More than any other American city, San Francisco was the mecca for the anarcho-punk scene during the early and mid-’80s. When I was 14/15, I made my move up to SF from Los Angeles, and when I look back on it, this move changed the way I looked at the world and my part in it. The first thing that impressed me about the scene up there was the sense of community that all the SF punks shared. It went way beyond music – it seemed like the punks were family. Crucifix was the glue that brought all of the other bands together. When I first heard Crucifix, they blew my mind – it felt like these humans lived everything they sang about 100%. It’s been 38 years since CRUCIFIX screamed “Peace or Annihilation” – is the world a better place? These words are not hollow the struggle really does continue!!! The powers that be are trying to Dehumanize us against state violence and state control!
Order your copy of the Crucifix Dehumanization LP Reissue HERE!
1. The early 80s+ Berkeley, CA + Hardcore punk = birth of Crucifix
2. D-beat + the threat of nuclear war = a vision that would make them stand against the ills of their time!
3. Metallic & grinding guitars + thought-provoking shouts of dissent = a loyal following of like-minded Anarcho punx around the world!
4. A state of mind + blistering shows = Crucifix being the first American band to be signed to Crass’ label, Corpus Christi Records.
5. 1984 + one of the sickest intros ever + biting political lyrics= Crucifix swan song album Dehumanization was unleashed into the world. This LP has stood the test of time as the greatest peace punk vinyl ever made on these shores!
6. Motorhead + Crass + Disorder + Discharge + speed metal = made Crucifix the leaders in the hardcore & metal-crossover pack…Metallica was at their last show!!!
7. Limb for a limb + lives for oil + unjust war = the message that Crucifix screamed is still in front of us today look at the wars for profit that are happening around the world!
38 years and these words still ring true: PEACE OR ANNIHILATION!!!
Dehumanization is the only full length album from the band Crucifix. Recorded in 1983, it is considered a classic American hardcore album and a landmark of anarcho-punk. Dehumanization delivers a raging critique of war, violence, displacement, and the decimation of human rights and human dignity—themes at once global in scope and also completely endemic to Reagan-era America. The intensity of this message is matched only by the intensity of the sound: a heavy minimalist construction built on brutal guitar riffs, low-end distortion, hardcore fury and teenage speed. It is an album of pure raw power, a hot blast of personal and political outrage and musical adrenaline.
Fusing California hardcore with metal and second wave British anarcho-punk, Crucifix carved out their own highly distinctive wall of sound on this release. Ignoring the rules of punk purism in favor of a well produced huge guitar sound, the album preceded much of the hardcore metal crossover of the mid-80s and played an influential but often unacknowledged role in the punk and metal subgenres that followed. “Annihilation,” the album’s opening track, has become iconic. Quoted often, it’s been sampled by Orbital and covered by A Perfect Circle and Sepultura.
