Down Under(ground): Aussie/New Zealand Punk Releases of 2022

The 2022 cross-Tasman collaboration between the AUS band ExtinctExist and NZ group Bordger was a sledgehammering triumph. The final recordings from Naarm (Melbourne) outfit ExtinctExist were five-star heavyweight dirges constructed from brute-force metallic crust packed with d-beaten grit and muscle. The members of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Bordger have plenty of experience in NZ’s DIY trenches. Their contributions were all murderous-sounding melees where grotty riffs tore into filthier crust and d-beat. Hideous to behold—and all the better for it. (Bitter Loss Records)

Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), NZ band Easy Off’s Dark Place full-length featured bulldozing tracks whose fist-in-the-air intensity was reminiscent of Hero is Gone and Tragedy. Explosive purges of pent-up rage offset nihilistic hostility. And like all outstanding hardcore records, the Devil’s was in the detail, with subtlety and shading greatly enhancing Dark Place‘s ferocious tracks. Easy Off’s 2022 split with fellow Kirikiriroa outfit Dog Cock featured more abrasive performances from both bands. Easy Off’s power-driven instrumentation stoked the fires on bruising and eruptive tracks. While Dog Cock’s pitch-black paroxysms saw grind-worthy blastbeats and feral hardcore digging deep into punk’s most disgusting cavities. (Real Vegan Cult)

This year’s self-titled seven-inch from Naarm (Melbourne) four-piece Cimiterium saw thrashing crust and apocalyptic stenchcore fighting tooth and nail on über-guttural tracks. Cimiterium fused anvil-heavy riffs with gravel-gargling vocals and lacquered the lot with rotten, ’80s-inspired filth. The band’s battering seven-inch is guaranteed to put a smile on your dial if you’re a fan of heavy-ass crusties like Stormcrow, Sanctum, Cancer Spreading, or Contagium. Yet another A-grade (and thoroughly ironclad) AUS band to keep a close eye on. (Black Against Night Records)

Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Gutter Killer dove head-first into the rankest sewers of subterranean thrash on their debut demo, A Metal Enema. The unwashed NZ punks scoured their demo’s raw tracks with crust-corroded distortion, but the filth and the fury of obnoxious ’80s thrash led the charge throughout. Smashed out live to four-track—just to really underscore its nastiness—A Metal Enema mixed Kill’ Em All‘s urgency with the abrasiveness and belligerence of untold (and much-loved) extreme metal demos from the days of yore. Gutter Killer’s maggoty metalpunk hit the fuckin’ bullseye. (Razored Raw)

The seven-song demo from Naarm (Melbourne) heavy-hitters Katorga featured a roughly recorded mix of stenchcore and bleeding-raw metallic crust. Katorga and Cimiterium share a drummer (Black Against Night Records founder Ergin), and like Cimiterium, Katorga’s bloodthirsty music honed in on the reeking odour and mauling tenor of definitive crustcore. Katorga’s first assault was a powerful one. All signs point to an even stronger follow-up. I’m looking forward to hearing more from the band asap. Clearly, AUS stenchcrust is on fire. (Self-released)

Naarm (Melbourne) Fükkheads’ debut cassette, Speed and Political, featured a half-dozen (über-blown-out) demo tracks on one side and an even more dissonant live set on the other. Fükkheads pointed to similarly-minded sonic sadists like Death Dust Extractor, Abraham Cross, Siege, and Repulsion as reference points for their troglodyte exploits. Hideous aural equivalencies matched the band’s grim/dark vision of humanity’s future. Unsurprisingly, Fükkheads’ brutally primitive noisecore made zero compromises; Speed and Political was a gloriously crust-fucked horrorshow. (Self-released)

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) grind-punks Knifed’s self-titled 7-inch combined tracks from their 2022 Razored Raw Session cassette with another half-dozen nerve-shredding songs. With members from groups like Arsehuffer, Bulk Bogan, Disguy, and Sick Old Man, Knifed’s lineup are well-versed in providing ultra-violent audio outbursts. With more excellent cover art from noted NZ artist and musician Alexander L. Brown, Knifed’s first vinyl release shoved ten maniacal songs down your throat in roughly the same number of minutes. Seismic blastbeats, cut-throat vocals, and lacerating guitar coalesced in a bleak and brutal storm of mind-fracturing grindcore. Pulverising. Shattering. Demolishing. (Wrought Material, Hairy Palm, Let The Bastards Grind)

