Ρήγμα "Ο Τελευταίος Αιώνας" Lp 1994

The division of punk into a myriad of different subgenres sometimes create funny situations or even small, but real, cultural misunderstandings. I was chatting with a good mate of mine once on a boozy night, basically drinking on the streets and talking shit, and for some reason the subject of Greek punk came up. I spontaneously said that I was a sucker for 90's synth-driven Greek crust and that I really couldn't get enough of the genre. He stared at me blankly and then laughed. The very notion of synth-driven Greek crust was ridiculous to him (but then he doesn't even enjoy Amebix, so what can you do?), absurd, surreaslitic even. But for the proper crust fanatic that I am, synth-driven Greek crust obviously means absolutely classic old-school crust, with an actual Amebix/Axegrinder feel. There IS such a thing as the Greek crust sound and it means real crust (or stenchcore, assuming that term might be more helpful), and judging from the prices some of these Greek records go for, I am definitely not the only believer. But what is classic stuff to me is not classic stuff to others, and it certainly was not to my aforementioned mate who may even have thought that I was taking the piss with such a preposterous phrase as "synth-driven Greek crust".

You are probably guessing where I am going with all that cheesy reminiscing. Today, we are going to talk about the Greek school of crust, a school that never disappoints and has steadily produced a handful of classic records in the past 25 years. There are some places where the crust genre has never really taken root (yes France, I am looking at your right now). On the contrary, the politicised Greek punks in the late 80's embraced the ideas, the aesthetics and the sound of British crust punk with an incredible ease. One would believe that it just made sense to them and they seamlessly adopted and further developped the crust philosophy. There are no similar instances in Europe that offer such a concentration of superb metallic punk bands combining gruffiness with a true sense of epics, rage with despair. "Why Greece?", one will ask. "I don't have a bloody clue," I will reply. "But let's try to figure it out". First, Greece already had had a solid tradition of quality punk-rock throughout the 80's, with bands like Stress, Ex-Humans, Genia Tou Xaos, Gulag or Adiexodo (and that's without mentioning the postpunk/new wave side of the spectrum) so the foundations were already there. Second, I would argue that, quite simply, Greek punks must have been into extreme metal music, early thrash and death metal, and therefore the dark, rough and gruffy metallic punk sound of Antisect, Deviated Instinct, Axegrinder or Hellbastard did not just appeal to them, it must have appeared like the next logical step. But contrary to a lot of bands worldwide that basically turned crossover overnight and tried to punkify Slayer and Metallica (with varying degrees of success), a significant number of Greek bands chose the "slow, dark and heavy metallic path that regularly wanders in pummeling d-beat territory" instead (although there must have been Slayer-wannabe bands there too). And some bands, not unlike Amebix and Axegrinder, really loved their synth (arguably a bit too much for their own good at times). Bands like Chaotic End, Panikos, Forgotten Prophecy, Naytia, Psychosi, Industrial Suicide, and later on in the 90's Nuclear Winter, Ashen Breath, Rising Terror, Hibernation. The Lp that is being posted today is, according to your favourite self-appointed expert, a relatively unsung classic of Greek crust: Rigma's sole album "Ο Τελευταίος Αιώνας".

From what my informer told me, after the demise of the band, members of Rigma and of Olethrio (another quality band with top female vocals) formed Olethrio Rigma, which originally followed a similar metal-punk way (the first album is highly recommendable) before falling in the "let's be a real metal band" trap. Apparently Oethrio Rigma enjoyed quite a bit of mainstream success in Greece which may have overshadowed prior works of both bands. And, in the case of Rigma, that is an unforgivable shame since "Ο Τελευταίος Αιώνας" may very well be the best Greek crust album of the period (that is a bold statement considering the awesomeness of Chaotic End's Lp but it will at least make people really listen to it).

