December 2012 – #355

Top Ten:

CLOUD RAT/EXTRA VOMIT-split LP
DESPERAT-Demokrati Eller Diktatur?-EP
KOWARD-Overbred-EP
PICTURE FRAME SEDUCTION-Hand of the Rider-LP
EXTORTION/COLD WORLD-split LP
DEFEAT-Warbride-EP
MAGIC SHADOWS-"Sunburned Mind/Under the Stairs"-45
V/A-Turist I Tillvaren-LP
DISCOVER-EP / MUERTHE/VUEVE S.S.-split LP
WHIRL-live


DISCOVER – "Food for the Warmachine" EP
Bludgeoning d-beat/noise punk done right, this is apparently a posthumous release from these Swedish rippers—what a bummer. In line with their "Totally Untalented Apocalypse Punk" aesthetic, the recording is lo-fi as fuck—you basically have to extrapolate the drum tone—but the riffs are there and it's great to hear bands on the faster side of this style that can still write actual *songs*. Lyrics are about…war (you guessed it!), and KAAOS and WARCOLLAPSE covers at the end of each side round out a totally satisfying take on the style. Start another band already, jeez! (WB)
(Rawmantic Disasters)

NO SUBMISSION – "I Still Believe" EP
East coast political hardcore at its most forgettable, this sounds like some youth crew kids discovered Profane Existence and wanted to throw some d-beats in there but totally missed the mark. There are bands where this loud-talking vocal style works, but here it just feels out a place and drags the whole thing into the tough-guy realm, a weird statement when the lyrics are strictly by-the-book left-wing punk politics. The usual slew of palm-muted breakdowns and gang vocals help keep things positive for the kids, but it ends up that the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Even beyond the oh-so-clean production (you can tell this band was raised on 90s melodic hardcore) everything about this record is safe, right down to schoolchildren pledging allegiance on the cover. Next, please. (WB)
(Get Stoked! / Get Outta Town)

DEFEAT – "Warbride" EP
Sprawling and grim, this a dense dose of claustrophobic dark hardcore for the punx. The record starts out with a series of push-pull tempo changes, moving from hardcore kids playing black metal a la YOUNG AND IN THE WAY to epic chugging and back within the first 45 seconds. Suddenly things shift to a massive, punishing d-beat, but DEFEAT is careful never to let their parts become stale, even after the heavy crust vibe comes to dominate. Seriously, it's unreal how much they manage to squeeze on each side while keep everything coherent; even when some of the slower parts lose my interest, the next killer riff is never more than a few seconds away. The only exception is the closing dirge "The Tide," which, while pushing the dynamics even further over the top, ends up feeling superfluous. I didn't think I needed any more DEFEAT in my life, but I was dead wrong. Don't repeat my mistake.
(Regurgitated Semen)


CLOSET BURNER – LP
Belligerent, anthemic queercore from Bloomington, CLOSET BURNER draw on power violence, crust, and raw, straight-ahead street punk in their grinding assault on heteronormative culture. Taking a stand against the intimidation, violence, and internalized self-hatred faced by so many in and out of the punk scene, CLOSET BURNER keep it so fucking real, tackling sexual assault in queer communities on "Power Hypocrisy" and the problematic conflation of sex and gender on "Misinformation = Confiscation" before closing things out with a dual-vocal cover of WARPATH's "Abomination" that recalls the very best of 90s anarcho-punk. Our copy came on translucent pink vinyl with the transgender logo screened on the B-side...dreamy. (WB)
(Reality is a Cult / No I In Punk / IFB)

EXTORTION / COLD WORLD – split LP
Damn, you know the gods of blast beats were smiling the day this record was announced. Fans of the style will be familiar with Australia's mighty EXTORTION, a band who've endeared themselves to legions of power violence nerds by honing the raw energy of genre forebears INFEST and SIEGE into a polished, precision-crafted riff machine. True to these bands' legacy, EXTORTION's brilliance lies not just in their ability to go fucking fast (the nine blurry seconds of "Burn Down" should lay waste to any doubts on that subject), but in the interplay between manic grind and memorable, tension-building slowdowns. On the flip side is Austria's COLD WORLD (not to be confused with the brotastic U.S. band) who manage to sound punk as fuck no matter how eye-peeling the tempos get. Most surprising–and impressive–are their frequent flirtations with melody: a few where-did-that-come-from guitar solos along with some melodic walking basslines that blew my mind by actually working on a grind record! The two bands compliment each other perfectly without a hint of redundancy, the essential formula for a classic split. (WB)
(Regurgitated Semen)