Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust: Ruinas "S/t" Lp, 2017

French people have been famous worldwide for their arrogance for centuries. While other arrogant dicks from abroad don't fully realize how arrogant they can look (let's get real, we're not the only ones afflicted here, a fearful prospect actually), we, on the other hand, genuinely embrace this objectively embarrassing cultural trait. We, collectively, are very proud of being cocky wankers and actually believe that we are meant to be the Earth's smartest, the cream of the crop, the genuine dog's bollocks, a guiding Light in the world's darkness. Even my postie thinks he is some sort of unacknowledged philosopher and, for propriety's sake, I will not even get into the grandeur of my great-auntie's thought system, which focuses solely on the country's supposed decadence largely caused by so-called "zoomers", when she's had one drink too many. This self-proclaimed intellectual superiority goes along with a distinct tendency to never admit that we are wrong. If we don't know something, there are only three possible options: claim that it is just not worth knowing, outrageously lie and pretend we do know better than you or make up a blend of both (that requires a very large amount of pretense and is for elite French people only, usually politicians, TV experts or other professions where being full of oneself is a compulsory requirement). So if you ask my father about Argentina, he will almost certainly assert that the only good thing about it is that one alright movie with Madonna in it - be careful as he might try to sing the song too - and Roman Riquelme (Maradona did too much drugs and is therefore not a good role model). Would that keep him from thinking he knows it all? Of course it would not. 

When you think of typical Argentinian punk music, you may think about bands like 2 Minutos, Boom Boom Kid or Argies (a band that I have seen at least twice for some reason), you think about tunes, 1977-styled punk-rock, unreasonable awkward Ramones worship and contagious energy. And that's assuming you can think about anything at all since Argentina is not exactly a scene that is well-known outside of Latin America. I have already touched upon the subject when writing about Claustrophobia's 2013 demo a few years ago (well, five years ago, fuck me, doesn't time fly), a glorious review that - beside making me the recipient of the much-coveted 2017 Crust Ballon d'Or - allowed me to take a closer look at the more aggressive hardcore side of Argentinian punk and made me realize that I was somewhat familiar with quite a few hard-hitting anarcho or crusty or hardcore punk from that part of the world like Terror y Miseria, Migra Violenta, Disvastacion or Axion//Protesta. And reading the review again made me realize it once again which is quite worrying in terms of memory loss but still a decent ego boost I suppose. Perhaps that's what Alzheimer will look like for me, a constant rediscovery of bands I already know. It could be worse although my partner might disagree and will certainly get a little annoyed with me asking her on an hourly basis if she knew about Ruinas and how great the band was (or is, I will probably think we're still in 2017 and I still have all my hair). 

As you must have guessed now, this writeup will be about Ruinas from Buenos Aires. I started the Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust series with the firm, not to mention quixotic, determination to promote and reflect upon 2010's crust music, to take a critical look at it from my ever comfy pedestal located on the last floor of the Terminal Sound Nuisance twin towers. I just had to write something about Ruinas. Not just because I put on two gigs for them in Paris and they are lovely people, but because the band, formed in 2013, can be considered as both the first old-school metallic crust bands from Latin America and the first stenchcore band with lyrics in Spanish (along with the aforementioned Claustrophobia who were already around in 2013). Which is no mean feat. This is not to say that they have not been class crust bands on the continent before, it goes without saying, as Mexico and Brazil have had a long rich history of furious crust with bands like Discordia, Dischord, Under Threat or Desobediencia Civil (and those are just examples from the 1990's) but those were more of the classic crustcore or anarcho varieties and not of the Peaceville stenchcore school like Ruinas. The exact same could be said about Spain which produced a number of good crustcore (and, excruciatingly, neocrust of course) throughout the years but nothing of the old-school crust sort. This is rather odd considering the huge number of mean hardcore music displaying a pronounced love for metal and thrash but that is how it appears to be. But if it is relevant to approach Ruinas as the pioneers of stenchcrust "en español", which in itself does bring something new to the table, it makes just as much sense to see them as one of the best bands from the second generation of the stenchcore revival, their origins notwithstanding. Taking these two elements into account makes Ruinas' position rather unique. 

