Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust: Morbid Scum / Ascidie "S/t" split tape, 2019

This writeup will be the last one of Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust. Not the last one ever, obviously, I will resurrect the concept at some point, I am as the saying goes "in it for life", which is both a blessing as it makes me feel more important than I probably am and a curse when I look at the space occupied by the hundreds of black shirts adorned with skulls, nuclear explosion or devastated cities I own, space that could be used to store much more important things like a collection of German philosophers' writing or vintage World Wrestling Federation figurines (my mum would rather have the first one but she was never much of a fan of my childhood hero and role model the Ultimate Warrior). After more than a year of reviewing recent crust recordings, inspiration is dwelling and while it would be an overstatement to claim that writing about new crust music is extinguishing my carefree enjoyment of living, I think we have seen too much of one another lately and need some personal space. I am not breaking up with new crust music I just need some "me time" whatever that ignominious barbarism actually entails. So the next series will definitely have tunes, harmonics, people who actually sings and may even understand, free from bestial growls and guitar wankery. Maybe.

But enough self-pitying bollocks and let's get into the last part of this glorious series, tedious too, to be sure, but one that opened doors as I wan this year's Grammy Award for Best Crust Reviewer last week with Beyoncé coming second (she did scare me for a second when I read her smashing review of the Realm of Terror's Accelerated Extinction Ep). I did prevail but I was a little bummed when I was told that it was off-air. Did that keep me from nicking the beers from Turnstile's gigantic fridge? Well, yes, actually it did as they are actually significantly bigger lads than me so I just ended up putting one of their Mars bars in my pocket before leaving the building. But there's no small victory. To wrap this one up I chose to write about a crust band from France called Morbid Scum with their split tape with another French band, Ascidie.  

As I regularly point it out, I am not exactly a fan of French punk music and that's putting it lightly. If you play some "classic" French bands to me, I will probably scratch myself like a zoo animal infested with lice before throwing excrements at the speakers. I mean, I am not sure I even like my own bands. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, significant ones, and with me putting on gigs regularly, I enjoy inviting local bands to play and supporting the scene and all that crap. When it comes to music, I do reserve my amorous glances to places where they play proper music like Sweden, Greece, Japan or the International Stenchcore Confederacy. However, when a genuinely good band miraculously emerges from the national chaos, I am always very excited and Morbid Scum was such a band. Lately, the French scene has been massively associated to so-called oi music (I have to say some reviewers were pretty lazy or opportunistic with the tag), a genre overrun with muscular instagram addicts looking well hard while wearing clothes that are about as expensive as the minimum wage or a mint copy of State Children's flexi. It's a giant prick volcano. Again, significant exceptions and all that, but still when a solid crust or d-beat band suddenly appears, my little heart beats faster.

We have seen that there were meaningful amounts of scum in crust during the 2010's. After the moribund and the nocturnal scums here come the morbid kind. The band was from Montpellier in the South of France, home to the legendary punk band Les Sheriff (if you have never heard them they are basically the least crust-sounding band in rock history), and they were around and very active for a couple of years between 2018 and 2020. I first came across they excellent demo from 2018 and was favourably impressed, first because their brand of old-school metallic crust is right up my street and second because I had no idea that such a specific subgenre - namely stenchcore - still had a contender at that point. Our national metal-crust heroes Lust For Death folded in late 2018 which was a real shame because at the end of their run they had become a powerhouse so that witnessing the birth of a new band working on a similar blueprint was marvelous. With three songs and a very sweet raw but powerful production, the demo was promising indeed and reminded me of a late night piss-up between late 00's Against//Empire, Anguish and early Effigy with a primitive old-school extreme metal feel and dual vocals. The prospect was exciting. A few years later, I was able to grab a copy of their subsequent release, the present split tape. The two songs were better, heavier with a groovy stenchcore influence more prevalent reminiscent of the mighty Cancer Spreading and of Instinct of Survival in some transitions. My one minor complaint is that there were only about seven minutes of music. I did not even realize that it was actually a live recording until I heard the audience cheer at the end. I mean, I did not notice any mistake during the gig which came as a bit of a shock. Morbid Scum were a tight unit. Needless to say that the potential was there but the band sadly folded before they could release a proper vinyl. 

On the flip side are six songs from Ascidie from Grenoble, close to the Alps where fancy wankers go skiing and take selfies. If you are not a massive science nerd, the word "ascidie" means "ascidian" which is the name of a marine invertebrate that eats its actual brain in order to survive. Now, that is fucking nasty if you ask me, Nature's equivalent to Tik Tok challenges (#betterinmydays). This tape was not Ascidie's first adventure into the world of physical release as they did a split tape with MatraK AttaKK from Belgium (truth be told this band tours so much that it feels a little pointless to mention their point of origin), a band Morbid Scum's guitar hero joined on the bass afterwards. The songs on this first tape were very rough and I was not quite sure what the band had in mind. This second effort was much stronger. Former Parisian and singer for Décombres was on the guitar and former singer from Lille's great notorious Traitre lent some of his growling shouts. Ascidie played dark and depressive hardcore punk with a very raw production that almost reminds me of black-metal, the harsh menacing vocals (like The Black Hand's or something?) and the very bleak lyrics reinforcing that vibe. In terms of intent and songwriting, the band played direct hardcore punk, mostly fast paced with a primitive d-beat and some slower, beefier moments as well. I am reminded me in parts of a gloomier primal version of early Discharge-influenced bands like Warwound, MG15, The Iconoclast or Subversion but with the addition of a genuine 1-2-1-2 stomper on the tape and US-styled mid-paced moments, calling Ascidie a dis-band would be inaccurate. And as mentioned, there is a feeling of bellicose despair and violent sadness pervading the music, not unlike Bombraid perhaps. Like Morbid Scum, Ascidie could not have a proper vinyl release, which, given what they were able to produce with these six songs, is a proper bummer as I do wonder what they would have come up with next.

