FROTHING MAD - DEMO (2025)

 

Coming in very late to the game on this one. It has certainly made the rounds online and been widely discussed at shows I've been to over the past several months. No real excuse for why it took me so long to actually sit down and give this one a listen, but better late than never. 

It pretty much fires on all cylinders. The art is sick, the production/mix is balanced and hard hitting in all the right ways, and each member I think brings something distinctive to the table with their performance. The singer's delivery in particular has a personality and charisma to it that is an essential aspect in a lot of great 80s and early 90s hardcore and often missing in hardcore nowadays.

Musically, late 80s/early 90s NYHC like BREAKDOWN is the obvious comparison point, maybe "Just Look Around" era SOIA, but the metallic overtones are maybe even stronger than that at times, particularly on tracks like "It Walks Behind You" or the divebombs and shredding interspersed throughout. Those moments and some of the heavier mosh parts they build toward evoke 25 TA LIFE.

I was going to end this post by saying I could easily see this demo getting pressed as a 7" but I checked and it looks like that already happened. Buy it if you like it here. 

 Fav track: My Way

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SUBJECTS - SUBJECTS

 

A quality hardcore offering from Richmond, Virginia that feels right at home on Youth Attack. I hear elements of YOUTH OF TODAY, some 2010s hardcore like BLOOD PRESSURE. Catchy and full of vitriol, a nice melding of styles that feels familiar, straightforward, no-bullshit but arresting in execution, like slipping into a warm bath with exposed electrical wiring.

Fav tracks: Idle Hands, Need Another

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ACID CASUALTIES - FLAGS ARE FALSE

The inimitable Iron Lung Records brings us one of 2025's best pure hardcore punk LPs with New Jersey's ACID CASUALTIES. They've been a little enigmatic despite also being based in the tri-state area, I guess due to logistical constraints limiting their activity over the past few years both in terms of playing local gigs and writing/recording. So this one sort of came out of nowhere for me. In terms of the actual sound, it is pretty much just straight up unadulterated 80s USHC at its most vicious and frantic, as you'd expect for a band taking its name from a KORO song, but I also hear a bit of Swedish influence in some of the riffs. "Derelict Dog" comes to mind in that regard. There aren't any bands I can think of in the region doing this style of hardcore this well, and it's right up my alley, so I'm pretty siked about this record and (hopefully) getting to see them play more shows around here too.

Fav tracks: Derelict Dog, Acid Casualty

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NISEMONO - S/T LP (2025)

 

Man this band absolutely rips. 偽者 (NISEMONO) has been around for a bit now, having released their demo in 2021, but they've only recently started playing shows since all the members are now local. I believe last week at the Broadway with MERCY and OXIDO was just their second show. Great gig - this three-piece scorched the place with ripping TOTALITAR worship, a style that in my opinion seemed more heavily in vogue 5-10 years ago but these days doesn't have as many bands doing it at this level. AJAX in particular feels like a strong reference point in that regard. 

Each member absolutely shreds their respective instrument and their live sound has an intensity that goes well beyond what you think a three piece format should allow. The riffs are very creative and very memorable, and watching his hands race up and down the fretboard was dizzying. So is the drumming, very tight, creative, but powerful and not overplayed. The mixing on this record is also pretty on point. I definitely slept on this LP when it came out last year but it has been on repeat lately, and every time it ends I want to play it back immediately. One of my favorite Toxic State releases in recent memory. 

Fav track: 右翼反対 (Uyoku Hantai)

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DAUNTING NIGHTMARE - BLOODSHOT

 

DAUNTING NIGHTMARE's latest and final release is out now on Sex Fiend Abomination. The way this band sounds and the way this release was recorded evokes in my mind visions of a deranged goon rampaging in a dank, gloomy sewer - large gray bricks caked with grime and dirt, rusty iron grates dripping filthy rainwater. A toxic browned liquid. Banished to roam beneath the city's streets spiraling further into madness and deluded venomous rage. What small, fine bands of light manage to penetrate from the world above extend toward this brutish centrifuge seem to cower and flee, retreating back into the false from which they came. This is your reality now. This is the final reality.