The story of the band actually starts in the mid/late-00's with a band called Horror Humano that originally had two - I believe - future members of Ruinas. The band released a brilliant cdr in 2011 although the eleven songs were recorded in 2007 (talk about the cultural habit of being late to the party). This recording comes highly recommended if you are into pissed raw, almost grinding, political crustcore with extreme vocals (think the Seattle school meets the Tijuana one). In 2011 Horror Humano recorded an Ep for their Chile tour with more of a modern crust touch although we are still in the gruff department, not bad but not as furious as their early shit if you ask me. In 2012 they disbanded and Seba, Pato and David formed Ruinas the next year with a much darker and heavier agenda in mind. Their 2013 demo perfectly illustrated the new path: doom-laden slow-paced apocalyptic stenchcore with anguished vocals and a filthy sound. The demo was strong indeed - so much so that it would be reissued on a split Lp with Russia's Chaosbringer in 2017 - and clearly showed that they knew exactly what they wanted to do and where they intended to move in the grand Crust Evolution Gallery, somewhere between Stormcrow, Axegrinder and Lost with a doomy Bolt Thrower touch just to be on the safe side of heaviness. Followed a split tape in 2014 with Avitacion 101 from Montevideo with a much better production and the first recording with Rocio on vocals, her angry very harsh and gruff vocals becoming one of the band's distinctive traits. This change of personnel might come very handy too during family dinners whenever your great-uncle Bob, an elite twat, claims that women, when it comes to music, are only good at singing tunes about heartbreaks. Just play a Ruinas song to the wanker and that will shut him up immediately without you losing any of your precious energy. You can also kick his arse before proceeding to put him into bed but that's up to you.

The first album of Ruinas was recorded in 2015 although it only came out on vinyl in 2017 (there was a tape version in 2016 though) and it was yet another improvement on the previous recording. Building on the same stenchcore template of doomy-axegrinding-Stormcrow, the new female vocalist made the comparison with 13 or indeed Lost very relevant (Bolt Lostcrow anyone?). The full album format also allowed the band to take its time and further focus on plot, storytelling, transitions and atmospherics, elements that are essential for an old-school album to be successful. As a sign of good taste, the Lp opens with that classic Amebix creepy synth sound, which is not unlike a dog whistle for crusties, before offering a proper old-school stenchdoom number that sounds darker and more miserable than a winter day in Dundee. The album oscillates between slow-paced sludgey, doomed metal-crust and mid-paced filthy stenchcore with a black heaviness always at the wheel, like a ghost ship angrily navigating on a sea of despair and rescuing the drowning punks in the process. I really enjoy the grim ambiance of the record and it is clearly one of my favourites of the era, one that will age well I reckon. And those hopeless vocals can probably raise the dead so it may not be safe to play Ruinas while visiting your gran's grave as she will certainly give you a bollocking from the Other World. If you are looking for the perfect blend of the doom-loving OC crust school of Stormcrow and Mindrot, the axemebixian stenchcore like Filth of Mankind, the female-fronted sludge crust of Lost and the unstoppable riffs of Bolt Thrower, then Ruinas will be your cuppa. And it also works if you are just looking for good, solid metal crust without nitpicking about comparisons and possible influences. 

Following this highlight, the band would record a split 12'' Ep with our national crust heroes Lust For Death before unfortunately stopping their activities. The album was released on Neanderthal Stench - a Belgium-based label without which the second stenchcore wave would not have taken off in Europe - and Angry Voice from Germany and I guess you should be able to come across it. The artwork is totally appropriate for the genre and you get a poster which is always a lovely gesture, even though you probably don't have enough space on your walls anyway.    

        

Ruinas 

How Crust Survived the Millennium Bug (part 3): Lost "Fear-Strach" Lp, 2003

"Do you like Lost?" 

