Reviews

Unlawful Assembly

Alambrada Muerte Preventiva EP

I love debut 7″s. Bands tend to showcase their virtues in a raw and colorful way, like they have so much to prove in just a few minutes. ALAMBRADA is a new Colombian band, straight from Bogotá with members of beloved MURO in their ranks, and this is their first EP, one of the best of the year so far. Eight songs of noisy-as-fuck yet incredibly hooky guitar riffs, a rhythm section that splits your head open with uncompromising determination, and a voice so thick in poisonous spit, it can melt metal. Their sound is so vicious and raw that it can sometimes veer into total chaos, but just this close enough of atonal oblivion. It is actually hard to have a favorite track, but I can tell you to go straight to the double-decker of “Control Total/Un Acto de Lealtad” and you can thank me later. So it goes.

Alambrada Rios de Sangre LP

The successor of Muerte Preventiva, Rios de Sangre serves up a relentless barrage of fiery riffs, driving rhythms, and socially-charged lyrics that resonate deeply with both the pulse of Bogota and the broader struggles of the heart. From the opening track, we are thrust into a whirlwind of fast hardcore à la VOID or KORO, expertly layered with both frenetic urgency and poignant storytelling. Each track reflects a powerful blend of breakneck speed and relentless power, showcasing the band’s charisma for crafting anthems. ALAMBRADA aren’t timid when it comes to confronting political and social issues head-on, articulating the frustrations and aspirations of a generation longing for change. From the busy punk aficionados from Rat Trap, with killer projects like MURO, UNIDAD IDEOLÒGICA, and ATAQUE ZERO, the question remains: how do these guys have time to make such great bands?

Democracy Western Relaxation cassette

Five minutes of filthy hardcore rumbling from Milwaukee. It’s a smoker. Nasty, ripping punk that’s been vomited on by manic, monstrous vocals. I suppose you could obtain this tape from the esteemed Unlawful Assembly label via traditional mail order, but I believe it would be distributed more appropriately if copies were left to be found half-buried in the dirt in random spots around the country.

Desintegración Violenta Desintegración Violenta cassette

This is some nasty and dark hybrid punk/metal. Think of the weird hardcore but quite metal Japanese ’80s punk bands, HELLHAMMER, and obviously, DISCHARGE. The band is a collaboration from Bogotá and Berlin, the lyrics are sung in Spanish, the riffs are heavy as a brick, vocals are demonic, the D-beat is omnipresent, the bass tone hits you directly in the face, and guitar solos are demented. All of that in only sixteen minutes. I think they are truly following the path of Colombian underground extreme metal legends like PARABELLUM or BLASFEMIA and I celebrate that. Get it as a cassette, all the proceeds (also the digital ones, btw) go directly to the band to be distributed to local collectives in support of the national strike in Colombia.

Desintegración Violenta La Bestia EP

This joint release between Static Shock, Unlawful Assembly, and Roachleg Records finds DESINTEGRACIÓN VIOLENTA playing their hallmark thrash-addled hardcore punk on five tracks. With riffs set to overdrive, a primal rhythm section, and snarling, blown-beyond-belief vocals, it’s hard not to love everything DESINTEGRACIÓN VIOLENTA is doing on this recording. If you like your punk extra noisy, speedy as fuck, and a touch demented, then you’ll definitely want to give this a spin.

Fashion Change Devil Laugh EP

In just four short tracks, FASHION CHANGE put all of their cards on the table. This is really some good old-fashioned, no-frills hardcore punk with all of the audio fidelity of recording in a rotten dumpster. Hey, maybe that’s the way punk was designed to sound. The vocals are close enough to fit on a screamo record, the drums endlessly beat the listener, and the guitars growl like chainsaws. This is one that just isn’t for me. It’s just too grimy and loose to get into, but I have no doubt there is an audience for this EP. If you like the feeling of being trampled in a mosh pit, then this is about as close to that feeling as you’ll find in a recording.

Genetica Genetica demo cassette

Just four short and ripping tracks of Midwestern hardcore, this tape brings enough energy to get you slamdancing alone in your room. There are flashes of SURFBORT and ALIEN NOSEJOB in the lo-fi sound of this tape. It seriously hisses with attitude. If you want some absolutely ballistic, bombastic, off-the-wall hardcore tracks, then this tape is what you need.

