New fodder for dungeon dwellers and other medieval punk scum. Sword Breaker of Utrecht, Netherlands made a strong impression with their Demo in 2022 and their full-length debut now delivers more of that same kind of headsplitting fun which can easily be categorized as "Poison Ruïn and their ripple effects", although that doesn't mean that their tunes won't deliver some exquisite thrills in their own right, approaching the microgenre from a way rougher and simpler angle (despite an ever-so-slightly cleaner production aesthetic) which feels way more '70s hard rock- than '80s heavy metal-inspired while also leaning harder into classic Oi!- and garage territory with addidional traces of Wipers and subtle touches of british psychedelia.
The californian label Grime Stone Records has long been way ahead of the curve when it comes to the more quirky ends of blackened- and dungeon punk releases and even if the musical merits of the bands and projects featured didn't always manage to keep up with their lofty ambitions, these folks have also brought us some undeniable contemporary classics by the likes of Bloody Keep and Drýsildjöfull. The newest cassette by Curta'n Wall is yet another strong contender for the latter category, being a prime example of the more playful and egg-ish - though also in a way quite traditionally dungeon synth-inspired - end of the genre spectrum, drawing on some of the strongest tunes in their already quite prolific discography as a rock-solid basis for their insane sonic escapades while toning down some of the cheesiest (previously often unbearably so) aspects of their sound just enough to hit a certain sweet spot with me. While parts of their previous work have struck me as more novelty than substance, this record has finally grown a healthy amount of real meat around its bones.
Oslo group Molbo sure have made some waves recently with their two cassettes in 2023/'24 which got a huge boost when they got reissued together on vinyl earlier this year via Erste Theke Tonträger. Their overall sound hasn't changed considerably since then but nonetheless there's plenty of refinement evident here, consolidating their style into a more robust and consistent whole while once again weaving threads of garage-, post- and egg punk, death rock and dungeon punk into a pretty fucking inventive and gloriously deformed genre bastard, fortifying and defending their own little niche in the contemporary egg/dungeon canon.
Finally! Here it is, the first longplayer of Sydney's Gordo Blackers a.k.a. Steröid who's previously also had a hand in groups like Draggs and Gee Tee among others. A good three years after their debut EP blew a brand new hole into the castle walls of lo-fi egg- and dungeon punk, their sound remains a completely singular and yet strikingly simple affair, mixing the quirky fun of garage- and eggpunk with the catchy hooks and riffing of early eighties metal and arena rock. The result is a potent and intoxicating concoction so addictive it shouldn't be legal really. As usual with anything even remotely metal-related, i'm kinda ill-equipped to make any specific assumptions about musical roots and influences at least on the metal side of things, so i'm gonna stay in my lane here and just say that these tunes fuckin' rip without exception and the second half of this record is a welcome change of pace after the more straightforward, breathless hit marathon of side a, when the stylistic parameters become a good bit more varied, elaborate and adventurous, all of which is presented here in an ultra-dry no-frills mid-fi recording aesthetic that clears and tightens things up considerably compared to the earlier EP without watering anything down. Yup, that shit sounds absolutely fucking perfect if you ask me!
Now i suddenly remember that, like, two weeks ago, i was thrilled as hell to see a new Nourishment EP being released and then apparently failed to bookmark it and forgot about it in the last couple weeks' relentless flood of new releases. Happens to me all the time. Well, better late the never i guess. The sonic parameters on this one stay roughly the same for the US-based blackened-/dungeon punk group, althought the production values appear to have been improved a tiny bit here. As before, the new record captivates with a distinct spin on the genre that once again appears to take plenty of inspiration from contemporary, dark goth-infused post punk and oldschool death rock.
Incredible new Dungeon Punk-related material from a mysterious group operating out of some unspecified dark forest located somewhere in the US. These folks approach the whole blackened punk thing from a heavily post punk- and goth/death rock-leaning angle, shrouding their fully developed, well-rounded song architecture in a beautifully fucked-up, blown-out Lo-Fi aesthetic, altogether reminding me of a couple of fairly recent genre entries by the likes of Conifère, Unsheather and Bloody Keep.
The excellent 2-song demo by this Philadelphia group has me hooked already with Head Full Of Glue being a deliciously spiky and abrasive lump of noisy dungeon-esque, blackened hardcore punk with vague similarities to groups like Piss Wizard, Dick Hick and Jeg Hüsker, wrapped in a thick layer of white noise. The second track Stone Fruit is even better - a clearer sound lets even more weirdness bubble up to the surface in a post punk-ish tune seamlessly fusing the aesthetics of egg- and dungeon punk, which among other thinks i'm pretty sure will thrill fans of that recent Molbo comp on ETT.
Horror-/dungeon-themed Garage Punk from Houston. Blown-out, smelly and abrasive, this shit strikes me as a mix of early Strange Attractor, Neo Neos, Lumpy & The Dumpers, Stinkhole and Research Reactor Corp. What the fuck's not to like about such a proposition? I'd much rather listen to that than whatever shit you're listening to.
An awesome dungeon-themed artifact comes to us from a Montreal group who take a major leap from their more purist black metal-leaning 2020 debut tape to a more ambitious punk-flavored endeavor that also aligns pretty well with the more blackened subsection of the current dungeon punk landscape, most notable last winter's Bloody Keep LP and the likes of Warlock Corpse or blackened synth punks Drýsildjöfull, though Conifère certainly put their very own flavor on their epic crusades by way of a strong late nineties post- and emocore undercurrent being the common thread running all the way through this tape.
Having already tasted some of their new LP in the form of a perfect teaser EP a couple weeks ago, we finally get to hear the full debut LP by the dungeon punk wizards of Karlsruhe, Germany and oh boy, we're in for a fucking treat that combines a couple of new recordings of tunes already heard on their 2023 demo with plenty of equally strong new material into a breathless thrill ride that's further helped along by a perfectly fitting and outright filthy lo-to-mid-fi production that sounds as if the whole thing had been recorded in some fucking parking garage. There's tons of sparkly psychedelia to the garage rock of the opening track Locket, a primitive proto punk punch and simplicity in Tear it Up while tracks such as As Loud As Me and My Dawn lighten things up with unexpected flashes of melodicism, the latter of the two having a distinct vibe of early The Men to itself. Contrast to that the hardcore-meets-motörpunk attacks of Give Me Beat and All This Heat, the oldschool Sabbath leftovers fused with the space rock abandon of late Destruction Unit in Supression, which is simultaneously being embedded into some vague post punk context á la Nag. The dungeon punk hymn Fomo Boy remains every bit a destructive force as we've already gleaned from the demo and the new track Inte Mer Hem following that one has much of the same momentum and qualities. Fuck me, this thing slaps.