 

If you are ever being asked the above question during a dinner party held at normies' (collective gasp of horror), the possibility that they are referring to the once-famous-but-now-antiquated American series is strong indeed. In this particular case, it is highly advisable that you come up with something that will make you look both profound and witty in front of the guests - but not so much as to make them feel intellectually threatened - so that you get reinvited next time around (free food is free food after all). The very least you can do is bleat "They were all dead from the very start, innit?", a weak attempt perhaps but one that should insure that you are allowed to stay at least until dessert. If the very same question is formulated at an open air punk festival by a towering middle-aged crusty, still standing despite it being well past 4am, then it is a safe bet that the inquiry has to do with the early noughties Łódź-based band. If, under such circumstances, it is not, then you should probably avoid this interlocutor as you are about to embark on a lengthy conversation about metaphysical angst and the perpetual feeling of "lostness" or, as is more accurately in sententious academic circles, "Verlorenheit". That or a lunatic speech about survival in inhospitable and unfamiliar arctic forest and how to eat leaves, roots and shit (in that order). Either way, you 'd better head straight to the bar.

 

A couple of crows apparently no longer talking to one another

 

Discogs tells me that Lost has been a rather popular band name throughout the years, ranging from UK house techno breakbeat, Portuguese depressive black-metal, Italian eurodance or German gothic metal. Pick your kings. Going for Lost as a name is sound enough of course. Because it evokes powerful images of desolation and conveys an atmosphere of nothingness, it is an ideal moniker if you aim to create dark and oppressive music, a criterion that certainly applies to Polish crust and even more so to Lost, who were probably the heaviest and darkest band around at that time. 

 

I have already written at length about the Polish school of crust in the past, most notably through the Pulitzer-winning series Polish Tapes Not Police States (with Disgusting Lies, Monoteizm-Co-Existence, Stupor, Earth Movement, Undecided and Bisect) I did in 2018 but other 90's bands like the typical Money Drug, the classic Homomilitia and the mighty Filth of Mankind were also offered the Terminal Sound Nuisance treatment so that the TSN staff is far from unconversant with the Polish crust sound (it is even a job requirement). However, Fear-Strach cannot be sanely described as your typical crust band and, while Lost retained significant classic elements of crust, they were a distinctly different animal, one that did emerge from the same crust habitat but thrived on a different diet. Lost have often been referred to as a post-Homomilitia band, which is both true since Agnes used to sing in Homomilitia before and also something of an understandable distortion since, even though the other members were not part of it, Homomilitia were undeniably Poland's most iconic crust exports in the 90's. 

 

One meditative Deviated Instinct-ish crow

 

Lost formed in Łódź in 2000 with a lineup of Agnes on vocals, Jaro on the bass guitar and Marcin on the drums. Apparently Tomek from Filth of Mankind was the first guitar player but was quickly replaced with Simek and then a second guitar player, Jarek, joined in. It was this lineup that recorded the Thoughtless-Bez Zastanowienia Ep in 2001. Frytek then took over the drums and second guitar player Jarek left, thus giving birth to the team that would record one of the strongest crust Lp's of the decade, Fear-Strach. Beside Agnes' connection with Homomilitia, the Lost members were equally busy bees. Guitar player Jarek and drummer Frytek - along with Strzała from Red Corps and Homomilitia - also played between 2000 and 2004 in a band called Disable who, according to sources close to the matter, were quite popular and active at the time and actually toured with Lost. In fact, there was even a first incarnation of Disable in the mid-90's that did not last long and only played the one gig. If you are interested in hearing a sonic rendition of a meeting between Sanctus Iuda and Hellkrusher at a Hiatus gig in 1995 then the Disable cdr from 2003 comes highly recommended and it also gets additional old-school punk points for the use of the Disaster font before the Disaster reissues. Aforementioned Jarek and Frytek also teamed up with guitar player Simek in a rather obscure hardcore band called Hard Life in the early 00's, that never released anything but some videos of live performances can be found if you look hard enough, while Jarek also played in the much mysterious Compos Mentis. Have you been following?

