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

ENSLAVED CHAOS

It would seem that the most ignorant forms of underground music are the ones that become universal. Enter knuckle dragging slam/hardcore circa 1997...from Malaysia. But the drums groove just right, the double kick is on point, and that beatdown pogo beat in "Spiral Youth"? Yeah...that's what's up. As much as I wanted "Sick Of You" to be a GWAR cover, the fact that it sounds like How Will I Laugh-era SUICIDAL mixed with Blood, Sweat & No Tears-era SICK OF IT ALL...? Well, that more than makes up for the lack of GWAR. Primal, guttural metallic hardcore. Thank me later. Actually....thank me now.

$6 NOT MORE, YES LESS

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

CARBURETOR DUNG

If you don't know, then you should. CARBURETOR DUNG are the elder statesmen of Malaysian DIY punk....active for well over 20 years, and singer Joe Kidd is responsible for Ricecooker Shop in Kuala Lumpur. Two tapes in today's link, both reissued relatively recently (that's a lot of Rs). 1993's Songs For Friends is more rudimentary and more melodic, catchy tunes that fellow remnants of the '90s will find instantly familiar. The sound had been fine tuned by the time The Allure Of Manure was released in 1999, and the attack was faster and more precise. Political hardcore punk mingling with elements of CRIMPSHRINE and FUN PEOPLE with Ben Weasel caliber catchy lead vox (yeah, I know that guy is a piece, but most of us have rocked Boogadaboogadaboogada at some point and there's no reason to be ashamed of it) and the chorus backing vocals are bang on. There's no shame in getting addicted, young punks...these are the sounds your ancestors thrived on.

 CARBURETOR DUNG

Terminal Escape also recommends the decidedly more rough and raw Inginku Rejam Raksasa Kejam! 10" from 2011, and Genjing Records just released a split EP with underground Chinese punk legends SMZB. So I guess you have some homework to do...

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

KRIGSSYSTEMMET

Here's a taste of the shit you monkeys used to lap up every Monday - I know I've dropped the ball a bit on Noise Punk Mondays, but the shit still rules and Mondays still happen almost every week...so here's KRIGSSYSTEMET. Malaysian noise mongers from bands you already celebrate (if you're worth a shit, that is...just saying) dish out six tracks on their first demo, though it only takes the seven chords of the intro to let you know full well what you are in for. Questionable tuning, derivative DBeat riffage and a chaotic production culminate on absolute killers like "Am I Your Punk?" and "Fool Life," while "Faceless Scum" is just an unabashed creamer that defies genre classification. You know what you're getting, you monkeys, and KRIGSSYSTEMET is exactly why you are here.

WHO'S NEXT TO BE THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT?

ALL THESE WHILE...

Chaotic and manic mid '00s grind/HC from Malaysia, ALL THESE WHILE... rip through eight tracks in as many minutes. Maybe that's not particularly noteworthy, but bear in mind that the final offering is a three minute echo laden doom/crust piece, making the preceding bangers seem even more off the rails. Light on the hooks, ALL THESE WHILE... crank out killer intros, killer breakdowns, and fill in the rest of the space with unhinged multi vocal mania - listen to "Fast God Fucking Violence" and then see how you feel about doing anything except wrecking shit. You're welcome.

INSULTERS OF GOD

Fuck off to: The insulter, fucker, abuser, sucker and torturer. We are the fucking sinners.

XRDM

I first heard this band when they asked to a split with a band I play in. On the one hand we were like "Borneo? Yeah, why the fuck not?  Let's do a split tape."  And on the other hand we were like "This band rips. Let's do a split tape." Check the guitar break at the 0:24 mark of the opening track and you'll see why we made the right choice. Hyper energetic fastcore from Malaysian Borneo with obvious roots in US emotional hardcore - XRDM have progressed since this tape (their tracks from that release with NO STATIK are more direct, more insistent....and faster) but these jams are the epitome of hardcore at the absolute limit of containment. Unhinged, passionate...you know the drill. The final track "Wild Cat" is the jam, but all of these nine minutes will rule your day.

