KIJAMET / THE SNOT / BIBLE THROWER / NAILED IN live @ Attack, Zagreb 24.12.2022. - video

- video is from: SubsiteTV

- check out photos here: Subsite.hr

upcoming gig in Požega, Croatia

 

when?........................30.12.2022., Friday
where?.......................Tom klub, Požega

who?..........................DEFIANT death metal, Cro

                                   NUCLEAR ALTAR crust, Cro

                                   DYSTOPIA ?

                                   R.R.D.P. ?

entrance?...................?

upcoming gig in Cordoba, Spain

 

when?....................29.12.2022., Thursday
where?...................A.C. Tugurio, Cordoba

who?......................ROTURA melodic hc punk, Spa

                               ANSIEDAD CEREBRAL, lofi hc punk, Spa

entrance?................5 €

LÜGER / STALINSTADT - "Hopeless/Army Of The Desperate" split LP is out now!!!

yes, yes, hell fcking yes!.. this raw d-beat monster finally arrived from the pressing plant and is ready to ship from Burning Anger and Rawmantic Disasters.. available on black (200 pieces) and on white vinyl (100 pieces).. I'm pretty sure they will go fast so hurry up if you wanna grab your copy of this masterpiece..

"Stalinstadt hail from Berlin City featuring Alex of Disease (Macedonia) on Guitar, Per of Giftgasattack/Warvictims/Absurd SS (Sweden) on bass, Igor of Electric Masochists/Kärzer (Berlin) on the vocals and Toda of Earth Crust Displacement/Svart UT/Peacebastard/Absurd SS (Berlin) on the drums. Recorded in may 2022 after one rehearsal in infamous catacombs of Köpi 137 Squat Berlin by Johnny. 6 tracks ultrabrutal D-Beat Raw Punk Violence with russian lyrics. Lüger from Zagreb deliver another 6 tracks in exactly the same vein, heavy influenced by Giftgasattack and the likes incl. a cover of MOB 47. Their 2nd release after the Demotape. If you are into japanese and scandinavian Raw Punk Mangel, DIS is for you."

LÜGER

STALINSTADT

SMRT RAZUMA - " Nova Era Mraka" - video

superbly done music video for song "Nova Era Mraka" (new era of darkness O.E.) from new album by Smrt Razuma.. for its production responsible is Igor Atlija from Koshmar Studios..

just a remainder, same named album on 12" vinyl is available from the band or from DHP&AK47 distribution..

YOUTUBE

BANDCAMP

upcoming gig in Zagreb, Croatia

 

when?.....................24.12.2022., Saturday
where?....................AKC Attack, Zagreb
who?.......................NAILED IN hc punk, Cro

                                BIBLE THROWER crust punk, Cro

                                THE SNOT hc punk, Slo

                                KIJAMET hc punk, Cro

entrance?.................40 kn

upcoming gig in Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

when?................29.12.2022., Thursday
where?...............Gromka, Ljubljana

who?..................CALL THE COPS raw hc punk, Ita

                           WARFARE anarcho punk, Ita/Slo

                           ŽULJ punk rock, Cro

entrance?............?

https://www.klubgromka.org/index.php?mode=program&id=5671

SMRT RAZUMA - "Nova Era Mraka" new album is out now!!!

a long awaited LP by Smrt Razuma, their first album after two shorter demos, is finally here!.. and no more and no less on vinyl.. yesterday it was published on bandcamp and records will be available on tonight's gig in Zagreb.. later available from the band for 16 euros/120 kn so contact them for your orders..

brutal album!..

BANDCAMP

YOUTUBE

A//POLITICAL - Planting The Seeds Of Revolution

one of the best anarcho-punk albums ever and forever!.. and criminally underestimated.. I say the best album (although this one is basically the demo) and not the best band on purpose because their later works aren't even close to the power and ferocity of this one, which doesn't mean they aren't also good, just contrary they are maybe better than some which are taking bigger attention and credits..

A//Political were band from Baltimore, MA (USA) active few years in mid 90s until 2000 and this demo is from 1997 when they have finally settled down as a band after initial, as it seems, pretty turbulent couple of years with a lot of line up changes and everything else..
despite the similarities to some 80s and early 90s peace punk bands, then obvious influences from Crass, Conflict and the likes, both musically and visually, but to be honest, that's from where bunch of others (if not all) bands from 90s anarcho-punk draw inspiration and influences and that's nothing new and game changing, still they seems to be the most original and maybe the most committed, direct and often provocative, observed as the whole package, musically and especially in the lyrics in which they wasn't afraid to criticize punk scene itself.. also they were known as the ones that really lived and believed what they sang about and had huge amount of other activities and actions beside the band, as they said: "It's Not About Politics, It's About Life"..

same is with musical part which is on this album absolutely perfect.. even they are exactly what you imagine on the first when someone mentions 90s anarcho-punk, at first listen they are maybe classic for the genre, with dual male and female vocals, some spoken parts and speeches, but soon you'll realize they have that something which sets them up from the others, I'm not really sure what but I believe that's because they are so damn highly energetic and furious act, they use multi vocals often and the main two, male and female are absolutely perfect, sure they are not the best musicians out there but this is totally irrelevant in this case.. also, songs are not similar one to another and the whole thing doesn't get boring in a single moment like many others which have one or two anthemic songs which stand out from the others and are the best songs (mostly the opening ones) and the rest are somehow predictable and boring.. this isn't the case here, song structure as the tempo varies from song to song and I can't decide which one is the best to me, even crusty "Education is Indoctrination" is unbelievable energetic, contagious and perfect.. sound and production on this demo are also perfect for my taste, not polished and just as it should be, maybe one more reason why this sounds so powerful and angry..

in short, as I said in the beginning, to me this is one of the best (if not the best) anarcho-punk albums of all times, period..

