[engl] REVERTT, PURO ODIO, OGRO, STA.CRUZ and now ARESI, have emerged from this small town on the Basque coast in the last few years, building a small and great scene that keeps producing new exciting bands year after year. A project born out of the lockdown boredom from the pandemic times and made up by 3/4 of REVERTT have now their debut 2-track demo tape of catchy Punk/Oi! with a Rock'n'Roll touch and a rough edge, influenced by bands like TEMPLARS, THE CLICHÉS or THE KIDS and singing in Basque.

[engl] After some line-up changes and adding a second guitar, this catalan band has managed to embolden its sound plus enrich it in detail. Rough vocals without sounding guttural death metal, pounding bass lines, smashing guitars with a proper distortion plus leads and licks here and there that makes it all in all more interesting, everything driven by simple yet effective drumming.

[engl] Debut release of this Catalan band with a strong mid-80's english OI! influence.

[engl] This beast of EP is finally available on vinyl!!! More than a year after LA PARCA TE BUSCA, the label run by BRUX's guitar player Ivan, put out a 50 copies run of the tape version (although with different art, title and song order) we can finally rejoice and enjoy this piece of hot wax. BRUX carries on their trademark Punk/OI!/Rock'n'Roll of catchy-as-fuck tunes filled with simple and basic yet fruitful riffs and memorable sing-a-longs but they've manage to incorporate a deep dark moody touch to their music, flirting with Post-Punk and Death Rock elements, specially with Ivan's guitar work and the bass sound, but without loosing a bit of their aggressive force. Juanma's vocals sound like a pissed off dog with rabies chained inside a cave, far from emotive or mellow, and keeps a perfect balance with the melodies of the guitar leads, the rythm section is unstoppable, with pounding bass-lines and Adri killing it on drums, punishing the hi-hat and making us all dance like maniacs to this 4 enormous tracks. BRUX hits hard and these 4 tracks are just a proof of that.

[engl] Last summer we released a promo/teaser/advance cassette with 2 tracks that now are accompanied of 5 more new songs of their fine melodic yet aggressive Punk OI! 7 tracks in total on this second release by this California band, 7 songs where gruffy meets tuneful, melodic meets rough and epic meets raw. The songwriting is excellent as always, with special attention to detail and great guitar work. Huge riffs and memorable sing-a-longs. All wraped around with the best art again by Andoni De La Cruz.

[engl] About a year ago I got in contact with Alex Zambrano because I was curious about two bands he had been involved with: COMBAT FORCE and REPEAT OFFENDER. We didn’t know each other, never talked before, and 3 weeks later REPEAT OFFENDER’s Demo 7” was ready to send to press. And not too long after that, he was already sending me something else, a personal project born during lockdown, with his good friend on drums while he played everything else. Less than a year later, we’ve done 3 records together. I think I have messaged him this past year more than any of my family members combined! It’s been such a weird year, for me, for him, for everyone. But in the most difficult situations, we are still lucky to meet amazing, hard-working and easy-going people, and he’s definitely one of them. CASTILLO is his latest effort to please our ears and terrorize the masses with fucking winner riffs. This one-sided 12" contains 5 tracks of thick-guitars, epic licks & leads, incredible bass lines and stomping drum beats. It sounds raw yet melodic, and has crushing power. It’s just perfect!

[engl] Two of the most exciting current Punk/Oi! bands sharing a piece of wax? Fuck yeah! Here you have 2 new tracks of Mexico’s MESS and England’s THE CHISEL delivering more of their finesse, anthemic tunes and raw agression in a perfect balance, 4 memorable tracks masterly executed with an eye on the British sounds of the early 80’s.

[engl] Since i feel lazy to write a text today and Ian already did a great job doing it a while ago here it is from the man himself: “A few months ago a friend was in town from London and we decided to spend a day writing songs instead of sitting at the bar. We sat on the recording for a few months until Mat from FUERZA BRUTA recorded vocals for it. It turned out pretty cool and is coming out as a 7” on Mendeku Diskak later this year. Members of LOST LEGION, FUERZA BRUTA, THE CHISEL and ARM’S RACE. Sounds like if 80’s Brazilian HC bands had been more into AGNOSTIC FRONT and NABAT than TERVEET KÄDET”

[engl] COLLAPS is a new band made up of some veterans in the German scene(s) and last year they released a demotape on the Berlin label SFR Hardcore that i played over and over again here at Mendeku HQ, one of my favourite demos of 2022 for sure. So here we are a few months later with the vinyl pressing of it! 4 tracks (plus an amazing and classy piano intro) of PUNK in capital letters. Other than that i find it sort of difficult to place them into a specific sub-category, sure it’s Punk with heavy influences from Oi! and Hardcore. but each of the 4 songs have a unique feel to it, diverse riff patterns and drum beats, blending all toghether under a blanket of rawness with that great “sand-paper” guitar tone. Nice lyrics with a touch of sarcasm and irony about daily life issues and other scene subjects.

