This record came out last year and I have been meaning to review for such a long time, around a year as a matter of fact. First I want to stress how much I love the cover. It is as if you screen printed a big back patch folding it over and then sewing it together to make a cover that the record fits into nicely. It looks completely different and its inspiring to see people thinking outside the box and making the most of the name DIY. I am also a big fan of the artwork used as well with ogham writing and stone age depictions of lithics and people within deer hides and antler head pieces.
Music itself is explosive, Ursus play aggressive hardcore//Crustcore, its just so energetic and powerful. Its hardcore the way it should be played and it really comes as no surprise when listening to this LP that members come from Cop On Fire, Ekkaia and Hongo. On the B side differs to the other end of the spectrum with things becoming a lot slower as in Ursus nearly winding down the record to its end after the mass of obliterating hardcore that just fucked everything up but its truly only an interlude before you hear the drum roll of “Adoradores De La Tortura” and you are back in the front line of Ursus.
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I can’t front & I won’t front – I’m a junkie for Dis-Super Dis-Nuclear Dis-Beat. One band from Austin that gives me my fix is Dethrone. This band’s new album, Abandon Everything, is packed with 6 jams of crustified slaughter. Every song on this album is fucking dis-perfect. Dethrone’s drumming is the chaotic back bone for the dark yet uplifting compositions that this band composes. The way that Jake Alexander pounds those dead skins, he awakes all of the fallen revolutionaries – so capitalist pigs better watch out, the butchers are coming! The guitar riffs on Abandon Everything are blackened to the core, but at the same time they have this razor sharp vibe about them that could cut through bone. On the vocal tip, Dethrone bring it from two angles – their singer is capable of shouting out this I don’t give a fuck snarl, but then take it all the way down to a guttural grunt filled with agony. This band is raw to the core, but they still keep this awesome whiskey-soaked crust aura to their tunes. Dethrone lyrically are not afraid to say what’s on their mind – from my point of view, that’s cool with me because I dig where they are coming from. This a band that should be known around the universe for conjuring up some of the sickest d-beat in 2011. You can hear Abandon Everything here, plus you can purchase this gnarly album.

Dethrone : Lost Cause

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Dethrone : Kingdoms Fall

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With so many fantastic bands on the one bill, I’d been looking forward to this gig for a long time. Arriving on the Friday to the Bussey Building in Peckham, you are greeted by the friendly Scum Fest Crew. Then you head in through the graffiti covered courtyard with huge pieces by Roa and Phlegm. Previous to this I’d only ever seen Roa’s huge graffiti pieces on the internet. A really unique black and white style of decayed looking birds, skulls and bones. Really added to the whole feel of the music for the weekend. A few heads were saying all the graffiti made the place look much like the KØPI Squat in Germany. So the main words for the weekend were ‘KØPI-esque’, ‘apocalyptic’ and of course ‘crust’. Now onto the the music review and how to write this without using the word ‘crust’ every second sentence!

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Fuck the world, don’t ask me for shit, I want my d-beat! I know I’m not crazy, just insane. I can never get enough of electrified sound waves that zap my braincells to attention. Aggrenation, from Gothenburg, Sweden, are on a mission to create maniac disbeat that has the force of a million angry crusties! The four songs from their Ministry of Truth EP are a super charged attack on your senses that will leave you in awe. Aggrenation’s guitars are fucking beyond nuclear; they create this atmosphere of angst that can’t be ignored. The vocalist has an epic voice – it’s clear but aggro. Lyrically, he brings the noise and puts knives to the throats of society’s killers. Their drummer has anger management problems, he pounds the fuck out of his kit! The glue that holds their sound together is the caustic hum of metallic feedback that keeps your ears ringing. So ride away on disbeat riffs & check out Aggrenation…

Aggrenation : Utopia is Burning

A Very Old Ghost Behind the Farm (such a cool name) started out as a French one-man band in 2009 but have since grown into a full band playing live shows and releasing this, their full length debut album. The album is available from their bandcamp page with a ‘name your price’ deal and this album is certainly worth a few bucks at least but this band is very different. For starters, don’t expect an album of typical slow plodding riffs here, this band unleashes some high-octane punk-ish passages that are closer to Acid Bath than they are Saint Vitus.

A Very Old Ghost Behind The Farm really mix things up from Electric Wizard drug-fueled stoner-doom to Khanate styled drone-noise to moments of pure nola-sludge metal.
After the jump check out the rest doom filled review!

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Oh sure, you’ve all probably just seen Dublin plastered all over your TV screens lately what with recent visits from the Queen of England and Barack Obama (both of which, I might add, made getting in and out of the society for work a fucking “Escape from New York” style ordeal). You’ve probably seen the media try and use these events to paint us as a country recovering from a harrowing recession,  a prosperous future just around our corner, a welcoming tourist friendly nation full of rainbows and sunbeams reascending the peaks of its’ former glories to take our seat at the table of wealthy. You probably saw these figureheads being chauffered from government buildings through crowds of cheering onlookers to their gala ball or VIP tour of the Guiness factory.