 

A flying crow

 

The city of Łódź is often considered to be one of the birthplaces of the black-clad crust genre in Poland, for good reason, (the ace Nausea live Lp in Łódź only adding more to the mystique) and it has been delivering quality crust acts for the past three decades. Still, Lost's Fear-Strach went beyond what one could rightfully expect from a solid Polish crust punk work and proved to be a unique hybrid pervaded with a vibe that had no real equivalent in the crust universe, although it cannot be said to be really breaking new grounds either. I remember getting this record upon its release after reading a review of it in an issue of the Leeds-based Attitude Problem fanzine. I remember the iteration of the word "dark" throughout the short review which only meant that Lost were bound to sound, well, really dark. While I expected and presumed to embrace the music's darkness, I was not quite prepared to such a level of suffocating heaviness. I was aware of, but merely vaguely familiar with, the doom/sludge metal genre and therefore the punishingly massive slowness that make up large portions of Fear-Strach, interpersed with galloping vintage crust punk or mid-paced stenchcore moments, were almost too much to bear at times and would leave me drained and, well, in a really dark mood. I could withstand some slow and heavy music without hyperventilating though and enjoyed bands like Cult of Luna, Facedowninshit or indeed His Hero Is Gone. But Lost were different, nastier, more menacing, more organic, dirtier too, their hopeless anger barely contained, they sounded like I was being grabbed by the collar by a reincarnation of anger and given a right bollocking for no other reason than the world is a depressive and lonely place where illusions of happiness are left to rot and feed the crows. And while I am on the subject of morbid birds, crows, either literally or figuratively as symbols of decay, inform the whole of Fear-Strach. They are on the cover, on the backcover, on both labels, on both sides of the insert and on the introduction to the first song (while the terrifying last song "Słowa" starts with the barks of fighting dogs). I sense that, had it been available, Lost would have been called Crow but then they just had to give up all hope.

 

The band photoshopped inside a giant crow

 

As expressed subjectively above, Lost blended metallic old-school crust with sludge and doom metal, resulting patently in a heavy, downtuned and joyless mixture that one could locate on the fringes of the crust sandbox. The most obvious influence is the New York City doom-crust band 13 which Lost cover and even thank on this album, but I guess Grief, for their antipathic aggression, and Eyehategod, for their mean rocking aspect, are worth mentioning too. As far as the sheer display of crust power is concerned, late Nausea also come as an evident inspiration, especially when Lost rock their devastating mid-paced moments, as well as the late 80's heavy versatile and pissed sound of Contropotere and I cannot help but hear some modern version Guttural Breath-era Deviated Instinct at times, but probably out of a similar creative intent rather than design. Counterblast's Balance of Pain is also a work that meaningfully sprang to mind, not because Fear-Strach sounds like it, but because both albums presented something different and hybrid, full of personality, but still completely congruent with the crust orthodoxy with its crunchy and filthy - but precise like the rest of the instruments - guitar sound. The incredible vocals of Agnes emphatically propel the music forward into furious oppressiveness. Never has her voice sounded as harsh and almost possessed with uncontrollable pain, although it has to be said that by the time Homomilitia recorded their second album, she was already experimenting with a throatier and raspier vocal style (akin to Alicia 13 and Mags Excrement of War). She prominently affected the overall vibe and atmosphere of Lost, enhancing the overwhelming intensity and black vibe of the music. Polish crust has had a long tradition of powerful female-fronted bands, from pioneers Homomilitia, Silna Wola, Stradoom Terror, Monoteizm-Co-Existence, Stupor, Insuiciety or current bands like Social Crisis (to name only the crusty bands, there are far more examples in other subgenres) and Lost were potent representatives of that tradition.