The record starts off with a synth sound, just to let you know where you are heading toward. I wish I had the time to carefully describe each song but that would require an amount of leisurely time that I unfortunately don't have and beside, I am a lazy sod. The most striking thing about this Lp is the quality of the songwriting. Many think that crust music is generic and derivative, if not tedious. Well, this kind of work can undoubtedly prove them wrong. All the songs are memorable and, although the backbone is indeed metallic crust, inventive (not a term I use often on that blog). You will find all the elements that make Greek crust so great, the heaviness, the dark anger, the epic songwriting, the gruff yet not forceful vocals, the crushing mid-tempo numbers, the dirgy intros, so that you won't feel lost in a maze of musicianship pointlessly craving for originality (and we all know that trying too hard to be original never works). Rigma manages to enrich the crust formula with catchy guitar leads, witty tempo changes, but also with the addition of tasteful death-metal parts or "traditional" anarcho moments. Bands who try to mix too many elements from too many different genres often fail at doing properly, precisely because they consciously try. In Rigma's case, the disparate influences just seem to merge with ease and eventually end up making whole, coherent, cohesive songs. It sounds naturally heavy although the production is relatively raw; the riffs and the song-structures are not complex but they are always meaningful; the guitar sound is dirty, slimy and aggressive just as it should be; the drummer never overuses the double-bass and rather chooses to diversify his range of paces and his use of toms and cymbals, without ever getting technical (but then, I'm not sure he could!); the singer has a hoarse shouty voice but never overdoes it (aka, he doesn't want to be Bolt Thrower's frontman); the bass paves the way without being too up front and is used to great effect on some tempo changes and intros. The last song starts and ends up with the ominous sound of the wind blowing. The whole record reeks of spontaneity, like the original crust bands did, and it never tries to be crust. It just is. Rigma's "Ο Τελευταίος Αιώνας" is a triple threat match between mid-90's Panikos, early Hiatus and late Deviated Instinct.

The Lp looks great too, an antisectish gatefold with hand-written words and drawings to illustrate the band's message. All the lyrics are in Greek, which definitely adds to the uniqueness of Greek crust as the language fits perfectly with the apocalyptic gloom conveyed by such bands. Fortunately for the non-Greek speakers, you also have - broken - English translations which will show you that Rigma were indeed pretty serious. Songs about social alienation and control, about the sombre feelings and emotions, about the insanity born from our survival in a ruthless world, about the difficulty to express anger and despair. Dark words for dark times.      

For those interested, a demo also entitled "Ο Τελευταίος Αιώνας" was recorded by the band in 1993 and includes even crustier, rougher versions of the songs on the Lp. A glorious listen if you are in an epic neanderthal mood. Prior to this recording, Rigma also released a demo tape in 1992, called "Στα Μυαλά Των Ανθρώπων" but I have sadly never heard it... Sob, sob. Rigma's Lp was released on Wipe Out Records, a prolific Greek label responsible for records from bands like Chaotic End, Panx Romana, Stress, Anti or the brilliant Chaotic Dimension.

So now, do yourself a favour and get some Greek crust in your life.        

Q: And Greek crust? A: And Greek crust.

  
            

Skullkrusher / Article Nine "The machinegunlife sessions / The rebel girl" split Ep 2002

It often happens that I buy records I completely forget about. When I flip through my collection, I feel a bit sorry for these forgotten records because I hardly ever listen to them (but then, a lot of them are rather forgettable). This is one of the fallen soldiers and for once, this is going to be a short post because I don't have much to say about the bands, but honestly you are unlikely to meet someone who does (unless he or she was a member or a mate of the bands of course). As anecdotal as these bands might have been, it doesn't mean that they are worthless or even that they deserve this anonymity. We all know hundreds of bands who will always remain shrouded in a desperately indifferent obscurity. It is sometimes hard to explain, sometimes not so much. In the case of Skullkrusher and Article Nine, the reason is quite easy to find as both bands were quite generic and played a genre that was probably a little overdone in the late 90's/early 00's.