The tape can probably be found on some French distros and you can always try getting in touch with some of the members as they are still busy making noise. 

   

Morbid Ascidie

Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust (2012-2021): Ydintuho / Axebastard "Atomic Crust" split tape, 2012

We have been talking a lot about band names on Terminal Sound Nuisance and by that I mean that you have been reading, with faithful awe, what yours truly has to say about terminology. More often than not, I find myself caught in a maelstrom of semiological circumvolutions about dis-prefixed monikers and to be honest I really enjoy that. One of life's simple joys. The band that inspired me to write this short piece today is, rather expectedly if you have already bumped into the blog, even accidentally, because, as people say, shit happens and loneliness often induces longer hours spent before a screen, not that that implies you are lonely, but you might be in which case said piece will hopefully entertain you, Axebastard. If you know anything about crust, if you have at least some basic knowledge about this mighty wave, you will be bound to know why Axebastard are called Axebastard, the subjective (un)tastefulness of such a lexical choice not withstanding. The prefix "axe" for Axegrinder and the substantive "bastard" for Hellbastard. One may propound that they could have gone for Hellgrinder but I for one am of the opinion that Axebastard was the wisest, if you can call it that, option of the two since Hellgrinder, to my ears anyway, conjures up images of Metal Punk Death Squad action rather than stenchcore goodness. 

Atomic Crust is the title of this split tape just to remind you and make sure that you are well aware that, upon listening to the tape, you will very likely be exposed to crust music or affiliated. I actually hesitated before including the tape in Live by the Crust, Die by the Crust, not because it does not correspond aesthetically and artistically to the template of the series, quite the contrary, but because it was released physically in late 2012, the time limit of the selection, and both sides were recorded in 2010, which is outside of the limit. But I suppose rules are meant to be broken or as Abrasive Wheels used to sing "No rules is the first rule" so there you go: the 2012 split tape between two Finnish bands Axebastard and Ydintuho.

Before getting to the actual music, I have to admit that the choice to include this work had a lot to do with how the tape, the object looked, to be more accurate, it mostly had to do with how hyperbolically, emphatically and shamelessly CRUST it looked. It does not come with your usual cold jewel plastic case but with a foldout paper case enveloping the tape along with a separate lyric sheet. Like the vinyl or cd formats, it is not uncommon for DIY punk tapes to experiment with different sort of casing techniques, even if it makes the object more fragile and prone to tears, but still  in this case it looks absolutely brilliant. My detector measured significantly high levels of crustness just with the foldout paper and it almost exploded upon opening the thing. The artwork is saturated with crust signifying, naive and deliciously crude crasher-styled skulls with punk haircuts, war banners, empty bottles, more crusty skulls, some sort of orc, a Mad Max cosplayer with a dilapidated guitar, rows of sloppily drawn skulls, weapons from the Bronze Age, grim black and white pictures with slogans about the nuclear war and a crust skull with a circled A on the forehead. It is like a crust bingo or crust fan service and I, for one, actually really enjoy the band's intent to pay a tribute to the classic crust aesthetics while playing and having fun doing it. I mean, the tape is called Atomic Crust for a reason. Fucking lol, right?

So what about the music then? Technically the first side is Ydintuho, a band from Kuusamo that I had, for some reason, never heard of although they did a split Ep with Kilmä Sota in 2012. Oh well. Ydintuho have been running since at least 2008 and are apparently still active which is a testament to resiliency in an age when the average life expectancy of a band is 18 months, 2 albums, 1 tour and 186 instagram posts. The band proudly claims to play "raw punk deathstrike" and sensibly so. The tracks were recorded in 2010 (I think) so that they aptly represent what Ydintuho were about in their early stage. It won't take anyone by surprise to learn that these Finns engage in raw and distorted d-beat punk. I can hear a distinct Japanese noize crust influence, not unlike Contrast Attitude or D-Clone with vocals reminiscent of Atrocious Madness and a healthy passion for Disclose which they cover lovingly. At that point in time, there were certainly not as many bands going for that classic Japanese crasher noize hardcore in Europe (Giftgasattack comes to mind and a bit later Electric Funeral) so while Ydintuho did not invent that particular wheel, they undeniably prefigured the rapid spread of that noize-not-music niche genre worldwide, a modest achievement perhaps but one that is meaningful if you closely consider the evolution of trends, and they remain a rare Finnish example of the style. I had not played the Ydintuho side for a long while and was very pleasantly surprised. Give the rest of their records a try, they are very much worth the attention.   

On the other side are Axebastard, the crustier element of the tape. You won't need much imagination to make a guess at what those dirty punks were up to: apocalyptic and rocking raw stenchcore. You could diachronically locate the band in that post 00's stenchcore revival wave that saw the rise of European bands like Cancer Spreading or Last Legion Alive. Sadly the band did not play for long (between 2008 and 2011 I think) and while the rawness of the four songs on Atomic Crust can be rightly appreciated for their cavemen quality, I nonetheless would have loved to see what Axebastard could have achieved with a better production and a proper vinyl release. If you are looking for dirty stenchcore with mean gruff bearish vocals, rocking cavecrust moments interspersed by heavy filthy thrashy metallic breaks, then Axebastard are tailor-made for you. They are not unlike a primitive, preliterate crust-and-proud version of Hellshock and Stormcrow and I cannot help thinking about early Cancer Spreading too, a good thing since they have stood for the Euro stenchcore sound for all of the 2010's. I like how the band tried to use several type of vocals on the opening track, the rendering is not perfect but the idea is sound, and that sort of mid-paced d-beat drumming fits well here. The second number is a groovy Extinction of Mankind-influenced song with ace double bass drumming and expert headbanging power while the third track is a faster, more traditionally pummeling 90's cavemen crust headbutt and the final one is basically a blend of these elements with a gloriously filthy mid-tempo moshing stenchcore conclusion. Nothing ground-breaking but it does leave the listener waiting for more. I am personally curious about what Axebastard would have been able to achieve with a longer format in terms of cohesion, narration and atmosphere because these four songs work very well together. 

