Plasmid "S/t" Ep, 2006

Bitterpunk: "this is raw punk before it was fashionable".

Enthusiast47: "total noisy bollocks aaaarrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!".

Streetpunk77: "this is shit. You can't hear a thing and the singer sounds like a hungover Donald Duck".

Holiernerd: "I don't buy reissues. I own the original tape".

HxCforlife: "I can't believe the Heresy guys were into that crap before. Where are their bandanas?".

Drunkcrustkid: "I think I know that riff from somewhere...lol".

Tradskin69: "Music for crusties with dogs and a bad hygiene. Real HC is from NYC".

IndieTodd: "I'm appalled".

Mummylovesyou: "What has my son done with his life? Why is he doing this to me? sob sob".

As you can see, Plasmid's 1984 demo can have very different effects on the listener depending on his or her tastes, tolerance for the "noise not music" ethos and overall conception of life. Whether you like it or not, this (very) rough recording is undeniably a piece of UK punk history as Plasmid were the earliest incarnation of Heresy, one the most crucial British hardcore bands of the second part of the 80's alongside Ripcord and The Stupids (but I have to say that the early Heresy recordings completely take the cake for me). To put it bluntly, Plasmid existed when the blokes looked like that:

Fashion review: "great Discharge-meets-Antisect at a UK82 jubilee. Nottingham 83".

Later on, as you all know, Heresy would look like this:

Fashion review: "accurate Boston-invades-Britain look with the presence of baseball hats and trainers. The crusty on the right does look a little distressed."

These superficial considerations apart, this demo can be considered as one of the earliest examples of genuine British hardcore. Recorded in 1983 in terrible conditions (it was recorded through only one microphone), it is revealed in the Third Book of Saint Ian Glasper that, initially, the band was against the idea of tuning up their instruments. Youthful naivety or tribute to Skum Dribblurzzz, you decide. The sound on this recording (or rather, these recordings since the last song of the Ep was actually from another rehearsal) was bound to be rough. And by rough, I mean really rough. We are clearly not too far from Gutrot here and even the Dirge Lp sounds overproduced compared to this Ep. Does this mean that this is a dreadful waste of plastic? Absolutely not and for several reasons. 

First, what Plasmid lacked in music proficiency, they largely made up for with an incredible energy. Even as bad as the sound is (you can't really use the term "production" here...), you can hear this youthful power, this burning intensity, this unbreakable will to play faster and with more aggression that you will find in Heresy's demo and flexi later on. This recording IS the essence of raw punk. There is no pretense of artistry, no hesitation, no frills. This is raw hardcore punk played as fast as possible without thinking about musicianship or recording details. There is a spontaneity that you cannot fake and that you cannot recreate with fancy effects, vintage gears or a monstrous record collection. You could argue that the lack of self-reflection is what made recordings such as these possible in the early 80's. For a genre such as "raw punk" (assuming it is one at all, and not an anachronistic and random term used cluelessly) too much intentionality cannot work.

Second, we have with Plasmid one early example of British hardcore. By this term I mean that we have a blend of British Discharge-influenced bands and international hardcore-punk. It has to be said that Plasmid members themselves retrospectively claimed that their primary influences at the time were Discharge, Antisect and Anti-System, and listening to the demo one can definitely agree with that. But at the time, in a 1983 handout given with the tape, the list was much longer and not only contained a lot of anarcho bands such as The Mob, Anthrax or Flux, but also bands like Varukers, GBH or Abrasive Wheels. So on this side, Plasmid was certainly a band of its time, at the national crossroads between anarchopunk and the Discharge school.

However, it would be a mistake to restrict Plasmid's influences to Britain only. For instance, where  bands like Warwound or Violent Uprising pretty much kept to local dis-ness, Plasmid borrowed from other scenes as well. Indeed, as the Heresy chapter of "Trapped in a scene" reveals, the members of Plasmid also listened to a lot of hardcore as they traded tapes with Dig from Earache records. You can guess that they were really into Mob 47 (especially the drummer), Anti-Cimex and fast Scandinavian bands in general, but also Wretched (who had recently played in England), Siege or BGK. What made Plasmid different from influential local bands is that they also had this influence from abroad that made them thrive to play faster and faster (a common obsession apparently at the time when one also reads the Napalm Death Chapter). The result is a tornado of musical insanity that blends Antisect, Discharge, Wretched, Mob 47 and Disorder. The distinct Boston influence that Heresy is most renowned for will only come later. Here you have pummeling Mob 47-style drums with a distorted guitars playing sped-up early Antisect riffs, some Chaos UK/Disorder flavoured breaks, and a snotty singer who barks (or does he quack?) continuously albeit rather indistinctly (a Wretched influence perhaps). Even through the myst of noise, one can discern that the songs are actually solid and really energetic like the backbone to the future Heresy. 

