Okay, this month has been one big demo/7” frenzy. My free time has been quite limited, so a short burst of audio mayhem now and then has been only option – and I have enjoyed it. A couple of good songs in a nice package, it tells you everything, for better and worse. You don’t have to drag yourself through fillers and oversized compositions or deliberate which part is good and which part is not, but you just take it, chew it and make your mind if you want to listen to it again. So, bottoms up for all the good 7”s or demo tapes, you deserve it!
NYRKKITAPPELU: Nyrkkitappelu 7” (Svart Records 2012)
‘Nyrkkitappelu’ means ‘a fist fight’ in Finnish. And yeah, this band takes you to the alley and kicks you to the nuts. Ramones and other simple & striking punk bands are present in this young group’s music, but it’s the attitude that lifts their debut release through the roof. A-side goes fast through your skull, and Tyttöjen farkut is a perfect example of mid-tempo riff-ridden pounding. AC/DC or Turbonegro would be jealous if they heard this song. And they have a song about Seppo Räty, a great Finnish athlete and philosopher too! If this EP doesn’t open a beer bottle in your hand, you’re deaf.
http://www.soundcloud.com/nyrkkitappelu
BEASTMILK: Use Your Deluge 7” (Svart Records 2012)
More goodies from Svart Records. This time you get Juho Goatspeed from Spiderpact (check his Seedsaw band too, they released just a demo tape through Heidens Hart / Black Bunker!) and Mat McNerney from Hexvessel on a same plate with some anonymous musicians. The style is apocalyptic post punk, and in Beastmilk’s case it means authentic 80ies’ stuff in the vein of old Misfits, Joy Division and other legendary bands. Yeah, the influences are quite obvious, but the songs themselves are top notch and fill this 7” perfectly. Void Mother is a perfect start with simple, haunting drive, and Children of the Atom Bomb just raises the tempo. Then you flip this damn thing and you get more fast stuff with Forever Animal, which is almost a breath-taking experience. And then things get just more and more obscure when you reach the final song, Red Majesty. Mat’s voice works very well in this context, and the hollow atmosphere is everywhere, from the riffs to the production. Yep, Doomsday is coming but first we will have a good party with Beastmilk.
http://www.myspace.com/beastmilkeverywhere
WORSHIPER: Permeating Death 7” (Yersinia Pestis 2012)
And to keep this diversity going, the last choice is good ol’ black metal. Worshiper has a same line-up with Unholy Crucifix, but where UC is pure primitive black/death metal, Worshiper’s roots are deep in the Nordic/German black metal tradition. Actually this 7” is already worth of its price because of the A-side: Nocturnal Snarling Beast is like a long lost song from Darkthrone, full of dark and primitive aggression and epic – nocturnal! – majesty. The riffs, the rough vocals, the whole damn deal is so brilliant that I usually just skip the B-side… But fear not, also the other song, Ravening Unending Winters, doesn’t disappoint you, especially if you’re into the German gods like Klage, Eternity or Wolfsmond. Killer material.
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