The Axebastard side was also recorded in 2010 and there is a rough 2008 rehearsal tape that you can download on their bandcamp entitled Post-Apocalyptic Visions of Darkness (just in case you were hesitant about the genre) that included a song called "Hellgrinder". Cheeky fuckers. I also found a file from 2009 that is supposedly a cdr demo with different and rawer versions (unmixed maybe?) of three songs on the tape and some visuals for the band and even a picture. This recording is nowhere to be found on soulseek so I included it in the download file, for posterity. Atomic Crust, in the end, can be said to be one for the crustiest crusters that I warmly recommend, if only for the fact that Axebastard is one of the very few Finnish stenchcore bands. That's trivia gold.

So let's axe the fucking bastard, shall we?

Atomic CRUST

              

 

Grind the Enemy / Discarded "S/t" split tape, 2011

It does not take a genius to guess - at least superficially - the main respective influence of Grind the Enemy and Discarded: Axegrinder and Discard. But merely pointing out the obvious would make for a pretty shitty review, wouldn't it? And would it make the bands appealing to someone who has never heard of them, which, I assume is the vast majority of world's population? If anything it would be a disservice to both bands.

GTE and Discarded were local London bands, active in the late 00's and early 10's. These were the years of the Scum Fest collective, great squats and brilliant gigs. London is probably one of the most cosmopolitan towns in Europe, along with Barcelona and Berlin, home to dozens of punks from all over the world. These two bands are to be seen in that blooming internationalist context that is the London DIY punk scene. I got to see them both at the 2010 Scum Fest (I think). I had never heard of any of them prior to the festival but I remember getting a GTE shirt before I actually saw them. A band with an Axegrinder song for a name? You could count me in. To be honest, GTE's live performance was pretty sloppy as they played quite late and appeared to be as drunk as the audience, but that didn't make them any less enjoyable to me anyway. Discarded, on the other hand, had played a very energetic set earlier in the night. None of them had any demos to sell though so I made a mental note to my cider-fueled self (because that is what I do when in England): "I'll definitely get something from 'em at some point". And what could be possibly more relevant than a self-released GTE/Discarded split demo tape?

GTE was a band made up of four Italian punks living in London. Gianluca, from Nailbiter and Give Up All Hope, played the drum for them but I have been unable to confirm if the other members had been in bands previously. As you are entitled to expect, GTE played heavy metallic crust, or stenchcore if you will. By the time they recorded the tape ("in 2009/2010"), the so-called stenchcore revival of the mid/late 00's was breathless and the next generation of bands having a go at this subgenre was not quite there yet. I usually have troubles relating to the newest "stenchcore" bands as they tend to demonstrate too much cheap Bolt Thrower-worship or death/black metal leanings and essentially lack of the distinctive filthy groove and tension that characterize crust (or at least are meant to). Fortunately, GTE don't fall to the usual horrific shortcomings: no "blackened crust", no over-the-top Bolt Thrower wanking, just simple, sloppy but groovy, mid-tempo old-school crust, with the odd fast parts. They did not reinvent the wheel, the songs are a bit rough, but then they are much more enjoyable and genuinely crust-sounding than most today, and there are days when that is all I am asking for.

There are six songs on the GTE side, including a gloomy, typically crusty introduction. The songwriting is quite simple and effective as the emphasis is put on filthy grooviness and dark atmosphere rather than crushing power or musical extremity. In terms of influence, I am reminded of early Axegrinder, late Antisect, late Nausea, Coitus but also of Effigy or Revölt from Japan, and even Contagium's mid-paced moments (but sloppier). The guitar riffs are quite basic in their conception but are used very smartly, the way it should be done; the bass is distorted and gives a nice crunchy texture to the whole, not unlike Misery or Coitus; the drumming is a little all over the place but not in a distracting way (let's call it "added squat crustiness") and works well because you can tell that the drummer knows his shit despite apparent technical limitations; finally, the vocals are just what they should be, raucous, a little gruff but not overdone with some reverb (maybe a little too much) which gives an adequate old-school vibe. It would be hyperbolic to say that GTE were a great band, but their take on crust was accurate, you can tell that they really got it and, all in all, this is exactly the kind of bands I am craving for when I want to listen to recent, proper crust music.

The songs were recorded at the Deathdrop squat (the singer lived there apparently) and mixed at the Clifton Mansion squat, which accounts for the raw production (but to be fair, I'd rather have a raw DIY punk production than an overproduced all-out metal one). The artwork of the orc was done by Stiv of War (who else?) and while the lyrics aren't included, song titles such as "Don't laugh at work" or "Your power, my disgust" can give an idea of what the band was about. "Don't be fooled, don't be dragged along, don't be enslaved... Grind the enemy". Squat crust indeed.

On the b-side are Discarded, a Scandi-flavoured hardcore-punk band. The band also had Gianluca in its ranks, this time on the guitar (a spot where he truly shines), as well as Alex, who now sings for Agnosy, on the bass, the rest of the line-up being completed by two Brazilian punks. I am aware that there are hundreds of bands throughout the world doing the "Swedish Raw Punk" thing (or whatever it is called this week) and it is not a genre that I listen to that much at home or that I am especially familiar with. This said, Discarded did it pretty well, certainly better than most of the newer bands that I have come across in the past five years.

Since this is a demo recording, recorded in a squat no less, the production is probably not as refined as the new trend requires but I don't feel there was that much calculation on the band's part in terms of sound anyway. Although they were called "Discarded", the band was much closer to late 80's/early 90's Anti-Cimex with a slight Besthöven touch. Greatly helped by brilliant guitar leads (the Nailbiter connection makes a lot of sense here) and vocals shouted lovingly at the Swedes, the ten Discarded songs will delight everyone obsessed with Anti-Cimex (and I am guessing that's a lot of us).