XRDM

KUCHALANA

Closed minded hardcore pricks can move right along to Wednesday (when I will probably post some synth drone annoyance) and try your luck, while those of you who like to approach punk with open ears and no preconceptions are probably about to be stoked. I admit that I like this more than I think I should, and that I cannot really defend my appreciation of what is essentially  college beach cabana meets surfer douche outfit with one kinda punk song (and my defense would not extend to the 6+ minute "The Fall" -  I have no excuse for that one), but that doesn't change the fact that the jams are chill...which is the whole point. It's the dub element that appeals to me more than the reggae - "Silent Stare" into the weird "Silent Songs #2" remix that closes the tape are fukkn killers...and the whole tape somehow makes me feel like I'm on vacation. I cannot imagine that very many people will listen to this, considering the general demographic of Escape visitors and my description, but I think that those who do will be rewarded.

THE INPUT FOR AN OUTPUT

ARAH KIRI

ARAH KIRI rip through nine tracks of multi vocal fastcore on 2006's Rumikot. The band is set to Maximum Energy for the entirety of the tape (which clocks in well under seven minutes), slowing for brief lurches before whipping themselves into a circle pit frenzy. Listening makes me tired, it also makes me want to rage. You might think you don't need anymore manic thrashcore in your life, but these kids from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) might change your mind. 

RUMIKOT

THE BOLLOCKS

One of the first of Malaysia's wave of political DIY hardcore acts in the '90s (file them alongside CARBURETOR DUNG in the "important DIY Malaysian punk category), THE BOLLOCKS' 1997 cassette release Revolution is a supercharged street punk screamer. The foundation might be pretty basic pogo, but THE BOLLOCKS inject so much power and raw energy into their delivery, and tempered with primitive metallic leads the result makes even ultra basic tracks like "Unity" hopelessly addictive. But for every bouncy sing along punk number, there's a hunched over burner like "Justice," a gruff UK82 masterpiece reborn with an intensity rarely found in the so-called "first" world. THE BOLLOCKS released an excellent EP on Tian An Men 89 around the time of this cassette, and are still active today...

REVOLUTION 

APPÄRATUS

A subtle but significant tweak on the raw DBeat paradigm, this anniversary demo (13 fukkn years!) from Malaysia's APPÄRATUS is nine minutes of raw mutilating insanity. The only time this shit lets up is one high end tinged MOTORHEAD influenced number, but they launch right back into raging DISCHARGE by way of Sweden on the last track...and the "this is the end" chorus seals the deal (as if there was any doubt left). Blistering.

LÖST DEMO

You can probably get this through Hammercharge, and (in case you still need convincing) APPÄRATUS feature ATOMIC DEATH members. So there you go.

THRASH FEST ATTACK

The title here does not lie: Thrash Fest Attack is ten Malaysian bands blasting and grinding their way through 20 tracks of thrash mania. A couple of grindier acts (JAHILIA, HUDUD), but the majority here is pure SE Asian fastcore: SECRET 7, BANZAI 606, FAST GAME, MY PRECIOUS (a slight and welcome screamo tinge - these tracks are the highlight), XGAMPANGY, MAKHLOK PEROSAK, SHARON STONED ("Circle The Pits" is one of the most gloriously off Thrash2K jams I've heard) plus comedic blasting from JERITANXSEPI. You aren't going to find anything here you haven't heard before, but you WILL find kids from the other side of the world playing their fukkn hearts out for all of the right reasons. 

THRASH FEST ATTACK 

REASON TO RESIST

Rampaging Malaysian thrash in three brutal movements. The melody here has more in common with Gothenburg than with Portland, and there are shameless moments of power metal hiding beneath the crunch on this 2011 banger. Let us thrash.

EXISTENCE OF A BASTARDS

NO RACISM, NO AUTHORITY!

