Hell Bent Review

Hell Bent

Demo EP

Self Released

Dewar PR Haulix

Releasing on Jan 12, 2018

Review by hutch

BUY THIS

Hell Bent hail from Rhode Island. This band conquers by spewing three-ish minute tracks that combine searing elements of thrash, d-beat, crossover, and hardcore – if you need a label beyond “whoah”. Hell Bent boasts the menacing vocals of long time screamer, Aaron Badger, of Straight To Hell, Ulcer, and Paindriver. Other members have spent time in Dropdead and Neon Bitches. Their demo, which is this, was released last year on a very limited cassette version aside from digitally. Kicking off the new year proper, they are repressing with a more expanded run on cassette.

Hell Bent execute furious, dark metal. Six tracks here exhibiting speed-driven riffs with catchy time changes and powerful bass. The brash guitars and pounding drums push and push behind the experienced lungs of Badger. “Yeast” is a blistering opener. The one and a half minute scorcher is just fast; powerviolence/hardcore, again, if you need to slap on a genre tag. “Desert Death Lord” follows with all the same aspects except leaning toward more a thrashy jam, with taut riffs and more dynamic parts in the songwriting. Still blazing. “Canis Lupus Superion” also travels at blinding speed with a crossover nod in the riff; repeating and charging. Badger’s growls are beefy and penetrating. The breakdown ¾ way through gives a good chunky space to embellish in its two minutes. Made for the pit. 

“Bastard Curse of Abraham” starts with a slower trudging pace which gains momentum, then ebbs into the mid-tempo, building the anticipation. After 90 seconds the final minute, spazzes forward again with tight thrash riffs. The great titled “Condemned to Life” follows, with an infectious, energizing into that moves into dark, down-tuned thrash. Badgers commanding vocals are gnarly.  This is a catchy hardcore feeling track, damaging and angry. Pounding fast, the closer, “Scythian Horde” rides that trash gallop for the verse while other parts utilize a sharp charge forward of hardcore speedy riffs and double time drums.

This is a great demo I have been enjoying for over a year. Happy to see it get some wider distribution. The bands mixing of genre attributes are invigorating. I do look forward to a tighter production on a proper release to pull off the trashier parts (I sometimes want the drums to be more crisp, succinct). But this is raw and vicious. It’s a minor criticism that could be fixed on a non-demo release. See these dudes live if you get the chance. Killer honest metal/hardcore with a voracious hunger. And the bite to match.

Silver print on black cassette, deluxe edition comes with an embroidered patch and sticker.

85 incredible metal albums of 2017

METAL: 

Fucking hell. It was a ridiculous for metal and all its hyphenated, nerd arguing, split genres.  This is no order. And i didn't want to split hairs in comparing genres - but then did not want to pick 5 from each.... Basically this is 100 awesome metal albums of 2017. maybe more. i lost count.

I even broke up the spoitfy lists: Part A and Part B

NOTE: if forced to choose a top 10 or 50, I’d have to whittle down and that would leave some great shit out. Also – I am not a musician – sometimes ‘best’ to me means impact and energy; not technical proficiency.

DIRTY BLACK N ROLL:  8

Craven Idol The Shackels of Mammon Dark Descent (next level noise evil gritty metal)

Malleus Storm of Witchcraft Blood Harvest - Boston madness! Probably my #3 of the year.

Midnight Sweet Death and Ecstasy Hells Headbangers -  little different, slower songs, still amazing

Goatwhore Vengeful Ascension Metal Blade - another banger from them! Just flawless

Tombstalker Chaotic Devotion Boris 7” - only wish there was more. Black metal foundation with Thrash Rock – well produced. could be my #2!

Implore Subjugate Century Media - drums are like if Jerrys Kids played satanic metal. Caustic delivery, BM riffs.

Moral Void Deprive Translation Loss - straight forward, no frills. Stripped down brutal ugly metal. Fast as fuck. Songs like “Bereft” and “Dust”: clear black metal, but its thicker and more captivating to me

Wormwitch Strike Mortal Soil Prosthetic – again just such a great blend of styles. Punches hard

THRASH – Dbeat and Misc...whatever i can't keep up with all these distinctions: 10

Kreator Gods of Violence Nuclear Blast *brutal from the best

Power Trip Nightmare Logic Daymare - #1 with Loudwire, MetalSucks Readers + Writers, BangerTV Viewers; #37 Decibel – below Converge, Integrity and some others. I have loved these dudes from day one. Cuz i love hardcore and metal and all in between.

