OBLIGASI

 

It's an absolute shame that these kids only cranked out this one tape, but good grief it's an absolute beast. Eight blasts of late-decade power violence from Malaysia - high/low vox, crushing neanderthal stomps, discordant fast riffs that hit like nails on a chalkboard punching you in the face. There's an INFEST cover too, but by the time you get through "Democrashit" and "Weak" that track is barely more than an afterthought. 

OBLIGASI 

APPARATUS

 

Hard to believe that APPARATUS has been delivering damage for (almost?) two decades, but here we are in 2024 and I'm getting my brain melted by the same Malaysian juggernaut that slapped my face with Total Mangel Product back in 2006. Absürd 19 is a master class in Scandi-worship, eleven doses of relentless mania including a D.N.A. cover with Nils on vocals in case you needed to know where they were coming from. APPARATUS are dedicated to their craft, and seem determined to keep perfecting it....and I'm going to keep listening.

ABSÜRD 19

PARÖTID

 

Years ago I tried to focus different days on different themes. It started with noise punk on Mondays because....if you're gonna have a shit week then why not kick it off with some shit, right? I'm not dogmatic about it, but when my ears start to cringe from a distortion laden sonic assault I often think "This would be good for a Monday," and that's exactly what happened with PARÖTID. No guitar in sight, this Malaysian duo create a layer of midrange with the wash of cymbals so you can focus on the menacing rumble - it fukkn works. Obligatory reverbed vocals and in depth songs that move far beyond dis-formulaic hardcore or simple blown out crust, ending with the 5+ minute earnest dirge "Tamat" (a particularly bold move). Everything here just....works. Now go have a shit week.

SUMMONING OF DESTRUCTION

KK NO FUTURE PUNK COMP 2018

 

You want me to tell you that I fucked up by not spending all of 2018 in Kota Kinabalu? After listening to this tape, that's not a claim I'm prepared to make...because if this compilation is any indication, 2018 was a motherfucker of a year to be in Kota Kinabalu. XRDM you are familiar with (or you fukkn should be), but every damn track on this tape is a face melter: MATAI, HEADLOCK, BODYBAGS, THE Y.K.U., FRUSTASI, BLITZBOY....and two unqualified scorchers from XRDM. You like hardcore punk? Then I guess you wish you had been there with me. 

KK NO FUTURE

FASTGAME

 

It seems like every time I revisit turn of the century fastcore I miss the era more. Still not totally sure if I miss the bands and the scene more than I miss the fact that I wasn't old and decrepit (I'm joking - it's definitely the bands...and the freedom to go see all of them). FASTGAME exemplifies the absolute explosion of the scene in what seemed like "far corners" of the world to tunnel vision North American punks - while we were singing along with nine of our closest friends in Rapid City, South Dakota these kids were covering our songs to throngs of rabid thrashers who knew every word. It was a different time...and while it was impossible to be everywhere at once, it's nice to look back into the time machine and see what you missed the first time. Shit flies by, y'all - soak up as much as you can becauser you don't get it back.

SOME ULTRA RARE STUDIO STUFFS THE BAND NEVER MADE PLAUS AN INSANE LIVE SET RECORDED IN A PLACE WHERE HARDCORE EXISTS! 

TURMOIL // IGNORANCE // DEPRESS

 

Glorious international hardcore collaboration from the turn of the century. Seven burners from under the radar Yokohama raw thrashers IGNORANCE (there's a self titled EP from 2003 or so, purple cover, not hard to come by....do it), then a few catchy but ultra pissed tracks from Malaysia's DEPRESS wrap up the first side. The flip, however, is all about Turkey's wildest DIY hardcore export: TURMOIL. Raw, manic fastcore that sounds like sonic through line from LÄRM to SPAZZ. Tracks from two different sessions here, and the second batch have a bombastic early Earache vibe - I was only familiar with the REGENERACION split before this tape, and I'm honestly kinda floored. Scroll on by at your own peril, kids. 

TURMOIL // DEPRESS // IGNORANCE

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BOMBRÄD

Fist banging Monday morning with the 2016 tape from Malaysia's BOMBRÄD. It sounds like it looks, and it looks punk as fuuuukkkkk, five deathly blasts of blown out DBeat with a blatant Swedish influence. Hold on during the start/stops that overpower the eponymous track sandwiched in the middle of the tape, then get sawn in half by an army of high end guitars while the relentless bludgeoning bashes your senses. The formula might be simple, but it fukkn works. 

