Reviews

9 Lies

Abanglupa Of Rats and Swine LP

Brutal powerviolence out of the Philippines. Teeters more on the metal side than the punk side of PV. Super heavy, but slow and low at points. Has a doom metal element, but also reminds me of the early era of nu-metal when it was still experimental and not the cornball mallcore it later became. Lots of dissonant guitars and deeply heavy barre chords. I love non-American grindcore because they think more outside the box than their Western counterparts—always comes off more authentic and less fashionable. Really beautiful production, everything is crisp and full. Vocals are full-throttle and front and center. Everything sounds great here; super tight and groovy as hell. Well worth a spin if you’re into this type of thing.

Caloris Impact Geoid LP

CALORIS IMPACT from Graz, Austria plays modern hardcore that sits comfortably next to BUGGIN, STRESS POSITIONS, and GEL, with a dash of of surf-y rock’n’roll added to the usual two-stepping riffs and breakdowns that works well. The swagger in these songs is refreshing, especially when paired with the vicious, politically-charged vocal delivery. Check out “Arrogance,” it’s a proper rocker.

Contra Collective Unconscious EP

Not all hardcore needs to have a BFA these days—sometimes you just want uneducated bludgeoning force. Budapest’s CONTRA seems to have a fairly good grasp on what it takes to hit hard and fast and even pulls some melodic tricks in the guitar work to air out the otherwise fairly straight ahead metallic punk. The best part about these six tracks is the vocals which sound like a worthy descendant of the gritty bellowing BASTARD perfected back in the early ’90s. Where the EP falls just short is the recording. It’s all a bit too clean for my taste, and while that allows the craftsmanship to shine, I’d still like it to hit me more like the medieval cudgel depicted on the cover art than the stainless steel surgical tools the music evokes. Maybe I’m just a little filth pig, but a little extra muck would perfect this mean and muscly crew.

Crippled Fox In the Name of Thrash LP

It’s always respectable when something is accurately labeled or identified. If you see a red MAGA hat, you can make some safe assumptions about the person wearing it. With the album title In the Name of Thrash, you can expect unrelenting speed and melt-your-face riffs. Straight out of Budapest comes 23 tracks of mosh-pit power-ups in the vein of early DRI, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, and STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH. Every song is devastatingly fast and tight with an attitude of fun and unity throughout. This band does not hide what it’s about under layers of nuance or lyrical gloss. Take the track “High on Thrash,” which asserts “Thrashing is my drug / I’m wasted with my riffs / Bashing myself / With a killer song that rips.” After nearly two dozen thrashcore classics, the album closes with a hilarious send up of power metal pretension and bombast, “P.M.A. (Power Metal Attitude.)” It’s all big hair, knights with swords, and soaring falsettos that had me grinning ear to ear.

Crüel Night / Disdain Alászállás split LP

A filthy, filthy split coming from Hungary with two bleak bands. CRÜEL NIGHT opens hostilities with a B-movie-esque intro to set a dystopic tone for this split effort. Their side tells a story of suicide, so a heavy, hard-hitting, darkened crust approach ridden with blastbeats was taken. The interludes that live between the songs evolve into a more industrial space and even touch on dungeon synth. DISDAIN goes for a more raw approach, following the legacy of English crust like EXTREME NOISE TERROR or DOOM. The interlude usage continues on their side as well, painting another picture of horror and giving this split a narrative to follow.

Exterminating Angel Inherited Future EP

This sounds like a mix between SXE hardcore and late ’90s European grindcore, along with various post-hardcore breakdowns. I don’t want to say it’s deathcore, but it is taking on all forms of darkness and riff crushing—I’m thinking of bands such as MÖRSER, VISION OF DISORDER, CANDIRIA, OBITUARY, or MIND ERASER. Track three, “Sanctuary,” is a multi-tempo onslaught of EXTERMINATING ANGEL’s many strengths. Five tracks of intense, grueling metallic hardcore, each around four minutes in length, on a 12” EP. That’s no slouch for the amount of ideas they have going on. Try not to get into this. But at my age, I’m going nowhere near an EXTERMINATING ANGEL pit. You can just tell how that would go; catch me outside of that. If this is a debut, it’s quite the impressive one.

Gear Man’s Search for Meaning EP

Pretty solid straightforward hardcore here from Hungary. Has a youth crew-ish energy at times, but it’s not overwhelming. Imagine if dudes from INTEGRITY met up with dudes from IGNITE and decided to write some songs. Good stuff.