SLAKTATTACK

 

Textbook kång from Göteborg; d-takt mania of the highest order. You've got the breather tracks where they ease off ever so slightly, then you've got blast after blast of full throttle assault. I think the 2009 recordings (from the BIO-CRISIS and ANTIPROTOKOL splits) embodies the subgenre perfectly but SLAKTATTACK clearly don't stop there. Forty-one tracks all in, compiling the aforementioned splits, another with AKTIV DÖDSHJÄLP, tracks from DOOM and DISCLOSE tribute comps and two digital-only releases. If you're thinking MEANWHILE, DISMACHINE, TOTALITÄR then you're thinking correctly - you know what to do. 

DISCOGRAPHY 2006-2013

IT'S ALL ABOUT FUCKIN' RAGE

 

I hope you're sitting down, because this thing is going to knock you on yr fukkn ass. A perfect assemblage of early '00s DIY hardcore and crust focused on USA (A.O.S., DISSYSTEMA) and Sweden (CROSSING CHAOS, AVSKUM, DISKONTO, PROJECT HOPELESS) with SICK TERROR (Brasil), DISBEER (Austria) and RECHARGE (Germany) filling in the gaps. A strong tip of the hat to Indonesia's Hardcore Curse Records for not only putting this compilation together, but for including a couple of shit-fi tracks from countrymen DICKHEAD so all of the punks know wheat belongs where....and DICKHEAD absolutely belong sandwiched between AVSKUM and DISKONTO even if (especially if?) their tracks sound like absolute shit.

IT'S ALL ABOUT FUCKIN' RAGE: A Compilation Of International D.I.Y. HC/Punk Bands

POTEMKIN

 

A little over two years ago I posted Sludge Vol.2 and I said this:

You ever wake up feeling....ugly? I'm not talking about "not feeling yourself" ugly, I'm thinking something more like "willing to destroy yourself" ugly. You refuse to look in the mirror - not because you're scared of what you might see, but because you know what's going to be staring at you. And it's disgusting. You ever wake up feeling....hopeless? I'm not talking about "should have slept in today" hopeless, I'm thinking something more like "hopeless" hopeless. You refuse to see the light - not because you're stubborn, but because you know it's not there. You ever wish those feelings had a soundtrack? You ever wish those days had a soundtrack? Enter: POTEMKIN. Terrifyingly misanthropic sludge that understands your desperation and sees you for the ugly piece of shit you know you are. And sometimes...it feels good to feel seen. 

Well, it should come as no surprise that the same sentiment applies to the first volume. This shit is just so disgustingly honest and brutal. When people search for this band's music, results should come with trigger warnings....and this is why we keep listening: so we can feel. 

SLUDGE VOL.1

ELLEN RIPLEY

 

This one is really tough to describe, but it scratches all of the right itches. You're going to to hear heavy KrautRock sounds and elements of anarchist post/art punk mingling with early '80s Czech punk innovators (think FPB and MICHAEL'S UNCLE) and proto-goth punk. To really listen to "SGR A*" is to hear early PINK FLOYD reincarnated as sonic Scandinavian activists in a reality far removed from any tangible comfort zone. The beauty of ELLEN RIPLEY is that they own everything they touch - it only takes a few bars to forget what you might have thought they were emulating. If this were a just world, then ELLEN RIPLEY would be music for the masses. This is not a just world, so ELLEN RIPLEY is music for oyu. 

BODY PACT

SKITKIDS

 

I truly hope that this needs no introduction, and I suspect that for most readers this will be a reminder to go (re)listen to one of the best releases of the '00s and not any kind of new discovery. SKITKIDS were a product of their time and place, and when Besöket Vid Krubban dropped it completely changed the game. I remember Mick giving me a copy in Philly and being stoked to crank it once I got home...he warned me devilishly that I was not prepared but even still I underestimated. It was like INEPSY and ANNIHILATION TIME and fucking TOTALITÄR all at the same time, but faster and wilder than any of them. The were shit-hot fire on stage, and as good as Onna For Pleasure was...this is possibly the only recording that came close to capturing that shit in the flesh. Hard to imagine anything hitting like this ever again. 