- video is from awesome 6DISTRUST6 channel on youtube

- for some education, nice story about it and download link visit Terminal Sound Nuisance

fun fact: they used this awesome artwork style for which one of the members is responsible if I'm not wrong, kind of Crass/peace punk inspired, but somehow in more, I don't know, nuclear-post-apocalyptic (?!) style with this "anarchy flower" appearing on almost every release in different variants and I remember, when I was a kid that I "redraw" one of their images (the one with the kid and flower from "Propaganda By Deed") with black marker on a white t-shirt from some random anarcho flyer not even knowing about them and that they used this motive and made custom design shirt for Dislike, crust band from here and with lyrics from their song Luchar written in square shape around it which somehow fits perfectly to the image and I wear it in school and later when I basically run from home on my first Monteparadiso festival, still underage so I wasn't allowed to go.. that was some rebellious years, haha, and don't even need to mention that t-shirt was very much noticed and I was getting a lot of punk points from older crew for it, hahah..

CRUTCHES interview on Disastro Sonoro webzine

 

there's good interview with Crutches published on Disastro Sonoro the other day, they talk few words about new album "Dödsreveljen", Not Enough label and it's 20th anniversary festival, life and band functioning during the quarantine and todays crazy times, etc.. play some mangeling noise from here and go read it on the link below..

while you are there be sure to check other interesting stuff, there's a ton of them.. 

INTERVIEW on Disastro Sonoro

PHYSIQUE / DECOMP / SUBVERSIVE RITE / NO FUCKER live @ Sabbat's Lair, New York (USA) 09.11.2022. - video

well, this looks like it's 1998 again.. there's even not so much cellphones and cameras in the air as usual, hehe..  and it was hell of a night probably.. Physique and Subversive Rite are the bomb!..

videos are from this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@shitgazer

   

 

    

 

today in Zagreb, Croatia..

 

when?.....................10.12.2022., Saturday
where?....................AKC Attack, Zagreb
who?.......................STATICO hc punk, Ser

                                SUKOB hc punk crust, Cro

                                OKOV hc punk, Cro

entrance?.................?

upcoming gig in Belgrade, Serbia

 

when?...............17.12.2022., Saturday
where?..............AKAB Okretnica

who?.................U.B.T. raw noise punk, Cro

                          NEVEN hardcore, Ser

                          VRŠNJAČKO NASILJE punk, Ser

entrance?...........donations

upcoming gig in Zagreb, Croatia

when?............17.12.2022., Saturday
where?...........Močvara, Zagreb
who?..............DEBELI PRECJEDNIK melodic punk, Cro

                       KRIVA ISTINA melodic hc punk, Cro

                       LOŠ PRIMJER melodic punk metal, Cro

                       SMRT RAZUMA thrash hc punk, Cro

entrance?.......55/75 kn

LANDVERRAAD live in Minsk, Belarus 29.05.2013. - video

I remember this band from back then when they were active, they definitely raised up some serious dust all around and grab almost everyone attention and I remember everyone knew for them in some moment and that they were accepted well, almost everyone likes them no matter they were hardcore kids, punks or crusties, me also, they sure grab my interest with recordings of furious live shows which started to pop out every a while all over the internet.. they visited Čakovec and Zagreb at one moment somewhere in 2014 or so, Zagreb in two occasions, I think..

with their hardcore powerviolence they are maybe not exactly my cup of tea (when I was younger I listened and enjoy such bands a lot more) but maaaaan, how huge energy they was having live, that's unbelievable.. and insane.. you can't deny that.. and here's the proof..

this was recorded somewhere in Minsk 2013, during one of their countless tour.. video is from this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@allrot13

- interview with them done during 2013 balkan tour for Leave Me Alone zine and published on DIY Conspiracy: https://diyconspiracy.net/landverraad-interview/

BANDCAMP

WORDPRESS

CIVILIAN THROWER - "Trebuchet Showroom" new album is out + euro tour December 2022/January 2023

are you up for a little good old school grindcore for a change!? if the answer is yes, I have something for you, Civilian Thrower from Lyon, France published new album called "Trebuchet Showroom".. after last year demo and some split tapes now they are hitting us with how they say this mini album, but it looks like decent full length one to me, for now only on bandcamp and later will be out as a tape and CD on Lixiviat Records, Repulsive Medias and Zillion of Meat.. 
it consists of 13 songs in 13 minutes of raw and old school grindcore.. tape version will be out by the end of December and CD version will follow a bit later.. the material was recorded in their rehearsal space in Lyon..

and that's not all, after last year euro tour when they visited Zagreb, Pula and Rijeka among others, now they are ready to hit the road again, this time more south-western Europe, it means France, Spain and Portugal.. tour starts on 28th December and they still need help with few dates, check those on poster below and if you can help contact them at:

 civilianthrower[at]gmail[dot]com

28/12 : Lengouyrou
29/12 : Toulouse
30/12 Donostia
31/12 Llodio
01/01 Unquera
02/01 Braga
03/01 NEED HELP
04/01 Lisboa
05/01 Setubal
06/01 Cordoba
07/01 Malaga
08/01 Dalias
09/01 NEED HELP
10/01 Madrid
11/01 NEED HELP
12/01 Barcelona
13/01 Lyon

CIVILIAN THROWER

HATE TO STATE - Hate Demo on Terminal Escape

 

awesome Terminal Escape, the best blog out there, along with Terminal Sound Nuisance (both have "terminal" in name, hmmm...) almost never disappoints.. this monster of blog feeds us with cassette rips on daily basis since 2009, it means every day new damn tape in last 14 fcking years, can you at least imagine which number of tapes and amount of effort we talk about here?! - I fcking can't.. and I'm amazed every time I see new post there.. every day..

