I've noticed that the new trend among  Anarchist Crust Punk and  Red/Anarchist Black Metal bands is their focus on matters of the spirit and matters of ecology. This clearly stems from the growing Anarcho-primitivism movement, while admirable, is something we cannot allow to completely take over the more street-based politics of the heavy music scene. These following bands keep more down home politics alive.

1. 

From the rivertown of Sheffield, Chewed Up play melodic anarcho punk/crust in the vein of Crass or Leftover Crack. Lyrics rage against societal pressure, conservatives, bigotry, and fascism. Excellent music. 

Listen here: http://chewedup.bandcamp.com/album/piss-poor-peasants

2.  

A Sibat is a kind of spear used by natives of the Philippines. It shares the name with this one-man Crust Punk/ Black Metal project. The music has strong, strong late-era Darkthrone vibes and the lyrics are quite militant, name-checking the Pulang Hukbo ng Bayan (People's Red Army)
Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVpVOU0RBMA

3. 

Jarost Marksa ,"Fury of Marx" in English, are one of the most fervent and idealistic communist bands in metal. Formed by Antoine Durand, a Frenchman living in Russia, in 2005, Jarost Marksa has issued a call for violent, proletarian revolution. They are a large cultural thorn in the side of Putin and his tyranny. They recorded an EP, entitled "We The People" in 2008. The EP included a cover of the classic Soviet ww2 song "Sacred War."
Listen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYwu8QLEQDU

3. 

From the fertile grounds of the Canadian Black Metal scene, Anti-Freeze infuse mid-tempo, atmospheric black metal with strong anti-fascist leanings. One track from the Winter tape demo will be featured on an upcoming anti-nsbm comp.
Check them out here:  http://weirdocan.bandcamp.com/

4. 

Hailing from Ukraine, one of the worlds most tumultuous countries, Confront Stage offer blasts of anti-globalization street/crust punk. Listen to they. They're reporters with a backbeat.
Listen here: http://confrontstage.bandcamp.com/

5. 

From Sweden, Arrogant State play blown out, rawpunk in its most traditional form. Excellent vocals and lyrics about scene,  anarchy, and unity.

Listen here: http://arrogantstate.bandcamp.com/releases

When Life Comes to Death

The Acheron, 2011. Through smoke and black and skinned animal heads comes Young and In the Way. Disheveled, pale from countless days in nights away from light, dressed in denim and leather and patches. Lots of patches. They rip through a set of acerbic, crust-laden, atmospheric black metal. It's all too much for one fan. He grabs one of the sheep heads, its blood dribbling down his fingers and onto his clothes. He headbutts the cranium repeatedly, screaming. He understands. This is worship music.

Young and In the Way congealed into life at some point in 2009. They have released several albums both independently and through labels such as Antithetic Records, Headfirst Records, and A389 Recordings but "When Life Comes To Death" is their first with hardcore mainstay Deathwish Inc. Throughout all of these releases,  YAITW have impressed me with their thematic consistency. Although the music may wane slightly towards crust or hardcore or black metal, the heart of the band is the overpowering tones of nihilism and despair.

These tones are as present as ever on their newest release. Songs like "Loved and Unwanted," "Betrayed By Light," and the brilliant "Self Inflicted" are pure blasts of negativity in the form of lurching, ethereal black metal. "We Are Nothing" is perhaps the most hardcore of all the tracks, sounding like Watain at their most feral filtered through Earth Crisis.

There is little variety in the music, but their really doesn't need to be. This is a mood album, something to be engulfed by. Anything other than slight variations in their music would break the spell. I find this album's closest contemporary, in themes if not in music, would be The Velvet Underground's "White Light White Heat." This is a sincere compliment, any album that matches the focused carelessness of the Velvet's sophomore means that the listeners are in for a ride.

Stream it here: http://pitchfork.com/advance/444-when-life-comes-to-death/

Buy it here: http://store.deathwishinc.com/product/DW159v.html

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Doughty, the man behind Funeral Parlor and Female Pedophile and one-half of Dumpster Noise Records. 

