European Annihilation

2012 looked like a pretty busy year for the band, releasing this EP first. A month later, they released their compilation album Annihilation Rituals that consists of all of their releases prior to their debut album. And in October, they participated in the split Disciples of War with Weregoat. Once again, in support of only using the vinyl format, this third EP features two re-recorded versions of Antichrist Hammerfist and Deathstrike Overkill from their debut, and additionally featuring covers of Anti-Climax’s Warmachine and Doom’s After the Bomb, respectively. Both bands are crust punk, and I suppose both bands are appropriate for the crustiness of this release.

The re-recorded songs sound very raw and somewhat noisy, but the vocals are quite comprehensible and more in the growling form rather than the shrieking one like in the original versions. They’re also a bit longer, and whatever the reason for the extended length, they created nothing significant, at least not for the first song. That was just awful, and I completely forgot how I liked it in the first place. ‘Crusty’ is sure one way to describe Deathstrike Overkill, and it’s got the job done. The cymbals and those quick savaging riffs sound excellent.

Anti-Climax’s Warmachine is how extreme hardcore sounds like. The guitars sound catchy, but the song is pretty much on repeat. Not as bad as I once thought, so at least I began to appreciate it for the groove. Doom’s After the Bomb sounds more hardcore than Warmachine, though its short length didn’t accumulate to anything remarkable. It's basically just there. So at least the former sounded better, despite being repetitive.

I guess crust music isn’t for me, not to mention the modernized crustification of the two covered songs didn’t sound exactly as I imagined. I’m certain the originals sound better. But with all that crust, the band impressed me with how they re-recorded Deathstrike Overkill. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad EP or the “crust” genre as a whole, no. At least I gave it a little more thought and appreciated songs that I despised once. If that’s what you like, then I guess you’ll like this EP, too; more than me.