The Dead Nittels Anti New Wave Liga EP reissue

Bachelor Archives has done well to serve us up with some hot rarities in the past—this time, a personal fave Euro hardcore punk 45, long in need of a reissue. I think these four tracks made it onto a DEAD NITTELS collection released on Rave Up some years ago, but as a collector I always prefer a faithful repro to get an experience closer to what the initial release format was like. There were some great releases coming out of Austria in the early ’80s but none cut quite this deep into hardcore territory. It’s desperate, pounding, and snarling, somewhere between SVART FRAMTID and VORKRIEGSJUGEND. Yes, seriously! See Pushead’s review in issue #14 for some nice descriptive words. The remastering is noticeable when played next to the original 1983 issue, especially in the drums. It’s an overall louder and wilder mix, for better or worse. I think newcomers may like it better but I’m indifferent. The red on the sleeve isn’t as neon as the original but the cover art is clearly the most lacking aspect of the release anyway! Top-tier for fans or ’80s Euro punk and hardcore.

• Reviewer Matt Badenhop
• Label Bachelor
• Issue MRR #459 • August 2021