Ritual Moon Review

RITUAL MOON – S/T  (2021)

AS SOON AS THEIR demo came out in 2019, it was obvious that L.A. trio Ritual Moon were going to become a force to be reckoned with in the black metal/black thrash world. The clue is in the songwriting, the confident and intelligent way in which these three women put their songs together, not just as a collection of gritty and brutal riffs, but as original compositions with real progressive flow. This, their eagerly-awaited, self-released debut album offers seven brand new tracks, along with revamped versions of three of the songs from the demo (excluding only the instrumental ‘Passage’) and two songs from their 2020 split with Harlequin – ‘L.M.S.Y.C’ and ‘Crimson Avenger’.

‘Uncontrollable Death’ is arguably Ritual Moon’s best song, and it hits even harder here than it did on the demo, with its pounding snare and 80s-style thrash riff. Belen screams like a malevolent harpy over it all. She belts out the perfect black metal vocal, a morbid, hair-raising screech that raises the spectres of Satyricon’s Satyr, Nocturno Culto and Quorthon. New songs like ‘Divided Paths’ and ‘Predestruction’ really shine as well. ‘L.M.S.Y.C’ (‘Let Me Suck Your Cock’) highlights the metalpunk elements which are to be found running like veins through the album. With its slurred, Hellhammer guitars and simple drums, it creates an old-school vibe that makes this album immediately appealing across genres. 

These songs don’t have to grow on you, they’re there straight away, raw and harsh, melodic and hypnotically catchy, with the kind of primitive simplicity that is hard to reproduce. And they don’t seem to go stale however many times you listen to them.

‘Dismal’ opens with a soul-crushing acoustic intro, before living up to its title by developing into quite a grim and tragic-sounding dirge. It’s a spellbinding melodic black metal instrumental in the cold second-wave style, which brings to mind Ardente, Departure Chandelier and Nimbifer. Mars’s drumming is really powerful on this track, with the bass drum sounding more dominant than anywhere else. Fans of gritty, old-school black metal will also appreciate ‘Divided Paths’, with its despairing vocals and hammering blast beats that alternate with primitive dbeat rhythms. The sound is satisfyingly low-fi, not as rich with low-end as the demo, but clear enough that all the instruments come through strongly. It’s not too close to industry standard gloss, and not too scratchy either. And whatever imperfections it may have just make it sound more present and real.

On the whole, the album is mid-paced, with blast beats being used sparingly and in short bursts, but the material is so strong that speed is never an issue. ‘Transcend’ is one of the faster ones, with its relentlessly pounding snare and big death metal riff, whilst the funereal ‘Scorched Earth’ starts off moody and melancholic before a leaden, doomy riff comes along that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Black Sabbath album. ‘Sadistica’ is the only song the band have done with Spanish lyrics. It’s a venomous and sinister piece, about a femme-fatale who tortures and murders her lovers. But it’s the songs from the demo which seem specially to stick in the mind, especially future classics like punk-infused ‘Grave Soul’, ‘Uncontrollable Death’ and the infuriatingly catchy title track (you’ll need trepanning tools to get that one out of your head).

It’s not hyperbole to say that Ritual Moon’s debut album is one of the freshest and most original black metal/blackened thrash albums to see the light of day in years, and certainly one of the best. Anyone with even a passing interest in the raw, old school variety will be drawn to this like flies to a corpse. 

‘Ritual Moon’ will be released on 13th Jan 2021.

J.Cooper (2020)

Nothing Is Real - 'Regeneration Through Self Devourment'

Nothing Is Real's third album of 2020, 'Regeneration Through Self Devourment' is a chaotic collection of dystopian nightmare visions, seemingly the climax that the band has been building up to through all their work so far. Described as 'a study of the cycles of death and rebirth, and man's current enslavement to technology and inevitable destruction', it foretells the downfall of mankind in a kind of technological singularity, with humanity devouring itself by means of the artifices we have created for ourselves ('Cleansed In The Fires Of Kali'), before re-emerging like a phoenix from the ashes of our own self-immolation ('The Perseverance Of Beauty (Rebirth Into A Golden Dawn)') . 