BOMBRÄD 

THE BLOOD SUCKER KILLING SYSTEM

You have to listen to this with the right ears. Malaysia's B.C.K.S. (and yes, I'm aware that the letters in the acronym doesn't match the band's full name) were a late century melodic punk act, and while they sound dated now, I would fucking love to see then in KL circa 1998. These cuts are appropriately loose, earnest as anything, and if you listen with the right ears.....now let's talk about that guitar solo that takes up the second half of "Bombs N' Guns." Because...wow. 

RADIO FRIENDLY SUCKS

GEEN NAAM

There's something about the innocent and determined approach to clenched fist political punk that keeps me coming back to this 2011 demo from Malaysia. The guitars have that cheap distortion pedal almost shitty thrash metal fuzz that permeates the riffs themselves and makes breakdowns to tracks like "Police State (Knock 'em Dead!)" sound all mushy, and then there's the straight forward early-WASTE speed picking in "Unanswered Prayers" that stands in opposition to the fiery street punk vibe that dominates most of Deaf, Dumb and Blind. All of this says to me that GEEN NAAM are just fucking going for it, and the results aren't necessarily predetermined...and that is an honest fukkn band. They play fast, they play strong, and they play punk as shit. Maybe this is a decade old, but it's timeless - and by that, I mean that this could just have easily come from '90s North American basements or late '80s South America....it's actual and international punk. I like punk. 

 DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND

SPEEDWITCHES

A killer two song dose of stoned psychedelic biker jams from Malaysia's SPEEDWITCHES. The fuzzed out guitar has me hooked before the riffs even sink in, a dirty maxed out single track attack that brings to mind Japanese classics like BLUES CREATION. They take their time developing structures (two tracks here span over 20 minutes), meandering along the way for solos and hallucinations to remind you that the journey is absolutely the most important part of the journey. More listens only bring more comparisons that span decades and continents, which leads me to believe that SPEEDWITCHES are perhaps without time and/or space....just floating on the rock with no destination other than rock 'n roll. 

You can certainly call this stoner rock if you are so inclined, and it's obvious that SPEEDWITCHES are well versed in the SABBATH, SLEEP, KYUSS school. But the psychedelic end of the heavy spectrum represented in these tracks is what really sets them apart. They aren't aping any of the shamelessly retro bell bottom doom bands, they sound like they are actually from another time and another place. See above comment: more listens.

SPEEDWITCHES

WARFEÄR

Five gut churning bursts of high intensity DBeat crust from Malaysia. If this weekend has taught me anything, it's that (hopefully) fist in the air DBeat hardcore is "cool" again....although for some people it never went out of style. Check the breakdown in "Dead End"...this one is 100% cream. 

WARFEÄR

ENSLAVED CHAOS

It would seem that the most ignorant forms of underground music are the ones that become universal. Enter knuckle dragging slam/hardcore circa 1997...from Malaysia. But the drums groove just right, the double kick is on point, and that beatdown pogo beat in "Spiral Youth"? Yeah...that's what's up. As much as I wanted "Sick Of You" to be a GWAR cover, the fact that it sounds like How Will I Laugh-era SUICIDAL mixed with Blood, Sweat & No Tears-era SICK OF IT ALL...? Well, that more than makes up for the lack of GWAR. Primal, guttural metallic hardcore. Thank me later. Actually....thank me now.

$6 NOT MORE, YES LESS

BRAINCELL

Filthy, nasty, noisy, blown out DBeat hardcore mania from Malaysia. I mean.....this is exactly what you expect when you look at the cover, except it's better. Eleven minutes of perfection await you....and you deserve this.

MINDLOCK

CARBURETOR DUNG

If you don't know, then you should. CARBURETOR DUNG are the elder statesmen of Malaysian DIY punk....active for well over 20 years, and singer Joe Kidd is responsible for Ricecooker Shop in Kuala Lumpur. Two tapes in today's link, both reissued relatively recently (that's a lot of Rs). 1993's Songs For Friends is more rudimentary and more melodic, catchy tunes that fellow remnants of the '90s will find instantly familiar. The sound had been fine tuned by the time The Allure Of Manure was released in 1999, and the attack was faster and more precise. Political hardcore punk mingling with elements of CRIMPSHRINE and FUN PEOPLE with Ben Weasel caliber catchy lead vox (yeah, I know that guy is a piece, but most of us have rocked Boogadaboogadaboogada at some point and there's no reason to be ashamed of it) and the chorus backing vocals are bang on. There's no shame in getting addicted, young punks...these are the sounds your ancestors thrived on.