the other day mr. Wizard posted demo by Belarussian anarcho punk crusters Hate To State, until now totally unknown band to me, as many about which he writes to be honest, but when for the obscure ones from the States it isn't even strange they are unknown to me, this one somehow surprises me (positive, because it's always nice to find something new, although old, and that good) and the fact that I missed them and they are from Europe, were active in 90s and have this specific east european anarcho crust sound for which I'm complete sucker is even more surprising.. only the evidence and remainder that there's plenty of fish undiscovered in deep dark see of 90s east european crust punk..

as you probably realized by now they play classic for that time crusty anarcho punk with dual m/f vocals, demo consists of 10 powerful raw attacks, riffs and drums strongly reminds me on Totalni Promašaj and Debeli Samuraj from Serbia, which came first on my mind, probably because of the beginning of the song "I Hate All I See" but with more crusty vibe in vocals and rawer production and sound in this case and something faster than above mentioned, more like bunch of old Polish or Czech bands from those times or try to imagine rawer, filthier and more primitive Antiglobalizator, maybe more known band, also from Belarus.. considering bands name, titles of the demo and songs, cover art but most the fact from where they are coming I assume lyrics are also angry as the music and politically engaged which were almost always in common to similar bands from that era and geographical positions.. 

according to discogs this demo is from 1998 and it's only recorded material by them but in the download folder from Terminal Escape there are even 19 uncredited tracks included from who knows where, sadly without female vocals but awesome anyways..

- comment from discogs: 

"Although the band recorded and released only one demo tape (Hate Demo) they are considered as legends and pioneers of Belarusian DIY scene. Bassist Igor also released fanzines and had a distro. Hate To State was active until around end of year 2000. After the band split up most of members formed a new band called 451°F and had recorded and released a split tape in 2001. In 2013 Hate To State had a gig in Minsk after 13 years of silence. They also performed live in 2014."

- for download link, nicer review than those my rumblings and to say thanx go to Terminal Escape

- for video of reunion gig in Minsk from 2013 go here.. 

- video of demo below is from Narcoleptic Fox youtube channel..

- you can read interesting interview with them in Profane Existence #39, they talk about Belarussian diy scene, anarchist movement and political situation there as well.. in this number there are also views with Misery and great Shitlist.. you can check it here.. 

thanks Axe for mentioning it in comments..

24/24 - "Munk​á​spr​é​s" tape is out now!!!

do you remember 24/24 and their demo "Munk​á​spr​é​s" mentioned here two months ago?!.. well, you should and if you ever click play button on their demo they probably stayed in your memory and their raw, fast and angry hc punk is screaming on Hungarian somewhere in the back of your brain and you're wondering how the hell you hate Orban so much lately..
and now you can do yourself a favor and grab a copy of a tape and enjoy this on the best possible format, as good old cassettes which are available from the band..

for more info contact them here: tomiconia[at]gmail[dot]com or found them at facebook if you use it..

neeeeee, nekem te ne!..

MATRAK ATTAKK Italy/Switzerland mini tour December 2022

 

BANDCAMP

BLOGSPOT

YOUTUBE

V/A - "Groblje Iluzija" is out on Egoton Records!!!

interesting benefit compilation tape Groblje Iluzija is out on Egoton Records from Berlin, featuring 8 bands from Serbia.. actually first edition of limited 50 copies is already sold out but available on bandcamp for streaming and second press is in preparation and is coming soon..

bands represented are: Crna Žuč, Kalo, Vršnjačko Nasilje, Smrt Razuma, Kpax, Disznotor, Urlik and Svlak..

go check it out here:

V/A - Groblje Iluzija at bandcamp

"V/A - Groblje Iluzija is compilation tape containing 8 actual bands from Serbia ( one of the bands sharing members located in Serbia and Croatia). Each band is presented with two songs.
Physical release is packed in carton box made of 300g paper, screen printed in two colors and cut by us. First press limited to 50 hand numbered copies.
Digital release is benefit for libertarian and antifascist projects in Serbia.
Thanx to all bands and individuals who made this compilation possible!
Bands are Crna Zuc, Kalo, Vrsnjacko Nasilje, Krax!, SMRT RAZUMA, Disznotor, Urlik, Svlak
Box design, cut and dubbing by Pagan.
Illustration, layout by Doomsday Graphics
Egoton 2022"

today in Sisak, Croatia..

 

when?.................26.11.2022., Saturday
where?................Skwhat, Sisak

who?...................BIBLE THROWER crust punk, Cro

                            LUGER d-beat raw punk, Cro

                            ŠARIJANATA acoustic folk punk, Cro

entrance?.............25 kn

fanzine workshop + movie projection in Klaonica squat, Zagreb 04.12.2022.

 

what?..............fanzine workshop and movie projection
where?............Klaonica squat, Zagreb

when?.............04.12.2022., Sunday

applications....azklaonica@riseup.net

Nervegas / Lüger / Okov / Crash Test Horrors live @ Klaonica squat, Zagreb 19.10.2022. - video

 

video is from SubsiteTV and for some photos from the gig go check here: 

https://www.subsite.hr/2022/10/nervegas-luger-okov-i-crash-test-horrors-u-reciklaonici/

roseman127 youtube channel

there are a bunch of great channels on youtube but among all of them there are just few extraordinary to which I come back every a while and always found something new and interesting in endless amounts of videos they usually have.. and one of those is definitely roseman127, offering tons of live recordings from Bay Area gigs, mostly from Oakland and surroundings from the last 10 years or more and is hiding some really cool stuff.. you can easily lost a day or two if you want to explore it more and get lost in bunch of videos.. I often catch myself thinking that I wanna move to Oakland now and witness to some of those chaotic and as it seems, fun gigs and watch all those awesome bands live.. I highly recommend the ones from Manic Relapse festival or from The Tubes but seek for yourself..

some of my favorites: Femacoffin, Stormcrow, Torso, Isotope, Skadi, Born/Dead, Odio, Ssyndröm, Enzyme, Riita, Tozcos and hundreds more..

go visit it, subscribe if you like it and say thanks for all the effort..

roseman127 channel at youtube

blurghhh..just a rumor...(VISIONS OF WAR/GASBÄTH/WARFILTH - 3-way split LP)!?

