Asylum- s/t 7" review

Asylum- self titled 7” review

Primitive D-beat with some heavily reverbed vocals and cryptic lyrics.  Has a heavy grindcore/classic anarcho punk layout on the inside of the record.  Definitely a headbanger from front to back; feels like a couple of long songs, being kind of hard to tell them apart with no distinct riffs or choruses.  Still, a nice slab of wax from some East coast cats.  ABC D-beat.

-Aunty Social

Criaturas- Espirita de Libertad LP review

Criaturas- Espirita de Libertad LP review

A mix of crossover, D-beat, and straight hardcore punk with a shrill voice behind the mic and a unique mix of reverb.  The production is clean but not slick, the songs are great, you can even bang your head… this is hardcore punk exactly as it should be.  That is, evolved from punk rock, but not trudging too deeply into the thick monotony of NYHC-styled hardcore.  Excellent.

-Aunty Social

P.A.W.N.- Summer 2014 tape review

Payload of Atomic Warhead Nightmares- Summer 2014 tape review

Sounds like a d-beat raw punk band with a bit of an evolution in proficiency (in song-writing, sound quality, tone, almost everything).  Aside from the bass being almost inaudible, everything is a step up from the last tape.  Two old songs, three new ones, and a new singer make for an evolved group, though they have many more steps to climb as well.  The sound is improved, but the band would greatly benefit with a more controlled guitar sound, turning up the volume on the bass, and an increase in the sound of the cymbals.  That would do the band justice, no doubt.  The lyrics are some of the usual anti-war/anti-system stuff you’ve come to expect of bands employing exclusively black and white imagery.  Still relevant to our world situation, however.  The name of the band is a friggin’ mouthful, but they still have the potential to go places.  Who’s got the 10 ½?

-Aunty Social

The Gulags- demo tape review

The Gulags- demo tape review

Another one of the many bands consisting of a similar group of around 7-10 people (who have had or do have members of Scum, Payload of Atomic Warhead Nightmares, Marrow, Cloud Rat, Live to Kill, and Ishtar), this has a different element to it not present in the other ones.  Extremely raw and underproduced, there’s no question these guys are DIY.  This is fast and loud, but Madison’s lyrical input is a welcome difference here- it makes a band that would otherwise not stand out be worth a look.  A bit more production value would do them good- the songs are good enough for an EP, but it sounds like it was recorded live rather than in studio or tracked separately.  A demo is a demonstration- now that you’ve done that, engage and act.

-Aunty Social

Ratstab- Noise War tape review

Ratstab- Noise War tape review

D-beat raw punk with a bit of a snotty Germs-ish singer.  Everything sounds so blown out, even the bass (which is the best sounding instrument in this band), and it makes this difficult to listen to- nothing is distinct or even sounds like it was tracked separately.  If it was, they did a hell of a job blending it together to create a wall-of-sound aura with a screaming idiot (as all punk singers are) over top it all.  It is indeed noisy- it’s very stripped down and simple, not great not bad.  It’s your friend’s band who is not your ideal opening group at a show, but they’re always available, reliable, polite, and supportive.  Maybe that’s what a scene is supposed to consist of, even if the bands aren’t great.  This is still better than a band who virulently rips off ONLY Hatebreed and Madball and hollers at the crowd “Why don’t you fucking pussies mosh!?”

-Aunty Social

Kontrasekt- s/t 7" review

Kontrasekt- self-titled 7” review

Primitive, raw, noisy, fast d-beat that is equal arts Disclose and Discharge.  Not a fantastic EP, but if you like simple, this is indeed simple.  Norden’s Hammer is probably the best track, though all these songs sort of blend together, and it’s over before you know it.  It will either leave you relieved (that it’s over with so quickly) or leave you wanting more (because it’s over with so quickly).

