Fukpig - Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence

For me, this is the ultimate Fukpig release, and it trumps anything else they've ever done (which in itself is no small feat). If the first three tracks alone aren't enough to get you hooked then I think you are listening to the wrong genre, mate. "Die Bastard" is fucking vicious, "Britain's Got Fucking Aids" is a rabid stroke of pure genius, and "This Is England" completes the hat-trick of brutality with a back'n'forth blasting atmospheric minute and a half. 

The sound is perfect in the nastiest way possible; the drums are crystal clear and the guitar is like a fuckin' buzzsaw. The vocals...well, they have to be heard to be believed, as any description I could attempt probably wouldn't do them any justice. I think that Belief... is much more focussed (and angrier) than the band's debut - which loses itself a bit - and with that intense production being just spot on, I find it really hard to fault this beast of an album. Is it grind? Is it d-beat? It's fuckin' necropunk!

Wail Of Sirens - Final Demands

Wail Of Sirens play dark, metallic hardcore with an artistic flair, giving this EP a Converge-meets-Discharge vibe, which as you are more than likely aware is not a bad thing at all. It seems Wail Of Sirens are a fairly new band because I can't find absolutely any information about them online (but then again, I'm an idiot) but that to me is even more of a reason to check these guys out and give them a chance.

Final Demands is only 4 songs long, and with half of them not reaching the two minute mark, it doesn't give you much to go on but it's a cheeky debut and seems to get the point across fairly well. Actually, the length of these tracks would fit perfectly on a 7" record (hint hint haha). But no, physically, Tired Of Life Records have put this EP out as a tape release, but you can also stream it for free from the group's Bandcamp page (check the player below!).

Emissaries Of Syn - Off Message

Wow, this is an unusual one! Take death metal tunings and riffs, the swagger of crossover-thrash era d-beat and the lyrical content and delivery of punk and hardcore, and you've got Emissaries Of Syn. Imagine all this "dark hardcore" type of stuff that is being peddled by Southern Lord given an injection of British authenticity and humour. It's like Black Breath but with Mitch Dickinson from Unseen Terror on vocals. 

This EP kicks off with "Einstein's Monsters", a cheeky, nuclear-themed number, but the whole thing really gets going for me with the excellently-titled (and extremely catchy) "The Only Way Is Ethics". Current political issues are touched upon in "Spare Some Social Change" and "Help Define Heroes"; the former dealing with the current austerity issues of Britain and the latter dealing with the somewhat sensitive subject of the armed forces. 

The playing is spot on; the drumming is savage, the guitar work spotless and that good ol' 80s meat-grinder bass sound is more than welcome. If you think the clean, political punk vocal delivery doesn't match the heaviness of the music, just give it a chance - everything will click into place!

As far as I can tell these guys are a fairly new band so check out the EP in the link below.

Fukpig - Spewings From A Selfish Nation

As much as I facking adore Fukpig I can't help but get tits-bored of this album by track three or something. I almost feel bad writing this, but this record is equal amounts nasty, heavy and boring. I know that it is hard to be original in the d-beat/crust corner of grind and punk, but even when Fukpig bring their own rather unique black metal-esque distorted tinge to the table, the combination of different outcomes is still disappointingly low.

For starters, you need to listen to this record on a decent sound system to get over THAT bass drum pattern. If you can't pass this hurdle you might as well give up all hope now. Proceed no further, friend! Ha ha - in all seriousness however, this is an excellent record, I am just over-exaggerating. Do heed my warnings however; I am not lying when I say that it is very repetitive and sometimes boring. Despite my complaints this album contains some brilliant tunes perfect to get your head banging to, or to tear each other apart to in some of the mentalest mosh pits I have ever seen. To the uninitiated; imagine Anaal Nathrakh crossed with Extreme Noise Terror and you'll get a pretty good idea of what is going on here, and hopefully what I mean by a bit boring! Sorry!

Spewings was released by FETO Records and is/was limited to 200 copies. Some copies were released directly by the band and were called the "black" copies. Every single last piece of artwork on these was jet black.