 

A surprisingly crow-free poster

 

The lyrics of Lost are, well, really dark. Depression, loneliness, inner pain, isolation and of course the obligatory anti-system song, everything that inevitably bury your joy of living deep into the cold ground. The band's Ep, Thougthless-Bez Zastanowienia, from 2001, is also thoroughly enjoyable, though not as heavy and sensibly faster. I would argue that the full album format fits Lost's songwriting, meaningfulness and aesthetic ambitions far better and, with Fear-Strach lasting over 40 minutes, they did cleverly take their time to build the atmosphere they craved for. An atmosphere that is, well, really dark. The Lp was released on Malarie Records, well-known and proficient label from Czech, and Berlin-based Schandmaul Records. 

 

Really dark indeed. 

 

The feast of crows 

 

More crows

            

Contropotere "Il seme della devianza" Lp, 1991

I often tend to see Contropotere in the same light as Bad Influence. Not that the bands sound similar (they do not) but because they are both unique anarchopunk bands with a creative sound of their own and a peculiar approach to both punk and anarchism, bringing relevant outside influences to the table. I love both bands an awful lot, sensibly and intellectually, although I do not necessarily overplay them at home (their music requires me to be in a certain mood actually). Contropotere and Bad Influence are powerful, meaningful and genuine and that is quite uncommon. Of course, both of them are incredibly difficult to review and aptly describe, and the second Contropotere album is quite possibly the hardest record I have ever dealt with on Terminal Sound Nuisance. Am I becoming a masochist?

I don't think you can love Contropotere's "Il seme della devianza" on the first listen. Of course, it does depend a lot on your own musical background, and if you have been listening to freakish music for years, they might make sense more rapidly. I remember that I just could not listen to it at first. It sounded tortuous, unfocused, disparate, like a set of unbound elements that did not create meaning. The first Lp sounded much more accessible and familiar (it still does in fact), despite an incredibly original dramatic atmosphere that was new to me at the time. As a weird protocrust band, Contropotere were unbelievable in the 80's and "Nessuna speranza, nessuna paura" remains one of my favourite Italian punk albums. It bridged the gap between the fury of classic Italian hardcore, mid/late 80's metal-punk and oriental/eastern music (as unlikely as it reads, I know...). No one sounded like them then and no one has since, despite decades of musical experimentation in the punk scene. In retrospect, it was only logical for the next album to be even more innovative, bohemian, eccentric and just plain strange. I think I just needed more easily palatable music when I first heard "Il seme della devianza" but the Lp does make more sense to me today. Does it mean I really get it? Maybe. Let's say I have come to terms with it but it is not really something you can play while chatting with your mates.

Contropotere was not really a band. They defined themselves as a collective, a family or even as a tribe. Music was an artistic means of expression but they were not a "rock'n'roll band". On that level, the parallel with Crass is not without relevance. Often seen as a Naples band, Contropotere originally came into existence in the Venice area but, as I understand it, the members came from different parts of the country. After a stay in Bologna, the collective settled and increased its activities in Naples after the release of the first album. Although their music grew to defy genres, Contropotere's origins were rooted in the 80's Italian hardcore scene. Some members played in Link Larm (who released a rather good demo in 1984) and in Elettrokrazia (a band I have never heard), the Lp was released on Attack Punk Records (the label's last record), and, as I mentioned, the early recordings of Contropotere were strongly reminiscent of the local brand of hardcore for their intensity and their desperate anger (think Rappresaglia). Undeniably, a band like Franti - with their Crass-like multivocal anarchopunk weirdness, their sense of atmosphere and their distinct theatrical vibe - must have been a strong influence. I would also venture that the propensity to innovation of the UK anarchopunk scene (especially on the All The Madmen side of things) and the heavy, ominous, pagan sound of Amebix may have been inspirations as well.

