GREEN BERET

This one shouldn't be lost on any self respecting follower of current DIY hardcore....but maybe you missed a chance to snag their 2014 West Coast tour cassette? Here you go. Full throttle throaty DBeat hardcore from Boston, recorded live in the studio and sounding hot like fire. I don't think there's so much as a breakdown until "Concrete Nightmare" at about the halfway point of this sub-15 minute collection of creamers. They ripped that basement to shreds when we played with them in Oakland, and capturing that live fury on for a tour release was a class move. Even if you have the records, this one is worth your time. 

HARDCORE 2014: LIVE AT SIDE TWO

MISERÄBLE

Remember when this is what Mondays were all about? Fists in the air, DBeating like maniacs to give ourselves the mental and physical energy needed to face the horrible world we live in? Noise and mangel at maximum, waiting for the guitar to ring out so we can hear the steady tupa-tupa of the toms before the riff kicks back in? Well....those Mondays aren't gone, my friends. You're living one right now and Mexico's MISERÄBLE are flying the DBeat flag at full mast with no pretense and no shame. Let the wind brush the stench of life off of you, and let your fists fly. 

DBEAT MANIACS

EXTRACTION

A few months ago there was a fast, heavy hardcore band coming through town and I was talking to my buddy Will about locals to team them up with. We quickly reached an unfortunate conclusion: our geographical region suffers from a severe lack of crust. It's too easy to take crust for granted, perhaps because poor-to-average crust bands are a dime a dozen, but there's never a bad time for a dirty downtuned DBeat churn with metallic guitars and fist in the air breakdowns...that's what we wanted. But fear not, "lack" does not mean "absence," and EXTRACTION are holding things down until proper equilibrium returns. Clenched fists, lots of hair, screaming (but short) leads, and tracks that get in make their presence known with force, then get out. Just seven tracks, Dead And Buried clocks in under eleven minutes and ends with a perfect chug in "Hidden." When Will and I were talking a few months ago, EXTRACTION exactly what we wanted...and wanted more of. 

EXTRACTION

WARFEÄR

Five gut churning bursts of high intensity DBeat crust from Malaysia. If this weekend has taught me anything, it's that (hopefully) fist in the air DBeat hardcore is "cool" again....although for some people it never went out of style. Check the breakdown in "Dead End"...this one is 100% cream. 

WARFEÄR

SCUMRAID

Remember a few years ago when all you mutants wanted on Mondays was some blown out, distortion laden noise? I miss those days. For a while you just wanted goth rehash nonsense, and maybe you still do, or maybe I just don't know what you want anymore, but I'll be fukkd if a blast of face melting distortion doesn't start my week off right. So as this year's Manic Relapse fest approaches, here's a blast from the best band that graced the Bay Area at last year's fest, South Korea's SCUMRAID. If you have the internet (and, let's be frank here: you do), then you must already know about this trio so introductions and descriptions are probably wasted on you. But here you go - 6 1/2 minutes of blistering and relentless noise punk. And for the (foolish) few who think this subgenre passé, listen to the guitar at the 0:12 mark of "Generation," and then pay close attention until the 0:34 mark....and now fukkn tell me these freaks aren't geniuses. Go ahead. You can tell me, but you'll be wrong. The starts/stops in "Controlled Society"? Brilliant. From complete insanity to total stop and then back again before you even know what the fukk happened. So yeah...it's Monday. 

SCUMRAID: WEST COAST 2016 

ESKRO

Seven bursts of ramshackle drum/bass DBeat violence. 

ESKRO

ATARAXIA

Perfectly executed bombastic Japanese DBeat hardcore punk. Loud, fast, massive guitars, howling vocals, just the tiniest hint of melody in the riffs...check the "ooopphh!!" after the drums start "Shinjutsu" and if you are raging then you aren't listening. This 2014 demo is exactly what it's supposed to be, and it's exactly what you need. 