Before discussing the lyrics and the aesthetics of Plasmid, let's have a brief yet epic word about this reissue. It is stunning. It honestly couldn't have been done better. In fact, this record is probably the best-looking, most comprehensive Ep reissue that I own. In later years, there has been a trend to reissue records exactly identical to the original, which is fine since it allows one to play the "let's-pretend-I-was-around-in-1984" game but still lacks the background information about the context of production of the band (and often the context is as crucial as the text). Here you have both, original artworks, lyrics, two inserts, liner-notes from band members now as well as how they introduced themselves then, a gatefold cover that turns into a poster in true Crass fashion. If they had included an old-looking patch, it would have been the reissue of the decade. If I had only one complaint, it would be that the cover is really not that great when compared to the amazing artwork inside the record. Indeed, if you are initially clueless about the band (and let's face it, a lot of people are), the cover is not very likely to entice you. I know, I am a picky bastard when it comes to all-important things.   

If Plasmid played hardcore-punk, their approach to music as conveyed throughout the topics of their songs and their visual quality was firmly ensconsed in the early anarchopunk scene. Not that there is any discrepancy in that, Antisect were as much an anarcho band as D&V, anarchopunk being supposed to be a way of doing things and a shared set of values, and not a genre. Still there are specific signs that indicate that one is entering vintage anarchopunk territory as construed by the British punks in the 80's: anti-war songs, the threat of a nuclear annihilation, animal abuse, the destructiveness of those in power and so on. The song "Lust for power" is about power-hungry politicians waging wars for their interests while discarding the very real effects of conflicts on populations (the careful geek will notice some Discharge intertextuality with the line "Lives are squandered"). Despite the Discharge nod, the lyrics to the song are rather long and more akin to an Anti-System number in terms of writing. The lyrics to two other songs are provided ("Cry of hunger" about starvation and poverty and "Immortal shadows" about victims of a nuclear fallout coming back from the dead!) but they don't appear on the demo. I guess the lyrics to the four other songs have been lost and you would be pretty lucky to understand them by just listening to them, in fact you would probably get a nobel price nomination by achieving this true feat.     

The absence of some of the lyrics doesn't, by any means, imply that you don't get much to read: as already mentioned, you have a two-page history of Plasmid written by Steve and Garn (with, as a bonus, the short review of the demo Pus did for MRR back then comparing Plasmid to fellow noise merchants Chaos UK and Asylum) as well as a text about bloodsports and fox-hunting and one text written by the band as a handout accompanying the demo. The reissue is packed with fantastic cut'n'paste artwork with top-notch drawings (the punk-skeleton doing the peace sign should have been used for a shirt... any taker?) and superb anarcho-influenced symbolism and slogans. As I said, this is possibly the loveliest Ep reissue that I have seen and one that the record label, Shortfuse records (also responsible for records from Lärm, Ripcord or Uniform Approach), must be very proud of.  

I obviously cannot recommend this enough. If you don't already own this geezer, it might very well be the best thing you can get for a fiver in 2015. 

Part Antisect, part The Mob. An anarcho wet dream.

The gatefold poster with another Antisect nod for the road.

Lust for power!

  

Bug Central "Money and riots" Ep, 2000

Reading news about Class War today inspired me to post this Ep. What with the successful Poor Doors protest and the current occupation of a building to resist gentrification, CW has a youthful and outrageous energy - the age of the participants notwithstanding - that I greatly enjoy. And having banners with "wankers" written under pictures of prominent members of the political class is as childish as it is wonderful, not to mention empowering and, who knows, effective. Just like a healthy slice of punk-rock, right? For some reason, while reading Ian Bone's blog, I thought that Bug Central would be the perfect soundtrack for a Class War action. It is angry, politically-charged, direct and snottier than a bus full of teenagers.

