Reviews

Flyktsoda

Böset Sista Varningen LP

Swedish mangel from the same town as legendary D-beaters SKITSYSTEM and SHITLICKERS (something must be in the water)—BÖSET carries on the tradition of fast and loud raw punk on their new LP Sista Varningen, with twelve politically-charged heaters that will leave fans of the genre with little to be desired. Opening track “Rasera Deras Borg” is a strong start, showcasing the band’s ability to touch on every hallmark of this style, including a nice shift into rock’n’roll at the one-and-a-half-minute mark, a move I’m always a sucker for. Throughout the album BÖSET does a nice job keeping things from getting stale, like on the ripped-from-’82 “Vi är Långt Förbi Sista Varningen” and the neat spoken word breakdown on “E Ni Goa i Hövvet Eller?” Lyrically, the band is pissed about shitty jobs (“Avskaffa Arbetslinjen”) and not buying into excessive consumerism (“Krossa Konsumismen”) amongst other things, and while I don’t speak or understand the language, I can pick up what they’re putting down. Overall, a solid album that keeps Gothenburg’s impressive track record intact.

Chörnobyl / Deny split EP

A double-trouble split from two Swedish bands that immerse themselves in the Swedish hardcore sound. First up is the veterans DENY, whom you might recognize from their Dystopia LP, mangeling since 1995 and delivering three solid, classic Swedish hardcore tracks in the good tradition of WOLFPACK. Then the newcomers CHÖRNOBYL, who share members with MYTERI, bring three more songs to the table with a darker DISFEAR approach. At the end of the day we have two bands, old and new, that celebrate one of the most recognizable sounds in hardcore history and further the Swedish D-beat tradition.

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.

Ein Zwei Die! / Shaking Heads Split EP

Split record by two Swedish punk bands. This is EIN ZWEI DIE’s (as far as I can tell) only release to date, but it was recorded in 2011, so they’re not exactly a “new” band. Probably a cool story as to why these two songs are finally gracing our ears some eight years later. No insert, no internet, only mystery. They’re cool: like if GORILLA ANGREB was trying to do FILTH covers. SHAKING HEADS are actually a new band, and five dollars says at least one of the members has a DEAD MOON tattoo. They’re dark, simplistic, anthemic, and gritty. True punk. I feel like I’ve listened to this record a hundred different times in a hundred different punk basements, but it still puts a smile on my face.

Slan Skiter i Allt EP

How nasty of SLAN from Gothenburg to title this ghastly five-song käng  assault Skitr I Allt (“Shit in Everything.”) With a cover that’s painted in the color of stains, depicting some stinking dirtbag in his rotten little apartment, this diabolic EP is filled wall-to-wall with caustic hits, including the charming title track, “Svälj Skiten” (“Swallow the Shit”), and more. This is a ripping, raw, and rabid D-beating that occasionally drops into some head-bobbing punk rocking, and it kills. As it turns out, they were spot on with the name, as this is absolutely the shit.

Slan Ägd LP

Sweden, the country where playing ANTI-CIMEX lulls children to sleep. There is certainly no shortage of hardcore bands up there, and here comes a new contender in the notorious and much contested “fast and furious käng” category. SLAN is from Gothenburg and includes members of the rather good STRUL (in a SKITKIDS way), among other bands that I am not going to pretend I actually know. Their first EP Skiter I Allt released last year was a definite scorcher if you like your Scandicore on the mangel side of things (by which I mean more on the faster, MOB 47 side) if you want to be anal about it, and the boys are back in business with a full-length entitled Ägd. The recipe hasn’t changed much, but the production is a tad rawer and the vocals more upfront. While the EP had a definite ’80s Stockholm feel to my impeccable ears, the LP makes me think of a dirtier version of KRIGSHOT as well because SLAN manages to play that fast, and of Uppsala bands like CUMBRAGE or even of early VICTIMS in the singing style. It is a seriously raging, direct high-energy effort with some class riffing, but I can’t help but find the LP a little long for this style of punk with a playtime of almost twenty-four minutes (and everyone knows we have a twenty-minute attention span these days, if that). At the end of the day, yet another hard-hitting win from Sweden.

Antigen / Socialstyrelsen A Sense of Dread split LP

Phobia Records from the Czech Republic won’t stop delivering crust punk D-beat bands. On these eleven tracks in under 25 minutes, we encounter ANTIGEN and SOCIAL STYRELSEN. ANTIGEN offers four tracks led by a crust-cut female voice pitching high choruses, filled with desperate feeling along with a painful screaming. Solid crust punk with hardcore drums, pretty much all straightforward. SOCIALSTYRELSEN blasts crunchy D-beat crust punk with demonic high vocals, guitars like non-stop chainsaws, and ranting drums. A chaos sound from another era with modern nods. The Swedish language hits hard, with such suffering-infused voices fueled by violence. Suggested tracks: “Knivad” and “Hata Mig.”

חרדה (Jarada) No Co-Existence With…12″

This is a cool one: punk from Tel Aviv sung entirely in Hebrew. JARADA plays tough and heavy hardcore songs about the oppressive system they live in, and boy, do they seem pissed. Each and every song here is angrier than the next, and rightfully so! These guys are living in a world of corrupt police, religious extremism, and general apathy towards it all. Sound familiar? Loud, fast, and hard is the name of the game sonically, each song pummeling forward with crunchy riffs and hoarse vocals, and even though I don’t understand the language, I can understand loud and clear what these guys are expressing in songs like “Inertia,” or the excellently titled “Tear Down the Settlements and Sentence Their Leaders.” If you like your music politically minded and desperate, check this out.