Iron Reagan Crossover Ministry Relapse – infectious and energetic after many listens – simple formula that works. Momre hardcore than thrash. Took a friend who hadn't heard them yet. He's 43 and said "this is the new DRI! This is perfect." I prefer this to new MW.

Lurking Fear Out of the Voiceless Grave Century Media played this frequently. Swedish supergroup (holy fucking line up) that grabs its opportunities and nails it.

Vallenfyre Fear Those Who Fear Him Century Media side project get d-beat/swede Death fusion – loved it all year.

Blood Feast The Future State of Wicked dirty underground – blackened thrash stood out to me Love this album after repeated listens

All Out War Give Us Extinction Organized Records - Decades ago, hardcore guys unabashedly made a Slayer record. No one matched their ferocity. They are back. Classic line up delivers best LP in years.

Wilderness Dream Paralysis Rise Creator Destructor -  raw sludge USDM with vocals llike Human Fuirnmace of RIngworm - i listen to this a lot. Great band.  2-3 min songs. Probably one of my favorties, i just know it is not technically superb or whatever. But actually it is rather fucking sick! Good hardcore feel like Ringworm or All Out War.

HON MEN: 

Odious Icon Planet of Immense Decay Negative Vibe - new thrash but not too clean, little darker smoking tracks. I love the tuning and tone. Just uh, again, not ground breaking. Maybe it's not thrqash and I want it to be more thrash. It's not polished enough or guitar focused to be 'pure thrash' which IS WHY I LIKE IT. Still worth a listen or five. @ - 3.5 min songs and a heavy hardcore sound, just with death metal vocals.

Havok Conformicide Century Media - little choppy for me – but when the go forward, they do it well. Been a band I liked for awhile

Warbringer Woe to the Vanquished Napalm

Witchery I Am Legion Century Media -- very like a Skeletonwitch – just blends thrash and black metal so well.  Produced clean and fierce.

DOOM:  14

With the Dead From Love Rise Above - droned out cavernous despair, Lee Dorrian‘s nihilistic perfection. Triumphant!

Spirit Adrift Curse of Conception 20 Buck Spin - glorious. Better than Pallbearer to me. Clean Vocals; spot on 70s riffs with crafted intentional doom

Loss Horizonless Profound Lore - painstakingly slow – but gorgeous. Epitome of melancholic funeral doom

Paradise Lost Medusa Nuclear Blast - back. True doom, growled lyrics. Continue their upswing of the last few years.

Beast Maker Inside the Skull Rise Above - from the look to the hook; riffs and lyrics and aesthetic make this one the best records in years on a stellar label. 

DOOM Hon Men:

Demon Eye Lies and Prophecies Soulseller Records - NC's finest hit the target with their third brilliant LP.

Elder Reflections of a Floating World Stickman 4x 11 min songs then 2 9 min. Crafte dwell – great rhythms and guitars. Bluesy at times – like early Graveyard… Lots of layers of sounds. Smart men

Bell Witch Mirror Reaper – always liked these dudes – and now a 83 minute one track. Epic (a duo) – with drummer/vox guy died – Adrian Guerra and got a new, first time drum/vox guy Jesse Shreibman

Temple of Void Lords of Death Shadow Kingdom - monolithic plodding but death metal riffs

Unearthly Trance Stalking the Ghost Relapse - another staggering return.

Northless Last Bastion of Cowardice

Tongues Hreilia I, Voidhanger Records

Omotai A Ruined Oak Ruined Carnage - AZ trio of dirgy punk-doom; rebellious, smart, weighty

Ditch and The Delta Hives in Decline Battleground Records – killer sludge doom – about to tour w/ 

Conan

DEATH:   12

Cannibal Corpse Black Before Red Metal Blade - a fuckin monster. thank you, CC

Necrot Blood Offerings Tankcrimes - yep. nailed it. Dark and evil.