There is already a pretty good review of this Ep on the Aversion website (here) if you are interested in another opinion than mine (although I don't really see why you would to be honest). Let's start with Skullkrusher. They certainly picked a cool name but they certainly weren't the only ones either. There was a Brazilian metal band with that name and I think there's a band from Malaysia also playing the crusty d-beat thing working under that name. For the unwashed among you, Skullkrusher is obviously a reference to the mighty Onslaught song "Skullcrusher" and, I would argue, Hellkrusher. Fortunately to those allergic to lengthy guitar solos and lyrics about Satan, Skullkrusher are much closer to Hellkrusher than to Onslaught. What we have here are three songs shamelessly flying the d-beat flag and despite the utter unoriginality of this subgenre, I feel that it works very well here as the band didn't fall in some of the obvious Dis-traps. First, the sound is not too heavy and is metal-free. This is d-beat for the punx and that's how it should be. Second, the production is raw and spontaneous. I don't want too clean a sound when the D is beaten but I also personally tend to avoid overly blown-out, overdistorted rendering of the genre, not because I dislike it, but because few bands can actually pull it properly. Skullkrusher do it naturally, in an unpretentious fashion with the 90's feel that I enjoy. Early Disfer, Dischange, Hellkrusher, Decontrol, Besthöven, Holokaust are relevant points of comparison here. The presence of two types of vocals adds a bit of variety and aggression, the bass is adequately buzzing and upfront, the guitar riffs are simple and to the point (I even hear some Anti-Cimeish overtone here and there) and the drums, well, you already know what they do and they do it properly. Skullkrusher were from Chicago and released quite a few tapes between 1996 and 1999, so I am guessing they must have been pretty active at this time. These three songs were originally part of a tape called "The machinegun sessions" but I am not sure when it was actually recorded.

On the other side, we have Article Nine from Sweden and with them we enter the 90's Swedish crust realms. Two songs of fast, pummelling and heavy scandicrust with a couple of death-metal guitar leads, you know what to expect. This reminds me of Skitsystem though the vocals are nowhere near as harsh. Interestingly, the lyrics are not about war or destruction but clearly lean on the anarcho-syndicalist side of things with references to the red and black flag, antifascism and to the IWW. In fact, the song "The rebel girl" was written by Joe Hill, a Swedish-American itinerant worker, an anarchist labour activist and a member of the IWW who was framed and executed in 1915 for the murder of a local politician. The geezer wrote a lot of political songs and was a cartoonist for the IWW (the cover on the Article Nine's side is a reproduction of an ad for Joe Hill's song). From what wikipedia says, "The rebel girl" was written for a comrade of the IWW, Elizabeth Flynn, who was a strong feminist and advocat of women's rights. Clearly quite a refreshing cover for a crust band. This Ep was not Article Nine's only mischief, as they also did a split with Human Bastard and a full Ep during the first half of the 00's. A member of the band also played in Vaning 5 and went on to play in Massmörd.

So come on, give them a chance!

The Rebel Girl      

       

"Slave to convention: A tribute to Doom" compilation cd 2007

Bands like Doom are to punk-rock what beer is to drinking.

Some people merely enjoy having a cold beer on warm days, others drink vast quantity of beer but are not bothered with the quality, and then you have the beer experts who can actually describe the tastes of many different ales and lagers, finally you have people who don't like beer but at least respect it as a worthy beveradge. The same could be said about Doom: the first category hardly listen to Doom but can enjoy a couple of songs at a gig or when really drunk at a mate's; the second category listen to a lot of Doom-type bands but can't really be arsed about the actual quality or even the identity of the bands; the third category include people who know all the records, the recording dates, the line-up changes, they are able to look at Doom and their works critically and are undeniably elite Doom-lovers with a PhD in crust-punk; people in the last category don't give a damn about Doom but at least recognize that it is a quality band, respectable and honourable, just not to their liking. If you don't fall in any of these categories, there are two possibilities: you either have never heard about Doom and I am about to change your life or you clearly are reading the wrong blog and I encourage you to get a life. Seriously, get ouf of my blog.