I smell some VISIONS OF WAR/GASBÄTH/WARFILTH - 3-way split LP..
how do I know?.. no one told me or confirmed but there are some hints and well, I'm crust detective, hehehe.. anyhow, it sound interesting and if happen will sure be fun and great record..

Visions of War are well known to the readers here and to all of us from doomed Europe, crust core unit of old orcs with members scattered all over the continent, and probably something less known to us, but great and interesting, duo from the States, Gasbath crust punk from Austin, TX and Warfilth also crust punk act from Chicago, IL..

upcoming gig in Zagreb, Croatia

 

when?...................18.11.2022., Friday
where?..................Klaonica squat, Zagreb

who?.....................LLAMANDO A JULIA punk rock, Spa

                              BAMOVI hc punk, Cro

                              OMČA hc punk, Cro

entrance?...............?

17th ANTI FA FESTIVAL @ Monteparadiso, Pula 18.-19.11.2022.

17. Antifa Festival se vraća nakon 2 godine izbivanja.

Program:

PETAK 18.11.
Hacklab:
18:00 - Z. Nikolić - "Dolazak fašizma na vlast na mikroprimjeru Pule i Istre 1918-1922. godine"
Projekcija filma 

Klub Monteparadiso:
22:00 - Heihaizi (HR)
            TBA


SUBOTA 19.11.
Hacklab:
18:00 - M. Liman - "Novosadska scena / S.H.A.R.P. scena"
Projekcija filma 

Klub Monteparadiso:
22:00 - MUP Destroyer (HR)
            Okov (HR)
            Vršnjačko Nasilje (SRB)

LIFELESS DARK live @ Lie Detector Weekend, Don Quixote, Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) 30.07.2022. -video

uffff, this one is tight as hell!.. Lifeless Dark from Boston, MA to me one of the best current bands out there and their live shootings from Lie Detector Weekend vol 2 from July this year.. didn't have a clue if they are still active after awesome and mighty debut "Who Will Be The Victims?" released few years ago and now I see that they had few gigs this summer and that are great news.. really do hope to hear more from them and looking forward to maybe some fresh material in the nearest future..

and hey, the sound and power of this guitar - The Guitar, the Mother guitar, one guitar to rule them all.. incredible..

- video is from D Fuegos youtube channel

today in Gromka, Ljubljana..

 

upcoming gig in Rijeka, Croatia

when?.....................22.11.2022., Tuesday
where?....................Podrum, Rijeka
who?.......................THE CELTOIDS garage punk, Cro

                                EXWHITE garage punk, Ger

entrance?.................25 kn         

upcoming gig in Požega, Croatia

 

hmmm, memories... this seems like it might be some proper fun..

when?..............................19.11.2022., Saturday
where?.............................Tom klub, Požega
who?................................NUCLEAR ALTAR crust punk, Cro

                                         K.D.P. punk rock, Cro

                                         NO NAME punk rock, Cro

entrance?..........................30 kn

NOT ENOUGH 20 YEARS OF MANGEL festival @ Plan B, Malmö (Sweden) 28. - 29.10.2022. - video

 

well, it seems this one was blast!.. and how it wouldn't be if you just take a quick look at the line up.. Crutches and Voidfiller are posiblly the best current crust bands in the world..
all the best to Not Enough for 20th anniversary and yes it's not enough still, I wish you at least 20 more!!..

videos are from and all the credits for them goes to HEALTHY DOSE OF SELF-DESTRUCTION channel at youtube..

  

                                                                                                                                                          

  

  

  

  

  

VISIONS OF WAR - The Lost Tapes 2002 "A Bottle Too Far" re-noised

 

what a delightful surprise by Visions Of War, while we were waiting for one another new gem by those crust punk dinosaurs a 7" split with Symbiose they, totally unexpected, surprises us with this little treasure.. behind above complicated title are hiding old, forgotten recordings from 20 years ago when they were recording material for legendary split with Olho De Gato.. beside 8 which ends up on split there were even 12 more songs recorded that day but never properly mixed and edited so now ex-singer Lolo take care of it or re-noised them how they say and it sounds just awesome.. I like this line up of VOW probably the most and those dual vocals were recognizable for me since the first time I heard for them and watch live.. can't wait to see who will release this on some physical format, I bet someone will..
and yes, don't listen to their lame excuses about how it's sounding, about crazy days and recording live 
because this is perfect and just as it should be!..
so, go grab it while it's hot, if you are into real and dirty crustcore you won't regret it..

