Now that you’ve argued, gorged, and cried yourself to sleep after another holiday, you’re probably ready to get back to your normal routine. Wake up, suffer through work, come home, binge watch average shows about children uncovering conspiracies and wait to die. Its a bleak life; you’re getting older and things you used to love just aren’t cutting it. “Come out for drinks, it’ll be fun.” What they mean to say is “This liquid we consume will mask existential pain while shaving time off our existence.” Quite frankly, they’re right. As you gulp down another PBR and listen to your friends tell the same story about seeing Bjork on acid, you realize how truly unsatisfying your life has become. You make peanuts at work, your band is cheap imitation of Hatred Surge (and everyone knows it), your anxiety and paranoia won’t let you be yourself anymore and worst of all, you can’t seem to get stoked on new music like you used to. Then on one miraculous day, you check your email and the ravenous d-beat you’ve been waiting for hits you harder than the shot of gasoline whiskey you had for breakfast. It breathes new life into what’s left of your tear soaked soul. You immediately pick up the phone and call everyone you’ve ever wronged to make amends; shit – you even take the time to give your relatives you blatantly ignore a quick ring (spoiler: they still think your band is cheap imitation of Hatred Surge) after calling you a poser, they hangup. You’re not bothered because it’s different this time, this time you know something they don’t. You’ve uncovered the magical d-beat elixir that grants all heshers eternal riffage and it’s raged its way to us all the way from Helsinki, Finland.
Kohti Tuhoa‘s latest offering Pelon neljäs valtakunta is a twelve song assault on anything and everything that gets in its way. To most of us in the realm of hardcore and punk and twelve song album seems like a bit much considering the decreased attention spans we all have but Kohti Tuhoa make twelve songs play like six. Their nuanced take on d-beat and punk plays like LA heavy hitters Condition and Blazing Eye mixed with the vintage ferociousness of Broken Bones. Like any good dis rocking powerhouse, they refuse to drag out their songs and rely on multiple tempos in the to keep the energy level high while still holding a listener captive. Tracks like “Hajota ja hallitse” and
“Anna kaikkes” play like a black denim jacket and a few distortion pedals got thrown in a hate blender while others like “Jotain sisältä rikkij” and “Ei pelastusta” definitely employ that classic punk sound that the kids just fucking love. In a world of mediocre experiences masked as great ones via social media, Kohti Tuhoa remind us that authenticity and anger is something to live, not to chronically share. So to all d-beat warriors I beg of you: stay pissed, wear black, and share “Pelon neljäs valtakunta” with everyone and don’t you dare fucking miss this band if they come to your town and pick up a copy from your riff gods at Southern Lord Recordings!!!
Footage: Max Volume Silence
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