I generally have mixed feelings about tribute records for several reasons. Bands are often content with merely covering the song without bringing anything new to the table thus making the record a bit tedious to listen to and basically a poorer version of the original songs. In addition, I have seen tribute records with absolutely no information about the bands included or even with hardly any mention about the band that is being paid tribute to (I am thinking about the "Discharged" cd here). But do not despair as there are also really good tribute records, like the two recent (well, relatively) Amebix tributes (the Japanese one and the Balkan one) or the Conflict tribute "Barricades and broken dreams" which exemplify how it should be done. Granted, all the songs were not that great but they aptly reflected the passion that the covered band inspired to the participants and you had some comments from actual members of Amebix and Conflict which made the record more relevant and interesting. Fortunately for you, "Slave to convention" falls in the "good punk tribute" category.

Don't expect too much originality in terms of music on this record. Although there have undeniably been several different periods in the life of Doom with variations in song-writing, sound, musicianship or production, the power of Doom relies on a formula. I would argue that the repetitiveness of Doom - especially early Doom - is one of its strong points. It is a force hammering you again and again with unabated sincerity. Doom took the relentless power of Discharge, Discard (certainly the strongest influence of the band in its infancy), Totalitär or Asocial, added the crusty gruffness (probably more a matter of context than of intent) and the anarchopunk anger and aesthetics. As I mentioned, the Doom sound evolved throughout the years but still, and as the latest brilliant Lp shows, they nevertheless always sticked to the Doom formula, so that for all the different records, and if I may use a witty tautology, Doom will alway be Doom. And thanks fuck for that. Really.

There are 29 bands included on the compilation and I suppose that it would be a boring read if I were to describe each of the songs individually. The bands that took part in this project all belong to the crust/d-beat/scandicore subgenres so don't expect ska versions of "Police bastard". Unsurprisingly, mosy of the covered songs are from Doom's Peaceville days, although some bands also picked songs from "The greatest invention" (my favourite Doom records because of its tension), or from the splits with Hiatus, Selfish and Extinction of Mankind, so it's not 29 covers of "Police bastard" or "Exploitation" either. The strong point of this compilation lies in its international spectrum as you will find bands from the U$A, the UK, Germany, Peru, Japan, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Chile, Canada, Cyprus (yes, Cyprus!), Mexico, Brazil and Italy. In addition to being an ode to world-wide punk-rock, "Slave to convention" includes bands rather "famous" bands like Phobia, Besthöven or Cluster Bomb Unit, but also obscure ones whose contribution to the compilation is actually their sole appearance on a proper record like Aposynthesis, Hollow Scorn or The Indecents. Apart from the Desobediencia Civil song that was recorded in 1998, all the bands recorded their cover especially for this compilation sometime between 2006 and 2007. Not only this but all the bands provided some artwork specifically for "Slave to convention" as well with band and recording information. Funnily enough, three bands did a spoof of the Doom logo, well let's call it an aesthetical tribute, with their own moniker: Ruin, Filth of Mankind and Warvictims. Now that's a labour of love, isn't it?

My personnal highlights include the old-school crust rendering of the mighty Alehammer and the criminally underrated Filth of Mankind, the dual-vocals crustcore attack of the great Accion Mutante, the vintage d-beat punk of Cluster Bomb Unit (with Julia on vocals), Besthöven and Ruin (who have never sounded more like Cracked Cop Skulls than on this recording) and the angry crusty anarcho sound of Autonomia and Desobediencia Civil, a band I specially deal with sometime in the future. Despite unequal production between the songs (some of them must have been taken from rehearsal or live recordings which accounts for some sloppiness), it is on the whole a very pleasant listen and a great way to get familiar with previously unknown bands. In my case, I was really quite impressed with Aposynthesis from Cyprus and wish they had done something else (they get extra Doom points for their Doom/Aposynthesis studded jacket done especially for their piece of artwork).