1. If you could start by telling us your name and a little bit about yourself and your musical projects?

My name is is Josh Doughty and I am behind Funeral Parlor, Female Pedophile, and co-run our label called Dumpster Noise Records out of east Texas.

2. Why the name Female Pedophile? It's certainly powerful and attention grabbing. Is it indicative of the themes of the music, or is it just a name?

I wanted to start a HNW (harsh noise wall) project and since the sub-genre can be hard to differentiate between others, I felt that an eye-opening name would help. The music is going to have women sex offender/rapists themes basically showing that men aren't the only creeps out there.

3. You co-run Dumpster Noise Records with Thomas from Garbage Mask. How did this come about? Any tips for running a label?

I've known Thomas since the second grade. I became a roommate at his house for the last year and things started rolling when we moved in together. It wasn't anything too serious until we started to receive a lot of great feedback from our peers whom we believe to be an influence on why we kept going with it. The best tip on running a label I can think of is having the drive to go with it. There's a lot of time involved and it's not for everyone. I would recommend trying though!

4. What do you think of the term anti-music in reference to experimental sound?

I think about this often. I believe the term anti-music in regards to experimental sound is an oxymoron. Many can disagree with this, but if there is a method/calculation to the chaos and sounds one makes then I believe this is considered music. Even in noise, there is normally (based on what I've observed) a premeditated "game plan" live or when recording. Anti-music is also a statement and I am cool with that too.

5. Do you have a special attachment to cassette tapes or are they just the cheapest method of communication?

I can't afford vinyl and I don't like CD's, long story short. I've always liked the artwork and packaging involved with tapes. The durability as well. We plan on doing some CDR's in the future, as we know not everyone has a tape deck.

6. Do you feel that noise needs a certain kind of visual aesthetic?

I know I enjoy the visual aesthetic! It's definitely not necessary though. I've found some live acts boring until I close my eyes and let the walls of sound make me feel something in regards to the music. I believe the same goes for this as live music, but the visual aesthetic is more important especially if you are looking at hundreds of different releases on a merch table.

7. Do you feel that noise will one day reach mainstream acceptance like Punk, Metal, Synthpop?

I feel like many acts are tampering with noise in their music, but I doubt it will ever go as far as punk, metal, new wave, or synthpop. With limited releases and the most abrasive sounds going into your ears, probably not. Who knows though.

8. Do you feel that noise is still a challenging form of art. 

I believe noise and art go hand in hand. Why? Because both can be interpreted as such. Whether its a portrait or shit smeared on a wall, it can be considered art. Whether its the sound of the tread of your tires hitting the asphalt or a Guilty Connector record, it's noise. To answer your question, yes.

9. What attracted you to noise?

I've always been attracted to extreme music. I've always been around trains and construction sites so noise in general is not a new thing to me, but by actively listening to it, I guess the uncomfortable, uncompromising feeling I got when first listening to it. If that makes sense.

10. The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

Black Sabbath.

11. Pink Floyd or King Crimson?

Marvin Gaye.

12. Are there any bands, noise or otherwise, that you like a lot and would be willing to recommend?

I listen to a lot of music, man. For contemporary noise/industrial anything on Depravity Label and Posh Isolation is amazing. Aside from that, Sade, Whitehouse, and Asylum Party are always on in my room.

13.  Cue us in on any of your upcoming projects/ label releases?

Garbage Mask just released his new album "Trashlake" today and it's his best shit yet. He's always onto something so check that out.

I'm in the middle of dubbing our "Dumpster City Vol. 1" compilation which has a huge lineup on two 60 minute tapes. This will introduce a lot of the Dumpster Noise roster such as Pen Knife, Great Tiger, The Hague, Garbage Mask, Funeral Parlor, and Female Pedophile along with acts who asked to join and even some we asked (won't spoil that surprise). It's not just noise either! Anything experimental.

