Sharing a label with Harrow, Darkspace and Krasseville, it was always obvious that Drought’s debut album wouldn’t be an easy listen. Quickly gaining positive notices from cult music blogs situated in the deepest corners of the internet, ‘Rudra Bhakti’ set itself a place among lovers of extreme music, while simultaneously presenting something that barely represents music at all. There’s extreme and there’s extreme, and Drought piledrive noise across twenty four brutal minutes, leaving behind something that borders on the unlistenable, almost to the point of representing some kind of bizarre aural self-harm.
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DEVOLTED – Broken Kings EP
Hailing from Dublin, metal four-piece Devolted originally came together due to a love of old-school heavy metal. A few line-up changes led to a shift in their sound and their 2016 EP ‘Broken Kings’ isn’t so much leather jackets, twin leads and dubious mullets as a really thoughtful blend that takes in bits of classic metal and a huge slab of groove as well as touches of thrash and hardcore. It’s four songs, while not too far removed from lots of stuff you’ll have heard before, shows the work of a band that’s keen to mix up their influences and come up with something that is – at least musically – both entertaining and powerful.
ANXIETY JUNKIES – Gentrified Homicide
Released in May 2015, Anxiety Junkies’ debut album ‘Self Sabotage’ was a low budget but well accomplished foray into hardcore punk, presenting a bunch of short and sharp tunes that really drove home the band’s DIY leanings. Barely a month after release, drummer Alex moonlighted with Forced Entry, giving an insight into how – although miles from DC, New York and other places readily associated with hardcore – Georgia, too, had its own burgeoning scene. Exactly one year on from ‘Self Sabotage‘, the Junkies made a full return with ‘Gentrified Homicide’, an angry politically charged release that takes in a few more influences than before.
VINCENT CARR’S SUMIC – Rekindled
Approaching the writing and recording of his fifth album, Vincent Carr stumbled across that age old problem all artistes face, whether a musician or writer: that potential stumbling block being, in his own words, “how to remain true to yourself, without repeating yourself”. With that in mind, although largely instrumental, ‘Rekindled’ almost feels thematic in its aim to reconnect; it’s music has a slow burning retro style that celebrates a love of things with an old spirit, while simultaneously looking at things afresh.
NIGHTMEN – Fifteen Minutes Of Pain
If you imagine the sounds of proto-punk from 1975 transferred via Sweden, you’ll know almost instinctively how this release from Nightmen sounds. This Scandinavian quartet dish up some really honest and authentic music on this audio love letter to the days of New York Dolls and the Ramones’ debut; the twelve tracks crammed into under half an hour showcases the sounds of leather and sweat, with a little camp trash thrown in for good measure. In short, ‘Fifteen Minutes of Pain’ might be heavy on the recycling, but the energy combined with a knack for hooks and riffs makes it an essential listen.