One can meaningfully associate Bug Central with the late 90's/early 00's London anarchopunk scene that saw bands like Active Slaughter or Riot/Clone at the top of their game. The band formed in 1996 and originally had a former X-Cretas member on drums. They were really active until 2002 then seemed to have taken a long break before kicking back to life in 2008. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Bug Central is to the UK anarchopunk sound what Zero Tolerance (assuming you read my earth-shattering post about their album) is to the UK82 one. Both bands were around at the same time, probably from the same generation and shared that genuine, sincere approach to music. Like Zero Tolerance, Bug Central was not a referential band, and although they were undeniably influenced by bands like Subhumans, Anthrax, Liberty or Riot/Clone, I would venture that they didn't really intend to sound like them, as if it were not intentional but rather something that came naturally to them because they overplayed "Religious war" or "Capitalism is cannibalism" at home or something. Anyway... Expect some nasty, tuneful mid-tempo punk-rock with distinctive vocals that definitely sets the band apart if you ask me. Just like the music, the voice sounds effortlessly angry and threatening without ever being forceful or parodic (it reminds me of one of the singers of Cress actually), a rare feat if you really think about it. The music is not spectacular or especially original but it does a perfect job at providing the listener with a slightly updated version of the early 80's anarcho sound and I like to think than it does it better than bands who purposely have that kind of agenda and, more often than not, fail because they just try too hard.

Lyrics show that the boys were not too happy with the state of things and thanks fuck for that. "Money and riots", the best track on the Ep, is about capitalism, poverty and social classes; "Smart-bombs for the nation" (I apologize for the few skips...) is about the alienating power of television; "Bank job" is an Intensive Care cover (not the 80's band, the latter one from London) and "Halo projector" is a song against religious loonies and their dangerous fear of God. The Ep also includes a short text about punks who are stuck in the past and are just a parody of themselves, wallowing in self-complacency and being self-righteous armchair critics. Next to this text, the band provided a list of contacts of worthy struggles to support such as Class War, the ALF or the AFA.

My version of this 2000 Ep is the North-American one, released on Arson Records from Canada, a label that also put out a really good live from Amebix ("Make some fucking noise") as well as Besk and Kakistocracy records. The UK version was released on BBP records, a label that was responsible for the Icons of Filth live Ep and the Nausea/Jesus Chrust/Apostates tape that I posted on the blog a while ago, as well as excellent tapes from anarcho bands like Alternative or Civilised Society? in the 80's. For some strange reason, Bug Central's first Lp had been released on Helen of Oi! just one year before, an oddity that I still can't really explain... Maybe the label was drawn to the 80's sound of the band? To the band's direct approach to politics? Maybe they didn't bother reading the lyrics? Whatever the reason is, it is a little absurd to see a Oi label releasing an anarchopunk record... Oh well, if Hard Skin were able to fool them... Maybe they couldn't read?

Money and riots      

Genital Deformities / Subcaos "Who did this to my sister?" split cd, 1994

I honestly feel a bit sorry for the snobs who have an aristocratic disdain for the cd format, especially since most, if not all, of them didn't grow up with vinyls. Like any self-respecting punk geek, I largely prefer vinyls, but I certainly don't despise cd's. They may not be as cool (but then, nothing is quite as uncool as cd's these days) but let's remember that they are sometimes the only way to get some recordings with a decent sound (for some reason, the vinyl elite doesn't seem to mind listening to youtube or shitty mp3's) like discographies including demos or unreleased tracks or whatever.

And sometimes, even 20 years ago, some records were only available on cd, which must have been rather unusual in the DIY punk realms then. In fact, with this one cd you could have released two full Lp's of Genital Deformities and Subcaos. Ataque Sonoro, the label, must have loved the concept of the packed split cd since they released another very worthy one one year later with Policebastard and Defiance (who were no Punkcore infidels then).

I see this record as a genuine 90's crust classic, albeit a largely unsung one, with, to my right, the almighty Genital Deformities from the Birmingham area, and, to my left, the Lisbon crust heroes, Subcaos. As knowledgeable as I may be in UK crust, one of my main obsessions in my exhilarating life, GD remain a bit of a mystery to me. I know they started out as an unlistenable all-out-noisy-bollocks grindcore band similar to Sore Throat and I dare you to listen to their 1987 demo without fainting. In 1989 they released the fantastic "Shag nasty Oi!"Lp, a crucial record that blends old-school filthy metallic crust and shambolic grindcore with over-the-top, even goofy at times, vocals. It has to be said that the Lp cover is possibly one of the ugliest one, if not the most embarrassing, I own. I must admit that I don't wear my GD shirt everyday. Although my copy of that Lp doesn't have an insert (was there even one?) I am pretty sure that there must have been some significant line-up changes along with the new musical direction in the early 90's. In 1992, the demo "Profession of violence" (which would be released as a split Lp with Nuclear Death a year later) indicated that the band had truly found its own sound, an impression confirmed with this split cd with Subcaos. It is unclear whether GD played a lot of gigs when they were active in the 80's and 90's and sadly they are not included in Ian Glasper's book (from what I recall, they didn't reply to the questions in time... what a shame). What I can say is that Tom Croft, who joined Excrement of War and Doom in the early 90's, doesn't appear to play on any of GD's 90's recordings, although he does take part in the newly reformed GD.

