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Hello and thanks for reading. I’ve been following PARANOID since their debut in 2012. It’s pretty crazy they’ve been a band for over ten years already. It doesn’t feel like it was ten years ago when I was flipping through the 7”s bins at Sorry State when saw their debut 7" and bought it on a whim. This was a unique release for PARANOID, as there were a few guys playing on this debut that did not continue on with the band after. If I remember correctly, these songs were written very quickly (like in one day) with the intention of just being classic, distorted to hell Swedish käng. While there are some elements of this record that I associate with the sound of PARANOID, it is quite a bit different than what would follow. On this debut they had Åke from legends MOB 47 on guitar. They also had a mate named Nils (R.I.P.) who did the vocals at this time as well. Åke and Nils did not continue on with the band after this release. They had another mate come in, Henke, to take over Åke’s role on guitar. Soon after, Nils tragically passed away in an avalanche, and there was an unexpected break with the band. When they picked back up, Henke took on the vocal duties alongside guitar, as they did not want to just replace Nils. This line up is who we know today as PARANOID.
Destroy Future Less System EP was their follow-up to Hardcore Addict. Based on their debut, I was looking forward to this one quite a bit. I had no idea it would be such a crazy sounding EP. It was faster, even more noisy, and man, the riffs were fucking ear-catching. It had super cool artwork as well, done by Alexander Heir. It was before I feel like he was extremely popular like he has been for years now. The style felt very fresh and very punk. I think anyone who missed ‘em on their debut had their full attention after this one. Besides them elevating the speed and noise aspects of their sound, I noticed on this EP there were some very subtle elements of black metal.
I can’t remember if their split with ABSOLUT came next, or if was the modern day absolute hardcore masterpiece entitled Satyagraha.
Maybe I spoke to soon when I said Destroy Future Less System EP had everyone’s attention, cos this LP truly is a perfect record. What an amazing debut to full-length format. I remember the LP came with a CD too. I think this was a common CD you’d find in like every friend’s car player at the time cos no one really buys CDs, haha. Man, you’ve heard this LP though, right? If you haven’t, literally stop what you’re doing right now and play this at proper volume. On this LP, they really mastered the art of layering the different textures of sounds. I’m not so good with words and describing sounds, but the way they weave things in and out is unbelievably good and unique. You can definitely hear some black metal influences on this LP as well, especially the long, somber outro and the breakdowns. Again, I can’t remember if their split with ABSOLUT entitled Jawbreaking Mangel Devastation came before or after Satyagraha. At the time, this was a monumental pairing of raw, fast bands. PARANOID started off their side with a straight up black metal song, haha, I love it. It sounds insane when the full sound kicks in. It seems these songs were recorded right around the same time as Satyagraha. The sound and style are pretty much identical. It was yet another showcase of PARANOID’s insane ability.
Fuck man, I totally forgot about the Cover of the Month thing they did around this same time. Each month they would release a cover song on their YouTube channel. On their first one, they describe their intention for the covers, and where they got the inspiration from. It’s super cool they wrote the story behind each song upon the upload as well. You can tell they were doing it out of passion. When they did TOTALITÄR I lost my mind. They had Poffen on guest vocals, ahhh. I don’t think they ever planned to actually release these physically, but I know they made some tapes. It was super cool Svart did an LP pressing a bit later. I bet the licensing on that was a pain in the ass.
Before 2015 was over, they released my all-time favorite record Punkdemonium Hell. I love the record cover so much too, easily my favorite artwork on a PARANOID record. The first track is fucking insane. The speed and chaotic riffs are pushed to the ultimate maximum. The second song is an absolute pit opener. They use that phaser effect on the guitar on this one break. It’s cheesy and perfect. Fuck, I love it. I remember listening to the flexi when I first got it, and after this song there is the sound of a needle dragging. So of course, I frantically stood up only to discover the flexi playing perfect and another ripping song just started to kick in. I thought that was a nice touch. Modern made flexis usually play like shit, and a needle skipping would be some shit that would totally happen. If I remember right, there is a proper 7" version that came out soon after that featured a DISCLOSE track as a bonus.
I won’t keep talking about the discography of PARANOID for two reasons. One, it’s a lot longer, haha. And two, this is where my listening really falls off, more or less. I think Praise No Deity was the next proper record they did after Punkdemonium Hell. I don’t think the record is bad by any means at all, but I was startled at first to hear the change in sound on the first two songs. They were pulled back in a way I hadn’t heard them do yet and sounded more metal. That sounds a bit weird to say cos they already obviously had metal influences, but this take was a bit different than before. The last song sounded like the PARANOID I had grown to love, but I could hear something else growing in their song writing. The LPs that followed drifted more and more away from noise and chaos and more towards metal and like, structure, haha. While I don’t listen to those LPs often, they each have something for me to enjoy. Some of them took me a few listens, but since I loved them so much from the beginning, I always wanted to hear what they were feeling next even if it’s not something I would naturally gravitate towards.
When I heard about S.C.U.M. initially, it was described as being in the style of their roots, so I was very curious and excited to check this one out. I saw Jocke was credited as the songwriter for these songs. I could be mistaken, but I don’t think I’ve seen PARANOID do a lot crediting like that. But of course, I was even more interested, as I know Jocke was the predominant songwriter on the records I enjoyed the most. Even though it was available digitally for me to stream, I still waiting to blast this hot ass slab in the comfort of my own home. Before I listened, I checked out all the artwork, haha. It seemed from the artwork alone they were letting me know what the sound would be like. And yes, instantly I hear much of the old PARANOID sound; speed, noise, and of course, elements of black metal. It was a pleasure to blast this one. If you are one of the listeners who tuned out after 2015, I would tune back in. I’m sure everyone reading this is familiar with PARANOID, but the noise may not be for everyone. If you do like the noise, and you don’t know ELECTRIC FUNERAL, I would check that shit out ASAP. This band was Jocke’s solo project before PARANOID. You can hear obvious similarities with PARANOID here. And of course, both band names are referencing BLACK SABBATH... Alright that’s it for today then, thanks for reading everyone. Check out the new PARANOID LP and grab a limited copy from us before it’s too late! Cheers!