Crudity: The Total End 12"

Crudity: The Total End 12" (De:Nihil Records) De:Nihil Records brings us a complete anthology release from 80s Stockholm hardcore band Crudity. Crudity was an extremely short-lived band, lasting long enough to make only one studio recording and play one gig, but the impact of those two performances—both of them collected here—has been immeasurable. Crudity’s lone 12-track recording session was laid to tape in 1985, with Åke from Mob 47 at the controls, in the same space (a bowling alley, oddly enough) and using the same equipment Åke used on the Mob 47 EP. As with Mob 47’s EP, the music Åke captured for Crudity is as raw and vital as it gets. All 12 tracks originally appeared on the legendary Stockholm’s Mangel compilation cassette, got dubbed and passed around among collectors for decades (and reissued several times with varying degrees of legitimacy), and shaped a sub-style of ultra-fast d-beat hardcore that would come to be known as mangel. Combining the off-the-rails, Discharge-inspired energy of Swedish forbears like Anti-Cimex and Shitlickers with a slightly heavier, more locked-in groove, Crudity’s recordings serve as a missing link between the earlier Swedish hardcore scene and the next wave that came in the later 80s with bands like Totalitär and No Security. So many bands have drawn influence from Crudity’s sound in the intervening decades that it may take a moment to appreciate how important and exciting they must have been at the time, but today’s listener can still hear a purity in Crudity’s vision that is totally inspiring. Alongside that legendary studio session on side A, the b-side of The Total End features a recording of Crudity’s sole live gig, which featured a slightly different lineup, but is no less raging. The sound on both sides is great, presenting these recordings in the best light possible without compromising their fundamental rawness. As you might expect from a band that existed so briefly, there isn’t a lot in the way of archival material for this reissue, but we get some nice graphic design, a few crucial photos, and blurbs from several musicians about Crudity’s impact (including our own Usman, who takes his rightful place alongside d-beat luminaries like Jacky from Framtid and Jallo from Meanwhile / Totalitär / No Security). An essential reissue for any self-proclaimed scholar of 80s Swedish hardcore punk.