Fukpig - 3 [2012]

Starkly adorned by a reflection of the band's onstage masks, Fukpig's 3rd album, simply titled 3, is a continuation of the band's sound that has been allowed to develop since their inception, and particularly since the release of their first full-length album Spewings From A Selfish Nation in 2009. Does it absolutely rip? Bet your bottom dollar it does. Although this seems to utilise blastbeats a little less than its predecessor, it still has the relentless wall of horror and aggression feeling that is synonymous with the name Fukpig. More of a commentary of recent events than other releases (opener proper 'Alcohol And Necropunk' is about the Tottenham riots, whilst 'Hack' is about the News Of The World's phone hacking), this vicious piece loosely (key word) reflects the thoughts of many in the nation both sonically and lyrically. This could quite easily be album of 2012 - even though it's only just turned February!

320 kbps

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Fukpig - The Depths Of Humanity demo [2001]

Fukpig, like, totally roolz doodz. But seriously, any Fukpig material that one hasn't heard should be a wildly exciting proposition, such is the propensity for their sheer ferocity to tear the listener a new one each and every time their music is listened to (excuse the awkward grammar, I'm tired). So whilst this is nowhere near as good as any of the full-lengths (including this year's excellent, and simply-titled 3), it is still better than the vast majority of all musical output. What's more, the band has sanctioned this release to be downloaded (see the archives of their Facebook page around early to mid January if you don't believe me).

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Fukpig - Batcave Full Of Bastards EP [2011]

This is likely to be Fukpig's only release this year unfortunately, after full-lengths two years on the trot, and that's a shame, because it's quite possible the best five minutes of music so far this year. Brilliant song titles too - there's a title track, and 'One Of A Thousand Ways To Steal Your Liberty'. This really tears the listener a new one, and interestingly sees Fukpig trying new things - it's perhaps a little more melodic and groovy, but fear not, for neither of those tags could be used to accurately describe the music.

320 kbps

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Mistress - The Glory Bitches Of Doghead [2007]

Simply put, this is like Anaal Nathrakh with a bit of sludge influence and a bit of doom a la Dragged Into Sunlight. Sound appetizing? You'd bet your left knee it's appetizing. Ultimately crushing, and pretty much soul-destroying, yet never forgetting the need to keep the listener interested, Mistress are a band who have been perpetually underrated. Features members of the aforementioned Anaal Nathrakh.

~280 kbps VBR

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REVIEW: Fukpig - Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence [2010]

Sharing past and present members with Anaal Nathrakh and Mistress, one can predict the level of ferocity to be provided by this, Fukpig’s sophomore album, before going anywhere near the ‘play’ button. Although the disdain for religion shown first by the album title is getting a little old, the musical ideas, which I assure you are nothing original, are not.

My point here is that although much of this is in a similar vein to guitarist/drummer Mick Kenney’s ‘day job’ Anaal Nathrakh, there resides an altogether crustier, and even a more vicious feeling to this. Blastbeats galore permeate the album, and riff-wise, there is a clear crustcore influence, although two of the most recognizable riffs on the album, the opening ones to the title track and ‘This Is The News?’ respectively are evidently borrowed from two of the most famous tracks within extreme metal – Mayhem’s ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ and Slayer’s ‘Angel Of Death’.

Not that anyone minds. Even if you’ve worn your LPs of those to death, bought a replacement CD and somehow worn that out too, those two fit in so snugly here that it wouldn’t seem at all out of place to someone who inexplicably had found Fukpig without being aware of those two. Also ‘borrowed’ is the Sunlight Studios-esque guitar tone offered – and this sounds right at home too. We’re all aware how heavily the Stockholm bands borrowed from the Swedish hardcore punk scene of the time, and this is a chance to hear their tone given back to an altogether punkier context.

What I’m not saying, however, is that this album is a rehash of ripoffs. No, there are plenty of original factors – although mathematics dictates that all three-chord riffs must have been used by now, the bassier tone used here makes them all seem highly original, as they cut through the mix like a hot knife through butter. Relentless aggression here is done well – the usual tedium factor that starts to kick in after 25 minutes or so is not present here at all.

Drum-wise, the patterns alternate between blasts and d-beats – this is a grindcore album after all. The production lends the drumming a nice organic sound, which should please the crusties around to no end. As a point of comparison for the drumming in particular, but also for the vast majority of the album, imagine a combination of Disfear and Anaal Nathrakh.

One of the main things which makes this album appeal to me than many other black metal/grindcore hybrids is the way in which each individual song has hooks within it to make it stand out from the rest, despite them all being stylistically similar. I’ll point you in the direction of the gang chants which start ‘This Is England’ (which are followed by one of the most frenzied vocal performances I’ve ever heard) and to the desolate feeling, borrowed equally from crust punk and black metal, which is particularly apparent in ‘Dawn Of The Dumb’.