Haunted Mansion Fake Money EP

Chaotic, lo-fi messy hardcore punk with reverb and creepy sounds. The guitars blend rusty chainsaw strings with noisy vocals and ever-ranting drums. Resemblances to early ’80s USHC mixed with chaos and chain punk sounds. Recorded to sound mixed (or actually mixed) by old tape machinery that makes it seem from another time, and not leaning too much on the haunted situation of the mansion may be a good call.

Innuendo Peace & Love 12″

Milwaukee terrorizers with a mid-tempo, straightforward hardcore formula that touches on early styles of hardcore punk resembling NECROS’ and NEGATIVE APPROACH’s first sounds. Solid bass lines and guitar racket, and the ragged, destroyed low vocals just hit all of the spots for rotten minds searching for that earlier, crunchier, angstier sound and feel never to be grasped fully by contemporary mortals. Dig into this eight-track EP filled with raw punk energy.

Innuendo Losing Again demo cassette

Simple, straightforward, and brash, the head-bobbing hardcore on this three-song demo hits the spot. This Wisconsin band’s rockin’ mid-tempo style channels O.G. punk spirit in the vein of early BLACK FLAG and NEGATIVE APPROACH, and it sounds awesomely refreshing right about now. This one even slid onto my Top Ten for 2020 based on its pure potency, and get this—it’s just two guys: a vocalist and an everything-else man making this excellent racket. With any luck this strong little tape is just a teaser for a more comprehensive INNUENDO attack to come.

Living World Future Built for Self/Ubuntu cassette

LIVING WORLD is from Pittsburgh, baby, and they don’t care what you think about the majestic hoofed mammal on the cover of their cassette. They just want to hit you with the punk, which in this case is some messy, echoed vocals beamed over a frenzied hardcore thrashing drenched in panache. Unique breakdowns punctuate each distortion-strewn song and there’s a ton of character to these twelve tracks. One of them is a NEGATIVE FX cover, which should give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here. These guys have a knack for song titles too (“G-Bong,” “Crack Mountain,” “Crime Person,” etc.) Go listen to it, already.

Mock Execution Rebels Without a Cause cassette

After delivering a blistering full-length last year (which I previously wrote about as one of my favourites of 2022), Chicago’s MOCK EXECUTION returns with four more blasts of damaging noise. The title track is the main highlight, a modern-day punk rocker anthem if there ever was one. Speeding and blasting away with mischievous delight, Rebels Without a Cause doesn’t quite measure up to the landmark Killed by Mock Execution LP, but it’s still a winner and gets a glowing recommendation from this reviewer. Since this cassette’s release, it’s been reissued on 7″ vinyl by La Vida Es Un Mus as the Circle of Madness EP (featuring one extra track)—go cop this ranger on whichever format you prefer!

Nosferatu Society’s Bastard cassette

“Energy” would be a fitting one-word description of this demo. Like bullets being fired from an AK-47, the eleven tracks that make up this ferocious piece of music come at you savagely and without mercy. A chaotic and frantic assault of hardcore to the senses, picking up where VOID left off and paying homage to the masters of hardcore. This will make your blood boil.

Organ-ism Nací Muerto cassette

Incredible debut of this Milwaukee band. It’s nine short and punchy tracks of a very streetwise and very violently aggressive D-beat. Paradoxically, it feels quite intimate. Lyrics en Español, but the hate is universal. “Pudre Por Me” is one of the best punk tracks I’ve heard in 2022.

Peacemaker See You Dead / Greed cassette

It’s truly a gift to be able to make antisocial hardcore bile come across like top 40 hits, and Milwaukee’s PEACEMAKER has it. These two songs are unabashedly hateful and also catchy as hell, reminding me of some of Drew from SICK THOUGHTS’ best efforts of the last decade. “Alright folks, that was Need To Know’ by DOJA CAT, and now here’s a real toe-tapper from PEACEMAKER, See You Dead’!”

Slogan Boy Slogan Boy demo cassette

This tape is just a pure bit of fun and chaos. It’s demo tracks, so keep in mind they are unpolished, but this still rocks pretty hard. The highlight of the bunch has to be their cover of VOID’s “War Hero,” which is worth checking out if nothing else. There isn’t much else to say. Give it a listen!