Grind the Discarded

Anorexia & Anti-System live at the Manhattan Club, Bradford 12.5.88

Today will be a turning point in the life of Terminal Sound Nuisance because I am about to offer the unsuspecting punks nothing less than two unknown Anti-System songs.

Now that I have everyone's attention, let's talk a little bit about this tape. In 2006 (I think) I bought a batch of tapes from bands I either didn't know or rare recordings. I had very little knowledge of downloading at the time and I figured some old geezers copying old demos and records onto tapes was the only way to get to listen to them. In the midst of this tape-buying frenzy, I ordered a tape of Anorexia, a band that I had never heard of.

On this particular tape, you can find on one side the "Radical riot" demo that was recorded in 1986 at Ritch Bitch studio (which makes sense since Anorexia was a Brummie band), their Ep and, on the flipside, a full Anorexia live set and the first three songs (well, two and a half really, including the intro) of an Anti-System set, both recorded in Anti-System's hometown, namely sunny Bradford. At the time, I regularly listened to the A side of the tape but didn't really bother with the live part for a very obvious reason: the sound is shit. Unfortunately, it is a mono recording and the sound is buried under the hiss of the tape, but once you get used to it, it becomes quite bearable. For those of you who are not familiar with Anorexia, they were an anarchopunk band from Birmingham which coincidentally had at some point as members the two first Napalm Death drummers (Rat and Mick Harris) and Rat (from Statement this time) later on. Although undeniably politically motivated, Anorexia didn't really leave much trace in the collective punk psyche. Perhaps their brand of old-school anarchopunk at a time when hardcore and other harder and faster punk genres were emerging in Britain didn't help. There are, however, a couple of solid songs on their set list, reminiscent of Icons of Filth, Exit-Stance and Conflict. The singer sings clearly and you can actually understand what he's on about, which is good since Anorexia definitely had something to say. Though they apparently started off as a "pissed and proud" UK82 kind of band, they were, by the mid-80's, a staunch anarcho band talking - a lot - about animal liberation, sexism, pornography, standing together as one in order to fight back. Nothing new maybe but they do sound genuine. If you have never heard Anorexia, I would recommend starting with the "Radical riot" demo first and then give a go at this live recording. The demo is excellent and the vocals are much snottier and raspier (in fact, it is quite likely another singer on the live tape).

At the end of the Anorexia set, which seems to have been greeted with little enthusiasm by the underwhelmed Bradford locals, there are three songs of Anti-System. It is safe to think that the two bands shared the stage at this gig taking place at the Manhattan Club. If you are really into Anti-System, some uneasiness and uncertainty must have started to pervade your mind at the beginning of this post. Something is just not quite right but you can't really say what. And then, suddenly, it dawns on you that it just cannot be and that I got it wrong at some point: Anti-System split up in 1986 and this live recording is from 1988. Case solved. Or is it?

In "The day the country died", it is said, indeed, that Anti-System split up just after "A look at life" hit the shops (well, the distro tables I guess). However, if you have bought the recent reissues of the band's records and if you have read the many interviews that were included in the thick booklet (Antisociety did a top job on these), you will have noticed an interview from 1988, two years after they initially stopped, with a reformed Anti-System following a gig at the Manhattan Club in Bradford. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the very gig that appears on the tape. I have scanned the interview so you can all read for yourselves.

It is a slightly confusing interview. Apparently, the band had reformed as a three-piece that included Mick, Tracy and Sean - Mick being probably the only original member. They also mention a name-change several times but never actually reveal what the new name could be and they are always referred to as Anti-System throughout the interview. Otherwise, it is a pretty interesting read that shows that the band still held their political beliefs and DIY stance.

As the band itself rightfully admits, Anti-System were very influenced by Antisect. And although the prefix "anti" is actually a coincidence, the fact that Anti-System had two singers and a strange interlude on their Lp is proof enough that indeed they may have been the first band ever to be overly influenced by Antisect. If "No laughing matter" is not quite as good as "In darkness there is no choice" (but then, what album is?), it is nevertheless a crushing Lp that is among my favourite. After this first Lp, Anti-System, like Antisect and many others, went a bit metal, but contrary to their metaphorical mentors who basically pioneered crust-punk, Anti-System took on a more thrash-influenced path (they did listen to a lot of Onslaught, English Dogs and Sacrilege as it is confessed in Glasper's book). The result was "A look at life", which was very different to "Out from the void", and is possibly the perfect metallic version of Icons of Filth. When a lot of bands going metal traded openly political lyrics for dark and apocalyptic metaphors (that was in the best case scenario) or tried to write evil lyrics (that was in the worst case scenario), Anti-System retained their direct politics and I would even argue that they have never sounded as angry and radical than on their last recording.

So where does that leave us? By 1988, Antisect had just split up and when listening to the Anti-System songs recorded that year, one can't help thinking that they sound A LOT like "Out from the void" era Antisect. You have an epic crusty intro with a filthy metal riff not unlike the one you can find on "Live in Leeds 1986" and the first song, "A look at life", is played with more heaviness and crunch than on the studio version and the guitar solos are not dissimilar to Lippy's. The third song is unfortunately uncomplete, unnamed and the vocals are so loud (I have no idea why the singer decided to scream like that to be honest) that you really have to focus in order to understand what's going on. The sound, like for Anorexia's, is in mono and is quite rough so it will probably be of interest only to people who are already into Anti-System. The song is good though, mid-tempo, with a real structure and dark riffs. I don't know if the band had written other new songs (but it is quite likely) or if they played other gigs in 1988. If anyone has the full set of this particular gig or any other gig of this Anti-System reformation, I would be internally grateful if he or she could share them.