[engl] After the demo-single tape we released in march 2020 it was finally time for a vinyl output of this great band from Murcia and here you have it. Despite all the problems and setbacks generated by covid-related restrictions plus other complications, which fully hit the band’s recording schedule, the vinyl debut of CONTEMPT is finally out! Here we have here 8 tracks of some of the heaviest, meanest and musically richest OI! played nowadays: guitar driven, epic, melodic yet hard-hitting, with even a metal-ish edge and some Rock influences. This feels like an iron fist in a velvet glove: Heavy as fuck yet gentle in the delivery. Very powerful tunes with hand-crafted guitar arrangements which help creating an overall momumental feel, a demolishing rythm section with perfect sounding drums and bass distortion and an amazing vocal delivery perfectly pitched, rough and yet clear with lyrics full of pride without stupid prejudices,about personal issues, historical references, love for their land without being a stupid knucklehead, socio-economic troubles. Inspirational, menacing, prideful down-to-earth lyrics. The first time i listened to these songs my jaw just dropped, i could feel the attention to detail, the level of effort and commitment in the creative process and, in each consecutive listen, discovering little details that just made my love for this band grow and grow. I just feel very lucky to be able to release such powerful and significant (at least for me) music.

[engl] This new canadian band (with members of BOOTLICKER, NO HEART, LAST CRUSADE and SPLIT ARROWS among others) released a debut demotape last year that immediately catched my attention, i got a bunch of copies for distribution and instantly became one of my favourite demos from 2022. And they also featured 2 tracks on the British Columbia Bovver compilation also released last year. I got hooked up by their fresh hardcorepunk somehow taking influences from both shores of the north Atlantic Ocean, like if GANG GREEN and CIRCLE JERKS would be jamming with THE PARTISANS and THE SKEPTIX on a drunken party. Or something like that. So now it was time for their vinyl debut on their own and here you have 10 tracks (plus a little surprise exclusive for vinyl, not digital) of sharp, catchy, fast and piercing Punk Hardcore on a 45rpm 12inch under the title “Perverted Law”.

[engl] CUERO and PURO ODIO, Bilbao and Bermeo, 5 guys and a split 12inch with the title “Morir En Vizcaya”, the latest musical assault from these Basque powerhouses shredding and pounding like there's no tomorrow. Both bands keeping it brutal and fierce with their different approaches to menacing PUNK. You already know what to expect. CUERO has mastered with finesse once again their craft of blending elements of Punk, Oi! and Hardcore with a dash of Old School Metal infused by their guitar sound. 4 tracks of epic and catchy evilness. And speaking of evil, be aware when flipping the record, because PURO ODIO is here just to terrorize again and again the soft ears and weak souls of us mortals. Like an unstoppable funeral march ready to ruin your silly fun. 5 death sentences in the shape of songs of the highest and rawest Old School Black Metal Punk or whatever you want to call it. I don't care, just dive in and enjoy the ride. If you are a HELLHAMMER fan these tracks will fill you up with delight. If not, then, too bad for you because they don't give a shit.

[engl] After their demotape in early 22 (and recently reissued on vinyl) this Catalan band is back with 6 new tracks on this 7inch in the same vein as their debut: hearty songs with bleak and instrospective lyrics sung in catalan, filled with bittersweet melodies that go deep. Somber Punk with exquisite sensitivity that mingles with Post-Punk without falling into any formula, showing nothing but excellent songwriting skills in order to combine different elements and influences of various sub-categories of Punk creating something really unique and very personal. Its catchy, its angry, its gloomy, its melodic, its raw, its desperate. Its ENEMIC INTERIOR.

[engl] The Chicago pack is back!!! It's been already 6 years since their "Verdugo" 12" was released and in the meantime they put out a couple of 7"s and an ultra-limited lathe cut 10", went into some lineup changes and got back on track full force to now offer us a new 12" with the title "Contra" containing 8 new tracks of their trademark Oi! Punk sung in spanish.

