, it's a song from the classic 80's metallic hardcore punk band Asbestos that would also appear on the 2002 Ep with a riff that reminds me of Brazilian thrashing hardcore. Otherwise a traditionally executed Japanese hardcore song with an epic solo and gruff vocals that could have been recorded 15 years before. 

A band called Change from Hiroshima follows and if they were a wrestler they would be in the mid-card. Quite a good fast crusty hardcore number with yelled vocals, distortion and dynamic singalongs. It lacks a bit in intensity but it does the job here (they did a split double Ep with Agree to Differ that is of the same caliber). Next are the enigmatic A.A.N.A (or An Apology Nature Rise) from Tokyo I'm guessing, a band I wish I knew more about because, for all the relative snotty sloppiness of the song, I am always up for some old-school anarchopunk with female vocals and "Forgot things" is exactly that, somewhere between DIRT and Avaricious. The band released a split tape with Diskonto but I have sadly never heard it. Then, Screen Out play an epic 6 minute song. Like Change, something of a mid table band with a future member of Unarm that released a satisfyingly brutal crustcore Ep in 2000. The song starts with a slow emo-sounding introduction before exploding into traditional Japanese hardcore with intensity, energy and gang style chorus. Enjoyable but I prefer the raw crust aggression of the Ep (funny how the sound, the intention and the production can affect the result in this case). The only Osaka band on the cd comes after with their brand of fast thrashing hardcore punk with a message. I quite like Argue Damnation but this recording is rough and I don't really see the point of its inclusion.

Crossover long-timers Beyond Description are the next in line, a band with a long resume and a certain craftsmanship when it comes to fast hardcore thrash, but this is a a pretty average live recording bound to please die hard fans but that's about it. Gotcha follow and I'm not sure what to think. This is rough and ready and sounds like the noisier dissonant Japanese version of peacepunk bands like Media Children. Primitive, heartfelt and pretty good. Information is scarce but welcome. Next up are the mighty Abraham Cross and this was my first introduction to the band and... it is a fucking ambient song, not crust whatsoever. I realized the band evolved into more experimental electronic territories by the end of their run but, being clueless at the time, I did not understand what they were doing on a compilation called Crust Night. Finally, the compilation ends with Indistinct Unrest from Chiba and a very harsh noize crust song that would make Death Dust Extractor blush. This is barely listenable I suppose but if you crave poorly recorded and barely discernible cavemen crust (I know I sometimes do), this could be your thing.

Crust Night 2002: the War Begins For them

The second installment is probably the best of the four in terms of overall cohesion and quality but a lot of the bands already appeared on the first one so that it feels like an extension of a select crust club with strict membership rather than a new volume and the difference between the two remains light. The compilation does not starts that well with an untitled rehearsal track from Battle of Disarm. It's alright but its very inclusion is difficult to understand from an outsider's point of view. The listener is then offered a short and sharp song from Voĉo Protesta from Tokyo. You've got to love their dynamic brand of distorted crasher raw punk in Esperanto. Direct and to the point. You've got Asbestos again with a fast thrashing hardcore with fast paced Japanese lyrics and a lot of energy. I like this one. As I do the next contestant, Peaceful Collapse, gracing this compilation with a solid crasher crust song that ticks all the boxes. 

Abraham Cross finally unleash their full power with a Doom-loving cavecrust song and amazing grizzli-like vocals. Are they the best to have ever done it this way? Probably. This one won me over of course. Next up are Power of Idea with a pretty typical fast and direct hardcore song with some blast beats and Answer Crying from Aichi, a highlight of the compilation, with high-energy crasher crust that is well worthy of your attention if you are into Deceiving Society or Contrast Attitude. This is followed by It's You, a Tokyo band playing hardcore punk bordering on screamo at times and it sounds a little stale after Answer Crying. Not my thing but this had an ex member of Macrofarge apparently. 

We keep going with more classic noize crust devastation with Contrast Attitude from Mie City back when the band was still in its infancy and not yet a point of reference as this song is their first official appearance on a record. Needless to say they were already brilliant and in full control. We'll be talking more about Contrast Attitude later on. Next up are Воля (meaning "will" in Russian) from Kyoto and they play straight-forward female-fronted hardcore punk with lyrics in Japanese. Not bad at all. D-beat fanatics Final Blood Bath follow with a raw song of Disaster-meets-Discharge's State Violence State Control in a basement. "Glow (!) strong" can't be said to be the band's strongest number but there aren't many strict d-beat bands on the Crust Nights so I'm digging it, brother. 