Anorexic System      

Life Cycle & Shrapnel - live in Leeds 1988

After Naked's brilliant live tape - and despite the rather unexpected consequence my posting it has had - I guess it is time for yet another cracking and unjustly forgotten band to be included on Terminal Sound Nuisance: Shrapnel.

Actually the tape contains two live sets, one from Life Cycle and one from Shrapnel as both Welsh bands played in Leeds in 1988. I posted Life Cycle's Lp a few months ago so TSN's loyal fans wouldn't need an introduction but for the unlucky ones who aren't familiar with Life Cycle, they were a metal-punk band with male and female vocals and they had quite a unique sound. Neither from the Broken Bones/English Dogs/Concrete Sox school nor from the Amebix/Axegrinder/Hellbastard one, Life Cycle played heavy and groovy, mid-tempo metallic punk somewhere between Celtic Frost, late Deviated Instinct or some 90's bands like Ironside and even some early sludge stuff like 13 or Eyehategod. What set them apart from the rest was their distinctive sense of groove while keeping an anarcho feel (especially in the vocals not so dissimilar to Sacrilege or Civilised Society?'s) and content. I wish they had been included in "Trapped in a scene" and I understand they were supposed to be in it. Oh well. Anyway, Life Cycle are a bit crustier sounding live than in the studio so you have dirtier versions of the songs and more aggression. The sound quality is not amazing but remains decent (and it will have to do since I haven't seen any other Life Cycle live recordings). Unfortunately the setlist on the tape doesn't correspond to the songs that are actually played, so I did my best to put the right names on the right songs (there are songs from both "Myth and ritual" and "The weight of tradition" as well as a few others that never made it to a studio) but there might a few mistakes as, contrary to popular belief, I am not perfect.

On the other side you have a live set of Shrapnel in their later period. I know I am saying this an awful lot but Shrapnel really knew how to write good, catchy songs. While their early material is rather straight-up punk-rock with a magnificent sense of urgency and some tunes, by the late 80's the band had recorded two split Ep's with Symbol of Freedom and Toxik Ephex and had added some other influences in their punk-rock (Ivor from Capital Gain/Life Cycle and Steve from Symbol of Freedom joining Shrapnel in 1986 certainly contributed to the change of direction). If it undeniably stays in punk territory, there are some reggae-dub, pop-rock and even some really funky bass-lines thrown in the mix and believe or not it works perfectly. Shrapnel are a bit hard to describe as the band had a lot of personality but if I had to try I would say that they would have felt alright sharing the bill with Systematic Annex, Instigators in the 80's and with PAIN and the Blaggers in the 90's. Or something. My point is they wrote genuinely tuneful songs that you could remember and sing to, going from exhilirating to rather moody but always sounding sincere and committed. The set includes the song "Autumn" twice, which is fine by me since it is definitely one of Shrapnel's most solid, as well as the other song on the Toxik Ephex split, namely "Trival pursuit" both of which saw Shrapnel at the apex of their musical creativity and capacities. You also have one song from the Symbol of Freedom split, "Fact or fiction" but none of the other songs that the band played that night have been recorded in a studio to my knowledge. The sound is fine and on both bands' sets you can very clearly hear people chatting between songs which is always funny.

The beautiful artwork of the tape was taken from the split Ep with Symbol of Freedom so you have the lyrics to "Fact or fiction", a song questioning the reliability of the press and its manipulative nature. Good shit all around.

Life shrapnel     

Jesus Chrust + Apostates + Nausea - live at Gilman Street, Berkeley 01.12.1990

Let's leave Britain for a little while (well, at least for a couple of posts) and take at look at what was going on on the other side of what is called "the pond". The tape we're dealing with was released by BBP Records, a label that released no less than 94 different tapes with every classic British anarchopunk bands you can think of, but also a couple of Ep's (a live of Icons of Filth and "Money and riot" by Bug Central). However, this one tape has three bands from New York from the late 80's/early 90's playing live at a legendary venue located in Berkeley.

The first band on the tape is Jesus Chrust. Now I know it is a brilliant name for a punk and there were two bands with the same name at the same time, but the Jesus Chrust we're talking about here is the listenable anarchopunk one and not the crazy noisecore band. Jesus Chrust was part of the "Squat or rot" scene ("Squat or rot" was an anarchist DIY magazine turned punk label) and gravitated around the NY squatters' movement like Apostates and Nausea. They did two split Ep's (with fellow New Yorkers Social Outcasts and Würst) and appeared on a couple of compilations I have never seen or even heard. While Nausea remain a famous band among the smelly punks everywhere, it is somewhat odd that most of the other "Squat or rot" band sank into obscurity afterwards... And in the case of Jesus Chrust, it is really a shame, since listening to that live tape makes one realize that what they did was certainly ahead of their time in the sense that they heralded the whole 90's US anarchopunk/crusty explosion. The sound on the JC set is really good and you can hear the energy and the anger of the band but also their jokes between songs as they seemed to be pretty chatty and introduced the topics they are screaming about. We are deep in anarcho territory here with songs dealing with animal experimentation, the absurdities of war, apartheid, racism and so on. The band manages to keep it very spontaneous and you can just hear the motivation and honesty behind the lyrics despite them being rather unoriginal (well, for the US they may not have been so). And they appeared to have fun playing! Musically, it is fast and gruffy hardcore-punk with two vocalists, one of them being the original Nausea singer Neil, the future Final Warning singer and the founder of Tribal War Records (definitely a busy man). It is reminiscent of some of the British greats like Antisect, Anti-System, Oi Polloi or AOA as well as some Californian anarcho bands like Final Conflict, Another Destructive System, Glycine Max or Diatribe. Some songs even have a distinct crusty feel to them (read poorly executed, filthy but catchy metal riffs) and the dual vocal attack is not unlike ENT or Screaming Holocaust at times. I really, really enjoy Jesus Chrust and if you have never listened to them, this live set is actually not a bad place to start at all. As mentioned earlier, in the light of what went on after them (they must have split up in 92), it could be argued that they musically prefigured the next anarcho wave and bands like Aus-Rotten or Antiproduct. Great stuff.