This is the most chaotic and densely complex of NIR's works so far, and probably the most extreme, with big angry riffs of the kind we've come to expect from the hands of Nicholas Turner, wrapped into convoluted, psychotic structures which twist and turn like the streets of an unfriendly, Kafkaesque city. All this is overlaid with the kind of tortured screams and growls that bring to mind Turner's other projects Obsidian Hooves and Feral Lord. In many ways this album is the place where the 3 bands meet. Are Turner's projects starting to bleed into each other? Yes, but they always did to a certain extent, and it somehow sounds like it was meant to be. With this album NIR manages to appeal to black metal, death, sludge and doom crowds simultaneously, and that is never easy unless you sound like Bog Body or Tchornobog. 

Stand out songs at this early stage are: 'To Devour Itself Blindly (At The Hands Of Machines)' and the opener 'To Gaze Upon This Fabrication Of Steel'.

The album is comes out on 31st Dec and is available for pre order now, and there might still be some download codes left on the NIR page. (JC) 

https://nothingisreal333.bandcamp.com/album/regeneration-through-self-devourment

Obsidian Hooves - 'Sovereignty' (2020)

OBSIDIAN HOOVES - 'SOVEREIGNTY' (2020) - PITCHED AS A ‘journey through dark and rotten corridors to join the ranks of the undead’, Obsidian Hooves is yet another great project from the indefatigably creative Nicholas Turner, whose other outfits include doom band Nothing Is Real and low-fi grinders Moldering Vibration. And this one is so dark that it bleeds hell into the corrupted air around it. After a guitar intro that literally makes you see maggots, ‘Coffin Hole (Revel In Worms)’ hits the ground running, with a filth encrusted sound that brings to mind Autopsy’s ‘Acts Of The Unspeakable’, with its guttural riffs and slaughterhouse growls. Elements imported from Nothing Is Real are strongly evident in the distinctive guitar and drum sound. The latter are authentic and trigger-free, and this has the effect of bringing you into the room with the band, in welcome contrast to the alienating, overproduced gloss you hear so often these days. The dark melodies never become maudlin or tiresome, but are pregnant with threat, like dark clouds crawling across the sky.

‘Death Cult Cartel’ begins with a chaotic scramble of spidery blastbeats, before collapsing into a section of bombastic sludge, with vocals that are arrogantly demonic, like David Vincent on Morbid Angel’s ‘Where The Slime Lives’. By the halfway point the song is marching infernally on like some dark, Satanic mill, with Texorcist's barks describing the logistics of hellish mutilation and torture. Then, just when you think the song is over it gathers up and springs to life like some ghastly revenant, with a solo taken straight from the Trey Azagthoth palette. Turner’s frantic guitar solo sounds like the kind of thing that might raise up demons from the Underworld. ‘Satanic Sovereignty’ kicks off with some catchy but deeply unsettling guitar harmonies, before a scalpel-keen riff starts peeling off your skin and the blast-beating snare pounds you like a fucking mallet. The melody in the middle provides no relief whatsoever from the aural butchery. At a mere 4 minutes, this song is the shortest on the album, and seems to be over far too soon. The genius of Nicholas Turner (aka Tyrant in this band) is that he makes very long songs sound very short.

At first you might think that ‘Coffin Hole’ is the highlight of the album, but, like all the best ones, this album keeps sounding better with every listen. In fact, the best song is the cataclysmically heavy ‘One With The Thing Within’. The riffs here are colossal and awesomely doomy, like the kind of slabs you’d expect to find on a Nothing Is Real album. The doom/death crossover works very well, creating a dense sound that presses you to the ground like a physical weight. The solo here, as elsewhere, is a thing of hair-raising beauty. A sudden burst of speed in the sixth minute builds up to a threatening climax, then gives way to an eerie and sublime acoustic section, fingers flying over the strings in a way that conjures indescribably melancholic visions. The guitar playing everywhere on the album is truly inspired – the work of an explosively versatile imagination combined with classical guitar training. It speaks of darkness and death and psychological terror, painting pictures of dark caverns strewn with bones and choked with the dust of ages.