A cooperative effort released in 1997 benefitting Dare To Care (a human/animal rights collective from Philippines) and Callus Collective (an anarchist leaning group from Malaysia focused on helping the underprivileged). Not surprisingly, this tape is made up of bands from Philippines and Malaysia, places where dishing out raw hardcore punk was way fukkn different than it was for me in the late '90s. There's something special about punk made in a time and/or place where just being a punk is/was a political statement, and I think that No Racism, No Authority! captures that brilliantly. BAD OMEN (blown out but still kinda melodic punk), N.S.A. (excellent 7 SECONDS styled posi-HC) and A.D.A. (ripping gruff ramshackle raw punk) from Philippines on one side with SILENT MAJORITY (accidental '80s Italian worship, easily the coolest songs on the tape), KHESOM (raw, sinister and borderline inept - this is high praise coming from me actually maybe these are the best songs on the tape), and F.S.F. (fast irreverent hardcore with killer vox and perfect guitar leads - So Cal fans rejoice, especially on "Tolerate No More," an undiscovered classic jam) from Malaysia on the flip. Tapes like this frustrate me, because I want everyone to listen - but I can only say "you need this" so many times before the words become meaningless (and I'm afraid that happened sometime in mid-2005). But there's something different about punk that means something - and whether geographically, ideologically or musically, this comp nails it.

NO RACISM, NO AUTHORITY

SARJAN HASSAN // DAIGHILA

Terminal Escape veterans SARJAN HASSAN bring modern crossover thrashing back to your earholes with 12 blasts of face melting 'core. At times they owe more to EXODUS than to the '00s fastcore that was clearly their initial inspiration, but then tracks like "Play Fast Or Die" come blasting out of your speakers. Proving that this split is rooted more in ideology than musical similarities, DAIGHILA fill the flip side of this tape with metallic emotional hardcore devoid of even the most subtle shred of thrashing madness. Think more along the lines of MAJORITY RULE or ENVY but with more blatant nods to metal and a disjointed/distorted approach that blends mid '00s US emotional hardcore and early '00s German metalcore - think Per Koro records here, with more black metal leanings. I salivate at the thought of living in a place where there two bands that sound this different would not only play a random show together, but find that they have enough in common to collaborate on a split release...apparently I need to spend more time in Malaysia (but I already knew that).

REDEFINING D.I.Y.

MAKHLOK PEROSAK

Johor Bahru is the closest Malaysian city to the SE Asia's economic hub of Singapore. While it's a relatively short bus ride from one to the other, in many ways they are indeed a world apart (I base this uninformed and admittedly uninformed statement entirely on my few hours spent there in 2008). None of this really matters of course when you are getting your face melted by a fastcore assault. You might only need to know where the band is from so you can scour the internet looking for more songs. Even though I already did that for you (they are here), I'll tell you that I think MAKHLOK PEROSAK are from Johor Bahru. You like to have your face melted?

DEMONS SYSTEM WANTS TO EAT YOU!

DEFEAT

Fist banging melodic crust never went out of style, it's just that too many bands started doing it poorly and you stopped listening. In case you missed Malaysia's DEFEAT the first time around, here is your second chance. Start sewing those patches back on your trousers, kid.

SHADOWS OF FEAR

Philadelphia: 508 South 5th Street awaits your presence. Tonight we will be sharing a room with SICKOIDS and THE BROOD.

CONQUEST FOR DEATH // SARJAN HASSAN

Malaysia's SARJAN HASSAN have visited the escape before, a full on blast of retro crossover thrashcore. Sick. CONQUEST FOR DEATH started as a project of sorts, and has evolved into a sporadic juggernaut  - a vessel that has brought a constantly evolving network of friends to half a dozen continents. In 2006, our pal Kiku (ASSFORT, CHARM) was visiting San Francisco from Tokyo and he and Devon (WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, ALL YOU CAN EAT) concocted a one-off studio project. The project included Alex (SAY BOK GWAI, cult Bay Area '80s thrashers MORBID LIFE SOCIETY) and was recorded by Craigums (YOUR MOTHER, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, LOVE SONGS) who not surprisingly contributed guitar work to the project. The result was a self titled EP and plans for a west coast stint later that year with CHARM and Tokyo's fast/noisecore monsters U.G. MAN. I was drafted for that tour, and the next few years was/has been a whirlwind that included members from three countries and tours of five (soon to be six) continents. The songs on this split were culled from that first session, written and recorded in one afternoon.

HUMAN ERROR

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