Apostates are possibly even lesser-known than Jesus Chrust. They did an excellent Ep called "Burning world of hate", had a track on one of the "Squat or rot compilation" Ep but that's it. And, again, that's a real shame because if Jesus Chrust were be the American Anti-System, Apostates might very well be the yankee version of the Mob. They have that mid-paced, earthy, dark but also bizarrely warm sound that is not unlike the Mob indeed, though it must be said that Apostates are much more guitar-driven than the Mob ever were (they were all about bass guitar, weren't they?). Anyway, there are only 6 songs of Apostates on the tape, one of which is the intro and the last one is unfortunately cut right in the middle. Judging from what I can understand and the songs' titles, they were a political band as well and they had an anti-work song (they're always my favourites, go figure) not unlike APPLE's perhaps. This is really good dark and catchy punk-rock we have here not unlike The Mob, but also Terminus or Wartoys, without ever going "new-wave".

Finally, the heavyweight of the tape of course, we have Nausea. Now I love Nausea as much as the next crusty (probably more actually) but if I understood well what Jesus Chrust were saying between songs, Insurgence were also playing that night, and frankly what the world needs right now is a live of Insurgence, or their demo, but I am pretty sure it could survive another day without another live of Nausea. This said, Nausea must have been great live despite the fact that most of their live recordings, even those that made it to vinyl, don't sound that great. This one has a pretty good sound, my only complaint being that Al's vocals are too low, which is odd since Jesus Chrust and Apostates had a great sound. The band was just about to release their great "Cybergod" Ep so you can guess that the setlist is made up of songs from the "Extinction" Lp and aforementioned Ep. This is Nausea at their very best according to me, when they played that typical English crust (late Antisect, Axegrinder, Hellbastard...) but also had faster, more straight-forward dischargey songs as well. They had that superb guitar sound, great bass lines, a brilliant drummer, a male and a female singer that really meant it (well, they sounded they did anyway), amazing lyrics, amazing artwork. I mean, Nausea really had it all and that live was recorded as the band was at the top of its game. What a great gig it must have been...

So, does anyone have any live recordings of Insurgence?

Berkeley goes anarcho

Antisect & Sacrilege - Live at the Mermaid, Birmingham, 5.4.1986

If you thought I couldn't have a worse-sounding live tape than the previous post, I am about to prove you wrong. However, as I said before, don't let the sound quality put you off, especially when we are dealing today with two classical, genre-defining bands like Antisect and Sacrilege.

Sometimes, it is difficult to step back and try to describe bands one has loved for so long. If you have never heard Antisect and Sacrilege, I envy you since you'll be in for quite a discovery. If you have (as it is more likely), you'll be happy to hear live performances of both bands at the peak of their abilities and if the sound doesn't do them justice, I'm sure you understand that the recording conditions of the time and place didn't really allow for a top-quality job.

Antisect is probably my favourite band. All rational thinking goes down the drain when I think about them. The funny thing is that I loved them before I even got to listen to them. Though it's probably of no interest to anyone but me, let me tell you my Antisect story. The first time I read their name, was on a distro list I took from a record stand at a festival in Geneva in 2002. The distro was called Missing the Point and I later realized it was run by Jules from Substandard and Constant State of Terror (two very fine bands indeed). There were tons of records and bands I didn't know about on there as I was pretty much starting to get into anarcho-punk (I have always been a late bloomer). And there was a patch section. Browsing through this section I noticed a strange band-name, Antisect, but what really caught my attention was the font. It was mysterious, beautiful, dark and very intense. For some reason, I just knew that I was going to love this, not in your usual colloquial sense, but truly love the band. Antisect quickly became an obsession, I wanted to hear so badly but no one around me seemed to know about them. I finally met an older punk who had the records so I went to his place with a tape and recorded "In darkness there is no choice" and "Peace is better than a place in history". I was of course completely taken although it did take me a few years to really appreciate their metal period (the notion that punks could even listen to metal music was totally alien to me back then). Since then, I have become even more obsessed with them, a passion that the book "The day the country died" only made more intense. Finally, I got to see them three times and hang out with them a couple of months ago, and they are lovely chaps. And they like cheese pizzas.

How's that for a romantic introduction, right?

But back to what pertains to today's post. Both sets were recorded on 5th of April, 1986 (a time when I was still learning colours and shapes and when my favourite occupation was eating my own bogeys when mommy wasn't looking. Happy days) at an infamous pub in Brum called the Mermaid (a funny name considering most of the audience must have looked like pirates). I have already talked briefly about this place where pretty much all the English punk bands playing heavy and fast music got to play at some point. On that particular night, the audience had the pleasure to see Antisect, Sacrilege, Generic and Decadence Within. Antisect were then in their metal-punk shape, the probable result of a tag-team match that saw Discharge and their "In darkness" era wrestle Motorhead and Venom. The music is intense and hard-hitting, the guitar sound is fantastic, filthy and powerful, and the solos never distract you and bring an almost ominous presence tone to the music. If an angry nuclear mutant living in a slimy sewer started playing the guitar, I'm sure the noise he'd make wouldn't be dissimilar. The bass is groovy and rocking and the drumming style is varied but always right, but what makes Antisect so good is the song-writing. There are no fillers, each song is catchy and tells a good story. The setlist is the same as the "Live in Leeds 86" that was recorded just three days before this one (a live recording that is far superior and whose Lp version is packed with interviews and amazing artwork, if you haven't got it yet, then there's something wrong with you and you should see as soon as possible).

