#10 SAGUZAR Total Necro D-Beat Desecration
What happens when a horde of D-beat punks form a motorcycle gang with the sole purpose of fucking up authority? You get riffs that drag your ears along the pavement at a hundred miles an hour and percussion that has you flying down the highway to hell and vocals that sound like gravel flying into your corneas! This is D-beat that sounds like an enforcer holding my skull to a buzzsaw. Absolute demonic chaos in sonc form.
#9 FUTURE TERROR Degenerating Shithole
All this talk about the fall of the American empire while we watch bobbleheads blabber us into the end times. Are you gonna stay glued to your screen and insulated in your echo chamber or are you gonna listen to FUTURE TERROR while you make sure you’ve got the skills to survive? Degenerating Shithole is the soundtrack to making elites shit their pants as their vision of a placated, pacified public crumbles before their eyes. It’s scathing, barbaric, guttural, and ferocious, and it’s filling my head with visions of the fight for survival that lies ahead of us.
#8 FOSGENE Catabasi
Fosgene’s record Catabasi brings the rock n’ roll to the end of the world, blending their d-beat with crust, black metal, and hardcore into a thick, Stygian stew that feels like it might swallow me whole. The way the record kicks off with the trumpet is beautiful; like the final call before the four horsemen descend to decimate your eardrums. Fosgene is blisteringly cold and fast, and this record is guaranteed to raise your blood pressure and send you fist-first into the apocalypse!
#7 VOLTAGE MANIA
I know they call themselves VOLTAGE but as soon as I hit play on their record Mania I actually felt as if I’d stuck a fork into a socket and I’d been shocked into a raw punk universe! VOLTAGE are definitely paying homage to their progenitors but they’ve taken a beloved classic punk sound and molded it in their own depraved image. I had to listen to “Liar” like five times in a row because one listen wasn’t enough — it almost has an Oi vibe that gets me hyped to knock a red pill motherfucker out! I hope they get the opportunity to do that once in a while in Kamloops. Between the vicious guitars, the feral vocals, the calamitous drumming, and the cataclysmic bass, everything VOLTAGE does on this record feels like a party.
#6 SØRDÏD REALITY’S A WAR
Looking for some DISCHARGE-inspired punishment for your eardrums? Here’s a gnarly heater from NYC’s SØRDÏD! Out now on Roachleg Records, “Reality’s A War” features five tracks of blink and you’ll miss it noise-punk that’s chaotic as hell but still extremely listenable, similar to d-beat titans PARANOID. Bookended by a poppy clip of a radio hit from a bygone era, SØRDÏD quickly smash through and grab you by the throat with pummelling drums that are relentless. There’s a constant hum and fuzz that adds to the frantic vibe, topped off with echoing vocals that sound as angry as they are desperate. SØRDÏD really channels the frustration at the current state of the world and provides a sense of cathartic release. I’ve been listening to this thing on repeat and I suggest you do the same!
Written by Eric.
#5 SIEGE FIRE The Devastating Cost
I got to say that the new SIEGE FIRE album The Devastating Cost is just that PURE FIRE aimed at those that want to do us harm. This band lays down the fucking law on every fucking track! I love their HUGE caustic wall of seething RAGE that is alive in every moment of this album. Musically, this band has created a collection of \ anthems that are razor fucking sharp! Some of their tunes have these weird effects that run through them and I can’t enough! I want SIEGE FIRE to know that The Devastating Cost is a part of my healing process but it also gives me the sonic kick in the as to say I will Never Fucking Give UP and Surrendering is not an OPTION! Read the full review.
#4 ALAMBRADA RÍOS DE SANGRE
ALAMBRADA’s RÍOS DE SANGRE sounds like a plague of locusts flying into my ear canals to turn my synapses into a soup made of beautiful chaos! This is fast, ferocious, and sordid punk that’s threatening to decapitate me with their chainsaw riffs. If you’re a fan of audio mayhem then let ALAMBRADA’s RÍOS DE SANGRE flow into your life!
#3 BOOTLICKER 1000 Yd. Stare
If I made a list of my favorite Canadian bands, BOOTLICKER is high up on it! They’ve got the groove, the middle finger held high, and their AirWair soles pinning down patriot tongues. The basslines are thicc and speedy, the drums are skull-crushing, the guitars are turbulent, and the vocals speak to the turmoil we’re all trying to live through right now. 1000 Yd. Stare is exactly what we need to snap society out of its complacent ass-up submission to the billionaire class and their political enforcers.
#2 NO FUTURE MIRROR
Every day when I read the news it feels more and more like we’re hurtling towards a future similar to that of the Australian film franchise Mad Max: sweltering heat, nearing total lack of resources, and every man woman and child for themselves. How appropriate then that a band from Australia called NO FUTURE would provide music so fitting for such a future. On their new LP Mirror, NO FUTURE bring us into their world of harsh and chaotic raw punk that would sound appropriate blaring from a car’s sound system as it throttles down Fury Road. Beginning with feverish white noise before exploding into a full on sonic assault, listening to this record feels like being pulled into a violent sandstorm that doesn’t let up until the final note. Treading in the same territory as contemporaries SIAL, ENZYME, and FAIRYTALE, NO FUTURE have tons of riffs that perfectly accompany the aggro lyrics that speak on the oppressive nature of our society and it’s dysfunctionally brutal oppression. And while the riffs and vocals are absolutely crushing, what stands out the most are the big bouncy bass lines that add so much texture and depth, specifically on “P.B.S.,” “Pig Fiend,” and “Vampiric Ego Sucker.” Speaking of “Vampiric Ego Sucker,” the track features one of my favorite moments on the album: a swirling, overblown guitar tone that’s almost psychedelic in affect and disorienting in the best way possible. Elsewhere the band goes full d-beat brutality on “Hidden Frequencies,” adds some power with gang vocals on “Absent,” and reminds me of WARTHOG on my favorite track “Endless Torture.” Now crank this shit up and go full speed ahead into our inevitable dystopian future. At least it’ll sound good!
Written by Eric.
#1 KRIEGSHÖG Love And Revenge
Two minutes into KRIEGSHÖG’s new LP Love & Revenge, the fuzzed out guitars and scuzzy overblown bass ring out over dramatic drums that drop in and out before shifting into a mid-tempo stomp, shifting the song from speedball D-beat into lurching rock ‘n’ roll. It’s an unexpected and badass moment that gives a good taste of what the band has in store for the rest of the album. Put out by La Vida Es Un Mus as their 300th(!) release, it’s easy to hear why this record is special right out of the gate. It’s the band’s first LP in fourteen years and sounds so focused and cohesive I’d say it was worth the wait. Across eight tracks in 22 minutes, KRIEGSHÖG pull you into their world of desert-rock infused raw punk; a fusion that lands them somewhere between Japanese hardcore and stoner-metal and oftentimes results in a pummeling Western gallop. The riffs are catchy as hell and the entire album is surprisingly accessible and full of grooves; I could see this being a perfect gateway hardcore album for your hesitant metalhead buddy. Highlights for me include the gnarly bass lines on “P.S.M.” and “眠らない身体” and the rock ’n’ roll riffs on “Love And Revenge” and “Grey Agony”, but honestly I could recommend every song on the album.
Written by Eric.
