We have touched upon this Australian based act a few times in the past with split releases and 7 inches and now they return with a full album of 14 tracks. Naturally due to the nature of the beast it romps away in under a half an hour of fury and belligerence taking in punk, hardcore and crust as a weapon, leaving the listener feeling suitably brutalised. It’s all very DIY and the band are happily spreading this disease, warts and all to anyone who wants to download it at a name your price via their Bandcamp page. Yes, that does actually mean free if you so wish and are saving your pennies for your next can of Special Brew and a bar of soap.
Most of the tracks here are short and furious slabs of discontent. The opener ‘Crucified Upon A Southern Cross’ being the longest at 2:23 secs, powers in and has a Discharge laden rumble chugging away very much like a bastard. I did find the vocals a bit quiet in the mix, bass and drums at times obliterating them but there’s some good growls and spit and spite sitting like a scab from them and that’s not too much of a problem. A rattling punky etched guitar groove has a GBH like knife fight on ‘Tuesday Night Budget Blues’ and there’s obviously a political message behind songs such as ‘Economic Servitude’ a title that I’m somewhat surprised hasn’t been used by Napalm Death. The singer suddenly sounds a bit hoarse on ‘Shadow Pony’ and that’s a bad pun as it has a neigh at the start before breaking off into a mad dash for the finish line. ‘One Direction’ probably has nothing to do with boy bands but takes a slow apocalyptic doomy route for a change with some solid bass lines before hitting a groove and powering into a fetid blaster. Then the title track is absolutely brutal, with everything smashing and hammering away in a contusion of disgust.
This certainly owes more to the crust punk bands of old than it does grindcore but at times the dividing line between the two is fine. There’s also the odd sample at start and end of a couple of songs giving a bit of relief from the attacking edge but on the whole it is relentless and if you are not paying attention one song is likely to blur into another. The rumbling ‘Abstention’ is a highlight with plenty of mid-paced bass groove to it and the rattling ‘Regional Bullies’ has some classic punk guitar weaves that take you back to the early days of Peaceville when music like this truly started being dangerous and lead their way to political unrest. A couple of tracks at the end sound like they may have been recorded live and I expect that this is where Inebrious Bastard are at the top of their vile game and no doubt go down a bomb. If like me you are on the other side of the globe though you will have to make do with listening to them via the following links.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
Leave a Reply