Record of the Week: CONTORTURE/AHNA split EP
Handle with care, this is fuggin’ deadly. Göteborg’s CONTORTURE goes straight for the jugular with their raging feminist käng, expertly toeing the raw/melodic line that has come to define Swedish crust in the last decade. Lyrics revisit familiar themes of autonomy, rape culture, and watching those around you age out of punk, but with a personalistic approach, and the lead vocals remind me of Kate from SCHIFOSI in all the best ways. On the flip, leading Canadian powerviolence freex AHNA lays out two more doses of their noisey blackened filth, sounding yet again like they’ve managed to record in one of the lesser pits of hell. This is actually a lot less blast-centric than their older material, with crusty rhythms offsetting the murky metalloid gloom, and the opening sludge of “Living in Fear” channels the headbanging glory of BOLT THROWER to perfection. Already a serious contender for my favorite split of 2014, this is nothing short of mandatory for all you metalpunx.
(Active Rebellion / Into the Abyss / Neanderthal Stench / What Is Making Us Sick)
—Will Blomquist