The booklet is good too and provides an exhaustive Doom biography as well as some words from Stick. It also shows a lot of original Doom artwork, some old flyers as well as some pictures but I hope you have a good eyesight because it's all printed extra small. "Slave to convention" was released on Helvetet Records, a Peruvian label responsible for records from Los Rezios (I am pretty sure the bloke doing the label also plays in Los Rezios), a Warcollapse discography and re-issues of old 80's hardcore bands from Peru like the fantastic Autopsia or Kaos. Basically a label worthy of your interest.

Are you ready for almost one hour of Doom worship? You'd better be.

Slave to doomvention            

Sleeping At The Popes "Self-titled" Ep 2005

First, just a word to say that all downloads are technically working again now. I re-uploaded them all on mediabollocks so I guess it can only be a temporary solution anyway but hopefully I will have sorted something out before they kick me out - again.

If you can read - for the sake of the argument let's assume you can - you will have noticed that this blog revolves mostly around my obsessive love for some particular brands of punk-rock (some would say "narrow" actually). However, nothing gives me more faith in punk than a loveable band coming from a scene I know nothing about. Not only is this intellectually stimulatin, but demonstrates punk's formidable ability to creep into unexpected places. Well, at least when I bought this Ep in 2006, I had no idea that there was, or had been, a punk-rock scene in South Africa. Mind you, this was very much a pre-internet age for me and no one had ever bothered to tell me that, indeed, there were and had been cracking bands over there. Now, 8 years later, thanks to some amazing blogs and truly dedicated old-timers, I know that South Africa produced some terrific punk bands in the 80's like Powerage, Screaming Foetus, Wild Youth, Chaos SA or (early) Voice of Destruction, and I am aware of a couple of more recent bands worthy of everyone's attention like Brafcharge, Touched by Nausea, Outrage, Anti-All or TDKM. If you want to know more about the scene there, I strongly recommend this blog South African Punk Downloads. If anything, and whatever your shitty tastes can be, it proves that punk-rock's driving force lies in its fundamental internationalism and if you are curious-minded, you will be able to find that there is quality punk-rock in Syria and noisy grinding hardcore in Pakistan (not for the faint-hearted this one!). But back to the actual music.

Sleeping At The Popes. What the hell lads? Really? Picking such a cryptic name for a band often means that few people will even make the effort of listening to you. Sad but true (recently I witnessed an amazing Italian band called Intothebaobab, really top stuff in the spirit of Nerorgasmo and Pioggia Nera, and I can't help thinking that a name with a baobab reference is an hindrance... oh well). But having grown up in the French scene, where choosing ridiculous names for bands is not only a common practice but almost a golden rule, I wasn't even scared when I ordered their Ep. SATP formed in Cape Town in 2004, recorded two demo cdr's, released that one Ep and split up in 2006. I would argue that SATP was part of a generation of punks which brought another set of influences to the South-African punk table. I hear a lot of 90's-early 00's US anarchopunk in their music, which is almost ironical since that type of sound was certainly on its last leg by 2005. But petty and futile considerations about trends notwithstanding, the Ep is really good in its own right. Fast and passionate hardcore-punk with two pissed vocalists (and, I understand, the additional voice of a screaming drummer), one doing the high-pitched yells in a rather fast hardcore fashion (all the rage in the early 00's, right?) while the other takes care of the more traditional Conflict-type vocals. The sound is not particularly heavy as SATP relies more on heart-felt, spontaneous anger than crushing power. This is only a guess, but this is the kind of bands that rule live: political punk music that is angry and to the point. As previously mentioned, this brings to mind bands like Civil Disobedience, Resist, Brother Inferior, or even the brilliant Counter-Attack, with a dash of 00's hardcore-thrash revival.