Acephalix Decreation 20 Buck Spin - another great one from all these Necrot and Vastum related people.

Dying Fetus Wrong One to Fuck With - Relapse Nasty. Powerful. Genre defining; heavy but clean production with the weird guitars (not a musician but that high pitched noodling)

Obituary s/t Relapse - mid-paced, hardcore like - and fucking great. Listen to it a bunch.

Exhumed Death Revenge Relapse *Concept album of drunken serial murders. Great LP

Cannabis Corpse Left Hand Pass Season of Mist - call them a joke or whatever. But as ecibel review said - other bands lauded as genius rehash (pun intended) subjects of war or Satan again and again. SO their thing is weed. The music is bonkers.

Incantation Profane Nexus Relapse - just a personal favorite. so grimt, just down and dirty death metal. More on thick riffs and loos production than tech wonder.

DEATH Honorable Mentions:

Decapitated Anticult Mystic *tops Blood Mantra, killer record overshadowed by horrific claims - now vindicated.

Extremity Extremely Fucking Dead 20 Buck Spin 3 chicks & a dude; member of Vastum (Shelby); Swedish style. 

Entrails World Inferno Metal Blade  - down to the logo, this is intentional Entombed worship – handled flawlessly. (Gruesome: Death / Entrails: Entombed)

Black Dahlia Murder Nightbringers Metal Blade – Death Metal that the HC kids love

GRIND:   6

Haemorrhage We are Gore Relapse - From Japan. Been around awhile but this is their most realized release.

Friendship Hatred Southern Lord - scary shit from Japan

Expulsion Nightmare Future Relapse *literally Exhumed Matt Harvey + Repulsion Matt Olivo. Add Danny Walker of Exhumed, Intronaut, and Phobia. Damn find grind.

Phobia Lifeless God Willowtip - classic road dawgs snuck in the under radar to gift us this gem

Lock-Up Demonization Lifeless  - All Star line up (Nicholas barker, drums, Shane Napalm, Kevin Sharp – brutal Truth, VC) this is when Death/grind gets fun and invigorating. Angry and political. Big death metal stomps and breakdowns.

HON MEN:

Complete Failure Crossburner Season of Mist - sludgy dark spazz grindcore. Nasty

SLUDGEY/NOISE: 5

Ledge Cold Hard Concrete Translation Loss - Heavy Chicago shit, tough plodding like Harms Way – dude from Spine/Weekend Nachos – doom/industrial hardcore. Heavy and ugly and depressing suicidal shit.

Primitive Man Caustic Relapse. Sometimes I am in the mood – sometimes it’s unlistenable. Ugliest doom out there.  Misanthropic

Iron Monkey 9-13 Relapse - reconstituted with new/old members as a trio – but captures the spirit and sound. Gnarly.

Livid Beneath Shroud The Earth Erodes Prosthetic - oomph. slow as molasses. and fucking good.

HON MEN:

Rig Time! War Innerstrength - pretty much straight hardcore (like this year's great Left Behind) but they like Eyehategod too. Smart social lyrics.

Blackish:  Note the "ish" 5

Low Estate Covert Cult of Death Flenser – best new surprise for me. Chaotic metal + splashes of AmRep/NY noise. Unsane meets black metal; rough n tough and low-fi.

Cloak A Venomous Concept Season of Mist - this split a lot of people this year, but most endorsed and gave at least a 7/10. I enjoyed this immensely and they are getting big tours now. Well deserved on a well crafted album. Good production. Not first wave black metal, but not that symphonic shit. Thick riffs still played with well rounded production. But structure is often black with a classic metal feel. I like it much.

Chaos Moon Eschaton Memoire Blood Music/Fallen Empire - 6 - 10 minute tracks, produced not tinny but still with early black metal aesthetics. Grandiose atmosphere with muted production, i guess. Ebbing and flowing song structures. Dandy. Double bass insanity with high tones meandering - i have it as background music and i suddenly realize how depressed I feel.