Fav tracks: Remains, Bloodshot

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AYUCABA - OPERACIÓN MASACRE

 

The basic gist of AYUCABA is that they are a Barcelona-based band (albeit with I believe 2/5ths from Bogota) sharing members with bands anyone up to speed with international hardcore punk should be familiar with - MURO, INYECCION, FARMACO, among others. That alone should pique your interest. They interestingly had a lineup change recently that involved swapping their bassist and singer, and this is their first release since then. I have not listened to any of their prior releases (think it might just be a demo?) but that in itself is an interesting move that I don't hear of happening too often.

The label, Metadona Records, encapsulates their sound well with their release description - metallic UK hardcore of the 1980s like BROKEN BONES and early Japanese hardcore that drew heavily from MOTORHEAD like THE EXECUTE or THE CLAY. If you have more of a capital H predisposition, you might hear a rawer, more stripped-down INTEGRITY sans breakdowns. That set of influences is obviously not too far out of the realm of what you hear from some other current bands but the execution here really sets AYUCABA apart from anything else I've heard recently in this vein.

This release as a full length LP works shockingly well. It is very faithful to its roots, definitely wears its influences on its sleeves, but at the same time has more than enough individuality and intention in its songwriting and structure to warrant a longer format. They step right into the shoes of punks who in an earlier era blended a rabid musical intensity with an appreciation for the heavy metal of their day, and as a result pushed both genres forward in ways that are easy to take for granted in 2025. Especially on side two, melodies and soloing raise the stakes without diverting the record into boring interludes that you immediately skip after your first listen, and never approach overindulgence or a lack of economy. The production is authentically raw, maybe thin in certain respects but more notably very clear. The vocals are scathing and venomous while sounding just a little distant, all of which together nails an eighties vibe and a live feel that I don't think you hear in contemporary LPs very often.  

Fav tracks: Cocaina, Sistema = Siniestro, Oxido

FFO: BROKEN BONES, THE CLAY, INTEGRITY

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TOP DOLLAR - OBJECTS OF MISFORTUNE

 

It has been longer than usual since my last post due to work obligations. TOP DOLLAR hasn't played outside of their home base of NYC much, but it feels like everyone who comes through and plays with them has something to say about how blown away they were, or how they were one of the best bands they saw on tour. TD plays rippingly fast, straightforward and catchy but highly dynamic hardcore. They aren't trying to revolutionize anything, and they aren't LARPing as some particular 80's or 90's band either. They write really good, unpretentious songs that draw from myriad types and eras of US hardcore and that shift in unpredictable directions, build up and break down, and boil over with relentless energy. There's a wide universe out there of stale, musically cut-and-paste bands out there, and Objects of Misfortune cuts right through it all without any navel-gazing or affectation. An extremely hard balance to strike but one that seems to come completely natural to these guys. I've been listening to this record about ten times a day for weeks now and it's definitely up there for one of my favorite things to come out in 2025. 

Fav tracks: Constant Desire, Distanced

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BLACK DOG - SEWN INTO CONFUSION

 

BLACK DOG's Overthrow EP was one of my favorite releases of 2023, and the d-beat sonic onslaught continues with Sewn Into Confusion. No band right now currently is pushing this style of hardcore to this extreme. With Overthrow, a boisterous tape hiss completely drenched everything except the drums in a way that I don't think I had ever heard before. This recording is markedly different; that wall of white noise is gone, the riffs are more up front, and the violence of the actual bass and guitar distortion is kicked up another notch. It's a bit more of normal presentation but still really abrasive, and I like that the vocals still sound like they are being howled out of a dark, desolate cavern. I don't think any band uses negative space as punctuation as well as this Nova Scotia three-piece - they pick their spots for these short, hard mid-track breaks, the tracks end abruptly and completely, and then they again hit you with an avalanche of bricks. Without a doubt, one of the current bands I most want to see live.

FFO: Disclose, Physique, Gloom

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SUBVERSIVE RITE - APOCALYPSE ZONE

 

At long last... like ancient vellum scrolls in earthenware vessels exhumed by Bedouin shepherds, this UKHC/metal-punk tome was formulated and recorded in a bygone era (2022), thought to be lost, nearly forgotten, before suddenly re-emerging as if bestowed upon us by a clandestine higher power through parted clouds in a hostile sky.

