VA - In Our Time LP (CrimethInc. Compilation 1997)

I've mentioned how important CrimethInc. records and its bands were in politicizing me as a teen punk/metalhead. Its mid-to-late-1990s records of Catharsis, Gehenna and Timebomb were integral in the consolidation of the metallic hardcore genre, and more specifically the "holy terror" subgenre, along with Integrity, Ringworm, All Out War, Kickback and a few more American and European HC bands. The Inside Front zine run by Brian Dingledine - singer of Catharsis and key figure of the label/collective - opened my eyes to so many hardcore punk bands and features important articles about politics, anticapitalism and self-organization. Over the years CrimethInc. kind of became irrelevant to me politically as I moved towards more Marxist viewpoints but I still go back to read some of the stuff.

Anyway, this LP features seven tracks, one each by Belgian thrash-metal-influenced straight-edge/vegan legends Congress, Italian political metallic hardcore Timebomb, deathcore barbarians Systral from Bremen (check out their split 7" with Acheborn), more old-school hc by Refused side-project Final Exit, nightmarish sludge/punk by the incomparable Damad, technical mathy hc by Jesuit (members of which were Brian Benoit of Dillinger Escape Plan and Nate Newton of Converge/Old Man Gloom), and the highlight which is the absolutely evil, scary, infernal and apocalyptic medley of "Testimony/Divine Rewards" by Gehenna, one of the most savage and destructive hardcore punk bands ever. Even though all tracks here are absolutely awesome, they can be found elsewhere in the respective bands' releases, but this track, consisting of a jam of "Testimony" from their classic 7" The Birth of Vengeance and unknown track "Divine Rewards," hasn't ever been released anywhere else, not even in the re-release of The War of the Sons of Light and the Suns of Darkness.

Apart from the rich booklet containing lyrics and interviews/texts of the band plus a second booklet analyzing the strategies of standardization and uniformity in Western advanced capitalist societies. This is an essential release of 1990s political hardcore, so you must get it. 1997 LP on CrimethInc.

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Systral/Acheborn - Present A Split Seven Inch 7"

I listened almost exclusively to extreme metal (that plus King Crimson and Rush) as a kid and then grew up on punk, crust and d-beat as a teen, I've always held as a historical fact that the best metal has always been played by punks. This is something that was initiated by the almighty Discharge and Amebix in the 1980s, and continued with legends such as Suicidal Tendencies. The mid-to-late 1990s produced many bands that emerged from various hardcore scenes and played amazing metallic hardcore that totally destroyed almost anything made by the metal scene. This was mainly the case with Cleveland bands such as Kickback and Ringworm, other Holy Terror-affiliated bands like Catharsis and Gehenna, the Belgian H8000 scene with Congress and Liar, plus people like Timebomb from Italy, Kickback from France and early All Out War. I mean, even the best metal bands have been very clear about their punk roots, like Bathory, Celtic Frost, Slayer, early Metallica.

Another case was the Bremen Sound scene that was kickstarted by Acme, members of which would go on to form Systral, who released one of the best hardcore/metal albums of all time, Fever. After this, they released this split 7" with fellow Germans Acheborn. Systral played extremely heavy and apocalyptic deathcore (no, not emo/beatdown pseudo-angst ridden shit that is called "deathcore" today), with a huge Bolt Thrower-like sound that tears everything under its tank wheels, a dual vocal attack by one of the deepest growling vocalists breathing fire and brimstone and an unsettling black metal shrieker, and an intro with a Harley Davidson sample from Manowar's "Wheels Of Fire." Systral members would go on to form Mörser, who play similar, a little bit clearer and more technical stuff, like a more violent and unhinged 90's Carcass. On the other side, we got Acheborn, who play more technical and urgent metallic hardcore with black metal atonalities. Think like a European version of Converge. 1998 7" on Trans Solar.

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