By the time "Il seme della devianza" was released in 1991, Contropotere had toured Europe and left strong impression on everyone, with their strong stage performance and their dramatic, atmospheric and yet tense, ominously aggressive music. But if Contropotere's nature had as much to do with drama than with music, how do you translate that multifaceted identity into an Lp? A near impossible task which explains the flaws of an album that is ultimately successful thanks to its narrative quality and its drama structure. I would argue that "Il seme della devianza" is as much an Lp as it craves to be a play. I am not saying Contropotere pulled that one through, but the fact they tried to confer their album a drama quality, with what sound like acts and a dramatic structure, points to such an endeavour. Thats is also why it is such a difficult Lp to listen to, it is not just a collection of songs, it must be dealt with as a modern play, a performance and therefore as an interconnected narrative whole. It is probably not as refined as it should be, and the production is by far "Il seme della devianza"'s biggest problem, but it is a fascinating work nevertheless and very few bands could have done an anarchopunk play as well as Contropotere did.

There is a lot going on musically. The songs (but are they really songs?) are usually long and convulsive, dark and fueled by tension, cold, heavy and almost sinister, especially with the anguished vocals of the female singer, but with an organic quality (perhaps one that has more to do with endless agony than sheer vibrance, but you get my point). They are almost never linear, the structures have been mostly dismantled, and sometimes have an incantatory feel, a ritualistic element that the sometimes mystic, pagan lyrics tend to complement (not being really a mystic person myself, I can only infer that they were summoning furious anti-capitalist spirits or something). I cannot really tell you what Contropotere sound like on this Lp. There are thrash metal elements (some parts remind me of their contemporaries and label mates Anarcrust actually, especially with the frenetic, epileptic vibe of the Lp), Nausea-like heavy crust bits, long industrial moments, some goth-like parts, some fast hardcore ones but also experimental punk sonorities (think late Crass, The Ex or Dog-Faced Hermans)... This is an intricately heavy, twisted, labyrinthine, anguished, exhausting album from start to finish that is close to impossible to render in words.

There is a massive, beautiful booklet with the Lp with English (and German) translations so that you can get what Contropotere were all about: liberation, empowerment, subversion and deviance. "For the power that everyone possesses as a potential for transformation. Against all kinds of imposed power". The band used metaphors of dreams, nightmares, occult visions or time to make their point and fight mediocrity and resignation in the face of modern alienation. Strong, passionate words that are vividly illustrated through the music and you can hear that the band spent time thinking about the complicated relationship between form and content (and let's get real, all great punk records blend the boundaries between form and content). "Il seme della devianza" was the second release of Skuld Releases and certainly one of the label's most challenging. After this Lp, Contropotere did another record for Skuld, the "Solo selvaggi" Ep in 1992, and released a work of electronic music in 1994 as CP/01 (which I have never dared to listen to...but hopefully I will one day find the courage to do so) entitled "Cyborg 100%".

Il seme della devianza

"Decade of Dissidence" Worst of the 1in12 Club Vol14/15 compilation cd 1999

Since I am currently reading the excellent "Armed with anger" about the UK punk scene of the 1990's, I think the next few posts (this one included) will be records from that time and place as well. As you may have already guessed, I have been into a long and passionate relationship with British punk-rock and if the 80's are well-documented and glorified, it seems that the 90's are often looked down upon, as if they were a mediocre decade. Hopefully, this wonderful compilation will prove 90's punk-sceptics wrong.

This compilation is the last one of the 1in12 Club comps and includes volumes 14 and 15. If you have never listened to these compilations, and I don't blame you since they are pretty hard to come by, the idea behind them was to offer one or several tracks to bands that played the 1in12 during a certain period, in our case we're dealing with the late 90's as most recordings were done in 1998. The 1in12 Club is a self-managed anarchist social center located in Bradford that has been going since 1988 (the 1in12 collective has been in existance since 1981 though). It has its own venue, a vegan café, an anarchist library, a pub (with not only Motörhead and Black Sabbath on the jukebox, but also Cress and Disaffect!) and it serves as a meeting and organizing space for political activists (I think it had its own quizz team and football at some point as well...). This is a brilliant place and probably my favourite "punk space". However, if the 1in12 does have hardcore-punk gigs, they are really open to more experimental bands and music too, which explains the variety of their compilations. Don't be too afraid though, there are a couple of, gasp, songs that don't really fit the punk mold on the record, but mostly we are in the fast and brutal noisy bollocks that we all enjoy.