Naarm (Melbourne) band Swab’s Big City LP was a neck-wrecking blast of rough-hewn hardcore where the band’s influences—old-school Japanese and US East Coast bands aplenty—were fused at high temperatures and even higher velocities. As Swab’s AUS label Hardcore Victim pointed out, things flew by so quickly that fans might have stopped to wonder if they were playing Big City at the wrong speed—they weren’t. Swab was simply 100% committed to playing super-tight, super-fast, and super-furious songs. (Hardcore Victim)

FYI: Big City was super-infectious fun, too.

Unsanitary Napkin’s rabble-rousing All Billionaires are Bastards LP was stacked with firebrand tracks that tore into injustice and inequality. Formed in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Unsanitary Napkin’s scorching critiques have constantly exposed the exploitative practices and prejudices of late-stage capitalism. All Billionaires are Bastards‘ energetic anthems emphasised the need to listen, learn, and above all else, to keep fighting the good fight. Unsanitary Napkin are a light in the dark urging us to consider a more compassionate path. All Billionaires are Bastards was an instant classic. (Limbless Music)

Displeasure’s hook-filled Vortex of Shit debut tackled conspiratorial scaremongers, transphobes, science deniers, and the damage wrought by ruthless evildoers (see cold-hearted billionaires and megachurch autocrats). No surprise there, given Displeasure are the “digital subsidiary” of Aotearoa-based anarcho-punks Unsanitary Napkin above. Hardcore took a step back on Vortex of Shit, with propulsive synthpunk and industrial-tinged blips and blurps leading the charge. Vortex of Shit‘s rabble-rousing tracks mixed catchy electronics and sampled bass lines with washes of icier guitar, fiery vocals, and a punchy post-punk momentum. Within, Displeasure painted a picture of the nightmarish endpoint of blinkered/bigoted thinking coupled with hyper-capitalism’s withering assault on our lives. Like Unsanitary Napkin, Displeasure’s passionate songs remind us that solidarity, community, and compassion matter more than ever. (Self-released)

It’s abundantly clear that one thing Naarm (Melbourne) isn’t short of is seriously crushing bands. Inspired by early UK crust, Sepsis’ The Divide seven-inch featured four Scandi-charged bangers that fit the butcher’s bill for fans of Anti Cimex, Axegrinder, or early Sacrilege. Aggressive, heavy, and gruesomely raw were the keywords here. Sepsis smashed their way through authentic-sounding songs, mixing a mountain of metallic momentum with equal amounts of raging determination. First-rate haemorrhaging crustcore. (Hardcore Victim)

The 14-song full-length from Ōtepoti (Dunedin) trio Cuck hurled off-the-chain hardcore, grindcore, screamo, and powerviolence into a warp-speed blender. Brief soundbites separated the NZ band’s throat-shredding tracks, with Cuck cramming as much breakneck insanity as humanly possible into ten (and a bit) minutes of relentlessly blasting noise. Max noise, max mayhem, max fun—all round. (Tomb Tree Tapes, Dance Happy Doom Crew)

I’m including Naarm (Melbourne) band Szkło’s Without A Resurrection Of Hope EP here, even though it dropped in the last days of 2021. Lathe-cut copies of the EP were released in NZ in early 2022 (via label Razored Raw), so that’s good enough for me. Szkło also released another EP in 2022, Parasitic Attack, and both of the band’s releases featured deafening assaults of bloody-raw noise punk. Lo-fi distorted tracks ground up and spat out crude chunks of crust, hardcore, and d-beat. Primitive Japanese punk was the prime influence here; thus, Szkło’s music was brutally listener-unfriendly and a hell of a lot of fun. FVK yea! (Razored Raw, Feral Dog Records)

