Berlin’s FUNERAL DAMAGE returns with an absolutely punishing slab of noisy, nihilistic hardcore. Muerte is soaked in dread, feedback, and reverb-heavy vocals that echo from the underground. Think DEFORMITY meets DESTINO FINAL with an added layer of Eastern European menace. The lyrics hit hard even when screamed in Spanish, the riffs are dense and gritty, and the whole LP feels like getting buried alive under bricks of drumming. Raw and essential.
Splits are always a fun showcase of like-minded bands sharing the medium of art to demonstrate their abilities. This is a split between raw punk aficionados BASTARDESTROYER from Indonesia and fastcore unit GORC from the Czech Republic. Expect violent tunes played at light speed and crusty boot stomps all over your eardrums. Also a gem for true Scandinavian hardcore maniacs in the form of a cover of “Criminal Trap” by the masters ANTI-CIMEX.
Jesus Christ, did they find enough labels to help release this thing? Classic fastcore powerviolence, but both bands sound different enough to keep things interesting. MEXOFF pulls double grunting vocal duties, sounding like MAN IS THE BASTARD and CAPTAIN THREE LEG with a very prominent, heavy bass. There’s a bit of a crusty edge here as well. NEGATIVE PATH leans a little closer to the D-beat side of the spectrum and is a tad more guitar-heavy, with thrash-like solos and unique vocal tones; they sound like a pack of wild coyotes. There’s over two dozen tracks piled onto this disc and none of them go over a minute-and-a-half. That’s pure perfection right there.