Altogether, I’d say that although it’s completely derivative, Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence is a fantastic album – marginally better than Fukpig’s first effort Spewings From A Selfish Nation, and certainly way above par within its genre. Although it’s long been sold out, this is an album worth seeking out at most costs. One of the best of last year.

Download here.

Anaal Nathrakh - Discography [2001-2011]

Anaal Nathrakh are a special band for me - their song 'Between Shit And Piss We Are Born' was one of the first extreme metal efforts I heard, and I loved it instantly. This is their discography - although all of it has already been posted on the blog, I thought I'd upload it in an index post. This contains all the releases except for the demos, which are contained as part of the 'Total Fucking Necro' compilation, and the recent Decibel Flexi Series EP. I've included a .dlc file, which is a download container - use it with a program like the excellent JDownloader to get an automated download of all the files.

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Domine Non Es Dignus [2004]
Eschaton [2006]
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In The Constellation Of The Black Widow [2009]
Passion [2011]
DLC FILE (Mediafire)

Anaal Nathrakh - Passion [2011]

This is Anaal Nathrakh's most recent release, and although it's not as good as their previous, career high In The Constellation Of The Black Widow, it does experiment more. And 'Tot Huetet Uebel' - you'll either love it or hate it.

320 kbps

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Anaal Nathrakh - Hell Is Empty, And All The Devils Are Here [2007]

This is Anaal Nathrakh's slowest album, and also their weakest full-length release. Still a solid album, but its only moment when it is truly on par with their other material is opener proper 'Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen' (which I think loosely translates to 'Hell's Vengeance Burns A Fire In My Heart').

~200 kbps VBR
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Anaal Nathrakh - When Fire Rains Down From The Sky, Mankind Shall Reap As It Has Sown EP [2003]

This EP of Anaal Nathrakh's is the release of their that I'm least familiar with, but I know it well enough to know that it adheres to their high standards. It shows the start of a shift towards a cleaner, more DM-influenced sound.

128 kbps

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Anaal Nathrakh - Total Fucking Necro [2002]

This is a compilation of Anaal Nathrakh's three demos (Anaal Nathrakh, Total Fucking Necro and We Will Fucking Kill You), and although the production is a bit impenetrable at times, it is a sign of things that were to come. It also includes a spectacular cover of 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'.

192 kbps

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Anaal Nathrakh - The Codex Necro [2001]

Anaal Nathrakh are one of my favourite bands; the fact that this is possibly their most ferocious release says a lot. More industrial elements here than on most of their other albums, and little to no DM influence, but it's a brilliant album nonetheless.

N.B. This has demo versions of 'Submission Is For The Weak' and 'Pandemonic Hyperblast' as bonus tracks.

192 kbps

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Fukpig - Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence [2010]

This, Fukpig's sophomore effort (although the word 'sophomore' sounds too posh for music as primal as theirs) is to me, their best so far, and the obvious rip-offs of 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' in the title track and 'Angel Of Death' in 'This Is The News?' made me smile. There are probably more that I haven't noticed too, but it takes sheer audacity to rip off two of the most iconic riffs in metal.

~215 kbps VBR

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Fukpig - Spewings From A Selfish Nation [2009]

Fukpig, featuring the entire Mistress lineup, as well as the Anaal Nathrakh lineup when playing live, call their style, which mixes black metal and grindcore 'necropunk' (indeed, they have a song named after it), but that's yet another pretentious tag I refuse to use.

320 kbps

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Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow [2009]

This, along with the previously posted 'Domine Non Es Dignus', is my favourite Anaal Nathrakh album. It has the batshit insane ferocity with plenty of songwriting hooks, which to a certain extent is where their debut 'The Codex Necro' falls flat (still a damn good album, and 'Pandemonic Hyperblast' is a classic). Writing about this makes me really look forward to 'Passion', which comes out on the 23rd of May (although I hear it's leaked, which I may have to investigate...).

~280 kbps VBR

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Anaal Nathrakh - Eschaton [2006]

Okay, so this isn't Anaal Nathrakh's best album, but it is still damn good. Probably the album of theirs to feature the most industrial elements (particularly apparent on 'Regression To The Mean'), this is still Anaal Nathrakh, and thus will still majorly fuck you up.

128 kbps (again, had this one ages, and this means it's only 29 MB)

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Anaal Nathrakh - Domine Non Es Dignus [2004]

This, Anaal Nathrakh's second album shows an approach with more emphasis perhaps on songwriting than 'The Codex Necro's 'Pandemonic Hyperblast' (which is actually an apt description). If Nathrakh's fine misanthropic art can be called 'songs'.

~215 kbps VBR

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