Austria’s KETTERHUND plays weighty, mid-tempo hardcore with post-punk and Oi! infusions, led by passionate, raw-throated vocals. Following up their debut single from 2017, this four-song EP has a dark and desperate atmosphere to it, pinning angsty and tortured sentiments to a steady-rocking backbeat. The high point for me here is the ominous third track, “Nacht,” but this is all solid work.
It’s possible that Es Geht Bergab sounds so completely original because it sounds so instantly familiar, and now I’m stuck wondering which it actually is (and knowing it’s both). You’re going to see terms like “post-punk” and “goth punk” thrown around a lot when people talk about this record (and this band), but that’s just folks not listening past the flanged bass and the spacial guitars—in reality, ROLLTREPPE is a damn punk band that takes advantage of those elements instead of leaning on them. From the opening track, I’m dragged back a decade. “Kranke Welt” feels like a mid-2010s RAKTA and WHITE LUNG collaboration (with the bass lick borrowed accidentally and/or blatantly from the former), while the general energy ROLLTREPPE projects is the stark, cold, dance frenzy that dominates ’80s Eastern Bloc punk with all of the energy and intensity that comparison conjures and more. Rhythm-section-driven, high-energy punk with guitars taking their own trip and vocals that command full attention. I went back and checked out their 2020 release because I’m curious (and thorough), and seeing the progression makes me really anxious to hear whatever comes next—I can talk about how many elements remind me of other bands, songs, and records, but really I just keep coming back to how I’ve never really heard a record that sounds like this. Excellent.
Skuzzy, tough punk from Vienna. Not as fast as REGULATIONS or as tuneful as the VICIOUS, the OBSESSIONS are still somehow reminiscent of both. They keep things tight in the pocket with mid-tempo but propulsive beats, a wooly thick guitar tone, repetitive vocals, and driving bass lines. A sense of exasperated frustration cuts through in the stark choruses and punctuated hooks. I kept waiting for a blazing fast face-melter to kick things up a notch…but that never materialized. That’s just as well, because the OBSESSIONS still rip in their own way, trading in speed for attitude and anxiety. Best kind of bad vibes.