Q: What can I expect in terms of sound?
A: Top of the shelf UK crusty metal-punk.
Q: Great! Could you be more specific?
A: Of course my son. You remember the cheesy "metal-punk death squad" debacle from a few years ago?
Q: Sadly, I do.
A: Well, GD did it a thousand times better without the lame posing. Just picture a bunch of original crusties playing Celtic Frost-influenced hardcore punk with a 90's British punk flair and a crunchy metal sound. It is beefy, powerful and mean with guttural, threatening vocals. Know what I mean? Not unlike Coitus or Corpus Vile, or even recent bands like Gurkha or Warprayer, but with a distinct twist that makes GD remarkable.
Q: Thanks! You're so awesome!
A: Don't mention it. I'm only doing my job.

Despite a name that probably played no small part in the relatively small amount of GD patches in existence (unless it was pisstake of gory metal? just some silly and juvenile punk humour like the Pax compilations? who knows...), GD was a serious band with decent, angry anti-government, anti-religion, anti-system lyrics (as the genre requires I suppose) but you can also find a couple of songs about dark characters lurking in street corners as the cover suggests. Really good shit indeed.

If you are into crust music, and assuming you have any self-respect, Subcaos should be no stranger to you. However, more realistically, I suppose most of you are not all that familiar with them. Along with Simbiose, they are Portugal's crust warriors, and their 90's output is definitely worth an earbleed. In fact, I personally rate Subcaos very high on the always reliable Hiatus music scale. By 1994, when they also released the great "Revolution" Ep, the band was at the top of its game and easily one of the best crustcore band in Europe. Granted there were a lot of bands doing the Doom/Hiatus thing in the mid 90's but Subcaos did it particularly well and this split cd is certainly their best work. Expect an intense dual vocal anarcho crustcore attack bringing to mind Disrupt, Hiatus and Extreme Noise Terror. The production is absolutely perfect for the genre: effortlessly raw and powerful. The addition of a female singer on some songs (just like on Disrupt's "Unrest"... Coincidence?) and the fact that most of the songs are shouted in Portuguese definitely make Subcaos stand out. What I particularly enjoy is the punk-as-fuck feel of the songwriting: pummeling Swedish-style drums, good, simple riffs, aggressive and biting crusty vocals that are not too forceful, some spoken parts and carefully chosen samples to show that they were an angry bunch with something to say... It feels spiky, genuine, sloppy, youthful and pissed off which is everything you are entitled to expect from this wonderful genre. It is almost as groovy as Stàte of Feär, which is no mean feat if you truly think about it. Lyrics about police violence, animal abuse, political corruption, the uselessness of voting and, of course, war will remind you of the decade of production. Icing on the cake, they have an anti-Rupture song and they cover Doom's "Relief" which was a prerequisite of crust back then.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this split cd, the recently reformed Genital Deformities and the surviving Subcaos (who now look like the Portuguese chapter of the Mad Max fanclub and play solid metal-punk) did a split Ep in 2013. Pretty good to be fair but nevertheless miles away from this top quality record that deserves a respectable spot in the 90's crust legend.

Subgenital Chaos Deformities

 

Potential Threat "Never again" Lp 1989

There are oddities in the punk galaxy that I find hard to explain. While some amazing bands seem to be doomed to obscurity, if not scorn, others, though sometimes quite average, are excessively praised. Punk-rock works in mysterious ways.

That Potential Threat doesn't have a spot in the anarchopunk canon is an enigma to me. They had everything, the music, the lyrics, the records on Mortarhate, the looks (it sadly does matter) and most of all a phenomenal female singer. And yet, there is not even a crappy cd discography, not even a lame bootleg with an embarrassingly pixelated cover (or is there?). You just had the odd reissue of the first Ep 6 years ago and that's fucking it. I know there are many other bands that also deserve to be properly reissued, but in the case  of Potential Threat, we are dealing with a band that existed from 1981 to 1988 (that's the same lifespan as Antisect actually), recording two Ep's, two Lp's and taking part in several worthy compilations in the process. So why the apparent indifference?