Lyrically, the band tackled issues embedded in the South-African context, with songs about the democratic illusions, the racist crimes and the sexual violence of the police, the corruption of the new "democratic" leaders... All told from a youthful anarchist perspective. In true anarchopunk spirit, this Ep just reeks of indignation and anger. Because of their moniker, I am pretty sure you'll be able to get it from the infamous "2 euro record bin" and honestly, you really should.  

Sleeping at the popes!

 

More troubles coming everytime...

Apparently Opendrive has decided to close my account so all the files uploaded on that server will be deleted in a couple of days. I have no idea which is the guilty file as they didn't even notice me, I just couldn't log in into my account today and had to ask them why. So much for "premium" users service...

Basically, a lot of files will disappear shortly and I will have to sort things out again. If anyone has any suggestions...

Extinction of Mankind "Scars of mankind still weep" Ep 1998

The fourth and possibly last seat at the "bands-you-shall-not-take-for-granted" table, just next to Misery, Hellkrusher and Warcollapse, had to be given to them, the second longest-running old-school crust band: Extinction of Mankind. To say that I hold EOM close to my heart would be an understatement. I am not sure anyone really cares (and if you don't, why don't you go download some indie-rock on another fancy blog) but EOM was the first proper English crust band I got into. I bought their "Weakness" Ep at a Severed Head Of State gig in Paris in 2002 (that same night I also got Hellksrusher's "Doomsday hour"). I actually hesitated befor buying it on that German distro (SHOS played with Protest Stagnation that night hence a huge distro full of Skuld Releases records) because the Ep looked quite different from I was used to. I was heavily getting into anarchopunk at the time, bands like Disaffect, Substandard, Coitus or classics like Icons of Filth or the almighty Antisect. I felt visually that there was a connection but still it looked darker, gloomier but not cheesy in the way that actual metal bands looked to me. Seeing they were from Manchester (that data reassuring me about the potential quality of the band for some reason), I took the plunge...

Twelve years later, I am still listening to EOM and still wondering why people in my corner of the punk world are not as much into them as I am (you can substitute EOM with any of the bands invited to my aforementioned table)... After all, they are the real legacy of Antisect. They don't try to emulate them as much as SDS though, rather, in the 90's, EOM merged both periods of Antisect to create their own sonic landscape. However, I don't think that, had Antisect gone on playing, they would have actually sounded like EOM. In fact, I am pretty sure that, given the clues we have with Kulturo, they wouldn't have landed too far from Coitus, with a more rocking sound. It's a pretty pointless argument I suppose but I'd be lying to say that it doesn't cross my mind from time to time.

There are two distinct periods to EOM that can be circumscribed to two different line-ups and a change of drummer and guitarist that occured just after the release of the Ep we are going to talk about, a record that therefore can be seen as the apex of EOM's first life, with Foz and Mass still in the band, before Tony and Scoot joined in. I really enjoy both periods of the band but the changes in terms of sound are undeniable. On "Scars of mankind", the drumming is still ripe with drum rolls and tempo changes that, to me, defined the early EOM, while afterwards it became more metal in the traditional sense of the word, harder-hitting probably, more accurate certainly, but further from the original crust bands. The evolution in the guitar is the second great change, with Mass having a dark and dirty, gloomy, slimy, at times quite intricate style and Scoot with a more powerful, crunchier, thicker sound.

Undeniably, "Scars of mankind' is EOM's best 90's record. The songwriting is solid, the sound is better than on the first Lp but remains organic and damp (a bit like an Alien egg), the guitar is haunting and threatening, the distorted bass buzzes, the drumming is also more focused and powerful than previously and well, the vocals are as great as ever, with a singer that doesn't try to growl but on the contrary uses his actual - deep and powerful to say the least - voice, something that is often missing in that genre and that's a bloody shame, because that particular singing style is one of the things that makes EOM instantly recognizable and, well, unique. The perfect blend of Antisect and Nausea with a dash of Chaotic End? I'll drink to that.