This record feels like a natural progression for this group, some of whom once played in Gainesville's VERMIN, a more straightforward, stripped-down, stompy DISCHARGE-inspired three-piece. The early SUB RITE recordings take on substantially more thrash metal influence in the realm of mid-80s UK hardcore. Apocalypse Zone feels like an apotheosis: full ENGLISH DOGS worship, with a clean, thrashy aggressive sound that sprawls out with a 2-minute guitar interlude, a 4.5 minute penultimate track, extended ripping guitar solos, a brief haunting synth intro and songs that just have a lot more dynamism and detail. It reminds me of the recent LIFELESS DARK LP albeit with a lot less fat on the bone and less distortion or straight up crust influence. Not exactly my favorite style of hardcore personally but it's really well-done and I'm glad this finally gets to see the light of day.

FFO: ENGLISH DOGS, LIFELESS DARK, VARUKERS

Fav tracks: A New Era, SID

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FUCKIN' LOVERS - CRUCIFIXION OF THE MASSES 7"

 

ALLERGY was pretty much my first exposure to raw punk when I moved to Gainesville 12 years ago. I am an absolutely decrepit 29 years old now and this group is still ripping out similar sonic devastation in a new iteration. The main, obvious difference between the two bands is that FUCKIN' LOVERS is a three piece with two singers as opposed to ALLERGY's more traditional 4-member setup, and I think that's more noticeable on this record than in the past. The pair just sounds a little more distinct from each other, and tracks like "I Don't Care" and "Normal Feelings" utilize that with sing-songy hooks that set this record apart from both their past recordings and some of their main influences.

I love watching this band live. The members have a nice little chemistry, and the way the title track builds up while gyrating back and forth with effects until collapsing in on itself hit like a ton of bricks at their record release last week. I didn't love the recording of this release compared to their past output though, it hits my ears a little on the thin side and I don't think totally captures what it's like to actually go and see them play. They're hitting Europe with TOTAL NADA as I type this so if you're across the pond be sure to check em out.

FFO: Confuse, Gai, Frenzy

Fav track: I Don't Care, Arrogance, Crucifixion of the Masses

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REASON WHY - S/T

 

My favorite demo of the year so far! Think BREAKDOWN's '87 Demo and Blacklisted EP... the RAW DEAL tape... early MADBALL... STRAIGHT AHEAD.. The type of classic, real deal hardcore you crave, but is denied to you by modernity's eye-watering ecclesia of corny metalcore, overproduced "demos," empty-calories tribute bands and bad beatdown... The songs here are memorable and stick in my head for days after listening. The bass playing in particular adds some nice little flourishes here and there. The singing is catchy and has a ton of conviction. The spirit of '88 is alive.

Fav tracks: Face to Face, Reason Why

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EARLY GRAVE - SEWER BABY EATEN BY WORMS

 

I know this release has been getting buzz, selling out in most places and I'm probably a bit late posting about it. I heard bits of it in my friend's car when it first came out but didn't listen all the way through until I got the tape in the mail recently, and it was well worth the wait. It even came with a download code! You don't see that too often nowadays, at least with punk and hardcore tapes, but I do use them. 

Getting to the actual music, first of all this tape has some real nice shredding. The guitar playing is nuts and the closest thing I'd liken it to would be the sinister virtuosic chaos of HOLOGRAM or CICADA. EARLY GRAVE's sound overall to me has a bit of the bleakness and cold, nihilistic rage of classic dairyland hardcore, the frantic and spasmodic tendencies of Italian punk and a little 80s extreme metal influence, all somehow spewing out of a three-piece where the guitar player is also singing. 

Fav tracks: Frozen Blood, Terror of the Gods, Pillagers

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DESTRUXION AMERICA - GRITOS NORTEÑO

Loud bass and a sludgy haze of fuzzed out guitar... uptempo pogo tracks, slower, brooding, pacing-in circles tracks; and songs that shift between the two zones. The way the record opens called FRENZY to mind but overall it's a bit of a different take on I guess what one might call raw or noise punk, there's no tape hiss or winding distortion; the guitar isn't doing much abrasive noodling. It just steadily adds a layer of borderline psychedelic texture to the bass and singing, both of which are situated higher in the mix. The vocals in particular sound set aside from everything else, almost as if they were recorded differently. The singer (guy from NOSFERATU) has a pained, almost exasperated tone.