                     VISIONS OF WAR - The lost tapes 2002 " A bottle too far" re​-​noised

"Okido , we have something to celebrate , 20 years ago we recorded in Amsterdam under guidance of Kaptain Kaos Dejan and his Slivo and beers , 8 tracks for the split lp with Olho De Gato , that same day we recorded 12 more songs , they never got properly mixed , and now Lolo ( yes , the singer who was with us around that time ) found a free program to play with frequencies and came up with this "mix" , the songs have a few unreleased ones , and the dirtiest versions of previously released songs on it . Mind you it was a crazy day , coming from Hellgium by car and train to Amsterdam , set up , record everything live , than the same night we´ve been asked spontaniously to play in Alkmaar at the infamous Victoriepark , but it was a blast , we where a bit younger and eager to push it by times as far as we could.  So what can we say , thank you Lolo to celebrate it with all of us , ex and new members XXX Now enjoy , you´re in for a nasty treat ! The line-up then was , Flip = Drums , Boris = Bass , Stef and Arnö = guitars , Lölo and Stiv = Vocals ."

upcoming gig in Zagreb, Croatia

 

when?.........................11.11.2022., Friday
where?........................Klaonica squat, Zagreb

who?...........................ATOMSKI RAT noise thrash punk, Ser

                                    ASTIO post punk, Ita

                                    VIPERA r'n'r, Cro

                                    HEIHAIZI hc punk, Cro

                                    MUP DESTROYER grindcore, Cro

entrance?.....................35 kn 

CRUTCHES - D​ö​dsreveljen - new album is out now!!!

 

hell yeah!.. this one was awaited with impatience for so long.. now it's finally here!.. new album by Crutches, kängpunk kings of mangel from the north, released by Not Enough, Profane Existence and Phobia records as 12" vinyl, 666 copies pressed, 333 black and 333 on silver vinyl.. it's also available for free download on Crutches bandcamp.. 

"The 4th album of total madness and the echoes of a time that's collapsing down. Rawpunk sirens in a bleak dark time.

Total madness and beyond. A whirlwind of feelings towards a fucked up system. An echoe that’s opening with the reveille of death."

BANDCAMP

YOUTUBE

NOT ENOUGH

PHOBIA RECORDS

PROFANE EXISTENCE

MATRAK ATTAKK interview

my first touch with Matrak Attakk was back then in 2018 when they were preparing euro tour and when Py send me an e-mail asking about the places were they can play here in Croatia.. this time they arrange gig at Podrum in Rijeka and later, as they become unstoppable touring machine, come back here even 3 or 4 times, in Novi Marof, Pula, Split and Zagreb.. I didn't know for the band before this e-mail but they sure grab my attention with not so usual combo of crusty anarcho colored grind with, in that time, dual m/f vocals and the female one sounded kind of strange and somehow hard to get used to them (at least that was case with me) so I started listening to one or two releases they had published on bandcamp more and more and waiting for the next opportunity to check them live somewhere because I missed the gig in Rijeka.. luckily, I didn't have to wait long because in November the same year (2018) they were back on tour again with French d-beat punk band Ascidie and visited Novi Marof among others.. and at this awesome gig they only grow in my eyes and ears, really great and fun band to watch live, fun people to hang out with and the most important the band with attitude and message.. after a lot of line up changes since that time, only Cristina and Py remained from "original" members, and after moving from Belgian squats to the ones in France or Italy they are still pushing it hard and are maybe stronger than ever..

this interview is originally done on Italian and published on mighty Disastro Sonoro webzine and here is with permission so go say thanks there and check the rest of awesome stuff, some other interesting interviews like for example with Jos from ex-Last Legion Alive, Silence Means Dead and others, than with Juan from Columbian punk band Systema (super interesting one, considering fcked up social and political situation in this country), with Boco from Extreme Smoke 57, with zines Just A Nightmare and Extreme Noise and bands Repression Attack, Misantropic, War//Plague and many many more, also some great reviews, articles and similar stuff.. in short, one of the best blogs out there lately, just unfortunately the most of the stuff is on Italian but you can easily translate it with deepl translator which is almost perfect and a way better than google's one or any other I tried so far.. I used it also for translation of this interview and it ends quite well, just needed to do few slight edits, I know it isn't 100 % perfect and if some things made out of context or sound funny I apologize to the interviewer and the band in advance.. 

interview was done obviously somewhere before their latest tour through England, Ireland and Scotland in September and it's quite informative and interesting and as all the regular readers here knows how I love and support this band I thought it deserve English version, so here it is now..

okay, enjoy the reading!..

Marking a continuum with the U.S. and European anarcho-crust tradition of the 1990s, as much from a musical point of view as especially on the level of antagonistic/antiauthoritarian attitude and political consciousness, Matrak Attakk represent one of those bands for whom "punk is still a threat" is not just a slogan for its own sake but a real declaration of intent and merciless war on this world.
Through their savage crustcore, Matrak Attakk explode their rage against capitalism, heteropatriarchy, animal exploitation and psychiatry, proudly raising the flag of trans-feminist, anti-speciesist, anarchist struggle and against all forms of oppression, exploitation and repression.
I talked about this and much more with singer Cristina in this interview full of reflections that constantly oscillate between the political and the personal, between anecdotes from their tours and concerts and a lengthy insight into the punk/DIY scene and the Belgian anarchist/squatter movement.

Are you afraid of our revenge? You should be!

Ciao ragazzx! Let's start in the best possible way, since your name has always fascinated: where did the choice to call yourselves Matrak Attakk come from and what meaning does it have? And what made prompted you to create the band?

The name Matrak Attakk was given by a former member of the band and dates back to 2015. At that time we were based in Gent and we were communicating in the Dutch language. Matrak is a French word ( adopted from the Flemish dialect) and it means baton. Attakk spelled that way is of course (little) poetic license and the reference to the KKK is the correlation between police crimes and the KKK. Then the subtlety that not everyone noticed is that the name was changed from MatraK AttaKK to Matrak Attakk.
The second question requires a long answer since I am the only remaining original member takes me back to how the group was born!
We had moved on from the ashes of another group from 2013-2014 called Share Your Needles, the drummer and one of the singers left, first one then the other, and the 4 of us decided to stay together, but since the former singer was already complaining about us staying together plus continuing with that name, some members decided to change the name before our first concert in early April 2015. The most voted name was the one that Moshrat, former co-singer, chose which was just that. It sounded good and we all agreed on it. The band was then born out of a desire to continue making music in drop C and play and record. 

