BURGERKILL

You don't just have to pay attention, you have to look. There are hundreds of these. Thousands. Bands that popped up somewhere on the other side of this flat disc we call home, played their hearts out and then moved on or faded away before the geographically challenged had a chance to notice...or, perhaps, bands that took an entirely different trajectory and ended up playing Wacken, like our Indonesian guests BURGERKILL. 2000's Dua Sisi was their first release, and it's very much a hardcore platter, though the roots of the metal powerhouse they evolved into are evident. I suppose if you put the term "crossover" in a modern context, this is a perfect example? I just think it's a meaty hardcore platter.....

DUA SISI

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!!

TERSANJUNG 13 // INQUIRY LAST SCENERY

Gnarly crust grind from Jakarta split veterans TERSANJUNG 13, backed with five bursts from Malaysia's INQUIRY LAST CENTURY that brings to mind late '90s chaotic screamo (I swear, young punks, that shit hasn't always been a bad word).  Sometimes jams hit your earholes just right and make you want to win, and that's what happened to me with this split.

TERSANJUNG 13 // INQUIRY LAST CENTURY

HELLOWAR // PEACE OR ANNIHILATION

Jakarta's PEACE OR ANNIHILATION were an early visitor to Terminal Escape -  raw and unforgiving raw DBeat crust insanity. These HELLOWAR tracks are masterfully crafted and perfectly delivered brutal crust with hints of melodic Swedish melody and forays into the more epic corners of the genre. Maybe you think that you are too cool for this sound? Well maybe I think that you don't like things that are awesome, prepare to get crushed. All of these tracks were recorded in 2009, and this creamer was released by the fiends at Full Force Hardcore Destruction.

HELLOWAR // PEACE OR ANNIHILATION

BREATHLESS: THE HARDCORE COMPILATION

Six band Indonesian hardcore comp from 1999. Two songs from each band, covering all the bases: DEADLY GROUND steal the show with their UNIFORM CHOICE styled attack, INSIDE FRONT sound like a beefed up EARTH CRISIS weened on '90s SEPULTURA; STEP FORWARD come off exactly as I would expect based on the name (if you listen to youth crew, then you know just what I mean); BURGER KILL take as much from HELMET as from basketball jerseys; DEAD PITS are stuck in second gear, but if crew vocals and midpaced metallic chugs are your jams then you just struck gold; O.O.S. make me want to blast 7 SECONDS while I make breakfast. Did I mention that this comp is from Indonesia...I went there once, and I loved it. I hope to go back someday.

BREATHLESS: THE HARDCORE COMPILATION

CONSPIRACY OF GIANT NOIZE WOODPECKER MUTANT FROM OUTER SPACE (Vol. 1)

Averaging well under one minute per song, seven international bands blast through 27 fastcore gems on this comp. New York's I OBJECT start a truly international comp that includes bands from Sweden, Czech Republic, Indonesia and Belgium. KOBRA XI's raw grinding madness leads into '00s thrashcore from JACKSTONE, bringing to mind TOTAL FURY - a vibe that continues with the USHC stylings of Sweden's DICK CHENEY. POWERCORE might be the most ferocious band on the tape, fast and blown out hardcore perfection, but the whole comp rages. An hour that goes by without listening to hardcore is an hour that you could have spent listening to hardcore. Don't make a mistake you'll regret.

CONSPIRACY OF GIANT NOIZE WOODPECKER MUTANT FROM OUTER SPACE (Vol. 1)

HOODED

Only three songs on this demo, and only one of those seems to fit with their typical hardcore band logo...but typical or not, that's the song that that I fukkn love. "The Ultimate Asshole Theme Song" is the circlepit-your-fukkn-asses-off-during-the-fastcore-part-and-then-finger-in-the-air-dogpile-the-singer-for-the-sing-along-part song, and it rules, but the first two songs on this tape are more in line with '90s discordant emotional hardcore, FUGAZI is an obvious and not unwarranted comparison. Smart and thoughtful hardcore that never lets good songwriting get in the way of making good songs. We didn't get to see HOODED in action on the CONQUEST FOR DEATH tour in 2008, but they were some of the best folks we hung out with on the whole SE Asian trip...I am ashamed that it's taken me this long to post this demo, and I hope these dudes are all doing well.

CASSETTE SINGLES

This is straight edge with another edge...originality that breaks down walls and shows that critical thinking and humor are closer to the core than backstabbing macho bullshit.

- HOODED, 2008 -

BATTLE OF DISARM // SATELLITE

Andrash from M.O.A.B. released this split back in 2005, when he still lived in Jakarta, and gave me a copy a few weeks back in Long Beach (thank you).  BATTLE OF DISARM should need no introduction...even 5 years ago they were decade-plus veterans of the (very small) Japanese anarcho/DIY crust scene. A rampaging, fist in the air attack with gutteral vocals - quintessential crust. Indonesia's SATELLITE are a rawer, more primitive version of the same animal, and there's something about their simplistic approach (whether by design or by default) that I am an absolute sucker for. I saw SATELLITE in 2008, and they fukkn owned the top floor of some restaurant in Jakarta - even after a dozen bands I was floored (actually, most of the bands that night ruled...MORTAL KOMBAT, STRAIGHT AHEAD, GLADIATORS, STRAIGHT ON VIEW and more - a fukkn great night), but this 2005 version is younger and even more naïve than the band that I saw, and it works in their favor. A first and third world Asian crust collision.

BATTLE OF DISARM // SATELLITE

DICKHEAD

I know what you fukks want: raw driving punk. DICKHEAD are from Indonesia, and back in 2001 they dished out this 10 song ripper - like UK82 all jacked up on homemade moonshine and tempeh. Maybe it's not the new school hipster version of Noise Punk that wears tight pants and has all the right bands they discovered on the internet emblazoned across their perfect jackets, but DICKHEAD are raw as shit, noisy as fukk, and quite likely punker than you.

Escape From Genocide System

PEACE OR ANNIHILATION!!!

Total raging DBeat crust assault from Jakarta, Indonesia. These are some of the nicest dudes I've encountered anywhere, half of this band opened up their homes to us while we were there, and we played with GLADIATOR, the bassist's other band (who totally fukkn rule, by the way). Then I got home and popped in this demo, and I was floored! Fans of raw DBeat will be delighted at this 2006 recording, pure textbook fist in the air rampaging kång, with obvious influences from DISCHARGE, ANTI CIMEX, SHIT LICKERS, CRUCIFIX, and...well, you get the drill. Unfortunately, my ridiculously "purist" parameters for this blog mean that many of the bands I discovered in Indonesia will remain on my CD shelf, as they did not have cassette demos, but STRAIGHT AHEAD, GLADIATOR, HELLBOMBS, BULLETPROOF, SCOLD, HOODED, STRAIGHT ON VIEW, SECOND COMBAT and scores more bands we encountered there are living punk to the fullest, and inspiring anyone lucky enough to cross their paths.

I could go on and on about how awesome our time in Indonesia (really, everywhere we went in SE Asia) was...instead, I'll just say "thank you" to the punks.

Horrific Disturbing Visions Of War