Demo reviews

Strul - Nu Blir Det Strul Demo MC

I got two demos sent to me by the always nice Mr. Hedberg a few months ago and in true Doomsday Mag fashion I haven´t reviewed them until now. I guess the "I´ll do it later" mentality has grown bigger in my life this year. Anyway, what we have here is eleven songs of full throttle hardcore influenced by Missbrukarna, Headcleaners and maybe a pinch of Totalitär. Or you can simply just call it råpunk if you like. Cathy riffs and a rabid Mr. Hedberg behind the mic who delivers clever lyrics that only can originate from a guy grown up in Kristinehamn that deals with idiots, russians, cops and more idiots.

Can´t say enough good things about this demo so I urge you to go and have a listen for yourselves. I´ve played this tape non stop since I got it and can easily say it´s one of this years best releases. That is if the upcoming EP won´t top it, if it even gets released in 2015.

This tape is now sold out, but the band have uploaded the whole thing to their bandcamp and you can also download the songs from there. Check it out and be sure to enjoy it as much as I do.



Strålskadad - Bli Aldrig Dom Demo MC

This is the second demo I got from Hedberg and here you find him behind the drums. I have to admit that for a guy who started playing drums a few years ago he manages to do what is expected in this type of band. Nothing to complain about in that department although it´s nothing spectacular. But I wouldn´t listen to this type of music if I were after some magic to happen behind the drum kit.

I haven´t listened to this tape as much as the Strul one cuz that took me completely by surprise, but listening to this now to freshen up my impressions I have to say that this is not bad at all. Pär the guitar player plays in both bands and you can tell by the catchy riffs going on through out both of these tapes. Five tracks of cool hardcore/råpunk is served and although this came in the same package as Strul I wouldn´t write this band off just yet. Don´t know how active they are at the moment but hopefully they haven´t broken up.

The whole demo is up at their Soundcloud page. Shoot them an email at straalskadad(a)gmail.com if you want to buy the tape.

Suffer The Pain - Midnight Sacrifice LP (Phobia Records)

Suffer The Pain - Midnight Sacrifice LP (Phobia Records)

Suffer The Pain´s first LP serves up fourteen songs of metal punk this time leaning a bit more to the metal side of things. Still you can´t mistake that it´s Suffer The Pain you´re listening to. There´s some slower numbers thrown in among the fast ones and I think that was necessary for this to not be so one dimensional. It´s still primitive as hell (pun intended) but to manage to make fourteen songs interesting there needs to be some variation and even though they´re not reinventing their sound, they´re not at all actually, the slower songs is there for a reason and it works really well. There´s some re-recorded songs on here and although I´m not really a fan of that move you can´t deny the sheer greatness of the songs chosen to be re-recorded.

All in all a really cool LP and if you´re into bands like Dishammer you should definately pick this up.

I reviewed a promo CD. The actual vinyl is set to be released in November the last I heard. Keep checking Phobia Records for more info. You can also listen to the whole thing over at the bands bandcamp site.

Kronofogden - Arbete Och/Eller Fritid LP (Blindead Productions)

I´ve been looking forward to this LP ever since Krogh announced he would release it and while I was sure it wouldn´t disappoint, I figured the production would go more in the direction of the previously released EP "Käftarna Maler". Kronofogden does the exact opposite though and goes for a much rawer production which suits them perfectly. I´ve always thought Kronofogden sounds like Missbrukarna and where that band had a fair amount of US hardcore/punk in their sound I have to say Kronofogden adds a whole lot more of that to their Angry Hudik hardcore punk. There´s even a song featuring Hasse and Rolf from said band making this LP kind of a full circle kind of thing. This is full of straight forward raw and direct songs filled with great riffs and smart and well written lyrics. I especially like the nod to Fy Fan! with the song title Dum I Huvve (Inte Arbetslös). I could chose some favorite songs but decided not to because I´d rather listen to the whole thing. Pick this up, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. Besides the great music the packaging is really cool with a lyric insert and a 16 page comic book.