You call yourselves an anarchist, queer, and feminist group. What significance do you give to these dimensions of political struggle and how important is it for you to spread certain discourses within the hardcore punk scene? Are you engaged in any specific collective or path of struggle?

Continuing the logical thread of question 1, the group stayed in Ghent until 4 out of 6 left and after that
I moved to Liege with one of the guitarists to a squat where we reformed MatraK Attakk two months before we went on tour. Since I had been struggling to create this tour as well, canceling it hadn't even crossed my mind, plus the new members were politically much closer to me. So just since then, in 2017, the group in addition to being anti-psych has also become anarcho-queer-feminist. I don't want to separate the 3 words, because writing them with a hyphen clarifies the kind of "Queerness" and "Feminism" in which we are reflected.

Although you left out anti-psychiatry in the question, let's say that was my motive, most important in the search for a band like MxA and to push me into punk since 2004-05. On the first CD released for Vleesklak and Dead Punx Society it is mostly about anti-psych.
Having met Toto who took the drums and Py who took the bass at the time, I decided to let go of anarcho-feminist lyrics and also to consider Italian as a language to write lyrics, also to change the musical intonation a bit and to rediscover forgotten meanderings of my brain. Without giving unsolicited publicity to collectives, nor highlighting people and movements that prefer to remain in the shadows, I can tell you that four words are difficult and too catalogative to summarize the struggles in which we are (have been) engaged. Some examples are benefits, boycotts, anarcho queer feminist initiatives but also anti-hispecist, internationalist anti-fascist or simply solidarity with those who at the moment needed it most. As indeed, many people do and continue to do in the global DIY punk scene.


Over the years you have released a good number of splits, what is your connection with this format? How do you usually choose bands to share a split with?

Well let's say Py is the split enthusiast, I have been pushing for full lenghts for years ahah! According to him it is boring to have an album by one band. Anyway Toto who was a creative and productive essence from 2017 to 2018, pushed us to record (clearly on our own and in the Highway to hell squat where I, Toto and Py lived, before Remco rejoined us when Toto left) and since we had 6 songs we couldn't do anything but a split, a friend from Mutabo Milos Romac, recommended PAKT to us, since we had just recorded a few songs, having been in Slovenia we knew the band a little bit and having heard the band and since they also wrote in different languages with political but original lyrics and I liked Nika's voice a lot, we decided they would be ideal for a split with us, so we asked them if they felt like doing a split. With Grenzlinie, let's say having been a band of mine as a teenager, finding myself with a master that I didn't even know I had and 3 songs that were supposed to go into a split with Cluster Bomb Unit I decided to use them for a '7 with Matrak, so it was done quickly, since the split album with Discordance was also coming out in 2019. Discordance, Py found them since he knew some of the members that we even had the pleasure to meet later on during our tours in Greece... We did split tapes with Ascidie (friends of Toto and Py) and Global Horror because we know them for real precisely and about the next split LP I'll answer you later.


Finally last year you released the new album "What the Fuck Is under the Spotlight?" a devastating concreted of militant, pissed-off anarcho crustcore. What has influenced you from a politically and personally in writing that record and the various lyrics?

I wrote the lyrics for "What the Fuck Is under the Spotlight?" at the turn of 2019 and 2020, the outbreak of the covid era. So it starts from the burning forests to the lockdown, repression, discrimination and alienation of the latter. Let me preface this by saying that I write without thinking too much and just let the keyboard guide me and throw out what is in my heart, which makes "What the fuck.. " is a pissed off diary of this strange time, although the covid is never mentioned openly since the redundancy of news about it made me not want to talk about it, as well as the confusion of the moment and the mixed feelings we all felt stopped me from giving opinions and making judgments, but to describe what was happening with the eyes of what I was at the time, looking at what was going on around and what were the consequences in people's souls denouncing how humanity, is regressing to an individualism and selfishness that never existed. And I'm not referring to whether or not to wear a mask, such discussions I leave to those who don't know what else to say, but I'm referring to the indifference of the powerful to those who don't have a home, as people continued to be fined, evicted, expelled and beaten during the covid, and the abused and beaten women had no choice but to stay in their oppressors' homes, the police had the real green light to beat up and kill those they always hated (in northern Europe, especially people of Muslim religion and non-white), and to arrest those who continued to demonstrate for political causes (and I am NOT referring to the anti green pass riots) and humiliate, beat up political opponents.


Returning to the topic of feminism and queer issues, as much as the history of hardcore punk has seen many bands belonging to the LGBTQ+ community representing queer and anti-sexist instances (just think of Homomilitia or Los Crudos), the scene can by no means be considered as a place that is always safe and foreign to machist, sexist, or homo-transphobic attitudes. As Matrak Attakk what are the shitty and prevaricatory attitudes that you still notice within the scene or at concerts? And how are your lyrics or the feminist speeches you make during your live shows?

I subscribe! Well the way I see it is: punk and diy circles are, by instance and party, places where sexism of all kinds has been banned, so I feel free to denounce any form of repression, provocative or prevaricatory attitude I see since I have the microphone and therefore I can stop something bad that is happening.
Clearly the older I get the more I realize that sometimes I overreacted, sometimes I didn't see, now I try to gain maturity in reporting what happens, when it happens.
During our 'career' of 7 years things have happened, especially to me in the sexist sphere, after years I think the jerks are starting to be afraid of me, but still things happen that I can only name in list from the mildest to the worst : blowing us off, people walking away after a speech, insults, taunts from other punk groups, groping, beating, the infamous dick in the air followed by jerking off before being out, ending with hands in the butt and genitals, to be svegl* or not...AMEN!
Clearly most of the time, especially lately that I am learning not to talk too long trying to be clear concise and less boring (although I don't always succeed), the people who come to see and the bands who play with us, the organizers etc. share what I am talking about or at least respect what we come to say, or maybe they don't listen, but the older you get the more you are left talking I must say...

