REVIEW: DUO OF RELEASES FROM SOUTHERN LORD: WARTORN & KROMOSOM

A duo of releases from American label Southern Lord released on Monday  -

Name: Iconic Nightmare

Artist: Wartorn

Label: Southern Lord

Date: 21^st January

Wisconsin’s WARTORN feature members of Dresden, Remission, and Words that burn. They have had several releases before ‘Iconic Nightmare’ but it is this LP that really brings them into the limelight.
This is political blackened crust punk with a message that is actually audible to some extent. The production is clean enough to hear what is going on musically, and just about dirty enough to satisfy our very own CRUSTY FOX (a mammalian character on the FRIDAY FRENZY). There is much variation within this record, ranging from the all-out vicious riffing of the title-track-come-opener ‘Iconic Nightmare’, to the  post-rock elements of ‘Betrayal’.
The album provides the listener with some great epic vibes reminiscent of CONVERGE, on tracks such as ‘Knee deep in blood’ and ‘Six Feet Under’. Oh and it’s got guitar solos too! Great!

Iconic Nightmare has kept me entertained on several listens to far, and I've no intention of putting it down yet!

74/100

Name: Live Forever

Artist: Kromosom

Label: Southern Lord

Date: 21^st January

Now.. for those of you with a more hardened crusty ear-hole, KROMOSOM are the remains of the legendary PISSCHRIST. 'Live Forever' is a compilation of releases, containing all the material previously available on vinyl from the band, so it features many different mixes and recording sessions, but all are “mastered for maximum pandemonium” by Jack Control.

This release is so damn crusty its making my media player lock up! Those excepting to hear what is going on musically will not find solitude in this release, the production is harsh, unforgiving and frankly putrid. Which is awesome!

Stand out tracks include ‘Sentenced to life’, ‘Living dead’, ‘Paranoid’, and the more classically punky ‘Swine control’.

Occasionally, abrasive sound effects peep through the mix, although I’m not sure if these are generated live or in the mixing stage, and songs are mastered so that they flow into each other really well.
Defiantly one for the veterans.

72/100