MASAKARI

Hardcore/crust in the two thousand teens is a tough one...the subgenre has been distilled and watered down through generations of punks trying to recreate either the magic of SACRILEGE, the power of MISERY or the soul baring aggression of HIS HERO IS GONE, and the modern result is often an insipid limp dicked shadow of music that used to go straight for the throat and move people. There are exceptions. Ohio's MASAKARI is one of them. Clearly reared on Japanese HC and the third band in the the immensely influential trilogy mentioned in that earlier sentence, they dish out absolutely essential jams, trumped only by the power of their live performance. Allergic To Fun put The Prophet Feeds LP to cassette, and so I share it here.

THE PROPHET FEEDS

LAZARUS TAXA

The midwest seems to breed a certain strain of crust that has been unhindered by the scourge of third rate melodic crust, undaunted by countless regurgitated recycled riffs on to the crap heap of plastic and petroleum waste. These are bands who seem determined to make important sounds even though their very nature will ensure that to most casual listeners they will be crammed under the same umbrella that critics have placed over the glut of unimaginative heavy melodic music over the last few years. MASAKARI and PROTESTANT come to mind, and I hold Michigan's LAZARUS TAXA in the same regard. I feel the same way I did when I first heard this brand of throat searing hardcore so many years ago, the low end the punches you in the gut and the frank unapologetic nature of the lyrics is obvious not only from the singer, but the whole band. It's not giving a fukk in all the right ways, and their melody, while sporadic, seals the package with a turned head and a fist to the chest. Though I take exception to the lyrics in "Cold Feet," I probably wouldn't have when I was 20, and that means they are probably hitting the right nerve. A band that makes my inner teenager seethe while making my outer 40 year old think...that's what I'm looking for.

LAZARUS TAXA

Released in 2010 by Désordre Ordonné.

OSMANTIKOS

I made the trek to Oakland last night to see ALPINIST and MASAKARI level a filthy warehouse, and even the mid show appearance of my least favorite Bay Area pit dick couldn't dampen my mood. Simply crushing displays from both bands, and it reminded me that I've been meaning to post this Malaysian gem for a while. The Dare To Rise cassette EP from 2010 takes obvious cues from mid '00s American melodic hardcore/crust and adds relentless fury and intensity to the assault. Generous attention is paid to the low end of the register, and the vocalist(s) have clearly spent their spare time snuggling up close to HHIG and FAR records. But OSMANTIKOS do not sound even remotely like a rehash of old sounds, rather they have used those sounds as a framework for creating their own. This, and a new EP, are available from Bullwhip if you feel like supporting the scene - but even if you just listen, this is devastating. I welcome a new wave of bulldozer crust coming to level us all soon.

DARE TO RISE