Female Pedophile "False Security" will be out as soon as I can afford to by some tapes and I am pretty excited for this release.

Last, but not least, The Hague's debut release "Luxollid" will be put on a CDR and is for fans of lofi synth stuff and has some Tangerine Dream/Suicide leanings. We have been working with David Cox on this for a while now and I am personally excited to be getting this release out.

Other than that, there are some splits/collabs ideas being thrown around, but nothing solid.

14. Final Words?

Thanks for your time for the interview and thanks for all the support everyone! More garbage to you soon and possibly some live action as well!!!

Ether Junkie review.

Fenriz once said, "There is nothing worse than an overqualified drummer." Some might take this to mean that any music, even music slapped together,  is just as valid as something more thought out. This is true depending on one's taste, but I always thought that he meant that songwriters that stretch the limits of their capabilities create more interesting music than those with knowledge of music theory.

It's an interesting concept and, when applied to rock music, it makes a lot of sense. Bands like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Charles Bronson gained a serious edge because of their amateurism. When applied to noise, however, flies right out the window. Because noise all sounds somewhat similar and requires very little skill, all noise bands are on a very even playing field. That makes reviewing noise bands somewhat difficult to review.

With that said, I can say with complete conviction that Ether Junkie, the debut album by Scab Addict, is a very good album. Combining raw noise with powerviolence, the album is in tribute to Japanese cyberpunk, noir film Rubber's Lover. Noiseviolence is not a new thing, but what sets this project apart from other bands out there is its catchiness. Each song, although buried in layers of feedback, are fully realized. I actually walked away humming some of the basslines. "Clamp the Eyes Open" is definitely an earworm.

I also liked the albums production. It's shitty like one would expect for this album but the drums are fantastic. It sounds like a crazed junkie banging on a trash can.

This album is highly recommended.

Misery Index stream new album.

Baltimore Maryland Grind/Death outfit Misery Index are streaming their new album The Killing Gods through Blabbermouth.

Check it out here: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/misery-index-entire-the-killing-gods-album-available-for-streaming/

Serdce stream new track

Belusarian dreampop/death metal band Serdce are streaming a new track. They're a great band, balancing catchiness, heaviness, and dreamy passages into a mind-opening experience.

Stream it here: http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2014/05/13/exclusive-premiere-listen-to-serdces-unique-path/

Sxe HxC

Straight Edge Hardcore, though very much a presence, is no longer the main focus of the scene. For a span of about twenty years, straight edge, positive bands dominated punk and hardcore. That's mostly been replaced by less, shall we say, obnoxious bands. The boys-club, us against the world lyrical focus is ridiculous but it sure is entertaining! Let's take a look at some bands that still wear the x, use crowd shots as album art, and yell about how shitty cigarettes are.

1.Not Afraid

Hailing from the U.S, Not Afraid play there own band of youth crew hardcore. With guttural, crusty vocals and dark guitar lines, this band is a step above average. I'm assuming the lyrics pertain to the usual hardcore lyrical fair of personal integrity, hard work, and the man keeping us down. They even add a little spice to the hardcore crowd shot, by coloring the picture a shaky brown and putting the logo of the band in a graffiti font instead of BOLD IMPACT.

http://reactrecords.bandcamp.com/album/locked-out

2. xgrossoutx

This band rules. Great cover art. Great music. Think melodic hardcore punk with metal chugs. This band is from Hungary and it shows. Foreign bands tend to avoid the clout surrounding genres and are innovative as a result. Highly recommended.

http://xgrossoutx.bandcamp.com/album/demo

3. Youth X
I'm putting this on there solely because of  how young the singer clearly is. I'm glad kids can still resonate with hardcore. Song is meh but there's potential there.

http://youthxnw.bandcamp.com/track/progress-single

4. Coke Bust 

Probably the most hyped band on the list. This is fantastic fastcore. I think this band belongs in the same hall as other Washington DC punk like Minor Threat or Black Flag. Totally fucking amazing.

http://cokebust.bandcamp.com/