It has been a while since we last had a peek under the  lid to see what’s boiling away in the realms of underground metal and hardcore. Lets rectify that immediately shall we?

 First out of the skillet is Razorbite I had assumed this shower to be from Leeds given Nat Wood took their photos, Jimmy Wizard drew the cover and Atko recorded the demo but no Donny, these guys and girls are from Glasgow. I’ve visited Glasgow on a number of occasions and it’s always struck me as a tough fucking town. The first time was back in 1997. We asked for a pizza in some glum cafe and the pie faced curmudgeon behind the counter shoved a frozen pizza into a deep fat fryer before presenting it to us on a Glasgow salad, a formidable bed of chips. Like thats normal. Other highlights of that evening included a three legged dog, Knuckledust playing in a weird mosher pub/strip club hybrid hell hole, trying to get some kind of sleep in a sketchy mill and waking to discover we were being silently watched from a doorway by a man in a pair of bunched tighty whities and a Massacre T-shirt. Choice. The sounds Razorbite produce are a testament to all that misery…groove heavy hardcore not unlike Trapped Under Ice I guess, but the production on this is all squashy and sounds like the first One King Down record. I like that One King Down record loads though so it’s chill. So yeah, Trapped Under Ice meets Albany hardcore circa 1994 with bratty female vocals. It’s a combination that took some getting used to but its not immediately like anyone else and I dig it. Maybe you will too, have a listen HERE 

Unjust from Manchester put out a corking demo of Brotherhood/Confront inspired straight edge hardcore a couple of years ago, played a few savage shows then promptly disappeared from view. The band shared members with Insist, Reflect and just about every other XXX mob from round that neck of the woods so I guess Unjust simply went on the backburner whilst those other projects took priority. Thankfully QC Records has seen fit to rectify that by releasing this gem of a 7″ called Transparency. Once again It’s more of the same thick necked mid to late eighties Clevo meets Seattle straight edge hardcore worship, just like No Tolerance. They rattle of the fast parts with furious abandon before the tense build ups crash into fist shaking skank parts and I feel like I’m 17 year old edgeman fresh out the box and ready to fight the world. Or at least spray paint some shit.  Vocalist Mike Porter sounds like he’s been gargling with tar before recording and on a personal note I will add that I hope the band decide to use a more flattering picture of Mike on the front cover because bruh looks like he was in the same year as me at school. And I am PROPER old mate. Anyway, LISTEN

Ahhh Birmingham. The second city. Home of Black Sabbath, UB40 and THAT grotesque accent. I used to have to go there a couple of times a year when I worked at the comic book conventions at the NEC and I always found the place to be dry as old tits. Except for my girls down at the Balsall Common Holiday Inn, good times. Anyway back in the day Brum was home to jarg youth crew band Step Back and a little later came Your Life Is A Grave. Both of which I didn’t mind at all. Unbeknownst to me there’s been plenty going on down there in recent years so here’s Cruelty . New band from those ends that could best be described as taking influence from late nineties metallic hardcore. I felt like it was a mix between early Pulling Teeth with some Chokehold when they had their shit together. Also reminded me of Stampin’ Ground and I’ll leave it up to you to decide if thats a good thing. Regardless, it’s a raw, decent demo with some texture and angst and I’d watch them if they played a show ten minutes away from my house. Here’s their DEMO.

I’m incredulous that Done Dying frontman Dan O’Mahony finds the time to write and record music for one band let alone two, such is his apparent enthusiasm for flooding Instagram with pictures of his own grid. His new band Shiners Club made their much anticipated debut last week via the wonderful No Echo music site. He’s joined by another California Hardcore warhorse in the shape of former Outspoken vocalist John Coyle on guitar who’s visceral performance here proves he’s no one trick pony either. Mean Season’s Colin Buis and The Vandals Doug Mackinnon complete the line up on bass and drums respectively. No weak links there then. With that impressive pedigree and If you are familiar with any of O’Mahony’s other gigs (No For An Answer/ 411/Speak etc) then you’d be forgiven for thinking that Shiners Club would be the next link in a particularly strong chain of outspoken, socio-politically informed outfits. Not so. Seems that Shiners Club draw it’s ire from a different well. Lyrically we find O’Mahony switching gears and exorcising some personal demons here and it makes for a refreshing and insightful change of pace. The man sounds genuinely unhinged. Musically he’s backed up by some of the best in the biz. It takes chops to perform music so frantic and wounded that it sounds like its one off beat away from the stitches splitting  and the guts spilling out. Shiners Club play loose and loud invoking the creepy crawl spirit of early Black Flag and I encourage you all to listen to this immediately….HERE

Finally we have a recommendation from my guy down under, Jon Peach. His band Controlled just did a few dates with Ill Natured from Newcastle, New South Wales and holy shit, aint they just what the Mosh Doctor ordered? Have a listen to THIS , Peach’s exact words were ‘this is what The Break In should have sounded like’, and in fairness if they hadn’t kicked me out and I’d had my wicked way, they would have. Ill Natured music is as hard and ugly as Margate precinct on Giro day. Massive downtuned churning cement mixer riffs, belicose vocals, loadsa dismal lyrics about being mates with death and having no teeth and such. The perfect blend of ingredients that make me hungry to kick the absolute pipe out of some poor pilgrim. This might be my favourite new thing in ages and is a welcome reminder that despite inflicting Make Them Suffer upon the world Australia really does churn out some amazing hardcore. The artwork for the tape sampler is cool as shit and it’s a taster for their forthcoming album which I’m definitely pumped for. If you hate your shitty job, resent your friends and hate the life you’ve been given…stick this little ripper on and swing fists of hate and style into the face of this spiteful world.