Reviews

Under Attack

Moratory F.P.F.W. demo cassette

And now we travel to St. Petersburg, Russia to get ourselves a whiff of metal punk delivered by MORATORY, with their demo Fuck Politics Fuck War. Released in November 2022, though they’ve been around since 2015, it updates more speed metal structures in their songs and slows the tempo. Extra credit for the translated lyrics on their Bandcamp page, versing on anti-war poetry and a feeling of constant struggle in their sound and words. Suggested track: “Pod Nenasytnym Nebom.” Great soloing parts for the guitars and never-stopping drums for this band merging D-beat and metallic forms of punk.

Out of Control / Prisoners of War War Control / Out of Prison split LP

I don’t like to be mean about DIY punk bands as they are the fabric of all local scenes, the lifeblood, the passion, often what unites us. They are our culture. A place without punk bands is a dead place. It does not mean, however, that one should embrace everything uncritically. In fact, you could argue that the intentional lack of a critical perspective on any given punk work is insulting. All art deserves to and should be critiqued, in context, fairly and honestly, and, in the case of punk music, with the idea to support and encourage and create bridges. Now that I’m done with all this hippie bollocks, let’s just say that I was unable to listen to the split LP between Czech bands OUT OF CONTROL (from Hradec Kralove) and PRISONERS OF WAR (from Omolouc) in its entirety. If you are into beefy, American-styled, hardcore-tinged street punk, this would probably be your thing, but it is a style I do not relate to at all. OUT OF CONTROL may be a little more on the Oi!-core side, while PRISONERS OF WAR are more aligned with the sing-along hardcore-ish street punk philosophy (if I had to pick one, it would be them). The production is very clean and I guess the two bands are dynamic enough.