Reviews

Tuhoutuvat Levyt

Bad Jesus Experience Ovat Muistojemme Lehdet Kuolleet LP

I’m no Finnish hardcore expert (I barely know my RATTUS from my KAOSS), but this shit rules. Each one of the ten short tracks is a total shredder: fast—like really fast—pounding drums, heavy dissonant guitars, and raspy, hyperspeed vocals that use every second to scream a desperate message. “OK HK” relentlessly blasts out and invigorates everything in me that loves hardcore. “Maa Palaa” opens with atonal strumming that is immediately backed with furious punk that sounds awesome. “Pohjalaiset Sikamafiat” takes a short, contemplative breather in the bridge that allows the band to stretch out for a few seconds before returning to rage mode. It actually makes you realize how intense and fast the rest of the record is. “Ruumiinpolttaja” starts with a blastbeat before the one-syllable-per-snare-hit vocals enter, sounding for a second like vintage NAPALM DEATH in its ferocity. Check out this record right now.

Influenza I Think 12”

With a band called after a disease (the second one this month, probably a sign from the gods of punk that I should go to the doctor for a checkup soon), a slimy green font dripping onto a severed human head (or is it a head inside a head?), and ‘’I think’’ carved on the forehead, I initially thought that INFLUENZA was going to be some sort of raw and noisy gruff hardcore punk affair, especially since they are from Tampere. But I was wrong. I did not expect them to be, but INFLUENZA is very much influenced by early US hardcore, or maybe more accurately, I would compare them to those ’80s Italian bands that were influenced by US hardcore (not unlike SHOTGUN SOLUTION?), as the band has that similar wild vibe—I suppose POISON IDEA was also very much on their mind when they wrote the seven songs making up this mini album. There are some well-crafted, crawly, mid-paced numbers on this one and some proper rocking guitar leads, while the snotty singer is clearly committed and the lyrics have that sarcastic political tone that you expect from this style. Not the kind of sound I necessarily listen to often, but I did enjoy it, and with a total length of about seventeen minutes, the energy and dynamics are always present. Apparently INFLUENZA started out as more of a typical distorted hardcore punk band with reverb-heavy vocals, but the change might be for the best.