In true Antisect fashion, there are no gaps between songs which makes the set even more intense and unrelenting. So after a really epic-sounding, long and building intro you have: Out from the void II / They came / Behind the lines / New dark ages / Bedlam / Out from the void I / In darkness / Into the flames / Ritual. Sadly, I only know the lyrics of the two "Out from the void" and "In darkness", but I can still grasp some sentences here and there from the other songs. Lyrics are, of course, also one of Antisect's strongest point. While always remaining of a political nature, they often embrace a more metaphysical ("Heresy") or metaphorical ("Out from the void") approach to the struggle of the alienated individual lost in the madhouse of destruction that we call life. They are very often songs of empowerment as well, making us aware of our potentials for rebellion and creation ("Freedom is here / In each and everyone of us"). If they can be described as being dark and sometimes desperate representations, the words are also means for questioning and finding the inner strength necessary for acting upon the outer world. Dark yet warm, desperate yet hopeful, that's what I hear there. A pessimism that fights back. The always striking artwork plays a big part in bringing forth the meaning of Antisect as well and you could say that music, lyrics and artwork are closely interwoven and that the links between these three aspects create the meaningfulness of the band. The cover of this tape is a piece of "Out from the void"'s (are these trolls? Gobelins? They sure look like the monsters in "The Descent") which was itself only a part of a much bigger drawing depicting a really apocalyptic landscape full of horrid creatures killing each other even though they are already dead (I am not quite sure about the interpretation yet). You can look at the entire picture on the back cover of the second edition of the "Live in Leeds" Lp.

And for those who haven't seen them since the reformation and have doubts (and I can't really blame them as we have all seen reformed bands that were just so embarassing to watch), I can assure you that they are a powerhouse live and one of the most intense bands I have ever seen play.            

On the other side of the tape is a live set of Sacrilege, when they were still great. The gig took place between Sacrilege's two Lp's (well, there is a third Lp but I usually pretend it doesn't exist) so basically, you have a couple of songs from "Within the prophecy" ("Sight of the wise and "The captive" namely) but played with the aggression and power of "Behind the realms of madness" whose songs make the majority of the set ("The closing irony", "A violation of something sacred", "At death's door" and "Life line"). I always thought the songs on that second album were quite good but the sound really puts me off as it makes the record sound like a full on thrash metal album in terms of production and atmosphere. Maybe that's what the band was going for at the time, a cleaner, more polished sound. After all, Sacrilege can be seen as the most metal of the all the punk bands of their time (they really could play, which helps). But to me, few records can match the intensity and the sound of their first Lp, with that typical guitar sound that makes me go ape-shit and the raucousness of the female vocals, with just enough reverb, that sounded angry and outraged (an anger that seemed to have disappeared by "Within the prophecy"). Just like the Antisect set, the sound is pretty shit. You can still understand what's going on, but you will have to make an effort to get into these recordings.

There were many punk bands at the time that went for an almost complete metal sound: English Dogs obviously (I always saw Broken Bones as being inherently a punk-sounding), Anihilated and the most spectacular instance, Onslaught, who went as far as having a bloke pretending to speak like Satan on the intro of "Power from Hell" (but with a title like that, what is one to expect?). But if Sacrilege had taken a metal path in terms of aesthetics from "Behind the realms of madness" on, the sound they managed to create on that album, heavy and powerful but keeping that paramount punk urgency and filthiness, makes the album one of the best hybrid ever. Take the harder-hitting British punk bands of the early 80's (like the Varukers, of course, since two Sacrilege members were former Varukers, just listen to "One struggle one fight" and you'll know what I mean, or Discharge, Antisect, Anti-System, One Way System, Icons of Filth...) and mix them up with energetic and mean thrash-metal (Sodom, Kreator, Metallica...). And despite a reference to Mordor, the lyrics on that first Lp are still rooted in protest punk. "Life line" is about social alienation and the consequences of materialism, "At death's door" is about starvation and poverty, "A violation" deals with the brutality and the bigotry of those in power, and even "Shadow from Mordor" had a political content as it metaphorically criticizes the greed of the capitalists and the desperate fear and apathy of the masses. Songs about dragons only came after. If you're looking for a better sounding live of Sacrilege, I would recommend you get the double-cd called "Reaping the demo(n)s". It has demos and a good live recording taken from a gig in Leeds just one month after this one.

Now, where is that bogey I had saved.

Antisect / Sacrilege in Brum

  

Civilised Society? / Deviated Instinct - live in Bradford 6.3.87 + Rhetoric - live in Yarmouth 11.2.88

I got this tape a few years ago from a bloke on ebay who was selling a lot of tapes he had made himself. Now, that was before I even knew about music blogs and I almost fainted when I saw that he had live tapes of bands I loved and of bands I didn't know yet but was sure I was going to love. Two quids and one week later, I received a dozen of tapes among which this particular tape with a stellar line-up: Civilised Society?, Deviated Instinct and Rhetoric.

Now, I will start with a warning: the recordings are rough and the sound quality is low, especially the CS?/DI side. And yes, the hiss is a bit overwhelming at times. However, don't let these mere details spoil your listening experience because, after all, the gigs were probably recorded by a drunk teenager with a small tape-recorder in a shabby pub. For those unfortunate enough not to know Civilised Society?, they were an anarchopunk band from Yorkshire with Hammy from Peaceville and the Instigators as one of the singers. In fact, they had three singers at some point, one female and two males, which gave the band a sort of Chumbawamba-like quality. I like to think that if Chumba had been into hardcore and metal, they would have done something not unlike CS? because they really succeeded in being tuneful in a A-Heads/Lost Cherrees way but could also be fast and heavy like Antisect or Potential Threat. I am REALLY into CS? and I was slightly disappointed with the former members' apparent lack of enthusiasm about the band in Trapped in a scene... Oh well, call me oversensitive I guess... Anyway, the sound during CS? set is quite awful and if you have never listened to them, I would recommend you start with their excellent Lp's first. For those who already had the pleasure to be acquainted with them, you will notice that the set has songs from both albums, punky "Scrap metal" and more metallic "Violence sucks!". I am not sure what went on with the guitar player but he kept tuning and re-tuning his instrument between each song. Lyrically, CS? was very much a traditional anarcho band with songs dealing with feminism ("The fairer sex"), social control on the individual ("I can be free"), the arms race ("Star wars"), a "freedom, peace and unity, that's what it's all about" anthem ("Life is pain"), alienation ("Tooth & claw") and a great anti-work song ("Is there life after work?"). Just a little quote from "Tooth & claw" to brighten your day "Lepers in a sterile world / Trying to halt our fall / Do we scratch away the surface? / Or forever shall we crawl?".