With ‘Sovereignty’, Obsidian Hooves have made a priceless contribution to the discography of 21^st Century death metal; a contribution that, if there is any justice, will be heard and remembered for as long as the scene endures. If you like any kind of death metal, then you need to hear this.

‘Sovereignty’ comes out on the 17^th July and is available now to pre-order.

 

J.Cooper

Metal Punk Inferno (2020)

Herida Profunda Discography Review

CONCEIVED IN MAY 2012, Herida Profunda (meaning ‘deep wound’ in Spanish) is a four-piece Hardcore/Crust/Grind outfit based in Poland and the UK. In 2013 they unleashed their self-titled debut, followed by a split album with legendary UK thrashers HELLBASTARD in 2015. In 2017 they released a split 7” with London Anarchist crust/powerviolence trio HELLO BASTARDS, followed by last year’s 3 way split with Polish grind veterans PSYCHONEUROSIS and Dutch grind four-piece SUFFERING QUOTA. 

HERIDA PROFUNDA – ‘S/T’ (2013) is a feast of crusty dbeat, with a sound that brings to mind RDP’s ‘Homem Inimigo Do Homem’, with its stomping riffs and throaty, schizoid screaming. It’s noticeable from the outset that the production is near-perfect for the genre. It’s dirty and raw, but at the same time rich and clear, with every instrument powerfully audible. The drum sound is big and authoritative without sounding triggered. The full-throttle bursts of speed are interspersed with bouts of compelling groove on massive slabs like ‘Strach’, which also partakes of the strong industrial influences that are in evidence throughout. You can almost hear the sludgy grinding of rusty machinery on ‘Paraliz’. The vocal play-off between high screams and low growls works very effectively, especially on ‘Dlaczego’ with its erratic stops and starts that give you a chance to hear drummer Jachu’s excellent snare sound. HERIDA PROFUNDA are certainly at their best when they put the pedal to the metal, but the admixture of tempos and moods keeps things interesting. This is the kind of album that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next, and that’s always satisfying these days. The best song on this gem of an album is probably the dbeat thrasher ‘783’, or the Nazi-killing anthem ‘Pierwsi Do Gazu’, a song that bleeds rage from every pore. This rampage through the gritty engine room of Polish grind/crust ends in a scathing blast of antitheist venom with ‘Wiara Na Sprzedaz’, and if your ears aren’t ringing by the end, then you weren’t playing it loud enough.

HERIDA PROFUNDA/HELLBASTARD – ‘Split’ (2015). Any release featuring these two bands was always going to be a mouth-watering prospect, and this one lives up to expectations right from the very start, when HELLBASTARD’s soft piano intro gives way to the inevitable barrage of bone-crushing metal. HELLBASTARD are rightly hailed as one of the greatest bands in the history of UK thrash metal, and this split catches them at their obnoxious best, with storming old-school riffs and grim, scathing vocals on such toxic chunks of speed as ‘Engineering Human Consciousness’, with its pessimistic samples that crop up like cancerous pustules, and ‘Big Business People’ with its pronounced hardcore groove and thundering double bass drum. ‘Wolfsong’ comes across like a despairing obituary for the decline of humanity, with soaring thrash licks conveying a sense of impending catastrophe before dying away in an echo of a distorted scream. In the course of these four tracks HELLBASTARD blend old-school thrash perfectly with early 90s Hardcore to come up with a relentlessly brutal and uncompromising crustpunk/metal hybrid. The production job might sound a bit dated in places, but they more than make up for this in attitude and aggression, and a sense of disgust and contempt for the world at large.