BESÖKET VID KRUBBAN

TOTALITÄR

 

Y'all know TOTALITÄR, right?
Like, this isn't a thing I need to explain and/or describe to you....right? 
I saw TOTALITÄR once.
They were amazing.
This is the early shit......it is amazing. 
Simplicity is a motherfukkr, y'all.

WALLBREAKER 1986-1989

REGULATIONS

 

There was something really fukkn special about REGULATIONS at the time, and twenty years later the shit hits even harder. It was that weird time when stadium crust was everywhere and Y2K thrash was a fading institution and there were these little pockets of punk who were skipping all of the trends and regurgitating all of the infectious '80s punk they could consume. The first EP came out in 2003 and by the time the LP dropped two year later, this shit was everywhere - REGULATIONS and AMDI PETERSEN'S ARME and NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS were everything in those moments and no one could figure out why Sweden and Denmark did the shit so right. But they did. Some bands did blatant rips, some bands tried and failed....REGULATIONS drew a line between 1981 DC and 1982 LA and TOTAL FURY and basically said "fukk it - we are all of this shit." And they were. If you like/d any of those things, then you were up front for REGULATIONS. The LP is flawless and all three EPs are mandatory listening - "We're Blank," "Police Siren" and "Sex With Jesus" are all examples of perfection but there is not a single wasted moment in these 26 songs....punk needed this shit, and I'm glad I was there for it. 

VRÅLROCK + EPS

I hate the sound of sirens // it's the sound of violence

CRUDE SHIT

 

This is one of the laziest posts I've ever made, but the tape (as presented) is pretty damn lazy too so I have prematurely vindicated myself. CRUDE SS and SKITSLICKERS shouldn't need an introduction here but back in the golden age of the 1990s maybe they did, and someone (I think it was Felix?) was determined to introduce some motherfukkrs. So they jammed some records and recorded them onto some tapes and they duplicated those tapes and then distributed those tapes. Because that's punk. First ten minutes or so sound like shit, but you're supposed to be drunk at a party and/or gig when you're listening to this shit. I didn't bother editing tracks since there are no tracks or information on the boot, so here's 40 minutes of seminal SwedeCrust. You're welcome.

CRUDE SS // SHITLICKERS

RELATED:
ARTIMUS PYLE and SUNDAY MORNING EINSTEINS played in Jyväskylä in 2003 and Peter tried to get us to do an impromptu "Warsystem" cover and I had never (consciously) heard the song and I couldn't grasp the three chords and it was kinda embarassing. Same thing happened when E-150 gave me the mic while they were playing "Young 'Til I Die" and I didn't not know what the fukk was happening. Poseur status achieved.

SVENSKA SPELMANSLAG

 

Look....this shit doesn't sound that great. Some punk probably nicked the tracks from youtube and dubbed them in a garage in the Central Valley on a tape deck they stole from St. Vinnie's. But here's the thing: It's not supposed to sound great. If you aren't sold on the irrelevance of fidelity by the time AVSKUM's "Livande Begravd" starts then I don't really know what I can possibly do for you. For the other TE readers in their right mind who aren't familar with the comp, I offer you this: MODERAT LIKVIDATION, SNOBB SLAKT, BRISTLES and PUKE mingling with lesser knowns like FRENETIK AGONI, SVEA SKANDAL, ORIGINAL SIN, KURI I KUVÖS and two absolute killer from SUBWAY ARMY. I missed a few I'm sure, but when you're dealing with primal SvenskPunk of this caliber...well, you get a little flustered. Essential blasting.