-Aunty Social

Concrete Asylum- Concrete Asylum 7" review

Concrete Asylum- Concrete Asylum 7” review

Late-80s UKHC meets noisy Jap-core, be that Gauze or Disclose or anyone else.  The guitar and drums are so loud they almost drown out the bass entirely and the vocals sound like a guy screaming as loud as he can from about 200 feet away- faint, but audible.  This EP walks the line between noise punk and demo-quality thrash punk that falls just short of powerviolence.  I fucking love the cover art and the layout of this record- it’s detailed, yet punk as fuck, not an easy effort to attain.  However, I might need a couple tall boys of Steel Reserve to be able to fully rage to this band.  Not bad, but not my kind of noise- still, room exists to evolve.

-Aunty Social

Kontrasekt- End of Destruction 12" review

Kontrasekt- End of Destruction 12” review

Drenched in reverb and apocalyptic overtones, this diabolic d-beat trio is at first glance rather simple and cookie-cutter:  “Oh fuck,” you think, “Not another goddamned Discharge/Confuse/Totalitar rip-off!”  Not this time, true DIS-believers.  There is something subtly sophisticated and differently dissonant about this band- maybe it’s lyrics, a more intelligent approach to cacophonous music, or an unidentified attribute to the entirety of the band altogether.  Whatever it may be, it takes the seemingly drab and done D-beat raw punk sound and enhances it, makes it seem fresh and new once more.  The guitar tone is just right, the vocals akin to a B-12 bomber over Berlin, and the drums the thundering crash of the bombs as they hit- war time music for anti-propagandists, to be sure.  Suitable music to be played at the nearest Gathering of the Crusties, though these cats aren’t rank and file- they outrank and take cuts, and it’s just as well, for they should.

-Aunty Social

Payload of Atomic Warhead Nightmares- demo tape review

Payload of Atomic Warhead Nightmares- demo tape review

Feedback-laced, noise-drenched, d-beat drum beat filled punk rock.  Walking the line between homage-paying and creating unique sounds, P.A.W.N.’s sound is akin to the likes of Assrash, State of Fear, Disclose, and Confuse, but doesn’t blatantly rip off the music created by these bands.  The lyrics are what one might expect given the name of this band:  Nuclear holocaust, ruins of the aftermath of said occurrence, the ignorance of politicians and those who put them into office, etc.  You’ve heard this time and again, but it never ceases to be fun and at least somewhat informative.

-Aunty Social

From Hell- Heresy 12" review

From Hell- Heresy 12” review

Imagine if Tragedy has been more influenced by hardcore bands rather than punk bands- this band shares the same evil, despondent, swansong vibe, but it’s heavier and gruffer than Tragedy, not to mention that it has the quality of being somewhat unique.  While it certainly sounds like a few particular bands, it eclipses the boundaries of the sounds set by their influences.

The record starts off with an intro, somewhat melancholic and unraveling in its nature.  The version I received has an audio clip from Richard Kuklinski, known in popular culture as “The Iceman”, about his reflections on life, which adds to the uneasy, creepy, evil vibe.  As the intro ends, the song “Terror” kicks in, slugging its way through the quiet of the night with a brutally rough exterior powered by a small, albeit powerful soft core.  This is a demolition song.  “No Place Like Hell” is next, and even before the song starts, I’m liking it; the title is suggestive of hell being more comfortable than some kind of eternal bliss and happiness, and in many cases, it indeed is (home being the idealistic comfort zone of the mind).  The song does not disappoint; the rough, gruff attitude persists as the gravelly voice of singer Chris briskly rips away any semblance of hope, happiness, and redemption, planting a seed of unhappiness and discomfort to grow into a poisoned flower, never wilting but always inflicting pain.  “Unholy” reminds me of Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, in that the songs rips with both hands right through your chest, into your heart on its way to your spine, and with every bit of beautiful agony, tears you apart, leaving you a shell of a person, dead inside and unable to recover.  “Crucifix in a Deathhand” is an instrumental with a voiceover telling the story of a man whose soul has withered away to its foundation, a perfect tale for the wailing violins and soft but desperate guitar waves weeping for the protagonist as his tragedy is told.  “Holy War” is another hard hitter, paralyzing in its purity of sound, even if that sound can’t be precisely defined.  “Empty and Hollow” is the final act of this play, a fitting end to this epic, as it is a longer song and wreaks devastation on the mind, pointed and conclusive.

