Best of 2010

It's that time of the year again. Internet blogs and message boards get flooded with year's best lists from everyone and their mother. We at Kängnäve encourage the posting of lists, top 10's and reports so no complaint on our part. 2010 was a far better year than 2009 for me on most levels, and music was no exception. There were so many good releases that I had a very, very hard time picking only 10 albums. This attempt is still subject to change.




120 inches of plastic pleasure, in no specific order:

Herätys - s/t LP (Not Enough Records)
I posted a rant about Herätys on this blog about one year ago in anticipation of their debut LP. Not only is this my favorite hardcore record of 2010, but they also released a subsequent 7" within the same year that is every bit as solid (see the EPs section below). The bastard sons of Totälitar and Rattus. Pure fucking energy.

Kylmä Sota - 10 Tracks LP (Feral Ward)
Under the radar release from Feral Ward. This is basically THE perfect "d-beat" record of 2010, almost rendering their (really good) 7" from a couple of years back obsolete. Avoiding the clichés of raw-aaargh-crasher-whatever-myspace-sloppy-crust mess that's all too popular these days, Kylmä Sota take cues from Disclose but still sounds crisp and precise. Distortion aplenty that never gets in the way of song writing and execution. To top it all off, they throw in a cover of "If Tomorrow Don't Comes" from the criminally underrated Evance, adding their own twist by singing it in Finnish. Perkele!

Ghost - Opus Eponymous LP (Rise Above)
Fuck the haters. This has been reviewed a million times already so you know the deal. I think a lot of people hate or misunderstand this simply because they expect it to be heavy/brutal due to the imagery and/or people involved. But I think they're missing the point. I see this as a catchy pop album. OK, make it satanic pop, and the cheese factor is actually what makes it so good. Whoever described them as Scooby-Doom was spot on!

Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons LP (Peaceville)
Fuck the haters vol. 2. Love it or hate it, no matter how goofy you think they are now, Darkthrone are still the Masters Of The Unholy Riff. Perfect music for people my age (i.e mid 30s and over). A perfect blend of old metal ('70s, NWOBHM, speed, thrash, you name it) and punk. Those guys know how to write a song, and Circle The Wagons is inversely diverse as the monotonous, one-colored Transilvanian Hunger (which I do like, don't get me wrong).

Systematic Death - Systema Six LP (Feral Ward)
As proved by Lip Cream, Gauze, Death Side or Crow, classic Japanese hardcore bands often get better with age. More than two decades after their last releases, Systema are back with a scorcher of a comeback album that surpasses them all. Although technically not a 2010 release, the vinyl version of Systema Six has slightly different track order than the 2009 Japanese CD, with my favorites songs tacked at the end of each side ("Cheers To Earth" and "Games"). I'm so fucking psyched to play a show with them in the spring!

The Estranged - The Subliminal Man LP (Dirtnap)
As much as I loved the first couple of The Estranged 7"s, the debut album was a let down: the songs weren't as memorable, and the Wipers influence was a bit too prevalent. The second LP, however, is an instant hit. While still owing a lot to Greg Sage, The Estranged added a little The Cure and British post-punk to the mix and made it a sound of their own, crafting a collection of excellent and catchy tunes that got me spinning the LP three times in a row the day I got it (a rare thing these days).

Masshysteri - s/t LP (Feral Ward)
The mention of The Cure in the record above leads me to the 2nd Masshysteri full-length, that also owes to the three imaginary boys from West Sussex. Just as good if not better than the first album, with a huge production. It's poppy, it's catchy, and vocal harmonies make you wish you spoke Swedish.

Mondo Drag - New Rituals LP (Alive Records)
In the wake of modern day heavy psych bands like Black Mountain or Dead Meadow comes Mondo Drag from Iowa, packaged in the hippiest looking Sgt. Pepper-inspired cover – which is the only negative thing I have to say about this record (yes, hippies are ugly). I'd do the worst job at trying to review a psych rock record, so let's say if you're into the above mentioned bands, Hawkwind, and early 70s hard rock, you may want to give this a shot.