Tombs The Grand Annihilation Metal Blade - another bomb ass record by these Brooklyn dudes. SO full. It takes many listens to appreciate, I feel they are one of those bands who set the bar so high early - that in their 4th and 5th LP you're like "yeah, of course it's awesome". But then you don't dive into it. I need to dive into this again.

Scour Red Housecore - I don't really know if the TRVE KVLT BM scene poo poo these cats as tourists - but i think it's amazing musicians killing black metal. Phil Anselmo [Vocals] (Ex-Pantera, Superjoint, Down, Arson Anthem), John Jarvis [Bass] (Fulgora, Pig Destroyer), Chase Fraser [Guitar] (Animosity, Continuum), Derek Engemann [Guitar] (Cattle Decapitation, Unmerciful, Covenance) and Adam Jarvis (Misery Index, Pig Destroyer) on drums. Jarvis is one of my favorite drummers. I think its big and focused and fucking dark.

SPLITS:  3

Livid/No Funeral Live Fast Die Recordings - ugly satanic doom

BLK OPS/Cave Bastard accident prone - black metal doom noise

Hands of Orlac/Wandering Midget Cruz Del Sur - 15 min doom songs but super good)

STONER ROCK: 4

Summoner Beyond the Realm of Light Magnetic Eye - dudes can write. Big bendy riffs with thundering delivery. Witness the madness. 4 - 6 minutes tracks with clean vocals mixed evenly. It ain't pop. It ain't Mastodon or Sword - but hella approachable. Solemn and heavy shit.

Here Lies Man Here Lies Man Riding Easy – riffs, fuzz; stoner rock with afro-beat rhythms. One of the most original albums this year. Thin Brown Sabbath doing original tunes.

Atomic Bitchwax Force Field Tee Pee Records Stoner Rock per se but done on hyperspeed in 2- 3 min songs. Killer riffs, guitars blazing leads, spaced out 70s jamming.

Duel Fears of the Dead Heavy Psych Sounds - dusty desert tunes for muscle cars and Harleys. Love it. One of my faves this year. More 70s rocking than others in this list. If Earthride didn't growl or tune as low at times; then they switch to boogie a la Trouble / The Skull. Dark and occulty.

Honorable mentions:  16

Integrity Howling… Relapse expanding their sound. Solid LP, love the addition of Dom Romeo. I loved it. Then I was bored. Some straight USBM stuff, some hardcore, then the slow and 'profounbd' spoken shit. Metallic. Felt like a collection of songs rather than one cohesive album. But ya know, divebombs.

Unsane Sterilize Southern Lord - what an album! great stuff. could use slight more variety - but still a crusher. This sits in this list more becauseit does not have peers, less than its quality.

Darkthrone Arctic Thunder - pretty good. I'd like better production. I like their classics of course. But I also love FOAD, Sardonic Wrath, Cult is Alive, Dark Thrones and Black Flags. I like variety and their experimenting. So with this, i just wish it packed more of a punch. But I will certainly throw it on.

Taake Kong Vinter Karisma - its hard to top Striden Hus

Pallbearer Heartless Profound Lore - a damn fine record. may be i am just have a stick in my craw over the hipster hype. But i also get kind of bored. and it's super polished music and clean singing. Again, i am not a musician so maybe i miss the genius.

Ufomammut 8 + Godlike Snake Neurot – Italian doom guys; psych mind expanders. Samples, electro, noise static and riffs. I know it's amazing but after 7 LPs of this (and EPS) you have to be in the right space. And again. more elctro shit in this one. Still brilliant.

Rope Sect Personae Ingratae + Proselytes Caligari Records / Iron Bonehead – dark, macabre rock

Godflesh post self Avalanche - I loved the return last year with Lit - but i just didn't get tiime for this. Still growing on me.

Sepultura Machine Messiah Nuclear Blast - best Derek Green yet; trashy, gnarly. I just wish they would just change their fucking name. But Machine Messiah is a great album. I definitely appreciate the cerebral lyrical shit; I liked A-Lex and Dante concepts. This is cool too. Often i just want them to play faster - like it needs to move forward, sometimes they reside in the stale bounce too frequently ("Alathea"). But i do like the layered percussion on "Resistant Parasites". Andreas and Paulo still kill. New kid on drums is nasty. Green's voice is commanding.