This music is what you hear only in your nightmares and your sadomasochistic dreams.  If you have these visions, you’ll enjoy this quite a bit.  Even if you don’t, this is the darkest of the dark side.  No future, no hope, no happy endings.

-Aunty Social

Wartorn- Iconic Nightmare LP review

Wartorn- Iconic Nightmare LP review

Sporting some heavy-as-fuck rhythm guitars, driving lead guitars, and left-leaning lyrics, you just know this is some melodic D-beat-influenced crust, straddling the line between hardcore punk and metal on its road to delivery.  Even though most of the songs have the same structure, the structural prototype is a most excellent song, and the lyrics are captivating enough to keep one’s attention through the length of the song.  Ironically enough, this music is great for playing really violent video games, as it gets the blood flowing like no other record of its type.  It’s very war-like anti-war music; not quite a paradox, but perhaps an oxymoron of sorts.  There is still a satisfaction in bellowing the line “The son of god, knee deep in blood!” that resonated with the masculine urge towards violence and power that can’t be replaced with the calmness of peace and tranquility.  It’s an indication that perhaps a species-wide peace is contrary to the natural order of man’s primitive instincts; if our nature is one towards that of destruction, should we really fight it?  On a musical note, it is one part Tragedy, one part Amebix, and one part State of Fear; vocals are barked out in clear but pissed-off phrases, distinct dissidence, so to speak.  For a band like this to get the Southern Lord treatment is… interesting, but no band deserves it more than these guys do.

-Aunty Social

Balaclava- Shame 7” review

Balaclava- Shame 7” review

This is the epitome of dark, dissonant, Tragedy-style D-beat.  Even though it is definitely styled after another band, this style is done only by a few select bands, at least in a notable way.  The beginnings of these are usually pretty fast and direct, and then slow to a mid-tempo pace and start using a two-guitar approach (as in the two guitars sounding leagues apart from one another) as the singer barks out his guttural anti-establishment phrases that come just a few words at a time.  The riffs on this EP fucking crush, the drums crash, and the bass bashes.  The track “To Those Who Glorify War” is one of the best D-beat songs since Tragedy’s self-titled LP came out- it’s a fucking behemoth of a song, and the title/subject matter is one seemingly untouched by other bands, as it addresses the adoration of armed conflicts, be it by those who support it or those who constantly defy it, but use the imagery of it regularly as an eye-catching appeal to the visual senses; it makes one wonder if the intended goal of this sort of branding is truly beneficial to the ultimate goal of an end to armed skirmishes.  The rest of the lyrics still hit hard as hell, but these are groundbreaking.  “Fences”, “Shame”, and “Discipline and Punishment” make up the rest of the tracks, sludge and doom-laden crusty D-beat anarcho punk.  This is the sort of band that would open for Dystopia and surprise the shit out of you.  A damn fine EP, one of the best D-beat slabs of wax I’ve heard in quite some time.  Nab it.

-Aunty Social

Wax Moth- Spiracle EP tape review

Wax Moth- Spiracle EP tape review

The cornfields of the Midwest do occasionally churn out some respectable, odd music- who would have thought it could deliver some very raw-sounding crusty d-beat?  Not I- however, it did and it comes to fruition in the form of Wax Moth, from the desolate lands of Iowa.  A shrieked shout is the preferred delivery method for this band’s vocal payload, while the guitars are delivered on nearly the same level, with only small differences in the sounds of the guitar and the bass, and the drums are raw, distant, yet heavy d-beat that pounds hard at both the slowest of breakdowns and the fastest of riffs.  No lyric sheet, but judging by the song titles and the sound of the music, it appears to be a left-wing insect who can only communicate in high-pitched shrieks in an audible spectrum near and surpassing the peak of the human capability.  The songs individually are not great, but as a whole single piece, this is a pretty decent output for an EP.  Packaging is stellar as always from Mannequin Rein minus the lack of a lyric sheet.

-Aunty Social