Chucky and extremely aggressive gore-core from Australia. The intense speed reminds me of BASTARD filled out with the crustier rage of COP ON FIRE. Six tracks of inferno-core reminiscent of DEATH TOLL 80K with vocal hopelessness and a maniacal regurgitation/choking reflex on every track, which tranforms this EP even further into a bitter pill to swallow.
Can you hear the sound of an enormous door slamming in the depths of Australia? It’s probably BLOCKADE. Entrenched and ready for D-beat war, these fine gentlemen bring on the most intense DIS-worship ammunition they could get their hands on. Noise-drenched guitars that will shatter your ears, vocals that sound like they were recorded two lots over, and of course…D-beat. Also, a cover of the theme of Assault on Precinct 13. Your ears will be ringing after this one.
With inverted crosses on the Ks and a logo that has three skulls (two goat skulls and a human one that is being stabbed), an alert listener like myself can guess that this band called FUKKER is probably not arsing around with fancy melodies or ambitious songwriting (or even with tuning for all I know). I must say, I was not familiar with this Australian lot. Contrary to what the aesthetics hint at, FUKKER is not an evil metal-punk band, but a rather classic käng hardcore one, with a well-balanced, fuzzy, distorted sound and shouted vocals with a bit too much echo for my taste (a trap that too many hardcore bands fall into these days). I suppose they don’t intend to create anything new here, but it is done well enough and it reminds me a lot of the Japanese take on the Swedish hardcore sound, not unlike a hungover CONTRAST ATTITUDE covering SHITLICKERS and DISARM or something, but the closest comparison would be early GIFTGASATTACK. This six-song demo was originally released on tape in 2019 but this is the vinyl version of it released on two Australian labels that specialize in raw and noisy hardcore, Televised Suicide Records (BOOTLICKER, ODIO, DISEASE, KOSZMAR, etc.) and Fuzzed Atrocities. Did I mention that FUKKER covers NO FUCKER? Cheeky bastards.
The Bestial Hardcore EP from Perth, Austria’s GAOLED is a wall of aural hell. Raw, nauseating, distorted guitars with boiling magma drum sounds from hell (the vocalist is undoubtedly a golem). Reminiscent of where CROSSED OUT and other local veterans RUPTURE left off, but with the contemporary metallic influences of BEHERIT and BLASPHEMY worshippers. Perhaps it has something to do with great weather and this almost reinforced sense of happiness and positivity, but all RUPTURE, CROSSED OUT, and NO COMMENT seem to come from similar environments and ended up with similar sounds. Includes a cover of Boston’s CROSSED OUT worshippers SCAPEGOAT.
Serving up agile D-beats from Australia, slathered in olde English fonts and Xeroxed skulls and stencils as god intended, NO FUTURE leaves you longing for more after imbibing in this slick three-song flexi. The seething buzz of the title track alone is enough to get the thumbs up from me.
NO FUTURE from Perth has been a band for a while now, honing their music into a raw hardcore/crasher-influenced sound that is full of bass, noise, and rage. If you’ve never heard of NO FUTURE, no worries. The Mirror full-length is a great place to get started, with twelve tracks that are mostly previously released. Between the bass-and-drums overload and the crackling guitar, I’m not really sure which aspect is my favorite, but I will say the vocals are excellent. “Endless Torture” is a standout track for me. This is a split release between Iron Lung and Televised Suicide, so you know this is a well-produced album with all the charm and hallmarks these two labels are known for.
Australia’s TOTAL DEFEAT has some tasty, timeless hardcore on their 7″ debut. In keeping with the band’s name, riffs point downward on every song, delivering tough little doses of “just can’t win” punk with a dark and bouncy feel. The band has evolved from the primitive bass-heavy dirges of their 2019 demo and emerged tight and energized. Think POISON IDEA if they were NYHC. Alright, I’ll take it.
This is a D-beat barrage from Australia that is like a sonic scavenger on fire—that was actually meant to compliment them and describe the rad cover art. Drum fills cascade with intense fury, vocals are bellowed out until the last gasp, with a powerful range. Distortion is crasher-level red. This is hitting like ENZYME, FRAMTID, KINETIC ORBITAL STRIKE, ANTI-METAFOR, or SYMPTOM. It has all of the ingredients to be served up generically, but it is not at all. Various rhythms and songs are linked together like an exhausting, raging raw live set with a dense production value, and moments of pause before the bombardment adds a unique quality of thoughtfulness for the style. This is the second EP from WARCYCLE and a first for me. Impressive crustcore D-beat!