HERIDA PROFUNDA’s contribution to this split, as well as being more substantial in terms of tracks, is on another level when it comes to speed and fierceness. This is partly because the bands are not of exactly the same genre. A lethal storm of blastbeats in ‘Zjedz Zanim Zgnije’ develops into the sublimely hateful ‘1312’, which interweaves sprinting dbeats with catchy, bass-heavy groove to hammer home the salutary message that cops are, indeed, all bastards. When you hear the furious, staccato snare going like an amphetamine-crazed heart on ‘Ostatnia Chwila’, you’ll have no choice but to bang your head, whereas the merciless ‘Cyrk’ is the sonic equivalent of a blow to the cranium with an iron bar. The song showcases HERIDA PROFUNDA’s attitude to music, and is a perfect example of their restless creativity in that it hardly stands still for a second before plunging off in an unexpected direction, constantly changing speeds and moods to keep any listener guessing. ‘Szmal’ is a more straightforward thrash/death metal chunk, with supremely crushing, chunky riffs from the SLAYER palette and sewage-gargling death metal barks. The highlight of HERIDA PROFUNDA’s ten songs is the frustratingly brief anti-fascist gem ‘Alerta 161’. The whole thing is a rich tapestry of chaotic dbeats and megalithic hardcore riffing, cynically reflecting a world filled with tyranny and terror without mercy or respite. HP end their half of the split with a cover of NAPALM DEATH’s 0.3 second existential epic ‘You Suffer’ – the putrid cherry on top of a particularly bitter cake.

HERIDA PROFUNDA/HELLO BASTARDS – ‘(Split 7”)’ (2017). HP’s opener ‘Refugees Welcome’ is a harrowing song about the plight of refugees from war-torn hellholes who, after fleeing from persecution to the West, will often meet with race-hatred and rejection upon reaching supposed ‘sanctuary’. A SLAYER-style, palm-muted chord gives way to full-on, punishing grindcore riffing topped with Ed’s trademark vocal belching and screaming. Think SLAYER crossed with EXTREME NOISE TERROR. The ‘Need To Grind’ is thoroughly expressed with a simple stenchcore riff, pounding blast beats and gravelly shouts that bring to mind TERRORIZER’s Andy Garcia on ‘World Downfall’. But arguably the finest moment on this whole record is HP’s irreverent but utterly delightful rendition of MOTORHEAD’s classic western-themed ‘Shoot You In The Back’ from the ‘Ace Of Spades’ album. These Anglo-Poles manage to utterly destroy this classic in just under a minute and a half. Behind it all you can just about hear Lemmy and co joyfully spinning in their graves.

HELLO BASTARDS’ half of the 7” technically consists of 6 songs (although in reality there are only two worthy of the name) of grimy, distorted hardcore punk of the old-school. The opener deals with the horror and exploitation inherent in ‘The Sweatshop System’, a CONFLICT-style burst of spit and ire with a strong 80s feel. Next up is a four second, vitriolic expression of the need to ‘Make Hardcore Punk Again’ – a sentiment presumably aimed at the New York Hardcore scene – before the brief crash of obnoxious contempt that is ‘Productive Criticism’. ‘Zapatistas’, a track named after the Mexican left-wing revolutionary Army Of National Liberation, attempts to hammer home its message in all of six seconds. We get another ‘proper song’ at the end in the form of the two minute long ‘Equality’, and here the London Anarchists demonstrate for the second time that they are capable of more than just sloganeering and brief, undeveloped blasts of anger. This record is enough to convey a general idea of what HELLO BASTARDS can do, but it would be nice to hear them spread out a bit more.

PSYCHONEUROSIS/HERIDA PROFUNDA/SUFFERING QUOTA – ‘In Fear We Trust (3 Way Split)’ (2019). The first PSYCHONEUROSIS riff hits like a wall of steel, before giving way to the kind of galloping dbeat that grabs you by the hair and drags you along with it, with some EXTREME NOISE TERROR-style vocals spitting their outrage over everything. In the middle of the rampaging violence of ‘Believe What I Say’, though, flows an intelligent solo, like a thread of colour against the blackness. ‘Where are We Heading’ is an explosive storm of blast beats that stop and start with schizophrenic irregularity, bringing out an satisfyingly tight snare sound. The song is vicious but unfortunately brief.

