[engl] "Web of Lies / Death Won’t Even Satisfy is the vinyl debut from this hardcore band from New Jersey, and it is a full-bore scorcher. Ammo plays ferocious US-style hardcore with a lunging, unhinged style that reminds me of groups like early Agnostic Front, Void, and Eye for an Eye-era Corrosion of Conformity… not so much in style, but in the way Ammo sounds like they’re maniacs who might materialize out of your home speakers in order to slash your throat. It’s a rare enough feat to capture this sort of wild energy on tape, but Ammo fuses this crazy energy with memorable songwriting, with tracks like “Black Site,” “Slam Slam Slam,” and “Ethnostate” hitting even harder because they’re so damn catchy. Sounding fast and crazy is Ammo’s forte, but their secret weapon is their ability to play at mid tempo, like on the crushing NYHC-style mosh part in “Known Unknown” and the singalong during the breakdown to the epic “All You Do (Is Want Me to Die).” I love music that expands hardcore’s boundaries, but Ammo isn’t that… they distill hardcore its essence, their sound ground down to the sharpness of a knife’s edge. This is not a record to sleep on."

[engl] Assistert Sjølmord (translation - Assisted Suicide) release their debut 7 track 7” EP, after an outstanding demo in 2021. Thirty seconds in to 'Klimabombe' and we reach maximum velocity and there's no let up. The intensity and feral nature of their sound is laid bare with a sharp production and guitar tone that is both clean and harsh at the same time. The vocals rage and are totally ferocious and are in a smilar vein to Chitose from The Comes. It looks, sounds and feels like a classic Norwegian hardcore single from the 80’s and released on X-Port Plater (home of Svart Framtid, Stengte Dører, Bannlyst etc) mixed with the classic UK82 push and shove proto hardcore sound of The Mau Mau’s. These four Oslo punks take you by the throat and make Norwegian hardcore essential all over again.

[engl] Bogota's ATAQUE ZERO return just over two years after their debut with their second 12" EP 'Ciudades'. They are an international band with members from Venezuela, Colombia and France who formed around the Rat Trap scene which gave the world MURO, TRAMPA and ALAMBRADA among others, all of whom share members with ATAQUE ZERO. They've stepped things up on all fronts for Ciudades and bring you five new anthems that have built on all the promises their debut EP made. The songs are passionate, angry and maybe even channelling a bit of STIFF LITTLE FINGERS as well as PELIGRO SOCIAL and LEATHERFACE this time too. Everything here is the right balance of taste and power and we can't wait to see what they come up with next.

[engl] "The debut 5 track 12” EP from Ataque Zero who are part of the creative and cultural punk headquarters in Bogotá - Casa Rat Trap. Ataque Zero are 2 Venezuelans, 1 Colombian and 1 French person and feature members of Muro, Dernier Futur, Exilio and Trampa but this time they have taken a more melodic approach with their sound. This still rages with intensity and passion like the finest Husker Du, Moving Targets, Manifesto Jukebox or Leatherface records. The EP never lets up the pace and has hooks at every turn. Absolutely magical." (Sean Forbes)

[engl] Blazing Eye's most recent recording secures their place as one of Los Angeles's best hardcore-punk bands. Propagating punk as true and original as bands the likes of G.I.S.M. and Siege, Blazing Eye sets forth with their strongest release since their 2013 demo. It's a banger for sure and I'm happy that this record is finally a reality.

[engl] Consumption is key. War crimes in real time an arms length away, mandatory connectivity to hive mind. The common human experience is experiencing the shift. The 1000 Yard Stare is commonplace, no longer experienced only by soldiers and victims at the front. The front is everywhere. Colonial legacies, genocide, poisoned drug supplies and failed policy, killer cops, global warming, Neo-Liberal fallout, rising Fascism. The Information Age in its current state is one that sees the mask of the emperor starting to slip, a power struggle with the worst players moving into prime positions for takeover and identity politics running the resistance while the working class is dismantled in front of us. The only thing to keep us satiated in an age of endless trauma experience is immediate gratification. The absurdity of all of this that we live, love, buy and die within that framework. It's cynical but it's true. So here we are. Bootlicker's newest album, 1000 Yard Stare is 10 tracks of violent music for a vile world. Musically, this sees the group sticking to their UK82 meets American Hardcore with the echoes of Discharge guiding the hand. Skeptix, Special Duties, Svart Framtid are the seasonings. D-Beat propulsion and the knobs broken off at 11.

[engl] Compiling all E.P.'s by Bootlicker, "Lick The Boot, Lose Your Teeth" presents 24 tracks originally released over four 7"s dating back to 2017. From the earliest incarnation of the band and the start of their signature production and sound to where they are now. With the overblown martial drumming, completely pinned clean guitar attack, Bootlicker has been a fresh take on D-Beat tradition with a handful of Oi/UK82 and American Hardcore influence on the side. Each 7" is compiled here and represents a different phase of the band. The completely broken speaker aggression of "Who Do You Serve", the slight Rock 'n' Roll influenced "Nuclear Family" and bare bones approach of the "Six Track E.P." all paved the way to a more realized sound in "How To Live Life". Instead of tracking down each out of print, individual E.P. Here they are for the taking.