Cavalera Conspiracy Psychotic Napalm surprisingly good – old tight chaotic thrash – better than average – better than expected still a 3/5. Max's lyrics are still that of a ten year old tho. I love him in Sepultura - never git into SOulfly - i liked Nailbomb - i liked last CC and this one.

Converge The Dusk In Us Epitaph - meh, another genre challenging, boundary pushed milestone. meh.

Full of Hell Trumpeting Ecstasy Profound Lore - aggressive. and different. sometimes just too abrasive for me. And i was on that early bandwagon, i ain't fronting. It's good as fuck.

Old Iron Lupus Metallorum Good To Die Records - Bad Ass sludge. Really good, just not ground breaking

Belphegor Totenritual Nuclear Blast -  Love these guys. Back again. satanic thick Blackened Death Metal; super fast drums with staccato plodding riffs on the opener. Then others are just thick USDM.

Shambles (Thailand) Primitive Death Trance Blood Harvest 

MISC:

Quicksand ? not for me... yawn... 25 years later and it's an indie shoegaze album. Best part of QS was the dense tension, the pressure  and frustration. I would not expect them to make  QS part III. Use a new name!

Electric Wizard Wizard Bloody Wizard Spinefarm  - fine 60s rock but decidedly average

Melvins A Walk with Death & Love Ipecac - I will always love the Melvins. Best part is if you don't like this one, next year will be another installment in their supreme legacy. Still rocking this as i work once in awhile. But doesn't grab my nuts. I'll try again and maybe change my opinion. Again - just did not give it enough time yet.

Deathwish Interview with Biddy

Deathwish

Unleash Hell

Beer City

Interview with bassist/vocalist, Biddy

Biddy, bass/vox; Guinea Pig Champion, guitar/vox; Jimmy Claypool, lead guitar;  S.W. Macleod, drums

Blasting out of Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Deathwish release their second LP, Unleash Hell, on Beer City early 2017. Their thrashy brand of the Motorcharge style has been honed here to a vicious surge. Biddy, bassist and vocalist, spoke with me after getting home from work. His frank admission to the allure of dark and rebellious music has become a life defining mission.

Biddy begins with his excitement for Unleash Hell. “This has better production, better written songs. The artwork is completely different but phenomenal. Our guitar player, Rob (aka Guinea Pig Champion) writes 90% of our music. Our first record took all the time in the world. So, now the pressure was on. Can we write a better record? I hope so…” jests Biddy. Biddy also plays in Wartorn and grabbed a new lead guitarist, Jimmy Claypool, who is from In Defence. That pedigree would ensure a better record.

“This is more aggressive. It rages more while being a little progressive, a little more precise.” Biddy’s lyrics demand the feral snarl of these heavy riffs. While he may not be writing the majority of the music, Biddy appears to be the director of the band; subject matter, musical direction, and tour planning all is his responsibility with this monster that is Deathwish.

Unleash Hell was recorded by Adam Tucker at Signature Sound Minneapolis. Tucker has been recording since the ‘90s. Biddy holds only admiration for Tucker. “He is the best I have worked with. Adam throws in ideas and they accentuate what we were doing, not pushing the song somewhere foreign. The process is smooth as glass.”

Deathwish had an April 2016 tour with MDC, their second tour with OG punks. First was Chicago, then looping through NY, PA, VA, GA, LA to eventually Fort Collins, CO. 34 shows in 35 days. “When I woke up the next day, I had to be at my mom’s for dinner. I didn’t know what state I was in. When MDC tours, it is the pedal to the floor. They give 110% and we are right there with them.” Biddy adds, “This past year, we played 100 shows with tours, that’s not including weekend gigs.” Deathwish will embrace the road to spread the gospel of Unleash Hell. They have upcoming tours in Europe eastern plus two fests. The band is also doing another future tour with MDC and DOA, plus a DRI tour coming. DRI took them out before and Spike (Cassidy) wants them to come out with DRI again.