HERIDA PROFUNDA’s four song offering is a more noisy and crusty affair, with the sound of filthy, begrimed machinery bringing to mind VOIVOD’s early work. ‘Holy Books’ is an RDP-style slice of crusty grind, a brutal slice of South-American style hardcore punk reminiscent of LOBOTOMIA. But HERIDA PROFUNDA’s best song here is the oddly despair-filled ‘Remembrance Day’, which sounds like war itself grinding up the flesh of its victims in jaws of rusty iron. Closer ‘Alerta Antifascista’ is a bullet to the head of the fascist vermin.

SUFFERING QUOTA’s ‘Rage’ is true to its title – a barrage of vitriolic thrash mayhem lasting just under a minute and a half. Their second song of two is more ponderous; the spidery doom beat crawls along with a leaden weight of crusty riffs on its back, before exploding into a burst of savage and relentless violence. Vocalist Gerald is like a rabid dog, totally deranged and frothing for blood. The lyrics here and on ‘Bastardized Yesterday’ are clearly secondary to the expression of hate and psychological agony, in phrasings reminiscent of the late Johnny Morrow from IRON MONKEY. All in all, these two songs are sufficient to show that SUFFERING QUOTA is a band to watch in the future. Keep an eye out for them is you like your thrash/crust dirty and aggressive.

J.Cooper

Copyright Metal Punk Inferno (2020)

Interview with Misantropic

MISANTROPIC IS AN INCREDIBLY powerful crust/dbeat/thrash five-piece from Umea in Sweden. Now, Sweden has so many great metal and thrash outfits per capita that you might be forgiven for thinking that every self-respecting Swede is in a band of some sort, but Misantropic has a far more brutal and savage sound than most others in their genre, and this is due in no small part to the sense of despair and absolute rage that frontwoman Gerda conveys in her vocals. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a drummer who is a master of double kick and the high-speed supercharged d-beat, over which guitarist Erik lays his rabid riffs like bricks and mortar. Misantropic sound like all the best parts of SACRILEGE, NAUSEA and DETESTATION, but beefed up and galvanised into something more vicious than any of them. The band has been around since 2009, during which time they’ve released a split e.p with DEATHRACE, another split e.p with EATEN RAW, and the outstanding ‘Insomnia’, which is a perfect thrash/crust masterpiece and their best release to date. They’ve recently finished putting the final touches to their long-awaited full-length debut ‘Catharsis’, which is due for release in the autumn. I spoke to MATTE (bass and vocals) and GERDA (vocals) about politics, the new album, and why there are so many great metal and punk bands in Sweden:

How was Misantropic formed and what were your main influences?

M: We started like 12 years ago, with a slightly different lineup. I think the ambition in the beginning was to play more stench/crust than we had done in previous bands. The main influences back then were old UK bands like SACRILEGE and DEVIATED INSTINCT and newer US groups like CONSUME, STATE OF FEAR, HELLSHOCK and so on. I guess Swedish death metal was a big influence as well. I don’t think those influences are so obvious today though…

G: I joined the band after the original vocalist Johannes left in 2009 or something like that. Before that I was more like a fan/friend that sometimes joined MISANTROPIC on stage doing a cover of “Cybergod” by NAUSEA, a song they played regularly around this time.  So when they asked me to be a member I first said “Fuck no”, because I had stage fright and all off that, but well… here we are. So on the first 7” EP, I don’t do the vocals. It’s a guy called Johannes.

Which specific albums have influenced you most as a musician?

M: We all have pretty different backgrounds musically. Some of us come from the crust punk scene, some from the metal scene and some from the hardcore scene so I think everything from DISCHARGE, ANTISECT and SLAYER to IRON MAIDEN, TRAPPED UNDER ICE and MADBALL would be on that list.
Personally, I would say that “Behind the Realms of Madness” by SACRILEGE have influenced me a lot when I write music for MISANTROPIC. I have probably also stolen a lot of stuff from “Absolut country of Sweden” by ANTICIMEX.  I cant really speak for the others but I know that Erik, who writes a lot of the music, has listened a lot to AGNOSY “When Daylight Reveals the Torture” lately. He also worships “Best wishes” by CRO-MAGS and “For victory” by BOLT THROWER. Other albums I know have influenced our members is “Scandinavian Jawbreaker” by ANTICIMEX, “Reign in blood” by SLAYER, “Beneath the Remains” by SEPULTURA and “Vengeance” by TRAGEDY.