The two noiseniks in North Island, NZ, duo Manic Aggression are crucial cogs in Aotearoa’s underground music community. Manic Aggression’s vocalist and lyricist, Benny Mathews, is the founder of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) label Hairy Palm, publisher of the superb Caveman Noise zine, and vocalist in grind-thugs Knifed. Alongside Mathews is multi-instrumentalist Matai Szwed, head honcho of prolific Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) label Razored Raw, go-to four-track recording wiz, and muso in raucous bands like Putrid Future, Gutter Killer, Indiscriminate, and Piggery. I’ve no idea if Manic Aggression is an ongoing project, but short lived or not, the two-piece’s 2022 demo featured a psychotic shockwave of brutally raw hardcore. Well worth your time/money, cuz. (Hairy Palm, Razored Raw)

FYI: NZ labels Hairy Palm and Razored Raw are excellent conduits into the depths of underground music in Aotearoa. See also fellow DIY NZ labels like Wrought Material, Limbless Music, Always Never Fun, Real Vegan Cult, and United Blasphemy.

The Naarm (Melbourne) outfit Thatcher’s Snatch lineup features mohawked and chrome-domed guttersnipes from groups like Blockade, Nö Class, Reaper, Conniption, and more. Thatcher’s Snatch’s self-titled 2022 EP was a two-fingered salute to the prime cider-guzzling years of Riot City, Clay Records, and No Future Records. Boots, braces, and studded jackets sat alongside a heavy helping of unwashed UK82. Tough, riotous, and catchy tunes tore into corrupt politicians, shady media moguls, and sportsball bigots alike. Turbo-speed street punk + maximum anti-authoritarianism = win-win, bruv! (Hardcore Victim)

Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) duo Skitkrimes’ Noise Speed Aggression EP featured a mountain of blown-out (Shitlickers via Confuse) disorder and disarray. Five chaotic tracks buzzed past in seven minutes, with every song as ear-fuckingly crude/caustic as the next. Top marks for the EP’s unpolished production that maintained a hefty kick while still amplifying Noise Speed Aggression‘s harshest and most corroded frequencies. Add in the migraine-inducing drums—and the screeds of feedback—and you got all the essentials of a vicious raw punk riot. (Razored Raw)

Boorloo (Perth) band Galoed’s 2022 Bestial Hardcore 7-inch followed on from their equally bile-spewing 2021 cassette, Bestial Hardcore Demo. Galoed’s second release was as fierce as their first, although their new flexi featured beefier (albeit utterly filthy) production. The band’s eruptions of paranoic ‘powerviolence-encrusted’ hardcore drew from Perth’s geographic remoteness—where isolation breeds mythic and all too real monsters. Bestial Hardcore was an ear-splitting onslaught where madness and murder combined at breakneck speeds. A horrific good time. (Televised Suicide, Iron Lung Records)

Before digging into the musical guts of Ōtautahi (Christchurch) six-piece HÖG’s Ready for the End EP, why not take a moment to check out Capilli Tupou‘s incredible cover art—utterly superb. HÖG’s debut featured four tracks filled with punchy riffs, gravelled vocals, and shout-along choruses (backed by heartfelt lyrics). The NZ band cite influences like Laughing Hyenas, Rose Tattoo, and Sheer Mag, which goes a long way to explaining Ready for the End‘s rough-hewn and always catchy mix of gruff pub rock, gruffer garage punk, and hook-laden hardcore. Tasty stuff. (Dust Up!)

The latest release from AUS ‘powercrust’ band Territory was grimmer and heftier than their thundering 2019 self-titled LP. The Boorloo (Perth) band’s 7-inch, The Tower, was framed by Territory’s epic crust scaffolding. However, the guttural songs within took a bigger bite out of (death) metal and were significantly darker and heavier, both instrumentally and psychologically. (Mirroring the tone of The Tower‘s sinister cover art in many ways.) If you’re a fan of Hellshock or Decomp’s recent demolishing endeavours, Territory’s latest work operates in a similarly impressive and hope-eradicating sphere. No question, The Tower was fucking crushing. (Televised Suicide)

Ōtautahi (Christchurch) four-piece Radium sum their music up in two short words; loud, angry. (And both of those words are bang on target, by the way.) Radium features members from NZ punk and hardcore bands like Zhukov, Master Blaster, and Nervous Jerk, who’ve all released cassette or vinyl recordings in the past. None of those releases, however, have featured music as harsh or hideous as Radium’s wares. The band’s Witness for Yourself, the Healing Properties of Radium was an aptly radioactive retch of filth-caked hardcore where ear-piercing distortion hammered barking vocals and lacerating riffs. Raw as an amputation. Ugly as sin. Great stuff. (Dust Up!)