解剖室 - 邪 LP (HG Fact)
The band name translates as Kaiboushitsu in rōmaji. Dark, scary, claustrophobic psychedelic punk of the highest order, featuring the singer of Crow – which is no surprise if you've heard his other project bands (Grave New World, Death Comes Along). I haven't heard the previous 7", but reports mention a strong Mushi-era Stalin influence (解剖室 is actually the title of a Stalin song), although this LP is mostly slower and more epic than The Stalin. The super long song on side B has a phrase repeated over and over that I keep mis-hearing as "S'il te plait" (= "please" in French), which adds to the eeriness for me. Beautiful cover art.

Christian Mistress - Agony & Opium LP (20 Buck Spin)
The 7" made it to my best of 2009 list, and the album didn't disappoint. Soulful heavy metal of the NWOBHM persuasion, except they're from Pacific Northwest. The use of a vibraslap on the break of "Riding On The Edges" blows my mind.

Honorable mentions: Hour Of 13, Vaaska, Knuste Ruter, Lapinpolthajat, Inepsy, V/A Nagoya City Hard Core, State Poison, Kieltolaki, Bastard Priest, Complications, Utopia, Deskonocidos, Ursus, The Bastard Noise, Nerveskade... and I yet have to hear the new Slang LP!




Five 7"-deep glasses of polyvinyl chloride on the rocks:

Battle Ruins - s/t 7" (Rock'n'Roll Disgrace)
American oi! meets NWOBHM, if you can picture that. I believe it's only a studio project featuring members of various Boston hardcore and punk bands, but what a fantastic one! Choruses destined to be stuck in your head for days, I swear.

Talk Is Poison - Rage To Infinity 7" (Self released)
Back with a vengeance, Talk Is Poison hasn't lost any of its former rage. Some of the catchiest and most memorable tracks they ever laid down to wax. Burly US hardcore at its best.

Herätys - Helvettiin Ja Takaisin 7" (La Familia)
The alternate silkscreened cover that comes with the colored vinyl version is priceless: Michael Jackson, Adolf Hitler, a witch, a giant punk rock goat and a couple more dudes feasting on sausages and Jägermeister amidst the flames of hell. The music is just that – fun and relentless, reminding me of Skitkids in that aspect.

Crow - 眩暈 / 占領下日本 7" (Prank)
This is Crow's swan song, in the vein of the EPs from last year. This band could do no wrong with their epic metallic crusty hardcore punk. They will be missed.

Périphérique Est - PEEP1 7" (Close Up)
Périphérique Est released two new 7"s in 2010 (and there's a new LP out now too), and this one is the best IMO. In the vein of their demo LP from a few years back, tight 1978 punk rock sung in French similar to a nervous, updated Starshooter. There's some serious muñeca action going on here.

Honorable mentions: Systematic Death, Miasmal, Sotatila, Perdition, Arctic Flowers, Vile Gash, Rayos X, OK?, Glam, Kaivosurma, Slang/World Burns To Death, Nerveskade...


The Past // The Future:

There were far too many fantastic legit vinyl reissues to mention in 2010: Autopsy demos, Brainbombs, Chronic Sick, Fratricide, Dezerter, Pentagram (US), Necrodeath, Olho Seco, Varaus, Malinheads, MCD, Sons Of Ishmael, Final Conflict (MN)... and those are only the first ones that spring to mind. I don't pay attention to demos as much as I used to unfortunately, but the Criaturas, Absurdo and Nukkehammer tapes are the ones that caught my attention.


Live action:

• The Hex Dispensers @ Bordeaux, France
• Seein Red @ Bordeaux, France
• Primates @ Oiartzun, Basque Country
• Lexomyl @ Grenoble, France
• Deskonocidos @ Bordeaux, France




Chopped down forests:

• Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History Of Hellhammer And Early Celtic Frost 1981-1985 - Tom Gabriel Fischer
•Trapped In A Scene: UK Hardcore 1985-1989 - Ian Glasper
• Touch And Go: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine '79-'83 - Tesco Vee & Dave Stimson
• MaximumRocknRoll, Mountza #4, Pillun Nuolija #1 (even if I can't read a word), Les Templiers #2, Negative Insight #1...