Snow Delay At The Frankfurt School

Friday, 26 June 2015

Asocial - Religion Sucks EP (1986)

Asocial - Religion Sucks EP (1986)

Not quite as brutal as Det Bittre Slutet. Religion Sucks continues in the Discharge pace as opposed to the proto-fastcore/grindcore/power-violence blasting that occurred on How Could Hardcore Get Any Worse?

I think it's the recording and instrument tones that contribute to the less brutal sound. With that said, this is still some powerful and crucial D-Beat. The vocals are more panicked than on Det Britte Slutet, giving the tracks more urgency as opposed to sheer brutality. The same could be said for all of the instruments. It's got a real edge-of-the-seat feeling. The bass tone is more in line of typical
D-Beat. Nasty and distorted. And although the guitars lack the bottom end that the last EP had, the crisp tone, as opposed to heavily distorted, is pretty cool to hear in D-Beat. Drum wise, obviously there are D-Beats aplenty. What else needs to be said!

Crucial Swedish D-Beat!

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!1FgyzbjQ!sgVk3gDPQOkZCCl1HACb3NT29s5gpNfNEhhsgJEBkPc

Thursday, 25 June 2015

Asocial - Det Bittra Slutet (1984)

Asocial - Det Bittra Slutet (1984)

Det Bittra Slutet is Asocial's first EP, which came out in 1984. Asocial must have had their shit together, because this recording is impressive. Not only in the way the band play, but how it sounds from a production standpoint. The vocals are super gruff, the guitars have the right balance between grit and treble, the bass has a weird (but cool) flange sound, and the drums rage like hell!

Like i've said on the previous Asocial posts. The 1980 demo showcased both melodic, fast, and brutal songs. While How Could Hardcore Get Any Worse was an exercise in playing at warp-speed, this record is all about the brutality. For one, the songs are nowhere near as fast as How Could Hardcore... and for two, the recording, as well as the slower tempo, make these songs more powerful and heavy.

Vocally, I say fuck you to anyone who doesn't think punk had an influence on extreme metal. There are plenty of guttural punk vocalists, mostly in Euro and Jap bands, and the vocals here are no exception. I'd like to hear a 'metal' band tear up their vocals like this in 1984!

Over within 9 minutes, this record leaves a better impression than Asocial's earlier material. While the demo was a band experimenting with different sounds, and How Could Hardcore... straight blasted for 10 minutes, Det Bittra Slutet is like an assassin...with a mace. Quick and brutal!

Essential Swedecore!

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!sB4kGDKD!0KhvsRrshdmg4pnoekcPNgFMr6C8hwel-hccRDWBTsY

Asocial - How Could Hardcore Get Any Worse? (1984)

Asocial - How Could Hardcore Get Any Worse? (1984)

Released in 1984 as a split with Bedrovlers, but actually recorded in 1982. This is a fucking ripping set of songs. While the 1980 demo alluded towards both fast and heavy songs, this record focused solely on fast songs. There are actually many moments that sound like power-violence. Take Nar Kriget Ar Har. It has one of those breaks, where the whole band apart from the bass, stops. And then the bassist plays some sloppy line-ensuing the band to crash in with total blast-madness.

Probably because some punk fan edited a Wikipedia entry on blast-beats. Asocial have become a bit infamous with their ridiculously speedy songs. As such, some cite them as playing the blast-beat before anyone else. Yeah, yeah. I hear you naysayers farting on about jazz drummers. But i think the worlds are a bit too different. The drummers in the early extreme bands are usually just Discharge worship. So the blast-beats you hear in Asocial, Napalm Death, ENT, are just sped up punk beats. Chances are, the drummers in these bands were not jazz fans. They were probably just pushing the speed for the sake of it.

Anyway, this is a great record. A bit lo-fi, but a really cool document in punk and extreme music.

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!VEYU2ZTR!bdj1CAlus81zQcTwg1jTc5YbF6Fj198xvMfv0SAQH_A

Asocial Demo (1980)

Asocial - Demo (1980)

Not quite as mean as they eventually became as few years down the line. Asocial were a Swedish hardcore band, D-Beats and all. While this demo doesn't have the best sound, it's a nice insight into
the early years of one of the finest Swedecore bands of the 80s.