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Do you need a boost of blackened energy today? Good, I have the band for RUINED FAMILIES from Athens, Greece. Once you start listening to them, you will be ready to cause grievous bodily harm against the the corporate thieves who steal from you on the daily! In the space of one year, this band has developed a solid sound of originality that some bands never reach in their whole careers. So people might call their style of music hardcore, but it’s much more than that on so many levels. In my book, RUINED FAMILIES has earned the label of Blackened Everything, meaning they take elements of crust, hardcore, black metal & noise rock, then transform these genres into their own likeness. On songs like “Basement Rats,” they rip tension apart; it’s as if the instruments are at war with one another, when actually they are united to create controlled musical chaos. RUINED FAMILIES’ compositions are towers of noise that can come crashing down around you, and in the broken glass the band reflects the ills of society back at you. This band is not afraid of making complex music, but what is super rad is that at no time does it sound contrived. I’m looking forward to see how RUINED FAMILIES evolve over space & time. Their debut LP, Four Wall Freedom, is a rock hard foundation for this band. After the jump, check out some live footage!

RUINED FAMILIES : Modern Man.

RUINED FAMILIES : Basement Rats

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The earth is scorched, the clouds are black, the rivers run red – who are the ones that inhabit this land? The masses who followed their corrupt leaders blindly. Hierophant are a mammoth-sounding blackened crust band from Italy that rip at your inner discontent with this for this fucked up society. Theirs is the sound of the left hand, and we know this sound will lead us the right way. Deep down in the groove of this band you can hear a primal mania that will energize your spirit. Hierophant molds their music violence into blasts of empathy for those who have eyes yet cannot see & mouths yet cannot speak to fucking wake up! On songs like “Lambgoat” they create a metallic whirlwind that grabs a hold of you, and then paints your past lives black. Hierophant’s songs are avalanches of flames, & as they roll down the mountains they devour everything in their path. Honestly, there is a movement taking place with bands that manifest what I call the “Blackened Everything” sound & Hierophant hold their own with the blackest of them. What makes me know this band is the shit are the super epic changes they can make at the drop of the dime. Also, no matter how much their songs are seething with anger, you can hear huge chords of hope. These dudes inject melody into their 666% chaos. Their 2010 self-titled debut album is made of ten awesome songs, straight killer no filler. After the jump, check out some haunting videos & flicks!

Hierophant : As Kalki

Hierophant : Abissus Abissum

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Crush up some vintage Motorhead, mix in some some vintage Venom and some 1982 Discharge, mix it all together and drink it – then you might know how Italy’s Violentor sounds. Fucking for real, this band plays that kind of acid thrash that can melt bones. The band’s new 9-song album out now on EBM records never surrenders; it’s a vicious battle from beginning to end. This band takes me straight back to my teenage years with their brand of blackened speed metal, & with each blast from the double bass drum, it takes you closer to the destroyer! Riffs on top of gnarly riffs, my head can not stop moving & I don’t want this record to stop…it’s a fucking energy injection. There is nothing fake about this record, it’s bare bones nuclear thrash that wants to slap posers in the freaking grill. Don’t get it twisted, as much as this band is metal, these dude have punk blood flowing through their veins, so be aware. Violentor’s vocalist spits his wild hateful angst all over each track. This band has the gas mask boogie as a part of their sound, basically they will keep you movin & groovin. I will not single out one track, because like I said just take this album as a motherfucking rocking album that you need in your life NOW!

Violentor : Sycophant

Violentor : We Hate All

Let’s make this corrupt system feel the way it has made us feel all of these years – pain. I refuse to turn on the TV, zone out & act like everything is OK when it’s really fucked up! One band that has the courage to take a stand against the so-called powers that be is the West Virginia anarchist crust punk warriors Appalachian Terror Unit. This band has been waving their banner of revolt for many years. I have always been into the female & male dual vocal assault, it sounds rad as hell! Lyrical speaking, they bring the right messages, but what is cool is that you never feel like you are being preached to, which makes me feel their message even more. Appalachian Terror Unit are masters at bringing that buzzing crust that gets you pumped & makes you want to give authority the middle finger. In 2010, the band put out a compilation from their previous recordings, called It’s Far From Fucking Over… on CD via Profane Existence. Now the band are about to release a gnarly EP entitled Black Sands, plus a split with Oi Polloi, both being released via Profane Existence. Right now, Appalachian Terror Unit is on an extensive European tour, so if you can, make sure to check them out – their shows are crust energy to the tenth degree. So after the jump, check out their tour details, flicks, plus some killer videos!

Appalachian Terror Unit : We will continue to break their laws and destroy property until we will

Appalachian Terror Unit : Black sands

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