I FEAR WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

PARANOID

2015's Satyagraha was one of the best records of that year, and straight up the most inventive thing I have ever heard come out of the narrow confines of raw, distorted DBeat. I left a bandmate's wedding reception early to catch them in a backyard in Oakland last summer (sorry, Andrew), and while the sound was complete garbage and I couldn't see a fukkn thing because the lights were pointed at the meager audience....they leveled the joint. I bought a stupid Chainsaw Massacre ripoff tour shirt (little known fact: sometimes I don't make the best financial decisions) and this banger here that easily makes up for the cash I blew on that shirt. As the title (and art) suggests, here's Sweden's PARANOID laying waste to a who's who of modern and classic punk and metal: PISSCHRÏST, EXPLOITED, STREBERS, CELTIC FROST, SEPULTURA, KAAOS, DARKTHRONE, STATE OF FEAR, ACURSED (most underrated Swedish band of the '00s? Perhaps...), ANTI CIMEX, TOTALITÄR, and PENTAGRAM. And still....it sounds like fukkn PARANOID. Essential Cream Status.

COVER OF THE MONTH

HELLTRAIN

On the 2009 MALACHI European tour we rolled up to a frigid show in Stuttgart (it was January, every show was frigid) to find that we were the only band on the bill....and we were early. When you have time to kill and an empty room to use...things happen. Marek (INSUICIETY, MÖNSTER, many more) was on tour with us, and that fool hits the drums real good, so we started a band with him on drums, me on bass and John and Dathan playing guitar. No vocals...we figured that we would just figure that part out at the last minute. The "last minute" turned into drafting a stranger who wandered in from the bar as we were using our soundcheck time to create our new band. Dude ran through it once and then it was showtime. Four songs, probably not more than eight riffs total, and I bet at least three of them are just open E. We named the band HELVETE-something-or-other, that I remembered translating to "HELLTRAIN," but it was a long time ago and the beginning of the tape is tough to make out. Six minutes total, including in intermission that was apparently us just hanging out on the stage as if there was no one in the room. Interested labels get in touch.

Formerly Known As: BEWARE OF THE DOGS

John and I did the same thing with a different drummer/roadie at an ill-attended ARTIMUS PYLE gig in Cesena, Italy in 2003. Would love a copy of that set, because Jensen was a mean ass front man..

MANIA FOR CONQUEST

MANIA FOR CONQUEST deliver perfectly executed light speed DBeat hardcore. Sometimes you think you know exactly what to expect, you just don't know how good it's going to be - and this is one of those times. They hit every base, and even the atypical diversions ("Noise For Peace," for example) aren't exactly surprising, but fukk do these North Carolina mutants do everything right. You hear a part coming and you think "oh shit - I bet they are gonna do this other thing next!" and then they do the thing but it's faster and tighter and so much better than you though it was gonna be....and this is going to keep happening while you listen, until you find yourself stomping around your room with clenched fists. You've got both demos in the DL today, and certified banger status is guaranteed. 

ARE WE DOOMED TO REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST? // DESPAIR CONTINUES

POLLEN

You can be "over" the noisy blown out punk thing if you want. Seriously. It's OK. How many times do you really want to hear tuneless bursts of distortion punctuated by high pitched "aaahhh! aaahhh!! aarrgghh!!" instead of choruses. I get it. We all do. I'm just saying though.....you are missing out. These Philadelphia mutants took off the fukkn roof at last spring's Manic Relapse (POLLEN and THE DARK were pretty much worth the entire price of admission), and this tape (released for their trip to the fest) is relentless. Five studio tracks in as many minutes, DBeat riffs struggling to keep up with the perhaps fastest the tupa-tupa I have ever heard. It's textbook, and it's awesome. Raw as fukk rehearsal recording on the flip - just in case you thought I was joking when I said they can deliver the goods live. This band is a monster.

