Acaustix / Ready Armed System Military Grade, Vol. 1 split LP
Military Grade is a split series that aims to pair the best of the best in modern extreme music on 12’’ of wax. It’s curated by Roachleg, who vehemently stirred up the contemporary punk/hardcore scene by putting out dozens of interesting new bands from all over the world, as happened in case of READY ARMED SYSTEM and ACAUSTIX, whose demo tapes were released by this label. READY ARMED SYSTEM (R.A.S.) plays less distorted but totally frantic hardcore that’s clever rather than chaotic while getting super angry. They play ultra-fast, although their dynamism is varied with stops and changes creating powerviolence-ish vibes while their rather wild punk music is all over the place and never slows down. ACAUSTIX plays in a more established sound, loud and noisy D-beat, low growling vocals, doomsday preacher-style lyrics. Such music depends on the energy and sound, where ACAUSTIX manages to create the full speed without any breaks, blasting spirits with enough dirt. It works well, even if the frames are well known. So what? They sound to be fans of this type of music they have mastered playing. R.A.S. in this matter is more inventive, which comes with a strangeness that needs more attention. Both bands are great and this is a solid record, a great start for a hopefully long-term series. The cover looks great, recalling naive art of early hardcore records, bad but still good. Good stuff.