Although they don't have the unique identity they carved out with their later work, the songs here are very interesting. With some tracks being melodic, some being brutal, and some being fucking fast for 1980...seriously, this challenges any American band. It's pretty funny how some songs such as Meninglost Liv are fairly melodic, while other such as Vi Behover Inte Er sound like the singer is getting his intestines pulled out. Crazy shit, indeed. And it's not just the vocals that are extreme for the time either. The whole band is absolutely raging through these tracks. To think that Discharge unleashed themselves with Realities of War in the same year! Not only can they be praised for their sheer extremity for 1980, but the actually playing is impressive. With stop-starts, solos (the guitarist ain't too shabby), drum fills, tempo shifts, general band dynamics, song-writing, and just managing not to be one-dimensional playing D-Beat is a feat in it's own.

So, this is a cool demo. Later on Asocial would experiment with some of the approaches they show here. Particularly the speed and brutality. For those who like Swede punk, give this demo a try.

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!lIpxiJLC!n5Z3mIytm5v_38WeTBrkyKRqmwFXMTYEQXmW4sgUESw

Gods of Masturbation - Words of Wisedom From The Gods of Masturbation (1984)

Gods of Masturbation - Words of Wisedom From The Gods of Masturbation (Demo 1984)

First off, what a cool fucking name. Gods of Masturbation. Damn those decadent Swedes!
GOM were a (fairly) early Swedish hardcore band who released this one demo in 1984 and nothing else. Which is a bummer because this demo seriously rips!

GOM offer a much more melodic take on hardcore as opposed to the full-on approach of their punk rock contemporaries. Throughout the demo the bass stands out with it's melodic, bouncy, and catchy riffs which burst into hardcore fury at the drop of a hat. The drumming uses a cool mix of different beats, so it's not all D-Beat. But don't worry, there are D-Beats aplenty. I mean, it wouldn't be Swedecore without them! While the rhythm section handle the dirty work, the guitars race around in a 77' punk meets Discharge style. And it's that which makes this demo really enjoyable. It's very 77' punk, but it's also got a bucket load of Discharge riffs chucked in for good measure. The opener Slaktad i ett Korthus is a good representation with it's bouncy bass intro that eventually breaks into Discharge riffs. I'd say the most melodic they get is on the last 'real' song, X-tra, which feature Oi! style chants. With that said, track like Deluded are damn catchy in their own right!

I'd say this is one of the best Swedecore demos. Heck, one of the best punk demos. Fuck, one of the best demos of all time! It's a mystery why this tape isn't available, either as a download, or a physical re-issue. Fans of Swede punk, get on this.

Oh, an interesting bit of info: Nils 'Nillen' Andersson, who was the vocalist for Anti-Cimex from 81/82 (and became the vocalist for DNA!), plays the drums here. Rad!

Linky, Link:
https://mega.co.nz/#!1AhnCLbB!MWpK1Fdx31dJ3T5UTliHLOlnQ8XWL3kSwN-uvPC4pA0

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

The Shitlickers (1982)

The Shitlickers (1982)
Is there much of a point in posting about the Shitlickers?
Probably not. They're of such legend that their noise is readily available to download illegally from your own nan...okay probably not that well known, but still. The Shitlickers work isn't the most hard to obtain in mp3 format...physical release however, will set you back a good chunk of moneh.

ShitFi has many a good article on the Shitlickers as well as Anti-Cimex. Easily one of the best is the interview with the grand Shitlicker: vocalist Lasse. There's some fascinating stuff about how they recorded the guitars and the general way the band prioritized themselves. No wonder they were one of the first and best of D-Beat. All about who they were and what they did is in this interview. So i suggest you have a read if you're interesting in learning more about this seminal Swedecore/raw-punk/D-Beat band. Go HERE for more.

Other than that, Kawakami, a legend in his own right, wrote about the Shitlickers in a jap fanzine called Crust War. Which you can find HERE

So on to the record: There's not much to really say. This is some crucial stuff in punk and extreme
music in general. Without Shitlickers you can kiss bands like Napalm Death goodbye, you can kiss crust goodbye, and you can bet that death metal probably wouldn't be the same (or exist at all).

For those not in the know. Shitlickers recorded 2 EP's that are well circulated. However, apparently there are demos and live recordings that have yet to see the light of day. A cool tidbit of information: The Shitlickers featured Tomas 'Freke' Johnsson, eventual vocalist for Anti-Cimex, on bass.