Reviews

Aktiver Ausstand In Plastik

D.F.C. Igreja Quadrangular Do Triângulo Redondo LP

Originally released on CD in 1996, this second album from Brazilian hardcore legends D.F.C. (DISTRITO FEDERAL CAOS) is an exercise in ’80s crossover style that echoes the sentiments of D.R.I. and RATOS DE PORAO in speedy thrashing laced with rapid-fire vocals, but there’s enough melody and breakdowns to keep the music squarely planted in the punk camp. With a penchant for cartoony artwork and parody album covers, D.F.C. seems more interested in issuing their metal-infused ass-whoopings than taking themselves too seriously. There are twenty brief, snappy songs here, and two of them are only four seconds long, making it an ideal soundtrack to any hessian morning routine. Get your day off to a strong start by brushing your teeth while listening to D.F.C. call people “putas.”

Fumist Coaltar LP

FUMIST is a supergroup based in Lyon, known for their seasoned members from HORDUR, CIVILIAN THROWER, LOVGUN, and OVERMARS. Their first album includes fourteen intense, D-beat-infused grindcore tracks with obligatory death metal slow sections that are sure to crush your head. The powerful drumming shines brightly on this album filled with nostalgic moments, creating a unique blend of grinding violence. Featuring both slow and fast movements, this album is a complete banger! Get your smoke on!

Indoctrinate Kollapse LP

One look at the cover art and Miss Machine from DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN comes to mind. The intro evokes the chaotic collage of mass media madness from CURSED’s Architects of Troubled Sleep. The second track “Normalcy Über Alles” erupts into a frenzy of blastbeats and heavy HM-2w riffage à la TRAP THEM, until the middle weirdly features a spoken word part that almost feels like rapping with scratches included. A not so common choice, to mix dark hardcore with elements of hip hop. The vocals would fit well in a band like EVERYTIME I DIE; they also keep a foot in post-hardcore (or mathcore, to be more specific). It keeps throwing you curveballs and mixing genres that seemingly shouldn’t mix together, but the backbone is always dark hardcore and CONVERGE-styled metalcore. This is a very different and crazy mix of influences that in a peculiar way works OK as a final product.

RAN Atrabil​ä​r LP

Fast, crusty hardcore/PV from this Lyon, France band. First off, this record sounds amazing. Recorded and mixed by the band, these fourteen songs sound so nasty, so heavy and distorted, that you’ll immediately know if this is for you. RAN’s sound is so good: syncopated drums that frequently lurch into breathless blastbeats, super heavy bass tones, thick guitars that skew dissonant, and screams. While this is a punk record, there is enough chugging and chaos here to appeal to mathcore and death metal fans, too. Every song rips hard, and I especially like “Why Don’t You Stick Your Head Up Your Ass…See If It Fits” for its ridiculous title, and “Funky Crusty Rambling” for the classic ’50s-style rock’n’roll riff that starts it off. Actually, I recommend you just press play and then repeat it as soon as it ends. Highly recommended.

Tortraffen Ism LP

An instant must-have: track after track of addictive mid-tempo Deutschpunk from a German expat punk in Western Australia. The dark tinges of EA80, SLIME-caliber vocals spewing fierce gravel, and there’s something to be said for the brilliant simplicity of a catchy fukkn track with piles of backing vocals. Presented with a painstakingly constructed recording that’s appropriately rough around the edges…this is great.