Reading the short bio of the band here, one realizes that the band never really had a stable line-up at the beginning of its existence, with Pauline and Fos being the sole remaining members, which means that they probably weren't able to tour extensively or even gig regularly in the early 80's at the peak of the anarchopunk odyssey. In fact, the band had to wait until their first Lp, "Demand an alternative" to finally know some semblance of stability member-wise. But by that time, the year was 1985: the original anarcho scene was declining and the hardcore/crust wave had not started yet so one may venture that gig turnouts were not that great. Interestingly though, Potential Threat had the opportunity to play both with Conflict and the Mortarhate roster in the first part of the 80's but also with the rising crusty scene during the second half of the decade as this handout for a gig at the Mermaid can attest:

Would I sell my soul to be able to witness a gig such as this one? Do you really need an answer?

Could poor band logistics and unlucky timing be reasons enough to explain the band's relative anonymity today? After all, they were by no means the only band in the situation of not being able to gig a lot or of being two years too late (or too early?). Their records may have suffered from poor distribution or maybe being from Blackburn didn't help either (I can't think of another Blackburn 80's punk band actually). Or could it be that their strong, almost orthodox anarcho message was seen as clichéd by the time they secured a proper line-up? Were they too serious or did they seem to be so at a time when English Dogs were having half-naked women riding dragons on the sleeves of their records? Did they look too punk at a time when metal and hardcore were all the rage? 

One thing is certain: Potential Threat sounded absolutely fantastic and they should be up there, right between your Amebix backpatch, your Discharge top and your Antisect hat. There were two different periods to Potential Threat. The first one included their two Ep's of fast and angry British-flavoured hardcore-punk that gave Anti-System, Varukers and Antisect a run for their money in terms of intensity. I personally rate "What's so great... Britain?" as high as "In defense of the realms" and that's saying a lot. The second period saw the band add a metal influence in their recipe to great effect. The more cynical among you will point out that it was the case of an awful lot of punk bands in the mid-80's which is, of course, true. But here is the thing though. Sacrilege and Antisect adopted a darker sound and look along with the metal turn, there was a change in aesthetics, but also in texture and mood. Concrete Sox or Anihilated looked lovingly toward the US thrash-metal wave and the result was an hybrid between hard-hitting anarchopunk and 80's metal. But in the case of Potential Threat, although the metal influence is undeniable, one has the feeling that there is no significant change in terms of mood and texture, as if the punk element had completely swallowed the metallic one, only to regurgitate it in the guitar riffs, miraculously turning metal into punk in the process. My blabbering may seem unclear to you now, but listen to this Lp a couple of times and you will se what I mean. And if you don't, never come back.

Basically, "Never again" is an album of politically-charged metallic anarchopunk, maybe not unlike late Anti-System, late 80's Concrete Sox or Civilised Society? The production is thick, powerful and warm like anger burning, the drums are pummeling and energetic, the guitar riffs are - almost - always relevant with a crunchy punk sound and the vocals... Well, Pauline had one of the most memorable voice of the anarchopunk scene in my opinion, warm and yet tense, raucous and yet tuneful. The words are shouted from the heart but are not yelled as you can actually understand what she is on about. I can't think of another female singer with a voice quite like hers, not that she was a particularly technical singer - it's still punk as fuck - but in the sense that there was no one singing like her at the time. If Potential Threat had had your average, but still lovable, snotty punk-rocker on vocals, they would have been really good. But with Pauline they become remarkable.  

OMG! Another Anti-System reference!

Now, I am not a great fan of the cover, I have to say, and you will notice that I didn't bother to include my own scan of it. Not that I disagree with the message, obviously, but I don't find it really pleasing to the eye (I mean, there is still a huge swastika on it). I much prefer the thick booklet with the lyrics translated into German (it was released on a German label) which was, I believe, not so common at the time. Potential Threat was very much a band of its time and place in terms of topics and it appears they were really into animal rights. The first song, "Solidarity" is strongly reminiscent of vintage anarchopunk with political talk-over passages about the situation in Northern Ireland, its sectarianism and paramilitary violence. It's the perfect introduction to a very intense album that tackles animal abuse, the need for direct action, the double-standards of the law, anti-fascism, class war, religious nutters, Thatcher being a heartless witch... My favourite song might be "This isn't punk", which is a criticism of the brainless punks bent on drugs and violence. And there is some Slayer-bashing in the song "Wishful thinking" which I find really amusing though I don't necessarily agree with the band about their view on free speech. On page 6, you will notice a drawing that should ring a bell as it is the same one that was used for Anti-System's "A look at life". How odd is that? 