Erupt raided the darkest depths of punk and metal on their Left To Rot EP. The Naarm (Melbourne) band features members from groups like Sheer Mag and Geld, and Erupt’s mode of attack saw the band welding super-harsh hardcore onto the cratered armour of festering thrash. As red-raw feedback lashed Eurpt’s butchering instrumentation, battle vests were donned, and Hell-hammering riffs were unleashed. (And vocals were duly buried in a rat-filled sarcophagus.) Left To Rot was a pitch-perfect release for fans who love early Venom, Celtic Frost, and Sodom as much as modern-day bruisers like Warthog and kin. (Cool Death Records, Static Shock)

Stained Glass is the fifth full-length from the ever-changing Melton, AUS band Alien Nosejob. The busy-busy solo project helmed by Jake Robertson (Ausmuteants, Hierophants, Leather Towel, and Swab) has yet to record the same-sounding album (or EP) twice. As Alien Nosejob’s label Anti Fade Records points out, the band’s latest LP was stylistically indebted to AC/DC—think the first couple of dirtier LPs recorded during the band’s peak Bon Scott era. Stained Glass was a load of scruffy fun where weather-beaten riffs rubbed up against garage punk vocals, and a touch of Rose Tattoo’s rhythmic stomp kept things barrelling along. Alien Nosejob always keeps things interesting. A total rough ‘n’ roll blast. (Anti Fade Records, Total Punk)

Boorloo (Perth) band Gaffer’s debut full-length, Dead End Beat, was released after the cutoff point for this end-of-year list, but the album featured steel-tipped hooks, and I couldn’t leave it behind. The Zeros, Blitz, and Chron Gen were mentioned whilst talking about Dead End Beat‘s grit and gusto, which was bang on the mark. Quite honestly, if you’re not hooked 30 seconds into Dead End Beat‘s first driving track, then you’re fucking dead inside. Tightly laced working class punk lurks with tarnished post-punk in the pissed-stained doorways of dive bars throughout the LP. Hard-out, factory-floor punk for tough times. (Drunken Sailor Records, Helta Skelta Records)

Pulvinar’s roots lie in South Africa, but the crusty grindcore and powerviolence duo now call NZ home. The Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) band’s Excessive Suffering EP was a politically-charged whirlwind where the maelstrom tracks within were (somehow) both wildly unrestrained and tightly arranged. Doubtless, crusties, grind-freaks, and rivetheads will find the mangling subgenre synthesis right here appealing. Pulvinar’s dual (throat-scouring) vocals, blast-beaten percussion, and frenzied riffs will strip the skin from your bones. (Innercity Uprising)

Fukker’s bad-tempered demo was initially released in 2019. However, the Western Australian band’s debut was re-released on 7-inch this year (with new artwork and layout) by DIY champs Televised Suicide Records and Fuzzed Atrocities. Fukker’s demo warranted a reissue, with the wall-of-noise tracks being a veritable raw punk feast. Chainsawing guitars attacked blown-out vocals while face-melting feedback slammed into drums from Hell. Noxious noise-mongering that’ll sate the appetite of anyone hungry for the filthiest strains of crust and d-beat. (Televised Suicide, Fuzzed Atrocities)

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), NZ, band Long Distance Runner’s post-screamo/post-hardcore sound is passionate and highly inventive in its use of dynamic friction. The band’s third release, Shadow, was self-produced and saw Long Distance Runner’s mix driving melodies with belligerent and heart-pounding instrumentation. As always, Long Distance Runner ratcheted the tension before their cathartic songs exploded in storms of brain-twisting guitars, hammering drums, and howling vocals. Long Distance Runner’s creative MO is reliably thrilling. (Self-released)

