Reviews

Terror State

Adrestia Requiem LP

This is one for the more metal-oriented punks—those who like people who can actually play their instruments or, to put it objectively, musicians who are actual musicians. ADRESTIA is, or rather was, from Sweden, since Requiem, the band’s seventh LP (including two splits) is their farewell record. I had never paid too much attention to ADRESTIA, and while I do think they are very good at what they do, what they do is not really my cup of tea. The music oscillates between heavy and dark metallic Swedish hardcore like MARTYRDOD or MISANTROPIC and old school death metal, and it all gets a little too technical and not wild enough for me at the end of the day, although it certainly sounds angry and the lyrics are clearly political. The very polished production highlights the band’s qualities and what they want to achieve, and I found myself quite liking the epic sludgy metal number “Where Gods Die” a lot, with very melodic guest vocals from one Linda Johansson. Interesting.

Warchrist Deafening Silence cassette

This recent release by UK’s WARCHRIST is brilliant, and let me tell you the many reasons why. WARCHRIST’s crusty, D-beat-driven hardcore is captured perfectly on this four-song release, striking a precise balance of studio versus raw aesthetic that creates the feeling of a chaotic but high-quality, live basement vibe. Grindcore influences similar to HIP COPS or FUCK THE FACTS present themselves within moments of pressing play and permeate the entirety of this cassette. The second song “Iron Fist” presents a sort of “Bömber” rhythm, but maintains a blistering pace and somehow still delivers those blown-out, throat-shredding vocals. Towards the end of “Iron Fist,” a melancholic guitar tone emerges and continues soaring wails of anguish into “Dismantling the Illusion” which still delivers the rage-filled vocals, creating an amazing sonic display of the juxtaposition of emotions. A quick vocal swap on “Dismantling the Illusion” also yields something reminiscent of AUS-ROTTEN. “Fuck the System” follows and closes the recording with a song that opens with a middle finger of a sound sample, continues into a ripping track of mosh-ready hardcore, and then reemerges midway through as an epic gang vocal/pile-on/grab-the-mic sing-along. The crust war mentality of this album is not to be understated—if I were to use a recording as a sonic offensive against the imperialist bastards, it might just be this one.