My first time hearing Peruvian hardcore, and it sounds good. It came to my attention that ATROPELLO!! is made up of some Peruvian veterans of the hardcore punk scene. Equal parts Scandinavian punk and Italian hardcore, these Peruvian aggressors play a raw and spastic brand of hardcore. There is always this underlying chaotic quality that seems to be the glue to what they do. Putting Peru on the punk map.
Now, this is a record I had been waiting for, and I am quite pleased to have been graced with the opportunity to review it, which can be read as yet another sign that I might be becoming the official in-house crust annalist here (a noble position I’d humbly take, of course). DESOLACION is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is made up of members of the excellent RUINAS and the lesser-known CLAUSTROPHOBIA. Expectedly, DESOLACION plays dirty stenchcore for the true believers of the genre, those who gave up on soap a long time ago and embraced a life of devotion to filthy crust, a bit monastic in essence but with more booze and better-looking jackets. The music is downtuned, dark, and offers a good balance of fast, thrashing, gruff crust and slower, brutal metal-crust. The sound of RUINAS clearly informs this first LP that must be seen as an heir of the meaningful ’00s stenchcore revival, in line with the more BOLT THROWER-influenced school. STORMCROW or FEMACOFFIN are not far away sometimes, while CANCER SPREADING and FATUM definitely got good seats to the gig as well. The production is fairly raw at times, and this unprocessed authenticity gives the album a genuine punk vibe that feels fresh—well, in a fetid fashion—and primeval. This is for the crust lifers.
FLOR spans an interesting gamut across the eight cuts on this release. The backbone of these tunes consists of anger-fueled, straightahead punk. It’s a rip-roarin’ time with chaotic elements that makes it feel like the whole thing could fly off the rails at any moment. Polished this is not, but fidelity here is replaced with passion and charm. And while the core sound is free of extraneous complexity, FLOR takes some interesting turns, like on “Preludio Al Dolor,“ where they veer into URINALS territory. This tape is a solid reminder that a band doesn’t have to spend a small fortune in a fancy studio or flaunt their technical chops to make a compelling release. They just have to give a shit about what they’re doing and go for it.
You had a long day at work. You’re underpaid. The world is a chimera of misery. Capitalism has colonized every inch of your nervous system. The air in your city feels heavy, full of polluting and poisonous particles. This eight-song EP is the catharsis you need when you feel a scream of frustration coming out of you. Whether you are from the Global South like the members of LBM, or from the precarious zones of the so-called First World, whether you speak Spanish or not, this brutal D-beat exercise appeals directly to your courage and desperation as a worker being swept away by the wave of progress. These songs are ideal for catharsis and if you let it, for the revolution to come.
Absolutely crushing grindcore out of Madrid, Spain. There’s twelve songs on this 7” EP, most being under a minute in length. Even if my Spanish was better, the vocals are incomprehensible growls, but holy frijoles, the music doesn’t stop punching you in the face. “24H Control + Explotación Asimilada” (“Assimilated Exploitation”) sticks out for its three-minute length, but also because it plays with tempos in interesting ways, dipping down into doomy sludge and then ramping back up to crusty hardcore speeds. The aptly named “Punker than Grind” closes the EP with a fun, strange, mid-tempo stomper. Cool piece of work.
Anarcho-punk project heavily linked with crust and hardcore, from a collective of members that are from Spain and Argentina. Destruyendo y Sembrando was recorded between 2020 and 2021 in both countries mentioned, and features artwork illustrated by Max Vadalá, a graphic artist active in punk subculture mostly in Argentina and Latin America. The album compiles ten tracks about anarchy and the present state of the oppressive system of state domination, the media’s dominance over the population, immigration and anti-terrorism politics, and the everyday struggle against the capitalist status quo. Favorite tracks: “Destruyendo y Sembrando,” with a powerful poetic evocation about monotony and inertia and alienation, and “Urubu,” more aligned with a street punk tempo. Full of passion and heart, enthusiastically recommended for those who believe in and want a better world with no oppression or state violence, and are willing to stand and give the daily fight against government power.
