Anarchy Rating

All reviews are scored out of a total of five Anarchy symbol's. A score of three is given to something that is a typical example of its style with nothing too outstanding or bad about it.

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Zudas Krust / Parötid – Desire Of Destruction Split EP

Desire Of Destruction coverZudas Krust (Indonesia) / Parötid (Malaysia)

There’s some pretty brutal stuff coming out of south-east Asia at the moment, and these two outfits are keeping up the trend.

Zudas Krust deliver straight up thrashy metalcrust whilst Parötid go for the more blown-out crasher noise with reverby vocals effect (and make one hell of a noise for a two-piece combo). Whilst it’s […]

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Dumange – Entre Ratas LP

Dumange Entre RatasDumange
Asturias, Spain

Sweet fucking Jeebus! This has to be one of the most enjoyably intense things that I’ve subjected my ears and brain to in a long time!

On their debut release, ‘Entre Ratas’ (Among Rats), Dumange dish out a single serving of exquisite dark metal crust that doesn’t let up from the opening scream of anguish to the last breath […]

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Löckheed – 4 Track Demo

Löckheed – 4 Track Demo coverLöckheed
Santa Rosa, California, USA

Now this is the right way to introduce yourself to the world of online noise. Löckheed take a solid D-beat sound, throw in a bit of crusty crasherness for good measure, and churn out something chunkier that a jumper knitted by your nan. And, like a good nan jumper, it’s both comfortable and a bit […]

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More Misery Makes Me Happy!

Misery cover

Responding to the earnest demands of aged aesthetes, veteran crusters Misery have had their recent DIY download-only release pressed on to vinyl by the good people at Inimical Records. Not any old vinyl, of course. It’s a double album, cut at 45rpm to ensure maximum heaviness, on beautiful grey splatter vinyl (limited to the first 200 who mailorder from Inimical, plain black after that), with a weighty matt card gatefold sleeve illustrated by Leffer that reflects the […]

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Opposition Rising – Aftermathematics LP

Opposition Rising posterThis is the first vinyl release from the rapidly-expanding Riot Ska Records collective (among others), and it’s a great start for them.

Opposition Rising hail from Boston and band members have been heavily involved with the scene for many years. Their diverse tastes are reflected in the sound they’ve produced here, a pleasant cocktail of sharp old-school hardcore and dismetal with touches of what is probably best described as ska-crust. The production job is crisp […]

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A Year In My Ears 2011

Although I don’t think I’ve spent so much on new music this year when compared to last, what I have bought has been immensely satisfying. These ten releases have ended up doing multiple revolutions on various stereophonic devices around my house, and have definitely earned their keep.

Amebix – Sonic Mass LP (Easy Action Records). An album that was more than two decades in the making, and one that surpassed every expectation. There were some who didn’t ‘get’ this release, but I wasn’t one of them. Awesome on every level.

[…]

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Misery – From Where The Sun Never Shines DL

Misery - FWTSNS coverBack with a bang after too many years, heavy crusters Misery return to show the young pups how it’s done.

Embracing the new audio world order, this is a download-only release. But that doesn’t mean getting lumbered with crappy bitrate mp3s. No, this one’s available in full studio glory FLAC. Burn it to CD and you’ve got exactly the same thing the boys heard at the mixdown.

And this really needs to be […]

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Amebix – Knights Of The Black Sun 12″

Amebix - Knights of the Black Sun sleeve

My oh my. This truly is a work of art, from the outside in.

Let’s start with the sleeve. Ethereal tones of grey and blue swirl through each other to suggest a sense of freedom in what first appears to be a very foreboding landscape confined by the blackest of shadows. Immerse yourself in it for a minute and you’ll see the shafts of […]

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Expendable Youth – The Exposing Of The Immortal Person LP

Expendable YouthI love it when I take a bit of a punt and end up with another slice of perfectly turned out coloured vinyl (black-splattered beer) and accompanying noise (blood-splattered ears). Such is the case with EY’s ‘The Exposing Of The Immortal Person’ LP, put out (at least in part) by the eternally-friendly Alex of Distro-y Records. I’m still a bit of an amateur when it comes to this ‘neo / melodic crust’ thing but, as Alex has […]

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