Anti-System

Reviews

Anti-System No Laughing Matter LP reissue

Somewhere back near the dawning of mass home internet access, I came across ANTI-SYSTEM. Upon hearing their blistering anarcho hardcore, I immediately emblazoned ANTI-SYSTEM on the back of my jacket. Fastfoward several blinks of an eye later, and I couldn’t be more stoked to see a reissue of No Laughing Matter, an absolute stellar full-length. First released in 1985, No Laughing Matter contains hardline lyrics about peace, animal liberation, and nuclear war which remain poignant to this very moment. ANTI-SYSTEM strikes that perfect balance of anarcho punk’s chaotic playfulness and the surging rage of hardcore, and inadvertently created the bastard child known as crust punk. In reality, No Laughing Matter is a shifting album—an album that shifts from UK82 hardcore, to sound clips, to harmonic instrumentals and back. This LP is packed with thirteen songs and is an absolute monolith worth listening to in its entirety.

Anti-System No Laughing Matter LP

The second UK 1985 release to completely blow me away. This vinyl slab runs rampant with excessive energy, speed, and intensity. Lyrics are strong and abrasive with critical beliefs worked into each song structure. Has the continual power approach found on the ANTI-SECT LP, yet there are more speedcore traces here—fast, blistering chaos, raging with incredible might. Their 7″ was great, but this is ANTI-SYSTEM’s best yet. An “A” for music and ideas.