This album was the band's last record and was released in 1989, after the band broke up if I understand correctly, although it was recorded in 1987. The label, Recordrom, went on to put out goodies from Dan and Internal Autonomy.

Never again!

                  

Final Warning "Eyes of a child" Ep, 1994

Has it been two weeks already? Fuck me. Time really does fly and I wish it didn't. Especially since it's that time of the year again, when people are starting to get all excited about buying lame christmas gifts for people they don't really like. Pretty sickening really. Dante couldn't have seen it coming, but if there is a hell, it must be working at a toy store in december. On my way to work, there is a massive toy store that has all the colourful plastic crap a first-world kid can dream of, and the other day, although it was over thirty minutes before the opening hour, there were at least twenty people waiting before the door, looking both pissed and eager to spend money, while the employees were rushing inside, cleaning up the floor at full speed so that a herd of consumers could trample on it ruthlessly. Life: what a wonderful choice.

Anyway. If you have a kid who is into punk or if you wish to turn your young niece away from Justin Bieber, I suggest you get this wonderful Ep from Final Warning. It is a 90's record so you will be able to get if for cheap and it is a solid slice of charged hardcore-punk. In fact, I hadn't played this one for a while and I had forgotten how good it was. Not to be confused with the early hardcore band from Portland, this Final Warning were from New York and were active in the mid-90's. As I understand it, Final Warning was the follow-up of Warning although I think that Neil, the singer, was the only common member between both bands. Warning itself started after the demise of the cruelly underrated Jesus Chrust (see my post about them for more glorification) which had Neil on vocals along with Ralphy Boy, who also sang in Disassociate. And even before Jesus Chrust, Neil used to sing for Nausea, you know, that small band that everyone has patches of, before they turned crust. And of course, Neil was the brain behind Tribal War Records, a label that released music that had a tremendous influence on me and without which I probably wouldn't be half as awesome as I am today.

If Warning was a tad generic music-wise, Final Warning was a much more focused effort that deserves to be re-discovered. Metal-tinged hardcore punk in the British tradition (after all, the singer is originally from England), this Ep could have been recorded in Nottingham and released on Inflammable Materials. It doesn't really incorporate the musical element that prevailed among the mid-90's US anarcho/crusty which they were a part of. Locally, Distraught would be the closest thing sounding like Final Warning (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they shared members actually) although the latter has more crunch and had less of a Final Conflict influence. As I said, FW sounded more at home with the mighty Hellkrusher (they even covered "Dying for who" on their live Lp) or 90's era Varukers, but with an added metal influence that came directly from the early UK crust scene or, perhaps ironically, from late Nausea. The first song, "Faith", an anti-religious haiku, is a perfect dischargey, antisecty, nauseous number with a powerful sound and perfect bass lines; "Rise" is a crusty anthem with terrific yet simple crunchy metal riffs that could have been lifted off "Guttural breath"; finally, "Eyes of a child" is a cross between both, with thrashy metal riffs, a d-beat rhythm section, vintage reverb on vocals (not unlike Cracked Cop Skulls really, even in the vocal tone) and a spoken part that screams "you're in anarchopunk territory". What makes the three tracks really stand out could be the bass work: it has a clear sound, the lines are really catchy, memorable at times even.

Only three tracks on this Ep that leave me craving for more. As mentioned, there is a Final Warning live Lp that was recorded in 1996 and that included quite few Nausea covers along with the Hellkrusher one. In 2000, a few years after the end of the band, a split Ep with Mankind? was also released on Tribal War, but that's it. A proper studio Lp would have been nice. Oh well.

As you will see, the lyrics that were initially printed inside the sleeve are almost unreadable since they are written in white with black and white pictures in the background. This mistake (don't be mean, shit happens when you do DIY punk records, I have seen much worse) accounts for the addition of a small sheet of paper with the lyrics printed on it. Finally, I found a really interesting, inspiring even, interview of Neil Robinson that you can read here in which you will find plenty of information about the 80's New York squat scene, ABC No Rio, Nausea, but also locally-sourced food.      

Final Warning