Do you think that still today punk in all its forms can be a viable means of expressing and spread sharp messages against this world of oppression and repression, exploitation of human beings as much as of animals, as well as against capitalism that devastates and plunders the environment? For Matrak Attakk, what potential does punk have?

Yes, punk can be, as long as bands talk about these issues you mentioned and others, there will be people who will be forced to be let's say 'bombarded' by these alternative discourses that you don't often hear outside, and this will still push people to inform themselves, read, watch or listen to those who have something to say about it. Often at concerts the bands don't talk much anymore, but at least they wear a shirt of someone who does, or they sell for free, or they just behave well with others, which lately is no small thing. Still every once in a while, every so often I would say, someone asks me about some text, and I almost melt on that still there are people who like to read and mirror themselves in the words of someone who can express what you wanted to say but didn't know how, someone who can get concepts and words out of you that you couldn't externalize ... as long as that happens, it's true. As long as these bands with so much to say are not absorbed into the commercial (which is already happening to the more catchy and/or recommended) then there is a danger of them lapsing into cliche and killing what still exists in our scene.


In your split with Discordance you have a piece in which you deal with the social and political issue of revolutionary Rojava. What relevance does this experience revolving around issues of ecological and feminist issues for Matrak Attakk?

Northern Syria, the Kurdish people, the YPJ, and all the fighter groups that have played and are playing a role in the Rojava struggle makes me very passionate about it. I try to go and listen and read everything I can find about them and I tried years ago to write a summary fanzine about them, so much so that I sought out Martin from Adrestia since he had created an information network about Rojava called 'Punks for Rojava' which served until a few years ago to collect money and send it directly through a Kurdish person who is now gone, to YPJ, YPG and internationalists who needed it in their freedom fight. So we started collecting money at every tour or concert, even printing black-and-white T-shirts (the Swedish ones were in color and cost too much for our taste) and T-shirts with a personal design for those who didn't want a kalashikov on the shirt nor a flag (and it's a good thing we do DIY screen printing) to sell them for less so everyone could afford it , in short MxA in its small way tried to send money to Rojava and subsequently to the various benefits JinWar, Red Crescent Kurdistan, Make Rojava Green Again, and clearly to provide any kind of support needed to fighters.
Jineology issues, ecology, and how Kurdish and Middle Eastern women view sisterhood, how they have revolutionized the preconception of feminism and eco-feminism in the heads of us Western feminists is amazing and I watch them from afar full of admiration. In a book I read recently, a Kurdish woman explains to a Westerner that we are actually much more oppressed than they are with absolute finesse. I cannot help but agree with her.


Purely musical question. You define yourselves as an anarcho-crust-core band, so what are the groups that have and continue to influence you in composing your music?

Well for this question I have to write to others, as far as I'm concerned, groups and personalities like: Wendy O Williams & The Plasmatics, Motorhead, Detente (with Dawn Crosby), Lost World, Harum Scarum, Acute, Patti Smith, but also Bathory, Venom, Judas Priest,Alice Cooper, CRASS, Anti Product, Contravene, Naked Aggression, Diamanda Galas, Bonnie Tyler and a few others, have influenced me a lot!
ANTOINE : French punkabbestas with hot beers and no bubbles, François Juno, The Who ( thanks to Peter genius with 3 strings), Zebda.
PY : old crust and anarcho punk
MIGOU : Stench, Noisegrind, NWOBHM, Cardi B and Amebix


What can you tell us instead about the Belgian politicized and diy punk scene? What are currently the collectives, squats that are most active in pursuing a more militant dimension of hardcorepunk?

CRI: I lived in Belgium from 2007 to 2020, 3 years in Antwerp, 6 in Ghent and 3 in Liege. I must say that there is a lot of DIY scene in Belgium, there were a lot of bands between Gent, Antwerp and Brussels, at least I knew more about those! In Antwerp there was the Lintfabriek from 1981 to 2007, clearly I missed it! It was not a squat but a podium attended by diy and non-diy alternative bands from all over the world! There was the Koevoet (cf. crowbar), though, a squat with DIY concerts! I was situated at Den Drempel (RIP) and Pandemonium (RIP) when I was 21-24, The Music City on the other hand still exists and is a small but nice place where diy bands from all over the world play and quite often too. Also at Kids Rhytm and Blus Cafe there are often little concerts... I know a wonderful church was squatted for a short time, but I escaped from that city when Bart de Wever (famous Flemish politician very right-wing who came to government with NVA) was elected mayor (a Renzi of Antwerpen ahah) since the police checks, fines and nightly arrests grew by leaps and bounds. I can say that Travolta and Arrogant are diy bands with more political lyrics and ideas for the folks who pass through there.

