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Complete studio discography by this band who unleashed a total hardcore attack on Tokyo from 1995-1999. Where peers like Gloom, Life, and Collapse Society borrowed heavily from the crust end of the spectrum, Frigöra tapped into the raw and fast style of Swedish hardcore bands of the 80s like Mob 47, taking it to the next level with a power and ferocity that is still unmatched, paving the way for other noisy Swedish inspired bands like Ferocious X. Includes their self-titled 7”, Split 7” with Diskonto, “Dance of the Plague Bearer 12”, 3 unreleased tracks, and a booklet reproducing the art and lyrics from all the original releases.
Our take: General Speech Records brings us a vinyl discography with bonus material from these mid-90s Japanese crusties. To be honest, I wasn’t too familiar with Frigöra before this record. I knew them as that Japanese band with Swedish lyrics, but I didn’t know their music because it fell into one of my blind spots. In 1995-1998, when these records were coming out, I was still listening to NOFX and Pennywise, and by the time I got hip to Japanese punk a few years later, these records were nowhere to be found. Eventually I’d grow obsessed with finding out about older Japanese punk, but Frigöra weren’t far back enough to have the vintage patina of 80s bands or even early 90s groups like Bastard. I’m pleased to learn all about Frigöra today, as I probably appreciate their music today more than I would have at any time in the past. Fullständig Frigörelse captures two iterations of the band with different rhythm sections, the first of whom recorded a self-titled 7” and a split with Diskonto, and the latter their 12” EP, Dance of the Plague Bearer. The earlier version of the band is as steeped in 80s Swedish hardcore as you might expect. While they have Mob 47’s insane tempos, they also capture some of the magic from the Shitlickers EP, particularly on their 1995 self-titled EP, which has something of the uniquely desperate tone that only Shitlickers had. Frigöra’s sound changed a bit for the 12”, the new drummer playing with less groove, the rhythms getting more fractured, and the guitars incorporating multiple distorted tones for a wider sense of dynamics. While the cover art and title might make you think Dance of the Plague Bearer is a stenchcore record, it really points the way toward bands like D-Clone and Lebenden Toten who took the Disorder / Confuse / Gai sound into the psychedelic stratosphere. Fullständig Frigörelse is packed with General Speech’s typical care, with crisp graphics and a fold-out insert that reproduces the graphics from the original release with nothing in the way of heavy-handed historicization.