Reviews

Counteract

Autarch Excession//Excision cassette

While the 2020s are still running on ignorant punk stomps, in the mountains of North Carolina there are four people who are determined to keep pushing the epic crust envelope further and further. Stunning, downtuned, apocalyptic D-beat lurches, replete with over-the-top guitar leads and dual vocals that seem all obligatory not because “they’re supposed to do that” but because it all needs to be there. You can feel it. For a band to sound so simultaneously confident and desperate is beyond refreshing, even while the tonnage from these two songs crushes you from the inside. AUTARCH has been in the game for a while, and they sound more important than ever.

Locura / Pesticide split LP

This record is a bit like a time machine to the mid-’00s for me, an epoch when neocrust was still hot and many patch-worshipping bands started to experiment with epic, dark, melodic tunes, but also screamo and black metal. A time when I listened to and enjoyed the genre, but one that did not last too long in my case, as the genre’s cheesiness quickly bored me (I don’t mind cheesy, just not this kind). Since I don’t follow new neocrust or blackened crust or screamo crust bands, I am absolutely clueless about what’s hot these days in this little niche that still has a lot of devoted fans (the genre appeals to the emo crowd, too). The young PESTICIDE and LOCURA are good at what they do. The former is from Belgium and reminds me of MADAME GERMEN or FALL OF EFRAFA, which I suppose is what they are going for. A lot of different moods and changes of pace with long, narrative numbers. The latter is from the Netherlands, and is more direct and less polished. LOCURA is more balanced between modern hardcore and ’00s crust; they have that generally fast, brooding, and dark hardcore sound with melodies, but also a ’00s crust vibe. Let’s say they would feel at home between Biel’s PACK and Poland’s ANTICHRIST. Both bands have a genuine DIY political punk feel and the job is done. But they are not my cuppa.