The mighty Acrostix, from Mie, are next with "Filth chain", a deliciously raw Amebix-style anthem taken from the band's first demo, well before they morphed into a more traditional Japanese hardcore band. By far my favourite period of Acrostix back when they were crustier than a bum's sock. They are followed by the always excellent Revölt from Kumagaya doing a fairly similar style, although doomier. The band was also in its early years and had a sound that was not unlike Effigy's but they were going for the Axegrinder-snogging-Misery vibe. The production here is a bit saturated but this is top shelf stenchcore. The band C.P.S (standing for Cunt Penis Sucker apparently) seal the deal with, I'm guessing, something of a joke song recorded in their rehearsal space, I'm guessing again. Pretty useless here to be honest.

Crust Night 2003-2004: Destroy All War Bastards and We Know It

This third volume is supposed to be for 2003 and 2004 so I suppose Tribal War Asia did not have enough material for the 2003 installment and had to wait a bit. Like for the other two you will have some faces that are growing very familiar by now. And yes Battle of Disarm and their gruff crust open the compilation with a pretty solid song this time. They are followed by Border Line from Fukushima and Miyagi, a very obscure band with members of Sacrifice and Corbata doing quite well what you are entitled to expect from Japanese crasher crust bands. The now traditional Peaceful Collapse song comes next and it is an absolute Gloom-loving chaos scorcher while Power of Idea sneak in discretely as usual just after with some grinding hardcore. 

The grindcore banner keeps flying high in the crust skies with, first, two songs from Parkinson from Malaysia that are old-school and primitive and punk-as-fuck and then two songs from Little Bastards from Kumagaya, a long-running band (since 1992!) with Revölt's drummer, who deliver disgusting thrashing grindcore with an Agathocles vibe. I don't often listen to grindcore but when I do I want the bands to sound like this. The supremely obscure Calamity follow with a wonderful Doom-loving cavecrust song not unlike Battle of Disarm or Abraham Cross but apart being from Tochigi I know fuck all about them. Too bad. The band Tohchika comes next and I have no idea who they are. They deliver pretty standard 90's crustcore with groovy bass lines probably done by Shige Tribal War Asia/ Crocodileskink/Noise Room especially since the name of the song is "Noise room". Could Tohchika be a couple of friends dicking around in the studio? 

The brilliantly named Arize are up next and they did not come nothing. Great noize crust reminiscent of SDS (Arize were also from Gifu actually), early Gloom and Final Noise Attack bands. It sounds pissed, it sounds raw, it sounds like quintessential Japanese crust and it is a shame the band never got to do a proper record. The quite unique Proletariart from Aichi follow with one song (and not two as the cover indicates) of raw käng hardcore sung in Japanese and I like it a lot, like Diskonto holidaying in Tokyo and learning the lingo. The band has changed a lot throughout the years and this was their first endeavour on record. After that Revölt come crashing with their anguished metal crust and a long and (very) heavy song to mosh to and Asbestos come say hi again with a pretty solid live song although I don't really see the point of having it included once again.  

The band Baptism from Fukushima are up next. Clearly a young band at the time (in fact they never recorded anything else) that kind of announces neocrust with its dual angry male/female vocals dark but somehow melodic crust punk (like a much simpler Muga or Antiproduct maybe). I actually like this very 00's sound. Beyond Description then contribute an impressively crushing hardcore thrash number before Destruction (future members of Unarm here) provide an intense slice of crusty anarchopunk with some more melodic and emo bits (gasp). The sound is raw but I like the layers and the story told here. Of course, it reeks of mid-00's neocrust but I can enjoy some and I think it is meaningful to have this kind of crust represented on the compilation and not just your usual wall of noise. Speaking of which Voco Protesta follow with a barely listenable overdistorted low-fi raw punk. I like the band but this is silly. The last song of this Crust Night is a looooong number by Sacrifice from Sendai (members of Border Line, Little Bastards, Peaceful Collapse, small is the world of crust) that is clearly a tribute to the nationally beloved Doom. Japanese cavecrust to the max.

As you can deduce, listening to the three compilations in one sitting is not recommended because many bands are included on two or even the three of them. The Crust Nights are not deprived of fillers but if you were to take the 20 best songs off these you would end up with an absolute classic compilation so that, while I understand that they are not hailed as canonical or mandatory, I think any self-respecting crust fans keen to refine and boast their knowledge should be familiar with them as some noticeable bands who would eventually become popular started with these like Acrostix, Voĉo Protesta or Contrast Attitude. And why not use reverse snobbery if the local record bully points out that these are uncool cd compilations? Just answer something along the lines of: "The format is still very much in use in Japan, I would have thought you were aware of that. I mean, don't you own the Disturd/Ulcer split?".  

CRUST NIGHT!!!