There's a GAI feel to this record but not noisy in the same way, not as kooky, steadier and more contained. It also kind of reminds me of some early Finnish hardcore like VARAUS with how the riffs don't jump up and down the fretboard but they bounce and stick in your head. It's in a middle zone between styles where it's not super wild, super in-your-face or harsh like your latter-day noise punk acts, but it also doesn't quite have the driving anthemic quality of that style's more straightforward UK82 progenitors, in part due to the vocals not having that kind of thrust. But it still pulls off a weird sound that doesn't have a clear 1:1 point of comparison while having its share of catchy moments. I also like the artwork.

Fav tracks: Nacidos de la Violencia, Reborujado, Desde el Cielo

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NUNHEX - DISRUPTIVE DECEPTION (2013)

 

NUNHEX was a band from Miami that played very fast, bombastic hardcore in the style of RIPCORD, BRAIN DEATH or SCHOLASTIC DETH. The drumming was absolutely perfect for this type of band - controlled chaos, fast, intense, never static but very tight and loud - and they had a cool live presence. Everyone in the band moved around a lot in a way you don't see too much nowadays, where it seems like most people playing guitar are content to stand still and just try not to fuck up too bad. There is no shortage of bands playing this style of hardcore today but few nail it like NUNHEX did. A 2010s Florida classic.

FFO: Heresy, Brain Death, Ripcord

Download Disruptive Deception (2013)

Download S/T EP (2013)

Download Live at Churchill's (2013)

VENENÖ - DEMO MMXXIV

VENENÖ is possibly the most underrated punk band in NYC right now. Consisting of members of 45 ADAPTERS, THE NEW YORK HOUNDS and many more, their sound is definitely rooted in skin music but unique and well-executed. It is tonally situated not far from the current realm of more melodic Oi!-adjacent bands that draw inspiration from post-punk like THE CHAMELEONS and later BLITZ (think CHAIN CULT or HOME FRONT), but more gruff and grounded. Where those bands feel sonically large and scaled up, bordering on TEARS FOR FEARS style 80s stadium pop at times, VENENÖ's demo captures a characteristic introspective melody while still very much sounding like a 3-piece playing in a small room. In that sense they are very true to roots and inspired by the lineage of French Oi! like CAMERA SILENS or SYNDROME 81. 

I don't think any one thing quite hits it on the head though. They operate in a middle space between styles, the songs  - the drums in particular - are full of nuance, subtlety and care, and yet it doesn't meander or claim to be more than it is. I really enjoying watching them play live. They are excellent musicians and I like the interplay of the two singers. I am very excited to see what they do next because I feel like some of that stuff could get fleshed out in even cooler ways in future recordings.

FFO: Camera Silens, Syndrome 81

Fav track: A Beber

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A Stack of Tapes I Bought Recently

Most of these have download links either in the title or below the text.

EXO - DEMO

EXO has the eerie art punk weirdness of bands like THE MOB or FLOWERS IN THE DUSTBIN but it's about being a bug. It's cool but I don't think I like bugs enough to be super into it. The cassette itself is well put together. The delicate, colorful artwork is pleasing to my eye, and the lyric insert comes on a transparent cardstock, typed out with what appears to be a real typewriter, so there's definitely been a good bit of care and know-how put into this which anyone should appreciate. 

WORLD DISORDER - DEMO

ENTOMBED/NIHILIST/BOLT THROWER worship done by punks, ala SKITSYSTEM. The vocals are really sick and the guitars are perfectly hitting that fuzzy, crushing HM-2 Left Hand Path tone. Single-sided J-card, no insert, no frills just 18 minutes of crust metal Swedish style. Really sick band to see live if you get the chance.

Download Full Demo

PISTON - CAPITAL CRIME

Sublimely executed Oi! hardcore. Automatic 10/10 for using the word "Bowdlerize" in the lyrics for "Spit Your Take." Tough, catchy vocals, gang choruses galore, straightforward lyrics, will have you pumping your fist relentlessly. Clean looking insert despite having a lot of text jammed in there, and the tape sounds great.

Fav track: Integrity

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AUTO SEAR - DEMO

Straight GLOOM worship, noisy, relentless pounding sonic obliteration ala DISCLOSE out of Virginia. If you like those bands, if you like DOOM you will like this a lot. If you don't you won't. I do really like how the noise is incorporated on this tape though, it is genuinely harsh and off-putting and it's always lurking. Single-sided J-card with a big folded, heavy lyric insert that has cool art. Attractive little purple tint cassette tape.

