Volume 4 of this series contains early demos from the included former Yugoslavian bands, recorded from 1984 - 1986. Kategorija is up first with two tracks that kick the shit out of their performance on "Tutti Pazzi Vol. 3"! The recording is way better, their style is way more metal (complete with awesome tapping solos and everything), the vocals have a Brazilian edge, etc. Excellent stuff! It's really tight and touches on everything from hardcore/punk and crossover to early Iron Maiden and Mot?rhead! I love it! Quod Massacre's two tracks are really strange because the solo harmonies are a mix of 70's rock and the NWOBHM style, but the actual riffing is more rocked out and simple, with vocals that have more of a weird new wave thing going on... so I'm not really into it. Solunski Front is pretty straight up early hardcore/punk with some simple leads and a few more dissonant moments that have less of a rock side. For some reason the vocals again sound more like Portuguese to me, which makes for great vocal patterns, but I never noticed that with any Yugoslavian bands before until this compilation. The three Patareni songs have a thick but raw sound and as often seems to be the case range from fast hardcore/punk to some slightly humorous (I assume) moments and unexpected melodic passages with slower tempos. I was hoping Blitzkrieg would be more metal, but in fact their songs are very rocked out and way raw. There's some warping to the source material it sounds like but this stuff is pretty calm and blues based compared to the other bands. 2 Minuta Mrznje is similar but their sound is muddier and their vocals are way more aggressive, making for an unusual combination of almost catchy punk rock music with super throaty shouting fronting it. Z.R.M. is textbook early punk in a lot of ways (not excluding a lot of dead on rock 'n' roll - almost to a radio friendly degree in a very early sense), the vocals aren't too clean but aren't shouted, the music is catchy and simple, etc. The recording is super muddy and warped, but the songs are enjoyable. Tozibabe has another dirty and muddy recoding but their style seems more artsy and experimental, with female vocals as well. It's looser and more caustic, but still follows a basic framework and inches up on the speed here and there. Epidemija closes with more simple punk rock fronted by thick and hefty vocals that are angrier than the moderately paced and almost catchy music (as rugged as it is). I kind of like their style, I wish it were easier to make out. The packaging here looks just like volume 3 except that the cover is orange instead of green, and thankfully inside there is nothing but band photos, so it's easier to follow, ha, ha. This is definitely more listenable and enjoyable than volume 3. I'm still not into most of it, but hot damn, I can't tell you how fucking cool I think those two Kategorija tracks are!
[Falsanja Kol'Ko's]
Running time - 78:15, Tracks: 35
[Notable tracks: Kategorija, Epidemija]
Falsanja Kol'Ko's - [email protected]
