This killer split sees the pairing of two Dutch bands that sound almost identical to one another, dropping a total of 14 songs in just around 10 minutes. Straight away Olho de Gato opens it up with seven tracks of fast hardcore with aggressive yelling vocals. Expect plenty of blasting speeds with a few solid bass breaks and tangible early-80's hardcore influences, just a bit of a crossover vibe, and a nonstop sense of energy that blows right through from song to song without letting up. It's hard as shit to tell which song is which since the vocals are impossible to understand even if you read along with the lyrics, but a few tunes definitely throw in a couple of succinct metal tinged riffs before reverting to no nonsense hardcore runs. Despite being rugged their recording is nice and loud, with an even mix, so it works out just fine. The lyrics attack religion, political issues, as well as personal problems, with fast vocal patterns and simple lines like, "Irritations growing ending in personal world wars, Relations can be prisons with you behind bars." Lomb follows with seven of their heavy hardcore/punk songs that draw from a variety of influences. Expect everything from high-speed attacks with cackled screams to more traditional hardcore runs with straight yelling vocals. Everything tends to be pretty fast and linear in structure, with "Drop the Debts" among the few tracks that slows things down a bit - though not for long! The vocal style is definitely pretty unique with this band, and that helps to differentiate their sound a bit, though super energetic tracks like "Conquer the World" do make excellent use of memorable speeds in their own right. "DIY" gets a hint more metallic to a degree, but despite minor crossover influences this is basically hardcore through and through. The recording is raw but balanced, and I love the prominence of the bass tone, so I have no real problems there at all. Lyrically the tracks are quite brief and deal with everything from bitter political attacks and scene topics to having a sense of sarcasm: "Don't you fucking get it? This won't make you happy. Ask yourself the question - do you only live to consume?" The sleeve is xeroxed onto cream colored paper and has lyrics and artwork for each band. It's pretty crude looking, but for a D.I.Y. affair, as a whole, this is a killer record. Even more interesting is the fact that both of these bands recorded their material in a studio that resides in an insane squat in Holland called Villa Friekens - which is also home to apartments, a venue for shows, a skate ramp, a tattoo shop, silkscreening equipment, a vegetarian pub, and even more. That's pretty god damn impressive, especially considering that beyond all that this record sounds quite good! Check this out, I'd like to hear more from both of these bands.
[Terr?tten]
Running time - 10:00 (approximately), Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Kriegstanz, Jesus & the Gospelfuckers, Conquer the World, DIY]
Terr?tten Records - http://www.terrotten.com