Fav track: Killing for America

CICADA - TRUE SELF DESTRUCTION

I feel like people only say CICADA sounds like 80s Italian HC because of the CCM cover they play. They have some of that gross weirdness and frantic guitar playing but the mood matches UNITED MUTATION more to me. The stompy part at the end of track one here also sounds like some late 1980s black metal. Idk, it's just highly uncanny and sinister. Another single-sided J-card here but this time with a small, thin insert. Don't ask your parents to try to read the text on it. The fuzz and murkiness of the tape are good for this band.

CANARIES - S/T

 

The first thing that came to mind listening to this record was the early MY BLOODY VALENTINE 7"s and other releases from that time period on Creation or Lazy Records. Maybe a hint of PASTELS on some songs but nowhere near as cloyingly twee. Perhaps the closest thing to me would be Florida's PRAYER CHAIN, a more shimmering, ethereal but straightforward take on DINOSAUR JR. This came out last September but I have been cranking lately as the weather warms up and I find myself riding my bicycle around town more. It puts my head in the clouds in a good way, especially when the feedback and crunch kicks in on a song like "David."

FFO: early MBV, Dinosaur Jr. Prayer Chain

Fav track: Headlight

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KALEIDOSCOPE - CITIES OF FEAR

 

KALEIDOSCOPE ostensibly draws from anarcho-punk of the 1980s but going back at least to their previous record, I've always felt like I just heard a lot of Rollins-era BLACK FLAG and maybe POISON IDEA. But maybe that's just another way to specify that we're talking about US anarcho-punk rather than the UK varietals which are more quirked up. Like CRUCIFIX basically sounds like AGNOSTIC FRONT if you took out the slow parts so I don't really get why some snobs worship the former and look down their noses at the latter. Both bands are great. The galloping riffs and gang vocals on "Blood Minerals" sounds like it could belong to a late-2000s or early-2010s crossover band. Anyways, the chemistry among the members of KALEIDOSCOPE is very evident on CITIES OF FEAR as the songs sprawl out while remaining focused on their core ideas and concepts, and remain intelligible to fans of all different types of real punk and hardcore. It's obviously not easy to achieve that especially considering it was all written and recorded within a few days. 

Fav tracks: Manufactured Squalor, Blood Minerals

FFO: Crucifix, Rollins-era Black Flag, early Poison Idea

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NO VICTIM - S/T TAPE

Straightforward fast hardcore punk from Richmond. It kind of reminds me of 2000s hardcore that took cues mainly from the early waves of hardcore punk like CAREER SUICIDE, FORMALDEHYDE JUNKIES or something of that ilk. Maybe the faster variety of the first wave of Boston hardcore ala JERRY's KIDS. It also definitely has a local vibe to it and imo wouldn't sound out of place among Grave Mistake releases of that same time period. I like that the guitar player is using a box guitar in the video of them I saw on YouTube. It's not super often I hear a tape like this and from basically the first listen, a bunch of songs stand out as memorable and kind of worm into my head but the opening tracks in particular have been bouncing around in there all day.

Fav track: No Morals

Stream on YouTube

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UNIFORMED SERVICE - DEMO

 

A nice-guy cop with Dissociative Identity Disorder must protect a woman on the run from a corrupt ex-boyfriend and his associates. UNIFORMED SERVICE is a hardcore band from Boston that consists of members of SAVAGEHEADS and the almighty BLOODKROW BUTCHER. I don't know much else about them but I really like this tape. Because you like those bands I am certain you will like this a lot as well. It's pretty much in the same ballpark of UK82-style punk, sometimes veering toward D-Beat and even if you didn't know who was in this group or where they were from you'd probably pick up on it. I feel like Boston had hit a bit of a slump in recent years, at least according to outside perception and relative to how prolific it has been historically, but the past six months or so have seen a really nice run of releases. I don't have YouTube music so to listen to this I had to rip it from YouTube and use another program to break up the songs into separate files. I like having to work for it like a little piggy, yes.

FFO: SAVAGEHEADS, SKEPTIX, BLOODKROW BUTCHER, VARUKERS

Fav track: Vile Creatures

Stream on YouTube

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