You can listen to and download the record here: Blindead bandcamp

You can buy the record here: Blindead mailorder

American Hardcore 1978-1987 CD6

Another compilation of eighties hardcore from North America? Yeah, I just couldn´t keep away from doing another since I found some cool bands and figured I could make a smaller volume. However, I didn´t really plan on it to be this extensive and along the years since the last one I did I must have forgotten how much work it is to do one of these. I must say it feels pretty good to have it done and I´m just as happy with this one as I´ve been with the other ones. If you look at the playlist you´ll see mostly obscurities of the (North) American hardcore scene of the eighties, but also some shit I forgot to add to the other volumes like Infest, Beastie Boys etc. Also some band I would call straight up punk rock bands like The Lewd and Fear but I included them since the songs I´ve chosen are obviously on the hardcore side of things. Some of these bands feature people whose "fame" comes from being in later bands. Tom Lyle of Government Issue played in Beaver, Dave Grohl played in Mission Impossible, some members from Infest played in Open Your Mind, Almost 21 became the rhythm section of D.I. on the Horse Bites, Dog Cries LP and so on.

Anyway, hope you´re just as curious as me about this shit. It seems like I´m not able to shake this curiosity about 80´s american hardcore off me but I hardly see that as something negative. I doubt I´ll make another one of these though, but I don´t dare to say anything definitive. You´ll find the download link below the tracklist at the bottom. Enjoy! And please, leave a comment.

Oh, I might as well explain that the Landlords song is written sarcastically about a case that freed the assailants in a rape charge, nothing else. The Genocide song however, is probably just what they sing about. Those teenagers and their urge to shock.

01. Infest - Sick-O
02. DXA - Interests
03. The Burnt - Action Action
04. Fear - Gimme Some Action
05. The Crewd - Every Mother´s Dream
06. Angry Thalomide Babies - Crib Death
07. Virus - Rhetoric
08. Lockjaw - Gang Violence
09. Sado-Nation - On The Wall
10. Almost 21 - Drowning In The Rug
11. Youthquake - We Don´t Need
12. Insanity Defense - Let Me Help
13. Neighborhood Watch - Acid Rain
14. Vicious Circle - Weird
15. Don´t No - Innocence Of Youth
16. Krieg Kopf - Immortal
17. Assault - Never Ending Greed
18. Mission Impossible - Into Your Shell
19. Red C - Pressure´s On
20. Power Of The Spoken Word - Decide Or Die
21. Front Line - Beach Impediment
22. Open Your Mind - Pseudo Skater
23. Stillborn Christians - Money/Kill
24. Beastie Boys - Transit Cop
25. Funeral - Waiting For The Bomb Blast
26. Braille Party - Let It Burn
27. The Landlords - No Good Woman
28. Desecration - Macho Man
29. Suburban Mutilation - Police State
30. Caustic Defiance - Educated Pain
31. Iconoclast - Battlefields (Nightmare)
32. Teenage Warning - No War
33. No Crisis - On Your Head
34. Genocide - Teenage Girls
35. Spastic Rats - Snap Judgement
36. Unruled - Lost Cause
37. Bad Influence - I Don´t Care
38. Homo Picnic - War Stories
39. Violent Tumor - Abortion
40. Beaver - Video Disease
41. God´s Will - Space Queers From Pluto
42. Scapegoats - Shitcan
43. Born Without A Face - The Lesser
44. Death Sentence - Real World
45. Satan´s Cheerleaders - Darwin Social Hour
46. Pig Children - Sick
47. Capitol Punishment - God Of Greed
48. Zero Mentality - Revenge Motive
49. Direct Action - Direct Action
50. Falling Idols - Hell No
51. Ribzy - Cyanide Pill
52. Subculture - Sadness
53. The Lewd - Beyond Moderation
54. Death Puppy - Star Spangled Sickness
55. Special Forces - Gung Ho

American Hardcore CD6