Long time no street punk or great oi punk rock on the pages of this zine. It is time to repair that mistake thanks to the good people at Demons Run Amok, German label which releases hardcore and punk with heart, balls and attitude. This band dates back to 1995 and this is their fourth full length opus and it contains 16 songs of street punk roots but also paired with street smart rock and some hardcore parts of the song structures. From the opener title song which tells us to rise above troubles and problems and believe in ourselves to anthemic guitar riffs of Urban Zoo which reminds me of old school British oi punk bands with super chorus for singing along at gigs, this album delivers hit after hit. As one of my personal favorites, I must also mention The Chancer with that infectious melody. The vocals are melodic but they have that street punk rough edge and made goosebumps on my skin couple of times when I listened to the music paired with lyrics about friendship, survival on your workplace with greedy stupid bosses, city streets, hypocrisy, staying sane and delivering the blows back when you are cornered and fight for survival. If I must compare this band to some other ones it would be Bruisers, UK bands like Business in their last four albums, some Rancid and some Cock Sparrer. This is great album, so have a listen.
Time for a band from our neighbors Hungarian scene to grace the pages of this zine. Esperfall are hailing from Budapest, Hungary and this is their debut full length opus. Being active since 2016, after two e.p.-s this was a time for a full length and it is just great. I expected some Nigthwish/Within Temptation clone but I got nothing like that. This is pure melodic symphonic metal with dual almost black metal vocals by guitarists Laszlo and Kerek, but the main jewel is singer Nora whose voice is one of the best I have listened to in a while. Musicianship is superb and songwriting epic and guitar border from fast power metal warrior stomping metal, to emotional almost sometimes gothic metal influenced parts and symbolize inner demons in me, fighting of good versus evil, harmony and corruption and what is evil at all? I think it lies in depending how you see it and react in life. On your feet or on your knees. Songs like Tempest in Paradise(The FirstAdvent) which is fast power metal, Plato´s Cave having a battle between guitar solo and keyboards which are so well incorporated courtesy of Zsombor Zathureczky and I would love to see these songs performed live, I am sure this sounds so good like chocolate pudding which you eat after you finally sit down and rest after long and bloody battle.
Time for newcomers to the scene here on the pages of my zine. Deceaded are hailing from Poland. They have been around since 2017 and this is their debut full length opus. Deceaded play a clever mixture of thrash metal, groove more urban style of street metal and crossover with hardcore influences. This opus contains intro plus nine songs, Lyrics deal with deprivation of humanity, disaster, hypocrisy, human stupidity and are in fact pretty clever and in your face, somehow making you think besides only listening to the music. One of my personal favorites is Barren Land, being a mixture of hardcore/crossover, screaming fast thrash metal and having that wicked solo. Vocals are angry, varying from screaming to almost hardcore shouting, back to being more sinister with the song structures. Musicianship is impressive, also songwriting, so we can safely say this is a pretty strong debut opus and I will eagerly await what this band will do in the future.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 