Hopelorn - Tuonen Musta Joki Virtaa Sydämessäni [2012]

Back to more blackened crust. Hopelorn are a Finnish band who have a mainly 'black' version of the style. Their riffing is simple enough to be classified as fairly punky, but in itself is most certainly black metal. However, the battery is mostly given over to a typical d-beat with some blasts thrown in, and the structures, despite this being five tracks and 29 minutes, are fairly 'crusty'. But what about the content itself? Well, it's very decent. There's been a fuckton of the style around over the past few years, but Hopelorn are one of the better practitioners, as shown particularly on the track 'Mänskligt Avskräde', although every song here is a winner in reality. What's more, it's available as a free download through their bandcamp page, so you don't really have any excuse at all to not go and listen.

Bandcamp

Re-upload: Discharge - Realities Of War EP [1980]

Another pre-'Hear Nothing...' Discharge release here. Discharge are pretty much the kings of hardcore punk, despite ill-advised trips to glam metal on 'Grave New World'. This EP was recorded in 3 hours, and so has a great punk vibe to it, throughout its 5 minutes.

Re-upload notes: Although it doesn't quite touch on the quality of Why or Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, Realities Of War is certainly a solid release, even by Discharge standards. It's the first studio evidence of the d-beat as far as I'm aware (their '77 demo is just straight up punk), which adds historical value to the release.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Doom - Police Bastard EP [1989]

Although it's but a few minutes long, this is my favourite release of Doom's - and considering how most of their releases are considered seminal in the crust genre, that is saying something. The title is very much linked to the police brutality that took place in the UK in the late 90s - peaceful protestors were beaten up and hassled purely for arguing a cause.

Re-upload notes: Best Doom material, this EP is among my 10 favourite records ever. If you haven't heard it, listen to it.

256 kbps

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Re-upload: Doom - War Crimes: Inhuman Beings [1988]

This highly politicised record is one of the key records of the entire crust punk sound, which would in the future influence bands from an entirely different background (Darkthrone being a good example). 37 minutes of pure punk energy.

Re-upload notes: This is, along with the Police Bastard EP, the best crust record in my opinion. Unparalleled in simplistic, but great compositional capabilites, although some of Doom's later stuff would pale in comparison (World Of Shit is rather mediocre), this has stood the test of time.

320 kbps

Mediafire
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Dispair - The Progress Of Human Extinction demo [2012]

I just heard this whilst surfing the blogosphere, and I was so impressed I decided to post it here immediately. Dispair is a Finnish crust band with heavy reliance on d-beats, but the music is great - think a base of Why-era Discharge with a nice sprinkling of Anarkist Attack era Anti-Cimex. So basically the sounds of two d-beat legends combined in 2012. This sort of music is so rarely made nowadays that anyone making it is actually doing something quite original despite the style having been around 30-odd years. Dispair are going to be great in the future. Watch this space.

Bandcamp link, so variety of bitrates

Bandcamp

Dishumanity - Radijacija [2010]

Anyone who's been reading this blog for a while probably knows that the second I saw the words 'Serbian' and 'd-beat/crust' associated with this release, I was salivating everywhere. And it doesn't disappoint; if this is your sort of thing, get it. Now.

Re-upload notes: The fact that I was salivating is insignificant as I do that all the time.

128 kbps

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iFolder (not currently uploading)

Ratos de Porão - Crucificados Pelo Sistema [1984]

Although Lobotomia have a few claims, I'd say that this is the seminal album of Brazilian hardcore punk. As with South American takes on all genres, this is substantially more aggressive than their North American counterparts, and to be honest, it brings a lot more to the table. Clean-ish vocals allow the (Portuguese) lyrics to be heard quite clearly - and this allows the fantastic 'shout-along' vocal lines to shine through (my personal favourite being 'Agressão - Repressão'). Even for those like me who understand little Portuguese, a decidedly political approach is evident.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Uproar - Die For Me EP [1982]

This is a little known piece of d-beat inspired punk from the early days of hardcore. It's quite impressive, especially considering it was released at roughly the same time as 'Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing'. The melodic vocals give it a slight difference from the rest of the pack.

128 kbps

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Atomski Rat - Atomski Rat EP [2010]

This is a band that I stumbled across over at the Damaging Noise blog, and it's some of the most ferocious music that I've come across in a long time. This Serbian crust band's debut EP was one of my favourite releases of last year. Features covers of Shitlickers, Sodom, Herpes Distress and Mob 47.

320 kbps

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REPOST INFO: They have a new release coming out later this year.

Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing [1982]

Disfear. Dishammer. Disclose. Napalm Death. All bands heavily inspired by Discharge, and in particular by this album. Hardcore punk was redefined the moment this was released - although it had existed before, particularly through the media of the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag, this revolutionized it. It even has early traces of the desolate feeling of crust in it. This is the 'Reign In Blood', the 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas', the 'Altars Of Madness' of hardcore. It's abso-fucking-lutely essential.

N.B. This is the 2003 Castle Records reissue, with fucktons of bonus tracks.

192 kbps

Link taken down. Comment to see a reupload!

Disfear - Live The Storm [2008]

Disfear are yet another excellent Swedish hardcore band - their own style is a mixture of crust and d-beat (and it certainly owes a lot to the gods Discharge). Probably in the middle of the spectrum in terms of hardcore aggression (i.e. somewhere between the Dead Kennedys and Napalm Death).

Similar artists: Discharge, Dishammer, Atomski Rat

160 kbps

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Martyrdod – In Extremis [2005]

This is raw Swedish hardcore with a blackened edge. There's not much else to say really, this is just a great album full of intense riffs lathered in blackened leads. I recommend this to any fan of hardcore, crust or d-beat, and the hints of black metal make this some interesting music.

160 kbps

megaupload

Chaos UK - Burning Britain EP [1982]

Chaos UK were one of the greats of the UK82 sound. D-beats and shouty, pumping choruses galore, this is hardcore at its best - catchy, thumping, but with a witty, political undercurrent, undoubtedly against the Tory government of the time.

192 kbps

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Extreme Noise Terror - A Holocaust In Your Head [1989]

This is one of THE grindcore albums. Although more crusty than a lot of its counterparts, particularly once one considers the American axis, ENT still created some of the best, most aggressive, not to mention socially pertinent, grind ever. The loss of Phil Vane to the clutches of death earlier this year was a great shame.

192 kbps

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Shitlickers - Cracked Cop Skulls EP [1982]

Well, this isn't quite a continuation of the grind theme, but it's supremely punky nonetheless. This is a short EP, and the first track ('War System') was covered by my beloved Atomski Rat. It's a cracking EP. I should also add that this is an Anti Cimex side project, if that means anything to you.

128/192 kbps (varies)

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