This compilation cd was released by 1in12 Club records and Active Distribution from London and it was a benefit for the people of Kosova. There is an explanatory text inside the booklet explaining the reasons of the support with a brief history of the political situation of ethnic Albanians and why they need help. The text makes this ever-important clarification too: it is not a matter of charity, it is a matter of solidarity in face of political oppression (let's leave charity to fancy cocktail parties and corny pop-singers, shall we?).

Anyway, there are 22 bands on this compilation and they are a telling example of how diverse the British punk scene that gravitated around the 1in12 (bands from up North mostly) was. The first song is a strange, dark ambient song from Dawson, a hardcore band from Glasgow who played manic hardcore full of twists. Next is a great hardcore cover of Motorhead by the mighty Health Hazard (it should be pointed out that there are more than a couple of bands related to Flat Earth records on this record!), followed by a hearty and humorous anti-work slice of old-school punk-rock by Leeds anarchopunks Dog on a Rope and an experimental punk song by Witchknot, an anarcho-feminist band that reminds me of the more arty bands of the 80's anarchopunk wave (Flowers in the Dustbin, Animals and Men, Androids of Mu) mixed with some The Ex weirdness. Challenging and interesting stuff for sure.

Next are two non-British bands: Conclude from Japan offer a song of distorted and noisy crasher-punk against petshops and Glue from Poland did some Born Against-inspired hardcore with some twists. The insane Headache take over with two songs of mad and abrasive hardcore somewhere between Rudimentary Peni, Pleasant Valley Children, Civil Disobedience, Dropdead and "Yes Sir I will" (notice the beautiful artwork of the band as well). After all these deranged bursts of madness, Jimmy Saville's Wheelchair bring some fresh air with a genuinely catchy, snotty song reminiscent of folky punk like Blyth Power, some pub-rock and sailor's songs. I defy anybody to hear it without humming it.

Back to angry noise after this interlude though, as Revolt play Agathocles/early Napalm Death raw and rough grindcore. They are followed by Stalingrad, a pissed-off and intense metallic hardcore band with dark lyrics and a rocking, burning number by yet another pissed off hardcore band, Manfat. Kito then slow things down a bit with a Eyehategod/late A//Solution groovy and tense song before two songs of the great Cress and their distinctive anarchopunk music with drum machine, synth and an atmospheric, pagan aura. Things then go crust-punk: two tracks from Blood Sucking Freaks, not dissimilar to Doom (for whom BSF's frontman sang), Screaming Holocaust and Hiatus and no less than four grinding harcore songs from the energetic Sawn Off.

Crust heroes Extinction of Mankind then provide a pumelling apocalyptic old-school crust song, "Veins of hatred", probably taken from the same recording session as the split with other-side-of-the-pond crust heroes Misery. Dark and angry, the way the genre was meant to be played. Hard to Swallow then blast their way through with an eponymous "powerviolence meets Disrupt" number and Voorhees offer some confrontational American-styled hardcore. Finally, Happy Anger from France have one emocore song, Month of Birthdays' song is more akin to slightly discordant punk-rock with female vocals, John Holmes' is a mean-sounding, heavy, mid-tempo number not unlike a fist fight between Black Sabbath and His Hero Is Gone, and to conclude the compilation, a long, dirgy song, like a lighter but more deranged Neurosis from Polaris.

As you can see, each band provided some artwork especially for the compilation and there are some great-looking pieces (EOM, Headache, Manfat, Dog On a Rope). It is a shame the 1in12 no longer does these compilations anymore as it shows that musical differences hardly matter when it comes to support a worthy cause and that, as varied as those bands were, they shared a common perspective on how to do things.    

Decade of dissidence