The artwork is stunning although I am afraid my shitty scans don't do justice to the drawings here. They are actually dark, by which I mean that they convey a sense of doom, of anguish, of fear and alienation and the Alien motif is just the perfect metaphor of the threatening unknown that is both inside and outside the human body and mind. And it shows that you don't need to use fucking orcs and nuclear explosions all the time. The lyrics are on a par with the great songwriting too: "No dignity" depicting the pitiful, lifeless existence that we are offered by the bleak wasteland that we call society; "Puppets of power" is about power and how we are sedated, conditioned to accept our lot from the cradle to the grave (this is one of the best EOM song ever, a crushing, nightmarish mid-tempo number with an additional singer, a real classic); finally "Scars of mankind" is about human destruction and disrespect of the environment and the natural world.

This Ep was a joint release between Profane Existence and Skuld Releases and it is a record that I have seen floating in distros even recently. So you'd better get it before the 90's become officially trendy. The next EOM record would be the split Lp with Misery which is, for me, a tragic missed opportunity. A collaboration between the two bands that epitomised crust music (and I mean CRUST music) the best should have been the ultimate record, some sort of new classic. Sadly, because of a terrible production, the EOM side sounds weak and even sloppy. So, I think, and I am pretty sure that it is the best idea I have had for a long time, that both bands, especially now that they are both at the top of their game again, should do another split record together, with a proper sound for both this time. How great would that be?

     

Scars of mankind still fucking weep
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Warcollapse "Crap, scrap and unforgivable slaughter" Ep 2003

After Hellkrusher and, a couple of months ago, Misery, here is the third inclusion in the "bands we shouldn't take for granted series": Warcollapse. I am sure you can see a pattern here: bands that are 20 year old (or more!), still great and honest, still playing their own brand of genuine punk-rock, bands you can always rely on, that have survived all the petty trends. In a word: still bollocks but still here. And that's what matters in the end, right? The other pattern in the series is that I bloody love these bands in that, not only are they top notch, but they have had a big influence on me. Pretty obvious I guess.  

Warcollapse hardly needs an introduction if you are even vaguely into crust music. I suppose they can be considered as the best Swedish crustcore band ever. In fact, I personally think they are. While a lot of bands falling into the "Swedish crust" umbrella basically play classic Swedish hardcore with a heavier and harsher sound, very few bands from that scene actually got the classic UK crust sound as well as Warcollapse. Of course, Doom and ENT were heavily influenced by classic Swedish hardcore (after all, Doom wanted to sound like Discard in the beginning!) so it only makes sense that a band intending to emulate that sound will be influenced by Anti-Cimex, Protes Bengt, Asocial, Crude SS and so on. However, the early Warcollapse's sound, to my ears, is more driven by bands that are themselves influenced by the Swedish wave (Doom, Hiatus, Extreme Noise Terror, Disrupt, you know the drill) than by the 80's Swedes. Not unlike English bands that were influenced by Confuse who were themselves influenced by English bands. I really enjoy this interplay of musical influences among punk bands and I think their traveling patterns are fascinating.

But back to Warcollapse. Like I said not many bands got that original crusty feel just right, which I suppose is quite ironic since Sweden has produced dozens of bands in that genre. You had Jesusexercise (a member of whom joined Warcollapse) who recorded an unsung classic of "rudimentary-penized" old-school crust music. You also had 3-Way Cum (the Warcollapse's drummer actually joined them) with a couple of records showing a crushingly brilliant ENT/Disrupt-style crustcore, with a devastatingly animalistic two-vocals attack that puts them at the very top of the 90's eurocrust shelf (a highly coveted spot indeed). For instance, Tolshock, as excellent as they were, lied already more on the Scandicore side of things. I am not saying that I dislike the Swedish brand of crust, far from it, I am a listener of Skitsystem, Uncurbed, Scumbrigade or ENS, and I think they are good bands. However, when you actually think about it, few bands there really had that grizzli crust sound, as they were either drowning in the d-beat wave, too death-metal oriented or heavier rendering of "Stockholm hardcore 1983-1986".