SVENSKA SPELMANSLAG 1

DEMON SYSTEM 13

 

I remember the first time I dropped the needle on Aborted Teen Generation - it was one of "those" punk moments that you just keep with you. It was instantly familiar but it was also new...and it was more. I ordered a copy from Ebullition based on a MRR interview (my copy still has the ghost image of the Goleta address that pressed through the polysleeve), and I was not remotely disappointed. We hosted then in Oakland, and arranged summer travel plans to see them in Reno and Chico because...things were different and we were younger and that's just what you did then. So imagine my excitement in the new reality when I laid eyes on this tape while BAD WAITRESS was playing in LA last weekend....because I love the shit out of DS13 but I didn't have this tape. Well, now I do and my new reality self is giving a hearty nod to old (young) me for knowing what the fukk was up, because motherFUKKR this is (still) the shit that I need. The Studio Shit demo is more raw and in your face than that first EP, and the live set from Nyköping (aka Fukktown, apparently) is straight fukkn fire, even though and/or especially because Tom talks a lot. Fukk dude...I love punk and/or hardcore. 

THE COMPILATION SESSIONS + LIVE IN FUKKTOWN

LEBENDEN TOTEN // SKITKIDS

 

This tape was released twenty years ago. 

Let that sit there for a minute. 

This tape was released twenty years ago. 

•••

When I first started posting on Terminal Escape in 2009, I was sharing seminal UK crust demos that were just barely twenty years old. And now...I'm posting a split between two bands who are my contemporaries, and the tape is twenty years old. 

Weird things happen when you don't die, I suppose. 

DISTORT THRASH DISTORT HOPE

D.I.Y. CONSPIRACY VOL.6

 

The beefiest contribution to the DIY Conspiracy series, from the bulldozer Scandi-crust of CONVINCE to SHEEVA YOGA's fastcore/grind and an absolute smasher from ΝΥΞΗ leading the charge. Bands from Chile, Denmark, Belgium, Russia, Greece and Czech Republic spatter a Swede-heavy volume in a series born out of Covid isolation. Pop one of these shredders in and you'll be instantly reminded how big DIY punk is....and then you'll likely skip the reflection and start raging. 

DIY CONSPIRACY VOL.6

SATURN AND THE SUN

 

Before I listened to this tape I tripped out on the cover and the title for a while. Something about the title specifically made me think of BASTARD NOISE - an easy through line when you say "skull tones" - and CASIO TONES FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE, which honestly makes a lot less sense but you can't always control where your thoughts go, right? But the trip is....this 2015 recording kinda lands like a weird amalgamation of those two disparate entities and I am so totally here for it. Brooding and monotonous electronics, delivered with patience and purposes...as if we didn't need any more harsh realities and/or skull tones in our lives (hint: we do...we all do). 

HARSH REALITIES, BROKEN BONES AND SKULL TONES

POTEMKIN

 

You ever wake up feeling....ugly? I'm not talking about "not feeling yourself" ugly, I'm thinking something more like "willing to destroy yourself" ugly. You refuse to look in the mirror - not because you're scared of what you might see, but because you know what's going to be staring at you. And it's disgusting. You ever wake up feeling....hopeless? I'm not talking about "should have slept in today" hopeless, I'm thinking something more like "hopeless" hopeless. You refuse to see the light - not because you're stubborn, but because you know it's not there. You ever wish those feelings had a soundtrack? You ever wish those days had a soundtrack? Enter: POTEMKIN. Terrifyingly misanthropic sludge that understands your desperation and sees you for the ugly piece of shit you know you are. And sometimes...it feels good to feel seen. 

SLUDGE VOL.2

REFUSED

 