G:  For me, I would say “Behind the Realms of Madness” by SACRILEGE, “Rise of the Serpent Men” by AXEGRINDER and “Conjure and Command” by TOXIC HOLOCAUST! But yeah also some of those mentioned above, like SLAYER and ANTICIMEX.

 

Why are there so many good bands of every genre in Sweden? Is it because the country is more egalitarian with a better education system? How is the live scene, and did it used to be better?

M: Sweden have something called Folkbildning (’folk’ means ’people’,’bildning’ means ’enlightenment’) which means that most bands in Sweden get free rehearsal places from the City. Bands can even get money from the state for buying equipment and stuff like that, so its really easy for bands to start playing music here in Sweden. This folkbildning-system was especially big in the 1980´s and 1990´s, because back then Sweden was still social democratic and these organizations had shitloads of money, so all of those classic Swedish punk/metal-releases from the old days was pretty much payed for by the state hahaha.

G: Folkbildning is still a big thing here though, and I am working with that for a living; helping kids putting up shows, building rehearsal rooms for bands etc. My workplace is at a cultural center in one of Umeås suburbs where we help the community organising cool shit (refugees welcome, food not bombs, setting up recording studios, organizing concerts etc). I think this is the main reason for Sweden’s music export.

M: The live scene is not so good at the moment, especially not compared to 10 or 20 years ago. Gentrification has affected most cities, and it is hard for organizers to find venues for DIY activities now days. And since there is no tradition in squatting in Sweden (partly because of the cold climate and partly because of the police) this means that it is hard to put on shows without lots of money. But every city is different, and Umeå still have a pretty decent DIY live scene. But since the punks got evicted from the classic venue Verket a few years ago, it has been tough and an important platform has been lost.

Is Misantropic more metal than punk, or vice versa?

M: Hmmm. We play the music we play, which I guess is metal influenced hardcore punk. However, we pretty much only play at punk places and our ethics is strongly connected to the punk scene (DIY, non profit etc) so I guess that makes us 100% a punk band.

Misanthropic has a foot in the metal scene (which is still male dominated) and a foot in punk (which is more inclusive). What is it like for a woman to front a band in these scenes?

M: I don’t know if this is true, that we have one foot in each scene. Sure, musically we are very influenced by metal but Misantropic is not really a part of the metal scene at all. We never play at metal shows (we would if they would ask us!) and even though many of the local metal heads show up at our gigs here in Umeå I would say that when we leave town 99% of the people coming to see us are punks and hardcore kids. I don’t think many people in the Swedish metal scene knows about us. Robert is also playing in some metal bands (BEWITCHED, for example) and Umeå is a small town so we hang out with the local metal people and go to the local metal shows and that sort of thing, but one foot in each scene… nah.

G: The metal scene have a lot of issues to work out. Even though I rarely go to metal gigs, when I do go I often hear sexist shit and stuff like that. As a woman, I feel much more welcome and respected in the punk scene than in the metal scene. But maybe things are changing a bit now. Lets hope so.

How is the new album doing, and how does it compare to the previous material?

M: I would say the new album “Catharsis” is a natural development from the latest release (the 2014 split with Eaten Raw).. We have released a single 7”, “Death Cult”, earlier this year that I think kind of shows where we are going. I guess “Catharsis” is a bit more metal than the previous releases, meaning more double bass drums and less d-beat, but I still think the punks and crusties will like it a lot. It’s a great album that took us a long time to finish, so hopefully people will like it as much as we do. We are super proud of “Catharsis”.

G: Its more "experimental", so to speak.  I mean, there are even violins and synthesizers on some tracks! But it is still fucking raw and brutal, so don’t worry!!!