[engl] It's 2021 and Vancouver’s Bootlicker are back with their first full length. Experimenting with various lineups and sounds since 2017, these 14 original tracks flesh out their most realized expression. Following four EP’s and two demos, their self-titled debut stays true to the noise cultivated in the previous offerings. That raw, blown-out production countered with clean guitar sound and Internationally-informed take on a UK82 delivery remains. Everything that made the band what they were on their previous output is polished into a ball of fire that will not be contained. Their mid-tempo, menacing posture of tracks like "Herd The Sheep" and "State Of Fever" give way to the D-beat totality of "Master" or "Two Faced" proving there are still ideas in the tank. There won’t be much left but scorched earth by the time it comes to rest. FFO: Mau Maus, Discharge, SSD. Every copy of this LP comes with a 16 page zine-style lyric insert full of illustrations by band member and visual artist Athena.

[engl] The five heroes finally follow up the Steel Box 45 (Goner) with Cash 'Em In. A disgustingly catchy yet charming ode to the lost art of picking up one lucky person and, well, chucking them over a bar. Might as well, right? Sonically, this is still hitting that sweet spot between early UK punk and glam rock n roll, and once you've flipped both sides you'll be getting ready to cash someone in yourself (and don't worry, Cal from The Chisel pops up to provide full instructions). 250 copies on red vinyl and 450 copies on white vinyl housed in a fold out poster sleeve with artwork from Tin Savage, David Strother and Maxime Smadja. Recorded at Chateau Vergogne.

[engl] The debut full length from London's loudest. Wall to wall speedy punk bordering on the recklessness of Motorhead, the single mindedness of the Kids, the streetwise panache of Cockney Rejects, and the occasional curveball pasted in to keep us all surprised. This LP is timeless vernacular perfection peppered with misleadingly obvious displays of brashness aching their way into the hallways of surprising musical channels. "Can't Tell Me Nothing" could have been on a Rip Off Records 7" from 20 years ago, "Trouble" - a love song to Chubby's one true muse: being naughty - is like an ironed and overdriven Wreckless Eric, "Grenfell Forever" is taken from the empty glass of the Billy Bragg back catalogue. All that alongside the sneering eternity of "All Along the Uxbridge Road," the Hammond Organ smeared "Bruce Grove Bullies" -- it will all have you reaching for your London A to Z and trying your hardest not to spill your pint.

[engl] Brand new fast hardcore from London. A perfect blending of early 80's fast hardcore (think HATED YOUTH) being filtered through the late 80's UK explosion while still young enough to be having a blast. I can't wait to see what this band comes up with next. Featuring members of THE ANNHILIATED and LAST AFFRONT.

[engl] Pestilent Planet is the debut 7 track album from Berlin’s Clock of Time and it’s released a mere 8 months after they played their first gig. The band comes fully formed and up to speed but that is not surprising considering some of the members other projects such as Diat, Vexx and Useless Eaters. Pestilent Planet is a stunning statement of intent. The sound is a driving mix of post punk like Jeopardy era The Sound, and that classic 80’s death rock that Vex and Arch Criminals perfected. It’s instant and urgent especially tracks like 'Rotten Master' which has a fuller Joy Division esque vibe especially in the skeletal guitar hook. It will be love on first listen."

[engl] “Agh! A fresh chop from the large dusty burning murder island: Cold is the Meat to beat. Perth’s finest flesh purveyors have upped their naughty game here across ten tracks of gleefully haughty punk. Hot and Flustered is somehow at once extremely camp and deadly serious. Ashley’s vengeful, elastic rasp smears menses down the screwfaces of vacuous tastemakers, climate change deniers, perennial street perverts, and of course, ZZ top fans. There’s some surprisingly poignant forays into melody (Beach Photography) and a good grip of sudden tempo fuckery to keep us well and truly hooked. Their signature chubby and defiant riffs under snarky bouncing toms formula extends well to the album form, creating a timely reminder that hate and fear are more than reasonable responses to our hell predicament. Let’s take comfort in collective ridicule. When it’s too hot to pogo because the sky is on fire, Cold Meat will let us writhe around in the dirt like the little piggies we are.” (Bryony Beynon) Well, after a slew of 7” offerings, Perth’s Cold Meat have finally hit us with a full length record. Much like their last few releases they’ve taken an amped up approach to 70s PUNK but this time round they offer ever so slightly more diversity. Ten tracks clocking in at just over 23 minutes and cut at 45rpm for maximum volume. Get hot and flustered.