After CS? come Deviated Instinct as both sets were recorded during the same night, on June 3rd, 1987, in sunny Bradford. The DI set suffers from the same sound flaws as CS?'s, though for some reason, DI managed to sound a bit better. This said, the guitar is very low in the mix during the first few songs so it is pretty much a guitarless "Stormcrow" you'll be faced with (who knows, maybe the soundman had gone for a piss) and on the whole this is more bass-driven than most of the band's live recordings that I have heard so far. This DI set is classic for the time, with songs from the second demo, the Ep and the third demo. The rendering of the songs is fairly chaotic (the sound quality certainly doesn't help) but there is a lot of energy and intensity nonetheless. The songs played that night were the following: Stormcrow / Welcome the orgy / Disciples of the storm / Rock'n'roll conformity / Master of all / Scarecrow / Warmachine. This was the snotty and dirty metal-punk period of DI, some sort of alcohol-fueled maelstrom reminiscent of Antisect, Celtic Frost, Bathory and Venom, played with the energy and aggression of Italian hardcore and the incivility of Chaos UK. The lyrics of DI were also one of their definite assets as, far from being haikus about war, the pigs or animal liberation, their words painted a bleak vision of society using metaphors of decay and unavoidable destruction to signify man's alienation, self-destructive power and self-imposed slavery. Some heavy shit, right?

Finally, we have a live set from Rhetoric, another band from Norwich, recorded in 1988. It is a really a shame that the band only has two songs on record, the "Consolidation" split Ep with Deviated Instinct (small world) and Revulsion, because not only does this live set sound great and a lot of songs would have fitted just right on a record, but Rhetoric were fun. Just listening to them joking between songs is enough to make me wish there were more bands who enjoyed themselves openly on stage. If Rhetoric had some serious lyrics from what I can suppose from the song titles, they also had joke songs, "Virgin raper" being a piss-take of satanic metal band and I can only guess at what "Beefburger" was about. If you have never heard of Rhetoric, this is actually a great start as the sound is loud and clear enough and the band is pretty tight. Musically, Rhetoric were a band of their time as they played straight-up gruffy metal-punk with a sense of humour, not unlike a more metal ENT or a more binary Mortal Terror. But who the hell is Simon Cooper?

Civilised Rhetorical Instinct live 

Chaotic Subversion / The Disturbed split tape

As it has been a while since the last post, I have decided to offer you a double dose of amazing punk-rock. Two for the price of one. Believe me that's a quite a bargain you're in for.

On the first side are the grand Chaotic Subversion and not only did they have a terrific (and cheesy) name, but their recordings include some of the snottiest anarchopunk I have ever heard. Judging from the cover (yes, that's a poorly drawn cartoon of the band rehearsing), one can easily notice that these young lads were also influenced by the Bristol glue-sniffing brigade of Chaos UK, Disorder, Ad'Nauseam. But like other followers of this cider-drinking cult around Britain at the time (Dirge, Caustic Filth, Insurrection, Plasmid...), Chaotic Subversion had seriously angry lyrics (from what I can decypher) and belonged to the mid-late 80's Scottish anarchopunk scene. They even had an anti-fur song, "Why fur?".

Musically, the "Law and order" demo is very much in the UK82 tradition (think Court Martial, Instant Agony, Septic Psychos, Actives and so on) and although it may already have been 5 years too late, they did it with heart, spikes and teenage anger. The second demo recorded in 1987 is even better as Chaotic Subversion started playing fast, raw straight-up hardcore-punk. Bass-driven, distorted guitars, drum rolls all over, this will please the Chaos UK/Disorder fanatics who will also notice a European hardcore influence in the mix (Italian hardcore comes to my mind. Wretched perhaps?) and the seeds of what was to become the almighty Sedition. If the name of the song "Why fur?" hadn't rung a bell (yes, that was a clue), let me tell you that Chaotic Subversion was a pre-Sedition band, hence the presence of this song that will also find its way in the Sedition set (and later in the Scatha one) and the strong ressemblance with early Sedition recordings from the 80's. Sounds awesome, right? Their side of the tape includes their two demos and a compilation track.

On the other side awaits another Scottish band called The Disturbed and amusingly enough, this bunch also had people who would go on to play with Sedition, Disaffect, Scatha and even TRIBE. How incestuous can the punk scene get! If you want to know more about Chaotic Subversion/Sedition and The Disturbed, I strongly advise to read the chapters about Scotland in "Trapped in a scene" (I know this book starts to take on a biblical importance here...).

Back to the tape, you'll find The Disturbed 4th demo of 1987, a rough and ready practice of the same year, their 1988 Ep called "This is credibility" and a compilation track. Though some songs are reminiscent of Anti-System or AOA, the band played beefy, fast punk-rock in the Varukers/GBH/Broken Bones/One Way System vein, which made sense their singer also used to front Last Rites in the early 80's. Interestingly, it wouldn't be far-fetched to point out that The Disturbed were sonically not unlike how were to sound 90's British hardcore-punk bands. The songs are aggressive, the sound is raw but dynamic and you can even actually understand what the singer is on about sometimes (but still not too often). Again, lyrics are political and serious and deal with everyday life's hardships.

If you don't like this, you should give up on punk-rock.

Chaotic Disturbing Subversion