The first incarnation of Warcollapse was actually called Earcollapse and saw the light of day in late 1991. Apparently, they were a Sore Throat-type band at the time and I would be very curious to hear any of it. A change of name and direction occured in 1992, a year that also saw them record their first demos. By 1993, they recorded songs for their first vinyl outputs, the split Ep with Extinction of Mankind and the "Indoctri-Nation" Ep, both released on ElderBerry records. And then, we need to pause. Although, the Ep we are dealing with today was released in 2003, its three songs were recorded exactly 10 years before, basically during the early Warcollapse years. In fact, "In darkness..." was recorded in february 1993, possibly during the same session that gave birth to the tracks from the EOM split. "Beginning of the end" was recorded in november of the same year (the "Indoctrin-nation" recording session?), "The blood runs red" in february 1994.

In case anyone has missed it (shame on you), the three songs included on that Ep are all covers. Amebix, Antisect and Discharge. What else? The three songs have that classic, powerful Warcollapse sound with guttural and aggressive vocals, pumelling drums and this heavy, flowing guitar sound. The sound is raw just as it should be and epitomized the 90's eurocrust production (or lack thereof some would say). Let's start with the Discharge cover. Now, though everyone and their moms cover Discharge, you have good Discharge covers and bad Discharge covers. This is a good one as it relevantly crustified the Discharge formula without going metal. Beside the band picked a song that is rarely covered by the Dis-legions, "The blood runs red". Amebix then. The years 2000's have seen a noticeable increase of Amebix covers, with no less than two tribute Lp's. But in the early 90's, I am under the impression that it was not so common (actually, Misery did one, "Nobody's driving", as well as EOM with "Sunshine ward" and Charger/Depressor did "Largactyl") and Warcollapse didn't even pick an obvious Amebix song either, nothing from "Arise!" or "Monolyth" as they chose "Beginning of the end" from the 1983 "Winter" 12''. A fantastic song, no doubt about it, but also a rather difficult song to cover in a grizzli crust fashion, as it is dirgy, creepy, dark, moody and threatening and you have to keep those vital elements to the song without falling into the cheesy metal trap. And Warcollapse just nailed it, they kept the atmosphere of the song intact but made it heavier, turned it into a 90's crust anthem. In fact, I would argue that this Amebix cover heralds the "Crust as fuck existence" mini Lp that saw Warcollapse venture in Amebix/Axegrinder territory with great results. Finally, the Antisect cover. One of the great mysteries of our time is the scarcity of Antisect covers. Seriously. In spite of their undeniable influence on crust and anarchopunk, Antisect are seldom covered. Obviously, SDS and Extinction of Mankind (the closest Antisect incarnations of the 90's) did cover them. But apart from them, I can only think of Armagedom, Raw Noise, Doom (a sloppy cover but still, that counts) and... Total Chaos (sigh). There may be more but they don't pop up right now. Anyway, Warcollapse chose the magnificent "In darkness" and it works well, the song becomes more direct and aggressive but I still feel it loses some of its power, its relentlessness. Beside they didn't cover the entire song, which is a shame since I always saw Antisect's songs as being organic entities that cannot be severed, especially on the Lp. But I am being picky, it is still one of the very best Antisect cover around and I am more than happy that it exists.

This Ep was the tribute to the English greats from Warcollapse. A second volume was released a few yars ago with covers from classic Swedish hardcore bands, once again mowed through the Warcollapse crusty grinder. Of course, this Ep is my favourite of the two and it is to be noted that Extinction of Mankind also did a tribute Ep called "Ale to England" with them covering... Amebix, Antisect and Discharge!!! How great is that! It would be interesting to do a comparative study of Warcollapse and EOM's tributes to the same bands in order to analyze what aspects of the music each band has decided to stress. Or maybe it wouldn't. I'll still do it one day.

Warcollapse's tribute to the Brits