Gefyr

Reviews

Gefyr / Rat Cage split EP

I had only heard maybe half of a song by GEFYR before this record, and I was definitely surprised by how great this record is. They are from Sweden and you sure can hear it in the music—there is a huge ’90s influence, whether we are talking about STATE OF FEAR or any of the ’90’s bands from Sweden. I was surprised and excited by how great the GEFYR side of the record is. I moved on to the RAT CAGE side and I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, and I sure wasn’t disappointed. This is some hard-hitting hardcore punk from both of these bands. On this split, RAT CAGE sounds like they are in top form. There are a lot of influences here, but to me, they just sound like RAT CAGE. Hardcore punk with a little bit of melody like all of my favorite bands. This is another one of my favorite records this year.

Gefyr Gefyr LP

Now Sweden, you are just being unfair; you are taking the piss. Seriously. Of course, käng hardcore was born from your womb, so it makes sense that your progeny would master the style. But still. A study from the World Hardcore Agency recently revealed that the ratio of D-takt/käng bands per capita in Sweden was as high as two in major towns, meaning that each Stockholm or Malmö inhabitant plays in at least two Scandicore bands (one of which has to start with the prefix “dis’’ by law; what an odd country, right?). For comparison, we in France have one D-beat band for ten million. I had never heard of GEFYR from Hudiksvall, which is almost insulting since I am a massive sucker for that style, but it appears there are just too many ace bands in Sweden to keep track of. GEFYR’s album, released on Gothenburg’s Flyktsoda, is a pummeling, furious slice of käng with a perfect production for the genre. It has relentless power while keeping a certain hardcore rawness. What a massive kick up the arse. The band is heavily influenced by classics like TOTALITÄR and NO SECURITY, and INFERNOH or PROFOSS also come to mind if you need a modern point of comparison. How could GEFYR fly under my omnipotent radar? The thing was mixed by Jan, engineer at D-Takt Studio and an actual dis-legend—pretty much to Swedish D-beat what Cristiano Ronaldo is to hair products—so it makes sense that it sounds so good.