The intent and motivation remains the same, to play demonic rock and roll and leave venues in their wake. Armed with new material that engages and punishes, Deathwish forged Unleash Hell with an even darker commitment. “This record was inspired by things I grew up on. That song (Rolling Stones’) ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, all the stuff that alluded to Satan; Sabbath, Maiden. I was into it even as a small kid. There is something about it which is very powerful. As a child I believed in that, because I grew up catholic. And they scared the hell out of you with fire and brimstone. But, as a small child, I was like, bring on the fire and brimstone!” Biddy was drawn to the dark elements of this oppressive religion not for shock value, but as a side effect of his defiant search for truth.

Biddy’s push toward the forbidden came from a rather natural reaction to how the world treated him. “I have a mental illness, Tourette’s. I have a mild case, dealt with it my whole life. I don’t experience happiness, just depression and mania. As a child, I had paranoia.” He quickly connects his disability to seeking out alternative answers. “The devil made sense when I was kid. The church tells you about a great God, giving people gifts. Here I am, suffering. Why? Does god hate me? What about children with cancer? What about wars? Where is God then?”

Biddy continues with the honesty of a kid, an aspect that has left a permanent impression. “Even as a believer, I was angry. How do you rationalize that? The Church’s explanations were never making sense. They never added up, just devoid of logic.” He continues to explore the contradictory stories in the Bible that most doubters question. “God says ‘Thou shall not kill’ but he floods the planet? Which is because he’s angry at people… that he created.” His skepticism is palpable. But having heard this example countless times, this isn’t the impactful moment. The following reveal is Biddy’s true stake in the fight. “At same time, I am highly emotional. My mental illness makes me more emotional or depressed.”

Defiance is a genetic propulsion for Biddy. He immediately offers the heroic stances of his ancestors. “The rebel was engrained in me. I am a German Jew and Ukranian. We didn’t do so well in WWII. My great grandfather was thrown between two train tracks because he told the Brown shirts to go fuck themselves. The other side of my family were Ukranian farmers who said ‘fuck Stalin, because he’s starving us’. And even others were rounded up into camps as Gypsys. My family is made up of rebels. We did not listen to the status quo. If something doesn’t make sense, its bullshit. And we are going to call out the bullshit.”

“In the garden, Satan told them they were naked. Satan told them the truth. As an agnostic, I know Satan is probability not real. But, if he was real, God made him that way only to have a scapegoat to blame. That’s where I identify, because I was born with mental illness, someone society can blame. In private school, I had learning disabilities. But I didn’t have learning disabilities according to them. I had the devil in me. So, they were going to beat the devil out of me. I got the shit beat out of me all the time.”

Biddy reports his parents, “being totally cool”, out of those environments. The understanding parent was often missing from the equation in the ‘80s. Parents were still very much part of the system, never siding with a pugnacious child. But still the trauma of abuse of these institutions had impressed their brand into Biddy. He reflects on their distorted logic. “Oh you can’t spell? You have a disorder? We’ll put you in a harder class. All the solutions were backwards back then.”

“Kids say oh things are out of control these days,” Biddy expands. “No. Things were way more dangerous when I was kid.” We quickly reminisce about how exactly close minded the general public was in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. But instead of dismissing this new generation, as a child of rejection, Biddy takes an empathetic approach. “I am going to defend the millennials. The joke is (about millennials) that ‘oh they are so easily offended’. But, I couldn’t have blue hair back in 1985 without being called homophobic slurs and being beat up. I can’t tell how many times I got hospitalized because I was a skateboarder. People couldn’t handle me eating in a restaurant in the mid 80s because I had a blue Mohawk and two pierced ears.” Biddy then recounts a few specific attacks. Luckily he was armed with an alliance with his parents. But when his father called authority in one of these incidents (which equates to attempted murder upon Biddy’s 16 year old self by an adult), “the cops said, ‘yeah but isn’t your son a skateboarder?’”

Biddy had always had music as an outlet and weapon of retaliation. This album is a sharper sword that Out For Blood. Unleash Hell is reflective of that sentiment’s cinematic origin, gladiators with nothing to lose attacking the system’s corrupt leaders. The fury in Deathwish’s music attacks with speed and precision and killer riffs. The term Motorcharge (combining the sounds of Motorhead and Discharge) is often used, but Deathwish pushes even those limits. “I think we are different. We have a more metal influence like Disfear, Toxic Holocaust, and Midnight.” Not that Biddy denies pure adoration for Motorhead. “I had been seeing Motorhead since I was a kid. But then when I saw Inepsy, I thought ‘this sounds like Motorhead, but they’re killing it’.”

