Reviews

Abnegat

Dyym 2020 CD

Here we have some metal-tinged DIY hardcore from Poland. With their female-led vocals and style in general, this reminds me of HYSTERESE, who I’ve reviewed a couple of times. Songs are in that two-to-three-minute mark, but make plenty of time for complex structures, packed with riff changes, bass and drum breaks, and full-force choruses. Lyrics, kindly translated into English, ask poignant questions about social inequities, such as “Equality March” that starts with “Why do you think love is heterosexual / Traditional, brutal and pushy?” This song, clearly not to be missed, is both the opener and the closer, sung first in Polish and last in English. My favorite of the album is “Utopia” for its introspection that can be read in the lyrics and heard in the slower nature of the track, ultimately building to a roiling chorus that rests at the top, where a simple “utopia” is sung.

Illegal Corpse Riding Another Toxic Wave LP

Hard, tight crossover leaning more on the hardcore than the thrash side of the scale. The cover art, songs about beer, and sick riffs all spell “thrash,” but the aggressive breakdowns and brutal attitude will have you throwing elbows and picking up change in the pit. “Let It Beer” absolutely rips and particularly showcases the insane drumming with double-kicks flying, rolls and fills, and hi-hats crashing all over the place. There’s no fat or filler in any of these thirteen tracks. Impossibly fast and in-your-face like all the best crossover should be. Fans of MUNICIPAL WASTE and GOATWHORE, take note.

Pänika Wear Your Own Fur, Asshole! EP

Wroclaw, Poland’s PÄNIKA offers some angry, political, raw hardcore punk on this 7″ release. Lurching forward in full force from the off, this EP has some back-breaking fast tunes on it with some heavy-hitting, pogo-y tunes sandwiched in between. A real ferocious listen—really solid stuff!

Rebelión Anarcopunk Sus Limites Cruzar EP

Long-running Bogotá punks REBELIÓN ANARCOPUNK tear through four cuts of full-bore crust with wild abandon. The songs are blazing fast with shouted vocals, shredding guitars, and top-shelf drumming. Although there are some metallic elements—double bass, finger-tapped guitar solos, occasionally guttural vox—this is pure punk in the raw form, and doesn’t actually sound metal in the least. The title track “Sus Limites Cruzar” is my personal favorite with its over-the-top leads, manic caterwauls, and blastbeats. If the energy captured here is any indication, I imagine their live sets to be a true spectacle.

Recedent Somnia Incoming Nightmare LP

Mid-paced metallic hardcore with melodic tweaks and crusty vocals from Rennes, France. Filled with the sounds of classic 2010s melodic hardcore with soft touches of crust. On their second work included here (the Incoming Death EP released in 2021), they cling to even more melodic sources and even slower cadences, resulting in redundant and similar songs in-between. The anthemic choruses kind of in the middle of some of the songs just haven’t worked out for me. Suggested tracks: “Our Destiny” for slightly faster tempos, and “Inside Madness” for some sludgy tunes.

Lakka / Samorast split cassette

Killer Czech/Slovak emotional hardcore split release. LAKKA starts with blistering, anxious, passionate European screamo (think DOWNFALL OF GAIA, SHIKARI). SAMORAST has a more distinctly Eastern sound—similarly emotive but thinner and slightly more abrasive. Both bands are new to me, both bands are incredible, and both bands remind me how much I miss honestly over posturing in hardcore in general. Naturally, there’s substantial overlap, but this split feels real, and that’s worth a lot in these times.

LDMA / The Seeker split EP

France versus Italy, in a ring called powerviolence. LMDA delivers a brutal ham-slapping of vicious modern powerviolence almost stepping into grindcore territory, complete with all the tropes of the genre: movie samples, INFEST vocals, start/stop motions, everything one can expect. The SEEKER takes a more chaotic approach but also goes heavy on the trope usage. Powerviolence the way it’s supposed to be, rooted in hardcore punk, not just breakdowns followed by blasts.

Träume Ob​ł​ę​d EP

First recording from this Warsaw-based hardcore foursome. TRÄUME (or “trauma”) and Ob​ł​ę​d (“madness”) give the English-speaking sap like me a context for the rage within these four songs, which are over within seven heated minutes. The band rips—pick slides and chugging guitars galore with straightforward tom-pummeling drums. Vocals remind me of the way BAD BRAINS shout, howl, and emphasize end lines by swinging up an octave. Not a clue what they’re singing about, but I’m all in!

Vitriol Vitriol demo cassette

Five tracks of raw punk destruction from VITRIOL out of Singapore. Wailing vocals roaring within the chaos of blown-out speaker buzzsaw noise guitar, with bulldozing drums crushing the eardrums. Teeth-ripping tracks that will make your flesh rot while you’re listening.

Tyran / Wolftrap 13 split EP

Poland’s WOLFTRAP 13 offers a metallic churning version of Swedish D-beat with excessive double bass—they morph into their own on “Firewalker,” and I feel like I want to know what they would do with a full release of their own. Countrymen TYRAN waste nothing with their two tracks—clenched-fist juggernauts of gnarled metallic hardcore. Two bands I’d like to hear more from.