 CARBURETOR DUNG

Terminal Escape also recommends the decidedly more rough and raw Inginku Rejam Raksasa Kejam! 10" from 2011, and Genjing Records just released a split EP with underground Chinese punk legends SMZB. So I guess you have some homework to do...

TERSANJUNG 13 // INQUIRY LAST SCENERY

Gnarly crust grind from Jakarta split veterans TERSANJUNG 13, backed with five bursts from Malaysia's INQUIRY LAST CENTURY that brings to mind late '90s chaotic screamo (I swear, young punks, that shit hasn't always been a bad word).  Sometimes jams hit your earholes just right and make you want to win, and that's what happened to me with this split.

TERSANJUNG 13 // INQUIRY LAST CENTURY

KRIGSSYSTEMMET

Here's a taste of the shit you monkeys used to lap up every Monday - I know I've dropped the ball a bit on Noise Punk Mondays, but the shit still rules and Mondays still happen almost every week...so here's KRIGSSYSTEMET. Malaysian noise mongers from bands you already celebrate (if you're worth a shit, that is...just saying) dish out six tracks on their first demo, though it only takes the seven chords of the intro to let you know full well what you are in for. Questionable tuning, derivative DBeat riffage and a chaotic production culminate on absolute killers like "Am I Your Punk?" and "Fool Life," while "Faceless Scum" is just an unabashed creamer that defies genre classification. You know what you're getting, you monkeys, and KRIGSSYSTEMET is exactly why you are here.

WHO'S NEXT TO BE THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT?

ALL THESE WHILE...

Chaotic and manic mid '00s grind/HC from Malaysia, ALL THESE WHILE... rip through eight tracks in as many minutes. Maybe that's not particularly noteworthy, but bear in mind that the final offering is a three minute echo laden doom/crust piece, making the preceding bangers seem even more off the rails. Light on the hooks, ALL THESE WHILE... crank out killer intros, killer breakdowns, and fill in the rest of the space with unhinged multi vocal mania - listen to "Fast God Fucking Violence" and then see how you feel about doing anything except wrecking shit. You're welcome.

INSULTERS OF GOD

Fuck off to: The insulter, fucker, abuser, sucker and torturer. We are the fucking sinners.

XRDM

I first heard this band when they asked to a split with a band I play in. On the one hand we were like "Borneo? Yeah, why the fuck not?  Let's do a split tape."  And on the other hand we were like "This band rips. Let's do a split tape." Check the guitar break at the 0:24 mark of the opening track and you'll see why we made the right choice. Hyper energetic fastcore from Malaysian Borneo with obvious roots in US emotional hardcore - XRDM have progressed since this tape (their tracks from that release with NO STATIK are more direct, more insistent....and faster) but these jams are the epitome of hardcore at the absolute limit of containment. Unhinged, passionate...you know the drill. The final track "Wild Cat" is the jam, but all of these nine minutes will rule your day.

XRDM

KUCHALANA

Closed minded hardcore pricks can move right along to Wednesday (when I will probably post some synth drone annoyance) and try your luck, while those of you who like to approach punk with open ears and no preconceptions are probably about to be stoked. I admit that I like this more than I think I should, and that I cannot really defend my appreciation of what is essentially  college beach cabana meets surfer douche outfit with one kinda punk song (and my defense would not extend to the 6+ minute "The Fall" -  I have no excuse for that one), but that doesn't change the fact that the jams are chill...which is the whole point. It's the dub element that appeals to me more than the reggae - "Silent Stare" into the weird "Silent Songs #2" remix that closes the tape are fukkn killers...and the whole tape somehow makes me feel like I'm on vacation. I cannot imagine that very many people will listen to this, considering the general demographic of Escape visitors and my description, but I think that those who do will be rewarded.

THE INPUT FOR AN OUTPUT

ARAH KIRI

ARAH KIRI rip through nine tracks of multi vocal fastcore on 2006's Rumikot. The band is set to Maximum Energy for the entirety of the tape (which clocks in well under seven minutes), slowing for brief lurches before whipping themselves into a circle pit frenzy. Listening makes me tired, it also makes me want to rage. You might think you don't need anymore manic thrashcore in your life, but these kids from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysian Borneo) might change your mind. 

RUMIKOT