In a somewhat unexpected but, all things considered, perfectly sensible move, the Philadelphia group on the cutting edge of the still kinda vaguely defined and developing dungeon punk genre release their first full length effort on the well established, rather metal-leaning label Relapse Records. Thankfully this has precious little influence on their sound, aesthetics and production values, with their newest batch of songs even presenting the group at their grittiest and most Lo-Fi so far, their still absolutely singular, elaborate sonic constructs made up of post- and garage punk, noise rock, postcore, a very slight hint of Oi! and only the most ancient ingredients of proto- and old-oldschool metal remaining obscured by in a thick layer of tape hiss all the time. Yeah, the whole thing sounds glorious i gotta say!
A kickass EP of this Glasgow group originally released roughly a year ago, now hopefully getting saved from relative obscurity by local label Gold Mold Records who've just reissued this beauty digitally and on cassette. On it, we get fresh supply from the realm of dungeon punk-ajacent noise reminiscent of a whole range of groups like, naturally, the current genre overlords Poison Ruïn, the heavily motörized/sleazified garage punk of Cheap Heat, Golden Pelicans and Polute, hard-/postcore-leaning acts like Tarantüla, Bloody Gears and Video.
More beautiful delightful garage punk mayhem by the dungeon-dwellers from Karlsruhe, Germany, this time in a slightly less lo-fi yet perfectly potent sound aesthetic. Once again you might be remembered of acts like Strange Attractor, Salamirecorder and, most of all, various incarnations of Thee Oh Sees over the years. My Spell, then again, sounds a bit as if the latter had been crossbred with the no-wave infused drones of noise rockers Spray Paint.
Just another quick roundup of noises and disturbances out of the extended hardcore orbit. Starting off the batch with Sex Hater of Kansas City, who will surely please admirers of chaotic and downright filthy hardcore shit in a similar vein to groups á la Total Sham, Fried E/m or Launcher.
Speaking of filth, Clinic from Fresno, California dial that certain aspect even further - their latest EP feeling like one single murky puddle of primitive anger and deep despair, not entirely dissimilar in some places to the early Beast Fiend EPs.
pH People, a group of unknown origin, then slow the tempo down considerybly while by no means lacking energy - their tape on Urticaria Records is a potent mixture from the fringes of harcore punk and (proto-) noise rock with clear echoes of mostly older stuff á la Flipper, Spike In Vain, Noxious Fumes or Broken Talent.
And lastly, there's one for the dungeon dwellers among us in the form of Philadelphia's Alien Birth who deliver an oldschool metal-infested beast kinda like a mix between a more primitive Poison Ruïn and Golden Pelicans going all in on their sleaze rock leanings.
You know what's really been missing recently? A new dungeon punk scorcher! This artifact of unclear origin goes the buzzsaw synthpunk-meets-black-metal route and does a formidable job at getting you into the mood for some skull-splitting action in the musty catacombs.
Another australian supergroup made up of folks who gave us, among others, the wonders of C.O.F.F.I.N, White Dog, Research Reactor Corp, Satanic Togas, Stiff Richards, Split System and Cutters - a fuckin' who's who of recent garage punk goodness down under. Of course Polute delivers the goods, with a twist though as there's a strong oldschool "heavy"-/speed metal vibe imprinted here on the familiar garage punk sound, reminding me of fairly recent acts á la Tarantüla, Cement Shoes and even the incredible Poison Ruïn may serve as a viable comparison - dungeon dwellers will approve for sure.
A new dungeon punk artifact from Karlsruhe, Germany. In contrast to the bulk of this young micro-genre's acts, Thee Khai Aehm don't incorporate a whole lot of oldschool metal influences, rather approaching the musty dungeon aesthetic from a distinct psych-/acid rock angle, kinda like a mix between classic Oh Sees, Strange Attractor and… Salamirecorder, maybe? Always playful, mostly weird, sometimes epic and presented with a muddy, dusty production aesthetic as if these songs haven't been exposed to daylight and oxygen for centuries.
New shit by the world's only viking synth punk project… and we've got another winner! The title track just sucks you right in with a throbbing beat not unlike to the recent Dance single, spiked with a hint of ancient eurotrash cheesiness. With Go Ahead we then get an effective straight-up no-frills punk smasher, while the oddly placed/titled Instrumental Interlude feels like fun hommage to classic chiptunes that will also mesh well with the ongoing dungeon synth/-punk wave.
Dungeon punk's chief ambassadors bestow upon us the gift of three new battle cries and oh boy, are they getting more epic, determined, elaborate and ridiculous with each release… and i'm all down for it!
A new entry into the young dungeon punk microgenre coming our way from medieval Utrecht. That means competent new fodder for connoisseurs of D&D-savy imagery and themes, of heavy armor and blunt weapons as well as a small but expanding roundtable of skullcrushers á la Poison Ruïn, Bloody Keep, Weenog, Steröid or whoever else has recently been busy uniting the aesthetics of garage punk with those of oldschool black- and/or super-ancient "heavy" metal.
