Rusted Shut - Rehab (2005)

Artist: Rusted Shut

Album: Rehab

Genre: Noise Rock

Country: United States

Label: Emperor Jones Records

The Texan psychopaths in Rusted Shut very obviously have taken a few notes out of the page of bands like Brainbombs and Flipper, but Rehab is much more than a simple homage to the noise rock of yore. Rehab is one of the most frightening, punishing, grimy, rotten, and bastardized cuts of "rock" to ever be served. The sludgy, corrupted bass-tone basks in the proverbial black smoke of distortion, whereas the guitars make a noise akin to rocks and shards of glass banging against rusty sheets of metal. Everything hits like a ton of bricks, making for an emotionally exhausting listen, but one that has its fair share of Dystopia-or-Harvey Milk-like catharsis. Screams of death, chugging riffs, a incredibly depressing atmosphere - this is one of those records that perfectly emulates pain in a way that few are able to. Bridging the worlds of heart-smashing harsh noise and utterly repulsive sludge rock, Rehab is an unstoppable force of suffering and sin. Listen at your own discretion.

D E A T H W I S H

SQRM - Rodeo (2010)

Artist: SQRM 

Album: Rodeo

Genre: Noise Rock / Hardcore

Country: United States

Label: Youth Attack!

Preview Track:

SQRM have always confounded me. Even to this day - 9 years after the release of their last album - I was never able to place whether they were cerebral hardcore deconstructionists or noisy hardcore savages.  I've always preferred to believe the former; that their cover, a miserable clown, was some kind of cynical commentary on the state of happy-go-lucky hardcore. Or perhaps it's just a teaser of the misery in store for all those who listen? I guess I'll never REALLY know if SQRM is as subversive as I want them to be, but what I can tell you is Rodeo, their sophomore and final effort, is one of the most disgusting, sludgy, and filthy slabs of hardcore I've ever heard. Oscillating between noisy half-tempo dirges and near powerviolence bouts of aggression, SQRM's schizophrenic assault corrodes your mind until you feel as insane as the music portrays itself to be. In the middle of the bedlam stands front man Tony P., feverishly yelling lines of lunacy like "I'M A FUCKING FREAK, SPIT ON ME", further cementing the band's commitment to their uber-negative, self-deprecating style of hardcore. For me, Rodeo still feels like a fresh if not absolutely vile take on the genre, with SQRM feeding you a palate cleanser of dirt and Clozapine while they convulse in the corner. 

F U C K T O S U R V I V E