Record Review: Čad - “Ťažký Kov” (My Sleeping Cat Records)

Genre: Progressive Crust/Metal

Country: Slovakia

Label: My Sleeping Cat website facebook

Band website: facebook bandzone

Metallic crustcore is not known to be the most innovative of genres. However, there is always the exception to the rule, like CAD, who are at least a few years ahead of their game. These Slovakian crust maniacs have been at it for a while, having released a number of eps with well known crust and grind/death bands like Unholy Grave, Entrails Massacre and Ripcord. However, Cad has the cleverness to avoid all crust cliches and go on to create heavy music that isn't necessarily blackened and can go down well with any fan of brutal sounds. The name of the game here is progressive crustcore, but don't ever think that it is not brutal enough cause you will be in for a surpirse. A big one. The band actually calls its style 'ripcore' which is fine by me, cause this hardcore hybrid does in fact truly rip!

You can understand what I mean by the above from looking at the record cover. Grim and mysterious though it may be, it doesn't stick to the black/white colors and skull/war imagery that is so fucking commonplace in crust. The same happens with the music and lyrics. This devastating mix of crust and extreme metal does destroy our ears, but it also packs a dose of white light; technical proficiency and a touch of upbeat rock and roll-ness do the trick. The lyrics (which come in a translated sheet of paper as Cad sing in their native language) are rooted in the hardcore tradition of looking at the world through eyes of contempt, but also with a positive mind.  More things that differentiate this not-so-ordinary crustcore outfit is the fact that they are straight edge (or at least drug-free) and that they have a female in their ranks. The more you learn about this band, the more interesting stuff you discover.

Now we should mention some things about the album title Heavy Metal in our Chestrs. It may sound funny to some, but I for one am totally down with it. Heavy metal here is the term which depicts differentiation, our culture, the underground, the flame in your heart -- whatever you want to call it. One lyric reads "we're the worms from the underground and we're eating everything, we have bloody jaws and bite the heavy metal". This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is what makes us alive... Metal, hardcore, punk, whatever it is you identify with is the thing that saved your life and Cad are here to represent this notion. The rest of the lyrics are expressions of hatred towards society, or slightly humorous poems about death on golf courses and zombie massacres.

OK, and of course I shall also provide some record info for us nerdy freaks. Ťažký Kov has been released as a 12" by My Sleeping Cat Records. It is printed on plain black vinyl and I have to say that the album art does indeed look rad on this edition, because you can see all the fine detail and try to figure out what the fuck it is you're watching exactly. As mentioned above the lyrics are included in the package with their english traslantion. Support this awesome DIY effort and own a record that will stand out in your tried n true vinyl collection!

- Fotis.TYS

Old School Classics - Disrupt / Sauna "People Killing People" (split)

Our contributor Rigas goes back in time to review some legendary crust from grind pioneers Disrupt!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Given that Disrupt is one of my favourite bands, it was really a hard choice which release to present here:  The cult classic 7’’ split with Destroy! (1991) or their most influential and probably most complete work ‘Unrest’ (1994)? Although, Unrest is their only full-length that actually kept Disrupt alive in punk history I chose to write something about their split album with Sauna as representative of that era and their most crustcore output.

Disrupt was one of the best hardcore punk bands of their era playing unrelentless ferocious crust/grindcore, or more aptly termed in this case discore (Dis-bands). I particularly like their style because there are no metallic influences just pure punk energy and ethos, unlike most of the ‘grind’ or ‘polished’ punk bands of today. Disrupt, like most of their peers back then, were spreading anarchist values:  DIY, abolitionist, anti-corporate, anti-authoritarian etc. (Check the anti-vivisection blast ‘A life’s a life’ from Unrest album).

Disrupt, hailing from Lynn, MA, US, were formed in 1987. They managed to release various splits, 7’’ and EPs in their short-lived career, which lasted only six years. They were in the same wave of bands as Dropdead, Destroy! and the likes. Actually, the songs found in this album were recorded only few months before their European tour (October/November 1993), after which they disbanded. Sauna, were a Swedish band and this is their only recording.

Recorded and mixed during two days (13^th and 14^th June 1993) at The  Lanes studio in Boston, MA by Bill Miller ‘People Killing People’ contains some of the most consistent tracks of Disrupt. Between the necessary Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror influences, Disrupt’s skilful and outright intense delivery sets them apart from the early American crust/grindcore bands. The riffs are crashing, the drums are pummelling, the vocals are lacerated in urgency. From the d-beat holocaust of ‘Xenophobia’, ‘You’ve no one left to blame’, ‘Succumb to the pressure’ and ‘An end to white rule’ to the slightly faster tracks ‘Trapped’ and ‘Leave me be’, this split album is a manifesto of punk essence. They even included a cover of ‘Protest’ from the UK anarcho-punk legends Conflict.

Sauna’s side is a good example of Swedish crust, albeit a bit weaker in comparison with Disrupt. The production at Markstudio with Mats Andersson is more muddy and downtuned. Highlights are the desperate, shouted vocals and the typical d-beat cuts ‘Welfare’and ‘Love’.  

Bottom line is that Disrupt delivered uncompromised music throughout their course to raise awareness and break the system apart. Their version of punk is stripped down to its pure, original essence: strictly political, rebellious and raw creating feelings of defiance and urgency. I suggest everybody should check them out. Disrupt were not playing punk, they were real punks. Not to forget also that 4 members went on to form the sludge masters Grief.

- Rigas(freegankolektiva@gmail.com)

Record Review: RETOX "Ugly Animals" (Ipecac recordings/Three One G)

Retox, seems to be another project band of Justin Pearson (mainly known for his presence at the noise-chaotic-grindcore band The Locust) and their new album…kick ass! I‘ll try to explain myself by telling you a story.

You press the play button and after 13 minutes you wonder what the fuck blew your head away. It takes less than a quarter of an hour so you wonder. Is this possible? You press the play button again. Same result. Then you realize…it’s true….it‘s really happening. Retox, with their first full-length album Ugly Animals succeeded to produce something brilliant. They had warned us one year ago with the release of their self-titled EP and now they come back with an excellent performance again.

An amount of some noise punk/hardcore filled with drops of crust/fastcore and with lots of energy, sickness and creativity, Tragedy meets Some Girls and Cursed meets Melt Banana. Everything coordinated, everything in its right place. 

I don’t think I have to say anything else to describe something so straight forward and direct like “Ugly Animals”. I believe that it’s better to listen to the album instead of spending time reading this review.

Nick Tolis

WE'RE BACK WE'RE PISSED

Hello again, after a short holiday break. We got a new design on this blog to fresh things up a little, as we also embark on a new quest: to discover & present only the best from the world of hardcore/punk/metal and beyond!

We have a lot of cool stuff in store. For now, enjoy this video of crusty rock n roll madness with hilarious shots of punx from famous 80s films!

Resistant Culture: Serious tribal crust/grind/punk from Los Angleles