MANIC RELAPSE IV DEMO

DIGMA

 

I missed these fools at Aklasan Fest 3 a few months back, which bums me out every time I crank this tape. Politically fueled DBeat with shameless nods towards heavy east coast hardcore and '90s crust. Relentless vocals, persistent attack, and when they decide to break it down....? DIGMA is deadly. Nothing but this banger from 2013 to show, but I'll fukkn take it - and cheers to Aklasan Records for making sure these tracks appeared in physical form. Filipino-American hardcore is alive and thriving - keep 'em coming, punks.

MMXIII

GASMIASMA

I guess this is a super group? Whatever man. Grinding, grim and nasty DBeat hardcore from Louisiana delivered live and furious on the radio. Check the bass at the start of "D-832 Mortar Waste" and you'll be taken back to a time when the shit was less calculated, more filthy, less predictable, more reckless....and dare I say better? At least in some ways, I suppose it was. Derivative, definitely, but these fukks give zero fukks, and I like that. 

KRVS (KADAVERS)

FÖRFALL

OUGGHH!! South Valley Texans fukkn cream through insane Japanese influenced hardcore with screaming leads. I don't know what you thought you needed today, but I can assure you that FÖRFALL is all you will need. Relentless. Excellent. 

DECAY

My demo has three tracks...so that's all you get from me. There are eight on the internet...and I can assure you that the other five are worth your time and effort. 

POLIS-ÄCKEL

Noisy and bombastic hardcore, blown to shit just the way you mutants like it. It's from Italy. You know what else is from Italy? Fukkn Rome. ROME is not just from Italy - Rome is IN Italy. Shit is fukkn wild. POLIS-ÄCKEL bash out DBeat creamer after DBeat creamer...full fury fist in the air manis...tinny guitar peaked for no reason, total and glorious monotony. This is what Mondays were made for....this week is yours, punk.

WORLD WIDE DEATH CULTURE

BRAINCELL

Filthy, nasty, noisy, blown out DBeat hardcore mania from Malaysia. I mean.....this is exactly what you expect when you look at the cover, except it's better. Eleven minutes of perfection await you....and you deserve this.

MINDLOCK

TIME OUT

Total relentless fury. Out of control Swedish hardcore with howling desperation from dual vocals,  perhaps too fast and loose to still be DBeat. Eight tracks spanning thirteen minutes, this 1998 demo just crushes from the first rumble of "For How Long" and only lets up long enough for a few depressing and ominous missives from the annals of history. The 1-2 punch of "Backstabbed" into "Orgies Of Insanity" is textbook, a thing worthy of repeat listens and scholastic analysis. Riffs upon riffs delivered by piercing guitars....it's like being hit in the face by a freight train over and over and over. And still you scrape your jaw off the floor and do it all again. 

.....HISTORIES WARNING

ZUDAS KRUST

I picked this little creamer up in Indonesia on the CFD tour in 2008 and unearthed it when I moved last summer. Still furious, still chaotic and energetic as fukk, still killer - and then I saw a flyer for a show in Jakarta this Friday and it made me want to plop down the cash for a plane ticket. Would love to fist bang wildly in the flesh....but I'm afraid this tape is gonna have to be enough. It's cool though, because it's a wild ass ride.

MATANZA Y MUERTE MASIVA

And in case you find yourself in Jakarta this weekend....do yourself a favor because this gig is a fukkn BANGER (and that's just looking at the bands I'm familiar with!). Cheers to the punks we met while we were there - hope to come back and do it again!!

KANTUTA // ANTI ARMADA

Two NY/NJ raw hardcore Spanish language powerhouses. Both bands are blown to smithereens and ruthless. Get ready to put your Noize Not Music tattoo to the test. Tu-pa-Tu-pa-Tu-pa? Meet pure distortion...I think you two are going to get along great.

SPLIT K7

SHELLSHOCK

Two tracks of relentless no-fi DBeat/noise; raw and chaotic, just like you want it. The cover says there are four songs, but my tape has two...I think you can guess what the other two sound like. Your three minutes of mania start as soon as you click play.

LET THEM LIVE FOR TOMORROW