Smash the Army Before They Smash You

The end of the 20th century was a very stressful period for most eastern European countries like North Macedonia. The balkan region, the home of this band, was embroiled in heavy turmoil with ethnic cleansings, coup d'etat and warfare between different ethnic groups that lived within the same region. This sort of background can prove instrumental to the nature of the roots of such politically oriented musical groups. The country of Macedonia, however, had other troubles apart from the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and one of them is this country's relationship with its southern neighbour, Greece, who forced Macedonians to rename their country as North Macedonia, due to some historical bullshit squabble.

Anyway, Brigade O.D. was a grindcore/crust punk band that formed during the early 1990s. The band did not live long enough to produce some strong content and unfortunately split-up after a few years. This demo, entitled "Smash The Army Before They Smash You" stands as the first demo ever released by this band, and boy there is a lot of shit to unpack. The main motivator behind this band's music is obviously the lyrics, and this demo cannot be totally comprehended unless you actually try to get the gist of the lyrical content. Mind you, it is not because these guys are master prose writers, but because the ferocity that fuels the music can only be understood through the lyrics. These guys have a lot to say about Greek colonialism, police and armed forces brutality and want you to realize that they are anarchists.

The music on here can barely be heard, however, the vibe of the raw production fits the music perfectly. The pace is frantic and although the musicianship leaves a lot to be desired, there weren't any overt mistakes that hit you instantly by clearly sounding out of place. The vocalist is a complete fucking maniac and growls and squeals and shouts his lungs out. This sort of vocal delivery stays true to the original base upon which the whole identity of the band stands. The bass guitar sounds extremely audible on some songs, and that helps the demo a lot since bass guitar is usually an essential musical component in hardcore punk. The music on here definitely sounds more grindcore inspired rather than hardcore punk influenced, but unlike most grindcore bands, the band wants you to focus more on the message rather than the music.

Brigade O.D. was not a band that played grindcore and hardcore punk in order to explore themes related to horror and gore. Brigade O.D. opted to use hardcore punk and grindcore as a musical vehicle to spread a political message. That very same message these guys were talking about during the early 1990s still holds somewhat true to this day. Overall, this is a very musically average release. Nothing particularly stands out from the rest and the whole experience feels kind of convoluted.