Welcome back, one and all, to another rapid-fire roundup of some decent tuneage that’s caught my ear over the last couple of weeks… Hope you enjoy some or all, and if you have your own music you think would be nicely turned into one of my morsels then don’t hesitate to get in contact through the appropriate channels!
LOKUST
First up this ep we have London-based thrashers Lokust, who will unleash their debut full length offering, Infidel, at the end of this month. Despite being unsigned, the guys have attracted a lot of attention – millions of views on youtube, for instance – and have worked with some pretty impressive names along the way to putting that debut out.
They’ve got a new vid available for your viewing pleasure now – I’ve helpfully included it below – and it’s a bit of a ripper if you like thrash metal that’s shiny and modern but also with an undeniable link back to the Old Gods… I’ll let the band themselves have the final word: “We always meant for Lokust to exist on the border between old-school and contemporary – we use a lot of layering in our songwriting as well as aiming to integrate the full array of what a metal band can do these days, technically and production-wise – but our loyalty to imperfections, raw expression and humanity remains paramount… We’ve always aspired to follow in the footsteps of the bands we first fell in love with, who seemed to have a more transparent, expressive way of executing their music, rather than what we perceive as the more careful and polished approach of a lot of bands these days”.
MASS PUNISHMENT
We don’t ‘do’ metalcore in this column, by and large, but there’s something about American ragers Mass Punishment that really catches the ear on their new vid God Bless America. Sentinel Daily editor Scott Adams thinks it might be the presence of Madball guitarist Mike Gurnari, but I’m more inclined to believe it’s just the wild-eyed enthusiasm of all involved that sucks you in and keeps your attention. The band certainly have a knack for a big bro-metal sound – Pantera are listed as an influence – and if you enjoy the odd bit of Five Finger Death Punch in your diet then it’s hard to see why you wouldn’t be hugely appreciative of what Mass Punishment bring to the table.
Says the band: The song was inspired by the nightmare of chaos and division that has stricken the US to the core. The lockdowns, protests and riots along economic collapse and poor leadership to the top of a corrupt government that has brought us to the brink of civil war.”
DEMOLIZER
Back to the out-and-out thrash now, with Denmark’s Demolizer; They’ve just released a new album, Post Necrotic Human through the ever-reliable Mighty Music imprint. As you’ll see from the accompanying clip for the track Warmonger, these blokes don’t mess around, giving it some real bollocks in best, old school fashion.
I’ve see these guys live and I’ve gotta say the new record really catches their incendiary live work to a tee. Unforgivingly heavy yes, but with a razor sharp point to the guitars of Aria Mobbarez and Ben Radtleff – not to mention the robotic precision of rhythm section Bjørn Hjortgaard (bass) and drummer Max Petrén Bach Hansen – that occasionally adds a dash of Gothenburg to the overall sound. Radtleff spits out his vocals with real conviction too, giving the whole thing a brutal sheen that fits the music perfectly.
In simple terms, this is pretty much a must-have if you enjoy European thrash metal; But please note! The new album is limited to only three hundred vinyl copies so I’d get in quick there if that’s the medium you prefer – it’d be awful for you to miss out…
FIRE DOWN BELOW
Belgian stoner rock quartet Fire Down Below are set to release a new album in September entitled Low Desert Surf Club.
The album is set to emerge through top doom/stoner/psych outlet Ripple Music and sees the track California released as a single beforehand. Have a listen down below!
Says the band: “California is our take on a feel-good party song that would lift us from the everyday doom and gloom and remind us that good times were going to be back. Now that they are, we hope people will feel the vibes and go crazy with us when we play this song live. Party time!”
My take on the track – I haven’t fully absorbed the whole album yet – is that the band display all the right stoner rock traits – slashing leads, fuzzed-out rhythms and a catchy vocal – and, although they don’t offer a great deal that might be described as ‘out-of-the-ordinary’, it’s pretty difficult to stop your limbs from thrashing around uncontrollably once those axes kick in! But never mind what my fevered old mind thinks – ‘ave a listen and see what you think yourself!
BLACK UNIFORMS
Finally today we head back in time for some UK street punk, Swedish style!
Black Uniforms were extant in the early eighties and then again at the end of the decade, and their soon-come Splatter Punx on Acid reissue is an acrid whiff of simpler times when cider and glue were all a young man needed to get ahead…
They sounded a bit like UKHC Kings Broken Bones – they too have an anthemic rager called F.O.A.D., which curiously enough sounds more like GBH than Bones n’co – and look a bit like glammy Discharge offshoots Hells Bells, meaning they probably fell between too many stools at the time to be taken too seriously, despite tracks like Fred K oozing a primitive cool all their own.
That’s a shame, because listening to this ‘new’ album now it seems as if the band should have been huge. That’s ‘huge’ in the comparative, ‘no sell out’ punk sense of the term, clearly, but huge nonetheless as all thirteen tracks on offer hit hard and heavy. Cliff Lundberg went on to play guitar in Swedish greats Anti-Cimex, but it would be great if Black Uniforms themselves got a new wave of fans from this reissue. Get involved!
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