Featured Releases: September 15, 2022

Gefyr: S/T 12” (Flyktsoda Records) Usman and Jeff both chose this Gefyr record as their staff pick last week, and given their expertise, there isn’t much I can add to the conversation. As Jeff and Usman, Gefyr hails from the same Swedish town as Totalitär and has snatched more than a couple of tricks from that band’s well-thumbed playbook. There are a lot of bands out there who walk in Totalitär’s footsteps, but (again, as Usman said), Gefyr’s capability with a range of different d-beat grooves really sets them off from the pack. They can go to ripping fast Shitlickers-inspired shit to a groovier, driving d-beat to an almost rocked-out part, which keeps my ears perked up for the duration of this LP. Throughout the turbulence, the riffing stays dense and inventive and the vocals venomous. If you consider yourself a Swedish hardcore head, you’ll want to check out this record.

Arma X: Violento Ritual 12” (Quality Control HQ) Violento Ritual is the debut vinyl release from this Spanish straight edge hardcore band. I’ll admit, the word “beatdown” in the label’s description was a red flag for me… I don’t think beating people down is cool, and I’m not generally interested in music that serves as the soundtrack for beating anyone down. However, if I put that out of my mind and just listen to Violent Ritual, I have to admit I like it. While my personal tastes have always leaned away from the heavier end of hardcore, I admit a fondness for Victory Records-era Integrity… I played those records a lot in the 90s, particularly Humanity Is the Devil, and it’s clear that Arma X takes a lot of influence from them, accentuating and amplifying many of the things I find distinctive and likable about those records. While Arma X’s mid-paced, Cro-Mags-influenced riffs are solid, I think the band’s real strengths are the vocals (which sound gruff and punk… they wouldn’t be out of place in a raw punk band) and the lead guitars. Arma X’s lead guitarist avoids the music school scales you hear on so many metal-influenced records in favor of unhinged whammy bar antics that dart across the songs’ rhythmic and melodic foundations with an avant-garde flair. It’s a great counterbalance to the rest of the band’s locked-in grooves, and the tension this dynamic generates is enough to interest even a wimp like me.

Gehenna: Negative Hardcore 12” (Iron Lung Records) Negative Hardcore is the latest album from long-running (they started in 1993!) metallic hardcore band Gehenna. Gehenna has long been associated with the “Holy Terror” scene, i.e. bands who look to Integrity for their influences, both musical (smashing together Slayer and the Cro-Mags) and philosophical (a kind of apocalyptic misanthropy). While lots of bands who claim the Holy Terror tag are influenced by Integrity, Gehenna are more Integrity’s contemporaries, and while there are moments on Negative Hardcore that will remind you of Integrity (the title track could be from Humanity Is the Devil), it seems like Gehenna is doing their own thing rather than just copying someone else’s. And Gehenna’s thing is dark, menacing in a way that similar records (like, for instance, the Arma X record I wrote about above) aren’t. Gehenna is also somewhat unique among this Holy Terror cadre in that they incorporate black metal influences into their sound, which comes across as natural, the blastbeats and tremolo picking only adding to that air of darkness and negativity that Gehenna cultivates. Like everything Iron Lung Records puts out, it’s smart, adventurous, and well worth a listen if those are the things you value in extreme music.

Primer Regimen: 1983 7” (Discos Enfermos) Colombia’s Primer Regimen brings us a new 5-song EP, and while their earlier releases were excellent, 1983 both dials in and expands their sound, arriving at something that’s just as intense but more unique. If you come to 1983 looking for that trademark passion and intensity you hear in so much contemporary Colombian punk, you’ll be pleased to know that this record is drenched in it… it’s raw, primal, and authentic in a way that so many bands have trouble capturing on tape. However, Primer Regimen augments that intensity with a refined stylistic approach here. Primer Regimen has two basic modes on 1983: a churning, tom-heavy anarcho mode that reminds me of Killing Joke or early Amebix (i.e. when Amebix was at their most Killing Joke-ish) and a sprightlier UK82 mode. These two approaches work together to build and release tension throughout the record. It’s particularly effective on the last two tracks, where the slow burn of “Plegaria” erupts into the energetic “Parásitos,” which itself climaxes with an unexpectedly melodic guitar riff in the chorus. A really excellent record.

Hysteric Polemix: Songs for the Solstice cassette (Roach Leg Records) After a demo tape last year (also on Roach Leg Records), New York’s Hysteric Polemix is back with four new tracks. I’d peg Hysteric Polemix’s sound on the more melodic end of anarcho punk a la Zounds, Honey Bane, and the more melodic second album by Dirt. The music is straightforward and catchy with bright-sounding melodies led by a bubbly bass, while the vocals do that rapid-fire, million words per verse thing I love in anarcho punk. Portland’s Rubble is another good reference point for Hysteric Polemix’s sound, particularly the way they lean into the pop elements on a track like “Fortaleza De São Miguel,” which has an almost 77 punk feel. The lyrics are also a cut above, avoiding less obvious anarcho punk topics in favor of subtler philosophical introspection.

War Effort: self-titled cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this Chicago band featuring a bunch of familiar names from that city’s fertile DIY hardcore scene. According to the band, War Effort started as an experiment in writing and recording a hardcore EP in one day. I’m not sure if this cassette is that session, a refined version of it, or something else, but regardless it’s excellent. As you might expect, it has a loose and off-the-cuff feel, the riffing straightforward but not boring and the playing intricate and locked in for something that was conceived so quickly. Plenty of great music comes from refining ideas, but sometimes you get the best results by just finding the right headspace and letting rip, which is what sounds like happened here. Fans of Discharge’s Swedish heirs will love everything about this, as will those of you who have worn out your Bloodkrow Butcher recordings. Ripping shit.