#10 RAT CAGE Savage Visions
WTF the new RAT CAGE album Savage Visions slaps hard AF. This band did not write songs, they wrote fucking anthems that take me back to my teenage years! Real talk, listening to songs like “Sinister Town” and “Through The Darkness” reminds me of blasting Abrasive Wheels When the Punks Go Marching In! or Crucifix’s Dehumanization for the first time. Unholy hell yes, RAT CAGE’s tunes are RAW AF but it’s their use of melody infused with chaos that has me coming back for more! This band has something to say and I’m all fucking ears — so should you be!
#9 RAW PEACE NO HOPE
RAW PEACE knows there’s no such thing as peace under this shitstem. Peace is the Big Mac they’re selling you on the billboard, and what you end up scarfing down in your car after a long shift is a flattened, chemical mess of exploitation and war for profit. And society just keeps shelling out for those Big Macs that are padding organs and clogging arteries and destroying our peace. When I experience the raw hardcore punk fury of NO HOPE it reminds me that I’m not alone in seeing the lies being fed to us. This slamming video is a war cry for the people; it’s a memorial to those who’ve been tossed aside as pawns to elite power plays.
#8 HEZ Panamaniacs
Panamaniacs is fast and raw and feels like a deep-dive into the mind and the system. HEZ is giving us all a gut punch of reality with these 12 maniacally brutal tracks that encourage us to question ourselves and our surroundings and find a better way to live. And all while they provoke our brains with the baying vocals, they’re laying down thick, fuzzy riffs set to relentless beats. It really doesn’t get more punk than Panamaniacs!
#7 SALVAJE PUNK SALVAJE PUNK
Real talk, Salvaje Punk’s caustic anthems are infused with this metallic energy that is so fucking electric. Big tunes like “Vigilancia” make me want to jump out of my skin while running around the whole planet telling every human or alien about this band! Vocally they’re beyond the next level their chaotic wild passion bleeds through on every song. Musically this band has set the bar so HIGH that it’s almost too hard to put into words! Imagine if Godzilla decided to unite with DISORDER and GISM — the outcome might sound like Salvaje Punk. I will tell y’all that watching their full set from one of their New York shows only proves that this band is also uniting the tribes.
#6 PARANOID S.C.U.M.
Buzz Saws Metallic Fury Razor Sharp music in direct action are the thoughts that come to my mind as I blast 偏執症者 (Paranoid)‘s new record S.C.U.M. Unholy fuck, this band can do no wrong, and everything that they release is fucking beyond next level! The first song to set it off is “市民的不服従 (Shiminteki Fufukujyuu),” and it’s all out unhinged D-BEAT Banger! The riffs that this band manifests are weapons of mass madness that will have you headbanging for infinity! Don’t even get me started on the breakdowns that 偏執症者 (Paranoid) inject into their caustic anthems! This band always pushes everything to the limits. If don’t believe me, blast their tune “戦争何も惜しまず (Sensou Nanimo Oshimazu)” and hear their awesomeness for yourself. I have been a fan of this band from day one and S.C.U.M. makes me a STAN!
#5 DESTRUCT Cries the Mocking Mother Nature
Cries the Mocking Mother Nature comes in with an immediate sense of urgency that makes me want to jump up and run into the serenity of the last remaining woods that surround the metropolis I live in. This audio rampage from DESTRUCT is a sonic testament to waking up to the ills and evils of human green and how it drives us to progress straight into a pit of destruction. I hope archaeologists of the 30th century discover this record and realize that not all of us wanted to rape and pillage the planet.
#4 PUS PUS
PUS isn’t for the weak! PUS is for those who want to drown in depraved, debauched, aurally violent sounds! It’s got riffs that will slice through your trembling skin and beats that will leave your body broken and bruised. This is blackened hardcore punk that spits in the face of everything that calls itself “good” and “righteous.”
#3 GELD Currency // Castration
Real talk, I have been a huge GELD fan from day one, and this very passionate and thoughtful interview has made me more of a fan! Their new record Currency // Castration is all that and an epic bag of psychedelic D-beat chips. They totally pushed their sound to higher heights on this record. Read our interview with them HERE.
#2 PHYSIQUE AGAIN
This record is more than just music, it’s an audio statement against those that want to downpress us, and for that reason I consider these songs to be modern-day-Blues! As I blast “Unreal Cruelty,” I can feel the rage radiating off the riffs as they crash against my skull. Don’t get it twisted, the power that PHYSIQUE displays on this record is straight-up inspirational. I love that this band is not afraid to create songs like “Wheel Of Fascism” that resonate with me on all levels. I want to say thank you to both the band and Iron Lung Records for standing up for our Human Rights. The 14-year-old me loved D-BEAT and so does the 53-old-me. This PHYSIQUE tape is an all-out attack aimed at the corrupt shitstem that can’t be trusted! NEVER NEVER AGAIN!
#1 ENZYME Golden Dystopian Age
What the AWESOME do we have here? We have the INSANELY off-the-chain new Enzyme album called Golden Dystopian Age. From the very first moment I pressed play I felt as if I was transported inside the movie Escape From New York + Los Angeles. There is a constant apocalyptic BUZZ of annihilation that runs through every second of this album. Real talk, I feel like Enzyme is half D-Beat Cyborgs and Half D-Beat wizards who have conjured up an album that is here to rock and electrocute the world! Anthems like Masquerade will plug your brain cells into a universe where pulsating Electro Beats converge with Mutated Raw Punk only to become something that is truly otherworldly. Can y’all imagine Disorder, Crucifix, Disclose, KLF, and Atari Teenage Roits had a creative love session — the outcome just might sound like parts of Golden Dystopian Age. I love the way that this band was willing to create outside of the D-Beat box to manifest a special offering that has set the bar HIGH! Lyrically, Enzyme has something to say and I’m all ears because I respect their worldview. They close out the album with the banger “Farce” and after just one listen you will realize that this band is next level! How cyborg can D-Beat get? Ask Enzyme!