Biddy doesn’t want to fit into a genre slot. He wanted to join a band but d-beat or Motorcharge or crust usually come with fettered characteristics. He knew the style which he wanted, especially after playing in a slower, doom/stoner band. Biddy wanted an electric rush; grit and rage to be the driving force. “But, I couldn’t because they made up 800 rules of how it had to be. When I play in bands, I ask bandmates ‘what do you want do to do?’” He takes their response and pushes, “Let’s do that, plus three more things.” Biddy continues, “You can see the excitement on their face to start to begin with what their passionate is. I’m trying to play with the most passionate people I can find.”

“I’m addicted to rock and roll. That is my drug. It is what I will do until the day I die. You can’t OD on it. Well, we’ll find out.” Playing guitars since he was 15, Biddy has always used music as a release. But 30 years later, it’s more of a lifestyle than ever. He still works, as a barber. I comment on the recent resurgence of barber shops with the cool kids. “That’s just more competition. I have been doing this for 25 years.”

Despite his dedication to his art of haircutting, his music will always be his primary focus. “I’m playing more than I have ever done. And have got to tour with my favorite bands; Municipal Waste, Oi Polloi, DOA, MDC, DRI, Hellshock. How the fuck did I get this lucky? If I end up in a stroke tomorrow, it would balance out.”

Beer City Band Page

Buy the Record (red vinyl)

Cheers to Biddy and New Noise Mags and Earsplit PR

Terveet Kadet Lapin Helvetti Review

Terveet Kadet

Lapin Helvetti

Svart Records

 Svart Records is an incredible. I always pay attention to their releases. They are an incredible resource for sludge, doom, psych, and stoner. When I pressed play on this though, all I heard was awesome thrash influenced d-beat punk. Unfortunately for me, my mind had lapsed. But as soon as it played I recalled the Musta Hetki LP from two year ago. Beginning in one form in 1980, TK have been putting put albums since 1983. These Finnish curators of fury have done it again.

Skilled guitar work and thick production reinforce the fast and tight rhythm section. The music is a soundtrack to an anxiety attack. Laja Aijala’s vocals are gnarly and pissed. He may have had some line-up changes behind him through the years but this version is amped and spews treachery on stages. They just wrapped a US tour two days ago.

A lengthy review of this is not needed. “Awesome” would just as easily sum this up. The band is just so friggin tight. And if I say, most songs sound the same, that’s a compliment. This is punk; no one is redifining anything.  TK is not deconstructing the punk paradigm to filter through post modern rhythms or some arty shite. There is Discharge, of course, in her. American noisey hate punk like AF and NA; and especially the darkness of a Poison Idea is an influence.

 And the band kicks a “thank you” to some metal riffing on “Mina Olen”. The opening riff conjures a solid swing riff before jumping into pure mayhem. Similar to Kill ‘Em All Metallica covering Discharge or Misfits, the sound is sinister. Again, the bass stands out, giving the sound a rounded out dirge tone. Two songs are over two minutes, none hit the three minute mark. Half of the tracks stay under one minute. “Brutaali” stands out to me with a crunchy riff over 4/4 drums and Aijala’s raspy snarls. “Verinen Jeesus” has some great chunky hardcore riffs they smash together providing a forty-nine second melee. Following is “Elamalle vieraita piirteita” which goes from blast beat to breakdown that Coke Bust would revel in. 

This band is amazing. Any skate thrash blackened hardcore punk should find an aspect that enthralls them in this harsh sound. Short Fast Loud; it describes many bands. Kadet have earned it proudly. I’ll take another thirty five years, please.

Band Site

RIYKL: Heresy, Hard Skin, Vitamin X, Iron Reagan, Violent Arrest, Dead Stop, Victims, Cops N Robbers, Poison Idea, Negative Approach, Rattus, Raw Power, Venom, Okkultokrati, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, SSD