Profit and Murder Doomed to Fail LP
“PROFIT AND MURDER? Are they still around? How long have they been playing? Since the 19th century?” is likely to be the most common reaction to this brand new album, Doomed to Fail. It was certainly mine as I strongly, and perhaps irremediably, associate this German band with the ’00s so that I am constantly surprised to hear about them. I hadn’t listened to them in ages and only had a vague memory of what they were supposed to be about: rather typical old school crust punk. And to my great relief, Alzheimer’s is still a long way off, because PROFIT AND MURDER plays precisely old school traditional crustcore, with two vocalists and something to say. Hurray! Despite being around since 2000, it seems that trends and fashion have had no effect whatsoever on the band’s sound, impervious to change, which in this case is commendable in my opinion. Doomed to Fail can be said to be a trip down the ’90s and early ’00s Eurocrust memory lane, one I am happy to take, not out of nostalgia but because it’s very well-done, with sincerity. Pummeling, fast, with a Scandi touch and a sense of confident simplicity that clicks. Bands like HIATUS, ’00s VISIONS OF WAR, or 3-WAY CUM got invites of course, and PROFIT AND MURDER is one of the last instances of this peculiar species. I love that one.