Featured Releases: December 25, 2023

Muro: Imperio En Ascenso 7” flexi (Autsajder Produckcija) Bogota, Colombia’s Muro returns with a new two-song flexi, their first new material since 2020. For my money, Muro is one of contemporary hardcore punk’s most exciting bands, and it doesn’t sound like they’ve lost a step in the few years since we last heard from them. As ever, their music oozes passion, conviction, and energy… it’s so explosive you can’t help but get caught up in it. The first track here, “Cultural Mercenaria,” is a dramatic song, reminding me of Burning Spirits style hardcore with its metal-style punches and slightly neoclassical-sounding guitar leads. “Imperio En Ascenso,” on the other hand, is a raw and ugly hardcore song, blistering fast with a simple riff delivered with buzzsaw speed and precision, its sense of abandon bringing Headcleaners to mind. While these two songs are very different, they’re tied together by Muro’s trademark raw production and the infectious energy they transmit in every note they play. Hopefully Muro’s planned US tour works out, because I hear they’re just as impressive live.

Cross: No Beginning, No End cassette (Roachleg Records) I’ve seen this cassette from New York’s Cross billed as a demo, but there’s so much music here (8 songs in 18 minutes) and the band’s sound is so fully formed that it feels more like a cassette album to me. Cross plays super fast, approaching Siege / Deep Wound speeds in places, but with fast-and-hooky riffing that reminds me of the more hardcore side of Government Warning. However, the harsh, cymbal-forward mix and the singer’s raspy bark instills Cross’s sound with distinct black metal vibes (albeit the punkier black metal of bands like Craft rather than the atmospheric stuff). Cross also reminds me of bands like Nosferatu or Reek Minds in many respects, but the other elements they bring in give them a very different vibe. It’s very cool… intense and powerful, but without sounding quite like anything I’ve heard before. Another great release from Roachleg Records.

Die in Vain: Savage New Times 7” (La Vida Es Us Mus) This Istanbul group’s demo tape came out on General Speech and now their debut vinyl is on La Vida Es Un Mus, an impressive pair of endorsements. Die in Vain plays on-the-nose UK82-style punk without much of the hardcore influence that dominates much of what I hear called UK82 these days. In other words, they lean more toward the Vice Squad / GBH / early Exploited end of the spectrum than the Partisans / Ultra Violent End, with steady, typically mid-paced drums that aren’t super heavy on fills and accents, shouted verses with gang vocals on the choruses, and simple but very catchy riffs. It may sound simple, but it’s also effective, the starkness of these songs’ production and delivery making them hit with considerable impact. If you’ve been digging the Australian band Thatcher’s Snatch, this is in a similar style and hits just as hard.

Laughing Corpse: Demented Thoughts Posed as Black Comedy cassette (self-released) 4-song, 5-minute demo from this new group out of Washington, DC. Connor from Innumerable Forms, Red Death, Genocide Pact, and many other projects is on drums, so you know right off the bat this is going to be killer. Connor is from North Carolina, and I dare say I hear his Raleigh roots coming through in Laughing Corpse. The riffs remind me a lot of the first Double Negative album... listen, for instance, to the first riff in “Demented Thoughts” and then check out the Double Negative song “The Jacket.” While I hear similarity in the riffing, there’s a lot more to Laughing Corpse’s sound. I love the black metal-ish intro to the first song, and the swampy, rocked-out breakdown in “Demented Thoughts” is killer; it’s straight out of the Eye for an Eye playbook, but the way the two guitar tracks diverge on the woozy-sounding lead part is unexpected and very cool. The recording is great too, clear and powerful, but plenty of grit. A killer demo.

Imploders: S/T 12” (Neon Taste Records) After a couple of EPs, Neon Taste Records brings us the first full-length record from Toronto’s Imploders. If you didn’t check out Imploders’ previous releases, I’d put them in that space between punk and hardcore occupied by bands like Career Suicide, Angry Samoans, Dayglo Abortions, Adrenalin OD, and even early Screeching Weasel. Like those bands, Imploders play at hardcore tempos and have snotty vocals, but their riffs have a sense of melody that comes more from song-oriented punk than pure hardcore aggro. Imploders are still pretty fucking aggro, though, even dropping in a handful of almost moshy mid-paced parts across the record. While they can sound pretty tough on these parts, on the other side of the spectrum is a song like “Beatin’ on the Brain,” which isn’t as pedal-to-the-metal tempo-wise and whose structure and arrangement are more punky. The variety is nice, particularly since the sequencing is tight, with each song leading straight into the next; rather than a breather between songs, the most you’ll get from Imploders is a slight letup in tempo. Tight, fast, catchy, and totally punk.

Corker: Falser Truths 12” (Feel It Records) Falser Truths is the first album from Cincinanti’s Corker, it’s on Feel It Records, and it’s the latest in a series of excellent records from that city. When I first listened to Falser Truths, Corker’s gloom and grit reminded me of Glaas and Diät, but Corker doesn’t feel as pop as those groups. Instead, they sound more in line with the tradition of artier post-punk bands whose music was informed by 70s German progressive music. Corker seems interested in interlocking patterns, layering riffs and rhythms on top of one another in ways that can sound jarring at first, but grow into earworms through repetition. Not that the band meanders… the songs on Falser Truths have a logic to them, and they’re full of memorable hooks, particularly the angular lead guitar parts. Fans of abrasive yet beautiful music like the Fall, Pere Ubu, and Magazine should find plenty to like in Falser Truths.