In Ghent, on the other hand, I went there to study psychology, but I knew it had a history of squats and anarchy that was more interesting than the other Flemish cities! Although clearly I always arrive late when the splendor fades. I was involved in feminist collectives though a little too 'respectable' for me, where I learned a lot, however. The problem with these feminist collectives is that they don't like punk.
So to find more anarchist places, I had to find a mixed group (pre MxA). At that time there was the Bakunin Pogo Bar (RIP, former Barbar), the Van Monk with the anti-fascist gym, the Landhuis, the Camping, Ter Goten (although it's in Herzele), 'De Bank' (RIP), Den Bristol (RIP), Tubel (RIP), Het Assez! (rented anarchist center in Gentdal '93) and many others whose names I don't remember, let's say these were the ones I frequented, or opened, or where I lived with other people and where there were or still are activities.
However although an active squat in itself is an expression of anarchy, I cannot say that all squatters are political and like to do political initiatives, and there were many discussions between political and purely musical activists. Volkskeuken (people's kitchens) were going great, along with the diy punk concerts.
The Landhuis was purely hippie/travelers but when I ended up living there I turned it into a purely punk place, I was doing 3 concerts a week in 2015 and clearly after almost a year the hippies didn't like it and I flew out. haha! Then was born 'On the Rag!' my anarcho-feminist benefit festival where I was trying to make a line up full of women, clearly I wasn't succeeding perfectly, but it was a benefit festival in a squat, from 2015 to 2019.
In Liege when I moved I went to live at Kre-Action, where there were all kinds of concerts and activities and many different people were living together. Toto who then played drums with us, did workshops of silkscreen printing and biking and other initiatives and Py also with him even though he didn't live there yet. There was the 'critical mass' of bicycles, there were benefits and some punks interested in both the political and the musical side, but I have to say that for years wherever I go, there are fewer and fewer punks interested in political initiatives! With Kre-Action, we have moved around several times until Py and Toto and I separeted and squatted the Highway to Hell, a big, beautiful house with two attached gardens, tombstones attached and electrical wiring, small concert hall, huge bar in the hall with 1930s water purifiers and asbestos columns that we tried to insulate and protect.
Finally between the 3 of us we managed to do more benefits and political activities such as Sunday mornings of concerts combined with 'writing letters to the prisoners' and still at every concert or so we managed to donate some income to some instance! Only after a while we soon noticed that the anarchist and feminist collectives didn't come too much to us, either because we were a bit isolated on the highway or because punk, they didn't like it! In short, the trend of the years was : either you have a festival or you have few entries! Other squats with activity were 'Pigeon Communale' (a former bank) and 'Tunnel’ (rip)
Brussels, on the other hand was teeming with queer punk politicized and clearly the grass is always greener on the other side:
Groups like Rene' Biname' made anarchist punk history in Belgium in that 'Leuvain la Neuve' where a self-managed neighborhood made of light housing exists. Places like 'Barlok' (RIP) brought Queer-Noise/Punk culture into hype without even meaning to. 'The Magasin 4' is where local bands hope to ever be called to play with their childhood idols, where Napalm Death, Oi Polloi and Discharge can play and even get paid, in short. Brussels is teeming with politicized collectives and groups: anti-speciesists like Doggy Bag Crew, queer feminists like Bitchcraft, Rainbow (for LGBTQI+ refugees)and many more!
In Leuven, there is the SOJO youth center where the people involved are anarchist and/or anti-fascist.

PY: Two of us spent several years in the Belgian, Flemish, and Walloon scene. These scenes were very active in the 1990s and 2000s, certainly compared to the size of the country, especially in the Flemish part!
The most active city in the Walloon region was Liège. There we were doing Food not Bombs, opening squats, doing concerts ... but many have grown old and others have left, now there is not really a new generation and the scene is less active. There is still a squat that does concerts but not really politicized, while as far as the French scene is concerned, there are still a few important and politicized squats in some bigger cities, but the laws have changed lately and there are more and more evictions and threats of eviction, there are not enough occupied spaces to create something big and unified.
We have many collectives buying or renting farms and country houses with land and organizing events.
Now it is much more difficult to organize something in the cities because of gentrification. It also all depends on what area. There are completely depopulated areas that don't have any kind of movement.
Among the self-managed places in the Breton countryside we can name a few such as Penkalet, La Rouille, Bovel, L'autre monde and l'Etable.
Then there are politically active cities with more generational turnover such as Rennes where there are collectives of politicized punx that revolve around a few local groups.
Strasbourg has AIM Strassbouri, who often do benefit concerts with anarchist themes.

During 2022 you had as many as four tours around Europe, how did they go?
What have been the best dates, spaces and experiences so far that you have gone through and had?

I would have to say that this year we are roughly wrapping up Europe, as covid has caused us to cancel many tours. For me it was beautiful and touching to play in places like southern Italy, Sardinia, but also coming back to Greece where you feel loved because of their great turnout at concerts, to have finally played in the Balkans where we hadn't been able to go yet which were Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia!
Or being able to see Malta and Crete, Sicily (Catania was wonderful!) , Calabria where I must say that I became very fond of Cosenza and Reggio Calabria because of the anarchist library in Cosenza and the CSOA Angelina Cartella in Reggio of having resonated at CPA in Florence after 20 years XD, of seeing Laura Raf's punk book presentation at Scintilla and receiving a copy from Beatrice as a gift to have reopened many concert seasons in Switzerland, to have seen so many friends again...to have toured together with the Interpunkce treasures, to have been accidentally drugged with hallucinogenic mushrooms, to have woken up with a new tattoo in Brno, to have swum in the lake, to have vomited, laughed, cried, danced as always.

Because there's no more taking anything for granted these days....


Upcoming projects in the Matrak Attakk household?

Well a festival in Brittany at the end of August and then recordings for a split LP with 'Persona Non Data' from Groningen, with whom we are very pleased to share a vinyl! Then from September 7 to September 26 we will be on tour in England, Scotland, Ireland! Next year we plan to go back to Scandinavia for the third time because Antoine and Migou have never been there and Finland for the second time! Then we will go to Southeast Asia and Japan for the first time, covid permitting!

- MATRAK ATTAKK bandcamp

- MATRAK ATTAKK youtube

- MATRAK ATTAKK blog

- DISASTRO SONORO webzine

- original interview on Italian