FIST OF FURY

Repeat visitors here have surely read my waxing and waning (both pro and con, to be fair) about modern hardcore's apparent newfound love for Oi! and streetpunk. But take a gander at this shit and tell me that the new wave of rehash isn't about three generations past its time - which is totally fine...just a gentle reminder. FIST OF FURY hailed from Kuching, Sarawak (that's in Malaysian Borneo, in case you are curious), and dropped this demo in 1997 (the year their city was covered by an inexplicably brutal haze arguably caused by multinational greed, in case you are curious), and even though the "third world" punk scene was still burgeoning at the time, these tracks are pure devastation. Four on the floor straightforward hardcore punk, with gruff, throaty vocals that could not be more blunt - the "Chaos!!" chorus to "Organised Chaos" is quintessential blitzkrieg, so simple and absolutely bang on. There are only five tracks here, with the title track and "Fuck The System" standing out as highlights, but those looking to expand old school hardcore horizons beyond North American shores would be well advised to join in. 

GUILTY OF INNOCENTS

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

NO STATIK // XRDM

NO STATIK got a random email last year from a band from Kota Kinabalu asking if we wanted to release a split cassette. Why the fukk not, right? The jams on the XRDM side are total killers, fastcore with serious teeth and bulldozer low end fronted by harsh female vocals with guttural male backups lifted straight from the 625 Productions vault. Only one of their seven tracks tops the minute mark (and that one clocks in at a mere 61 seconds), absolute top quality shit. The NO STATIK side is made up of 2011's No Hospice/Clean Swift Sunshine 45 (vinyl copies from Prank Records) and the Never Be A Martyr single from the following year (long sold out), and our four tracks take up several more minutes than XRDM's seven...perhaps we are getting soft in our old age? You are sometimes setting yourself up for disappointment when you hand over the art and packaging responsibilities to people you don't really know who live halfway around the world, but I would say we hit the jackpot with this one - quite pleased with this release. Now if we can only figure out a way to play shows with them!

NO STATIK // XRDM

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

BORNEO 3-WAY MASSACRE

This will be the most exhausting 20 minutes of your entire fucking day, unless you plan to exercise or something stupid like that.  As the title suggests, this is a three band split tape from the island of Borneo.  Borneo is made up of four territories, two Malaysian, one Indonesian, and one tiny ass country called Brunei. These three bands all come from Malaysian Sabah and they all fucking rage.  MURDEREDXBYXYOU are raw grinding crust with shrieked vocals, brutal MATI KATAK are my faves on this tape with their occasional 90s rhythms and and out of time, screamed to oblivion vocal attack.  KILL OUR LEADER  are crushing grind/powerviolence that is not too far removed from the heavyweights of the genre. This tape is a three band, 21 song ass whooping that clocks in at just over 19 minutes, which means that by the time you finish your coffee, you will have likely decided that your job is fucking stupid.

BORNEO 3-WAY MASSACRE

HASRAT

One look and you know what this tape sounds like. But this total crust assault is from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo. Some folks think of Borneo like this, but I will always remember it more like this (except our flight was late and we missed half of the show!). HASRAT play noisy grind/crust, and from the delivery, I would guess that they have at least one dude (guitarist, likely) who loves the shit out of METALLICA, but what band doesn't have at least one dude who loves METALLICA, right? Total assault.

HASRAT