Do you prefer the old school metal and punk with its 'rugged' sound, or the more modern stuff?

M: Personally, I really prefer primitive rugged sound before the modern stuff. All the classic albums I like were probably recorded on an 8 track portable. But Erik (guitar) is my complete opposite. He has a studio, Ljudkross, where we always record our material, and he is super good at what he does and he really likes to work with getting a great sound. So Misantropic is usually pretty well produced, since Erik is behind the mixing and recording. And that’s good, I think Misantropic would sound pretty bad with a sloppy production. Also, when it comes to extreme music I really like it when you can still hear the lyrics (wich is pretty hard to do on old rugged recordings).

The metal and punk scenes, like the world itself, are becoming more politically polarised. Where do you stand politically? How does metal compare to punk in terms of political literacy?

M: Misantropic have always been a political band, to us it is something totally natural. Our lyrics are pretty much focused on different aspects of anti-fascism, so yeah… that’s where we stand politically. And, being anti-fascist also means being anti-sexist, anti-capitalist and anti-racist. We also have a lot of songs about environmental issues, animal rights and so on. I dont really spend enough time in the metal scene to say anything about how metal compares to punk in terms of political literacy, but it sure seems like the metal scene still have some problems with racism, conservatism and stuff like that. And they definitely have problems with sexism, chauvinism and homophobia. I hear a lot of shit in the crowd or in the bar when I attend metal shows. But I think the metal scene is slowly starting to deal with this, at least here in Sweden. People seem to more interested in listening and educating themselves today instead of just saying that metal is “un-political” before opening another beer. So that is a positive development.

What is your view on the blm protests?
M: I support it, of course. The deeply rooted racism in the US against African-Americans needs to be dealt with, and it seems like the only way this is going to happen is by burning shit up. Keep it up. It’s time for a change.

G: Kimberly Jones!

How did covid19 affect the band, and what are your plans for when it's all over?
M: Well, not much really. Sweden’s, rather controversial, Covid-19 strategy meant that we have been working as usual, our kids are still in school and so on. The only difference is that there are no shows, so some gigs was cancelled and stuff like that. Also, I guess the production of the new LP got somewhat delayed (but it is being printed now and should be out in august).

G: Its been rather productive for us, we have been able to rehearse a lot so we have written new material for something that might be released in 2021. That is rare, we are usually a very unproductive band hahaha.

What is the best experience you've ever had with Misanthropic, either live or in the studio?

M: Hard to say, but we have done some really amazing shows (and some really shitty ones). I remember our gig at DIY HARDCORE FEST in Gdynia, Poland, being a concert that we just fucking nailed. There are some videos on internet from that gig and I would say that we have never been better than we were at that show. I also remember a beautiful evening playing in an old ammunition factory in Croatia (No Sanctuary Fest) being one of the greatest evenings ever.

G: What Mattias said! AND a gig at Gula Villan in Stockholm 2015 where the crowd tore the place in pieces, stage diving from windows, stage diving from our equipment, breaking stuff, bleeding... 5 seconds into the show I saw the mic stand crowd surfing away to come back a minute later in pieces. I´ve never been so happy in my life.

What do you think fans like about your band?
I think people like us because we do our own weird thing and have our own style. The sound is deeply rooted in d-beat crust punk, but we have no problems throwing in some heavy metal riffs or hardcore breakdowns into it..

Which new Swedish punk/metal bands would you recommend?

M: SWORDWIELDER have been around for a long time but it seems like a lot of people have missed them. Their new record “System Overlord” is one of the best albums I have heard in decades. I also enjoyed the new ZYFILIS album that came out a few weeks ago. WARCHILD, from Umeå, is also fucking amazing. The new LOWEST CREATURE album was really good as well.

G: DEADACHE, HEAVY BLEEDING, SKROT, TJUVKOPPLA, AXE RASH!

Any further comments?

M: Thank you for the interest in Misantropic. Keep an eye out for the “Catharsis” album in the fall of 2020.  No gods, no masters!

G: Cheers!

 

J.Cooper

Copyright Metal Punk Inferno (2020)