By the time I heard REFUSED it was too late. I already knew SNAPCASE and INTEGRITY, I had already dismissed (most of) the Victory catalog because....I mean, obviously. I had heard DOUGHNUTS and they were fine. But I knew NO COMMENT. I was blasting the OUTLAST 10" on the regular and I wanted to go fast. I didn't need a mosh part, I didn't need a tough as nails groove. I had no interest in mid paced hardcore that often struck me as Fat fodder, but slower and with heavier guitars. So when I heard that The Shape Of Punk To Come was reshaping the world of DIY hardcore (and yeah, that really was a common opinion when the record came out) and I listened to it I was like.....nah, hard pass. So what happened when I revisited REFUSED in 2023 after a pal unloaded some unwanted cassettes? Two main takeaways: This Just Might Be...The Truth! is way more interesting than The Shape Of Punk To Come, even if (or especially because) it's more derivative and while I have more space available for ignorant hardcore than I did in the 1990s, ignorant sounding hardcore delivered with insight and intelligence lands exceptionally well. I'm not gonna get into the "did they or didn't they" revolutionize hardcore discussion, because really they were (just) a pretty good and very determined band from a relatively small town in the north of Sweden...and this tape is almost thirty years old. Most people reading this already love them or hate them, but I'm sharing for the people who don't care...because those are the folks who (like me) might be curious, might wonder what they missed.

THIS JUST MIGHT BE...THE TRUTH!

TRISTESS

 

Eight minutes of early '00s SwedePunk mania on the second TRISTESS demo (to complement the almost nine minutes on the first), an absolute bomb blast from a criminally overlooked band. TRISTESS kinda just sound like what they were: dudes from stalwart turn of the century Umeå hardcore bands (REGULATIONS and ETA) ripping out raw nods to the Swedebeat kång their country is famous for - and the result predictably lands somewhere between the two. Sometimes "predictable" can be a casual dismissal, but when you're predicting a sound somewhere between DS-13 and TOTALITÄR...yeah, you know. 

INGET LIV

PUTREFACTION SETS IN

 

I don't give two shits about goregrind....at least I didn't think I gave two shits until a couple of weeks ago when Clay sent me a copy of this fukkn masterpiece. Maybe it's not even goregrind (or not actually goregrind), but whatever the fuck it is I WANT MORE. I'm gonna blast "Putrid Deliquescent Mass" on the bus on the way to work this morning. 

REPUGNANT INCEPTION OF DECOMPOSING PAROXYSM

GREENEARTH VOL.6

 

This was an impulse grab with an overseas purchase of an Acts Of Defiance comp, and I can't seem to put the motherfukkr away. Absolutely killer collection of turn of the decade punk and hardcore from Europe, US and Mexico - some you should already know (SVART SNÖ, VALSE TRISTE, AUTODESTRUCCIÓN) and plenty of new faces for your ears. Feast upon SHATTER, REAKTION, ROLANDS GOSSAR, and a track from 23 TILL that is the fukkn summer jam for the summer that I always wish I had lived. 

GREENEARTH VOL.6

TRISTESS

 

My memory is that André gave me this tape in Umeå and told me that TRISTESS were only going to release cassettes. No vinyl, no CD, just tapes. My memory might be incorrect (wouldn't be the first time), but I remember how surprised I was when I saw the Vad Ska Vi Bli 12" and thought ".....wait a minute, he said.....!" No matter though, this shit needs to be on wax so ultimately I'm very pleased (the second 12" is a mandatory ripper too). For the uninitiated, this is a who's-who of early '00s Swedish hardcore - E.T.A., VICIOUS, DÖDSDÖMD, DS-13, REGULATIONS (and probably a dozen more bands of note) all have members involved in this racket. Fast, stripped down hardcore punk - nine songs in eight and a half minutes - and the vocals are pretty much perfect. I need to get the other tape up here too even though both were released together....on vinyl. 

GE FAN I MIG...

SVART KATT

Dreamy, perfect power pop packaged like a crushing ScandiCrust demo? Yes, please. Stockholm's SVART KATT unloaded this recording a few years ago (Sabotage released it on vinyl if you can find one, while this gorgeous package is from the fine folks at Pissed Off) and it's FUN PEOPLE and BUZZCOCKS and FOR AGAINST and RADIOACTIVITY and it's just blissful and...well, it's perfect. If you need an escape (and a lot of the time, a lot of us do)....there's nothing wrong with taking a break. Just come back. We miss you. 

NÄR ALLT ÄR ÖVER