Free Noise #17

Artist: Hellbastard
Title: Ripper Crust
Source: Coloured vinyl 12" LP (mauve)
Bitrate: V0 VBR
Running time (h:m:s): 00:40:16
Size (mb): 70.6
Label: Grind / Crust
Year: 1993
Notes: Mastered from original 4-track (!) studio tape

1. Intro...
2. Nazis Killed
3. Massacre
4. Deciever (sic)
5. Insanity
6. Death From Above
7. Life For Who?
8. Kill Or Be Killed
9. Outside Claustrophobia
10. Skag K.D.P.
11. And Now...(pt 1)

RISE OF CRUST!!! Yep, the band that gave us the term released this, their first demo tape, back in the dark days of 1987. Recorded in just six hours for twenty-five quid, this isn't exactly hi-fi material. But it's probably all the better for it - the primal power captured here stands strong in its own right and set the standard. The bells and whistles came later and, ultimately, Hellbastard morphed into just another boring extreme speed metal band by the time of the 'Natural Order' album, complete with dodgy wailing and even dodgier hair. Shame.

The first track I heard from 'Ripper Crust' was 'Massacre' and it gave me the same hit that I'd got the first time I'd heard 'Scum' by Napalm Death and the Extreme Noise Terror side of 'Earslaughter'. I began to hunt down a copy of the complete tape straight away, desperate for a bigger fix. Fortunately, my mate Pete (guitarist with Pro Patria Mori, a band that didn't get anywhere near the recognition they deserved IMHO, but that's another story) had a few and sent me one. The tape, which has long since passed on to C90 heaven, was a semi-permanent fixture of my audio environment for many years. No matter how muddy and hissy it got, I didn't get bored with it. Fortunately, the vinyl re-release means that I'm still enjoying its rumbling rawness to this day. I suggest that you take this opportunity to experience it too if you haven't already.

Best listened to with scrumpy and empty bowels.

Trivia fact: Scruff (vox / guitar) was part of ultra-leftist insurrectionaries The Apostles before getting Hellbastard together. I hold The Apostles in high regard for what they did, and will probably get round to putting up one or two things by them too (although compiling the artwork could be a bit of a task because every release came crammed with inserts).

OP's opinion: 5 -

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