[engl] First time i heard about these guys i couldn't belive it, kids between 15 and 17 years old playing their own type of Hardcorepunk, no "kalimotxo punk", no "party pseudo-Oi!", stylistically far from what any of their peers in bands would play around here, and i got imnediately hooked. Their demo was out in october 2020 and it didn't take long to sell it out, 200 copies that were gone in the middle of a world pandemic, with no gigs whatsoever. 2 years later these young lads from Gernika are back with 3 new songs mainly influenced by the early NYHC stuff like Straight Ahead, Rest In Pieces, The Abused or Cause For Alarm. This flexi 7" comes with silver foil stamped center art and it's housed in an inner cardstock bag with sticker and open jacket. There are 3 colour variants:

[engl] One of the things we love most here at Mendeku HQ is discovering new exciting bands and sharing them with the rest of the world, that’s why we’ve been releasing many demos, debut recordings or vinyl version of demos. The freshness, the urgency, the rawness of the bands on their early recordings always attracted us and here we have another fine example. Around 6 years ago i stumbled upon a Youtube video with the demo recordings of LOST LEGION, at a first glance they might have fooled one or two with the fake 1974 year reference, including myself, but only few minutes of research until i realized that it wasn’t any 40+ obscure recording of a forgotten band but a current project with some familiar faces in it. Well, time passes by, bla bla bla, and here we are in spring 2023 and we have now in production the vinyl version of those amazing 4 tracks, originally released on tape, of crude Bovver Rock’n’Roll/Proto OI! (if you will) with Punk practice room vibes, full of infectious tunes with crispy bass sound and sharp guitars.

[engl] Second installment of this mexican powerhouse heavily influenced by the second wave of British punk. 6 new tracks that sound if they were featured in timeless compilations such as "Punk And Disorderly", "A Country Fit For Heroes" or "Riotous Assembly". A contemporary punk tribute to a great musical era that makes you think of the Riot City Records and No Future Records respective catalogues.

[engl] Debut release for this mexican band, new project of members from HIMNOS and SPARROW 68, deeply into the BLITZ sound o influenced by UK82 punk, some sort of crossbreed between EXPLOITED and BLITZ. 5 songs that sound like 5 anthems (specially "Street Boys") made to be sung over and over again, catchy as fuck tunes for desperate as fuck times.

[engl] New album of these mexican jefes containing 14 tracks of the finest Punk/OI! After two 12"EPs, a single and their split 7" with @thechiseluk they went for a full album and it's a killer. You must know them by now if you like Punk and Oi! A musical voyage through Blitz, UK82, compilations like "A Country Fit For Heroes", "Riotous Assembly" and "Punk And Disorderly" or Riot City and No Future Records.

[engl] Debut release from this mexican band with 4 tracks of metal-spiced powerful punk/oi

[engl] Originally released as a CD in 2006, the debut album of the basques ORREAGA 778 finally is reissued on vinyl. Remastered for the occasion by Daniel Husayn at his North London Bomb Factory studios, the album resumes the freshness of a starter band and, pictures the essence of the political-historical moment of the Basque Country through their lyrics.

[engl] Split 12" with the bands ORREAGA 778 from the Basque Country and GREBOL from Sweden.

[engl] This is like the hidden gem of the Basque Country scene, very particular and unique, one of its kind, out-of-nowhere devastating attack. 6 tracks recorded in one sitting, altogether, for maximum pleasure and enjoyment, that made it into a demo tape released in 2018. Now we'll have it on vinyl and it shreds. (got the test pressing already, it fucking SHREDS) Harsh, cold, ripping tunes for the fans of the music made from the guts. No tricks, no overproduction, no bullshit. Welcome to PURO ODIO's world. It might be difficult to digest for some people who expect the same type of releases from each label over and over again and feed their comfort with the expected. But hey, we didn't start this to please everyone's ears but to release whatever the fuck we want, to release music that make us feel. If you are into old school, raw, blackened punk and hardcore, the first steps of black metal, if you are into broken melodies, nihilist lyrics and overall darkness, then it's your lucky day. Enjoy PURO ODIO.

[engl] Exactly half a year after the vinyl release of their demo comes the second 7" by the Californians, and I can't be happier about this release! This band just gets better and better, more and more brutal, sharper and sharper, adding complexity to the songs without losing the point, and still keeping a healty balance between the fast ragers and the mid-tempo stompers they trade-marked. 6 new tracks of more sheer brutality, more feedback and distortion, more punching basslines, more of those sweet crazy memorable guitar riffs, more deep-in-the-cave rough screaming, more of that momumental drumming. More stomping and elbowing. This is awesome. Just check the 20 sec intro on "Culture Of War". You feel it? That's REPEAT OFFENDER coming for you and destroying everything in their path.