SUCIO PODER

Brilliantly executed mid tempo 80s Spanish punk, recorded in Australia in 2009.  Naysayers abound when it comes to simply rehashing a style or aping a genre, and I agree that bringing something new to the table is generally a good thing, and something to be rewarded more than recreating music that was perfected 20 years ago.  However, if you're going to rehash, ape, worship, or pay homage...you might as well make it as good as these four tracks from SUCIO PODER.  They know what they are doing, and they are very fucking good at it.

SUCIO PODER

ASESINATO DEL PODER

As simple as it is ferocious, this 2013 banger from northern Spain drops eight solid punk jams right in your lap. "Atrapado" and the four note "Celdas" slow the pace to a creepy crawl, but the rest of this tape is some kind of DBeat/pogo hybrid - fast, pure, raw, and very punk. You like the way it looks? You'll like the way it sounds.

ASESINATO DEL PODER

ACTITUD SUBVERSIVA

 

Puerto Rico's ACTITUD SUBVERSIVA hit (me) like melodic 1990s European hardcore (think SIN DIOS by way of FUNERAL ORATION....which makes no sense at all). They left a couple of full length tapes in their wake, and a killer split with TROPIEZO that's still pretty easy to come by. I got back from tour yesterday and this one feels just right this morning - pay special attention to "Mentiras del Poder."

NI TU , NO DIOS, NI EL MUNDO

ORAÇÃO TERRORISTA

A four song, dual vocal crust assault from Brazil. This demo comes from 2001 and features all of your favorite brutal crust characteristics...what the hell else is there to say about seven minutes of anti-fascist, anti-cop, pro-distortion, pro-punk insanity? A heavy as shit relentless assault - some might say that it's too early to raise a beer while you blast this. Those people are idiots.

Ânsia de Poder 

RAKOSI

I heard about this Hungarian band last year from my friend Spencer, who has spent a few stints in Budapest. Their ten song demo made the rounds for a few months and was recently put to wax (Lengua Armada Records - already sold out, check your local distro) and issued on cassette for the North American audience (Combat Action Tapes, also responsible for the recent SUCIO PODER reissue - they've still got copies of both, hit 'em up). The attack here is stripped down hardcore punk, with only a third of the tracks even reaching the 50 second mark. Simple riffs that are delivered with total ferocity and mosh inducing tempos that are over before you know it. It's like an accidental hybrid of USHC and 80s Spanish punk with a classic Iron Curtain delivery. The jerky nature of "Tinana" is worth the whole demo, and the 23 second three chord DISCHARGE-esque ripper "Egri Joska" has managed to get stuck in my head countless times since Spencer slipped this tape my way. Check out the band here, and hopefully there will be more releases in the future.

RAKOSI

NUEVAS GENERACIONES

Collection of eight hard hitting hardcore bands from 1990s Argentina. Personal faves are DIVERSÍON SUBURBANA, XAUTOCONTROLX, OPCION CRUCIAL, and PODER NEUTRAL, probably because these seem to fit more into traditional DIY hardcore confines. TOTUS TOSS sound like a metalcore PANTERA but way unhinged, CONFORT SUPREMO are full on 90s HC chug and harmonics, PENSAR O MORIR almost come off like commercial alternative music before they launch into knuckle dragging metalcore, and they need to lay off the slap bass (sadly, they are not the only offender on this tape, just the most egregious one), FUERZA INTERNA sound like later INFECTIOUS GROOVES-era SUICIDAL but with hardcore vocals - and a warning that several of the tracks on this comp venture into proto-nü metal territory. But it's a time and a place thing...so you take the good with the bad. And if you like deep hardcore cuts that make you want to put your head through a wall, then you're welcome.

NUEVAS GENERACIONES