[engl] Cold Meat hail from Perth, Western Australia, but truly these are siren songs for every woman getting fucked over in every corner of this sorry planet, oozing total defiance and sneering, caustic rage across five certified slappers. They hex lazy pricks and bad bastards with a spell of spectacular jangeloid riffs and clattering anarcho toms, each track upping the stakes like a praying mantis - fuck, decapitate, eat corpse for nourishment. Vocalist Ashley's throaty, spit-splashed lyrics cover the full gamut from the care burden placed on mothers ('Maternity Stomp') to the psychic burden of hating men while craving dick ('Meat Joy'). This is incisive, tongue-in-arse-cheek, indefatigably Now punk. Cold Meat will have you fisting the air, but only if you lube up first.

[engl] This 12" collects the first year of recordings from Philadelphia's DELCO MF's. Initially started a solo recording project of Jim Shomo (Dark Thoughts, Loose Nukes), then turning into a fully formed band with personnel from Phantom and Kinetic Orbital Strike for the 'March Of The MF's' EP. The first word that leaps to mind listening to this is FERAL. Eleven tracks in as many minutes of completely wild and unhinged hardcore punk. I feel for a lot of this stuff, you are either a fiend for it or it doesn't move you at all, but if you get a kick from the likes of The Neos, Deep Wound, the cream of the Non-Commercial Records crop or the soundtrack to avoiding that folding chair that appears to be moving through the air towards you at full pelt, this might well be for you. Limited to 300 copies.

[engl] Almost four years since the 'Signs Of The Future' 12", Dublin's DISGUISE return with 'Bas Fada'. Six more extremely violent and blown out tracks that sound like the best of Scandinavian and Japanese hardcore punk thrown into a concrete mixer. Ever wondered what was on the other side of that enormous slammed door? Here's your answer. Recorded by the band themselves at the Karate Klub, then mixed by Jonah Falco and mastered at Noise Room Tokyo. First press is on yellow vinyl.

[engl] Erupt offer up five fiery tracks on Left To Rot. Treading the blurry lines between extreme punk and extreme metal, Left To Rot is a cacophony in all the right ways. Fast as, heavy as, nasty as. Featuring members of SHEER MAG, GELD and GUTTER GODS - Erupt brings its own molten explosions to the surface. These burnt offerings are recommended for fans of Sodom, Celtic Frost, Iron Age, Warthog, Mindsnare and the other hordes of apocalypse old and new. 7" on slime green vinyl with stamped inner sleeve and insert housed in a reverse board sleeve, limited to 500 copies.

[engl] Across 10 songs and a handful of instrumentals, Melbourne's GELD demonstrate a concerted progression from their previous work; raging incendiary hardcore collides with nightmarish bad trip wanderings in a swirling maelstrom of tightly marshaled chaos. The fast parts are faster, the slow parts slower, the weird parts weirder. The vicious thrashing punk of songs like "Invader" and "Infra" come in at a little over a minute; a wild joyride reminiscent of the Japanese Burning Spirits bands alongside Cleveland’s infamous ‘90s hardcore scene. Meandering hallucinogenic badness meanwhile emanates from "Gedankenfleisch", "Forces At Work" and "L.O.W.A.G. II", injecting the record with a terrifying sense of drug paranoia and psychological dissolution bringing to mind STICKMEN WITH RAYGUNS, FLIPPER or POISON IDEA. Purportedly undertaken as something of an exorcism, the writing and recording of ‘Beyond The Floor’ was characterized by “pills, meth, booze, weed, DMT, hate, betrayal, fear, love, depression, addiction, denial and broken bones”.

[engl] A nasty follow up EP to the Perfect Texture LP released earlier this year finds GELD in a more irascible and unhinged state. Soft Power expands on the band's vision of a freer form of D-Beat with noisier sounds, tighter dimensions, wilder visions and subtler experimentation with carefully placed nuances. Don't be tricked into thinking this is some sort of hippy dippy jamband bullshit though, every second of this is cruelly calculated and executed with the utmost care. Damn.

[engl] Less than a year after their debut LP 'Qualm', Berlin's best dressed are back with a new line up and a new EP. I was thinking about the best way to describe this one and then it hit me. Some of you reading this are probably familiar with the feeling that comes in the days after that weekend when you decided to stay up for 48 hours, well that is accurately condensed and presented to you over the course of these four new songs. Paranoia? Check. Feelings of hopelessness? Check. The need to get the hell out of that sunlight? Check. The sudden sound of a saxophone? Check. This has surpassed the lazy post-anarcho punk comparisons. It's streamlined, superior and ready for you to feel both the serotonin overdose and severe lack of, all in the space of ten minutes. The record is limited to 500 copies on beautiful, bold and black vinyl presented in a pocket sleeve and insert with artwork from bassist Raquel Torre.