“For fanz of freak hard music including Septic Death, United Mutation, GISM and Ildjarn.” That’s Romansy’s Doves Of Peace And War in a nutshell. Part outré hardcore, part shit-fi noise-fest, and part gruesomely raw black metal, the debut from Naarm (Melbourne) band Romansy’s was way unhinged but also way happening, too. Super lo-fi and demented as hell, Doves Of Peace And War rode the line between a nameless bedroom noise project and a long-lost ’80s hardcore demo discovered in the bowels of a hoarder’s hovel. Perfect pandemonium for fans of horrible-sounding obscurities. (Cool Death, RoachLeg Records)

Reaper’s Viridian Inferno LP was a ripping tribute to the sinful pleasures of ultra-primitive punk and blackened metal. The Naarm (Melbourne) band’s full-length debut exceeded expectations, with Viridian Inferno’s remorseless tracks oozing the influence of groups like Discharge, Venom, Warfare, Bathory, and Hellhammer. Relentless barrages of punked-up speed metal rained down hard as Reaper blended post-apocalyptic and more-evil-than-evil vibes. Savage in intent and ruthless in execution, Viridian Inferno’s unhinged thrash was a feast of nightmare-inducing metalpunk for headbangers and dumpster divers alike. (Dying Victims Productions, Brilliant Emperor Records)

This year brought another blast of bully boy ruck’ n’ roll from the roughneck lads in Naarm (Melbourne) band Nö Class. With a host of ex-NZ musicians in the ranks, Nö Class’ broken bottles/smashed teethed sound mixes No Future/Riot City’s grit with thuggish Oi! and boot-up-your-ass pub rock. (Nö Class tipping their hat to raucous working-class heroes like Coloured Balls and Rose Tattoo.) Nö Class’ Here Comes Trouble 7-inch was another catchy and rough-and-tumble rampage. Like a late-night drunken brawl, Nö Class’ music is ugly af but always compelling. Great fun, as always. (Contra Records, Mister Face Records, Self-released)

The latest release from the long-running Boorloo (Perth) powerviolence outfit Extortion was lightning-fast and whiplash-inducing. Even better, The AUS band’s Seething 7-inch featured a heavier low-end than Extortion’s previous releases adding brawniness and weight to the EP’s blast-furnace tracks. Extortion’s wares are as likely to find favour with old cranks obsessed with Iron Lung or Infest as much as whippersnappers into more contemporary grindcore louts and fastcore troublemakers. Super-tight riffs, insane drumming, and throat-wrecking vocals were all delivered at destructive speeds. Un-fucking-real energy detonates on every track. Seething was just that. (Self-released)

Landlords’ Codeine EP wasn’t fast, fierce, or as ugly as a gut wound. However, the EP is here for two reasons. Firstly, the Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) band’s lineup features a cast of NZ hardcore and metal vets. Secondly, the shimmering post-rock and shoegaze Landlords deliver found plenty of fans in NZ’s punk, metal and hardcore camps. Codeine’s reverb-laden tracks saw distortion scorch the hazy melodies within. Warm guitars and hushed vocals drifted through fuzzy shifts in tone and tempo. And like all good dream-pop, Landlords’ ethereal music explored sun-dappled cityscapes and far more brooding skies. A soft-centred, slow-motion treat. (Church Road Records)

Punk or hardcore aren’t the first words that spring to mind when listening to Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Total Violation’s 2022 demo. However, the unvarnished thrash within was unquestionably informed from punk and hardcore consorting with speed metal, from whence ripping crossover thrash like Total Violation’s was born. Total Violation’s four-track debut was hellishly raw, which only doubled its old-school prestige. Primitive ’80s metal was in Total Violation’s sights at all times, with bands like Nuclear Assault, Razor, and Whiplash being called to mind. Total Violation found a lot of appreciative fans in NZ’s punk/hardcore community. Not least because their ‘metal up your ass’ ferocity reeked of poser-free authenticity. (Self-released)

I don’t know what’s going on in Western Australia, but No Future are yet another first-rate Boorloo (Perth) band who’ve nailed the balance between blistering intensity and searing volatility. No Future’s third EP, Death, dropped three more “politically-charged energy bombs” while ploughing through the kind of withering, wall-of-noise that aficionados of Lebenden Toten would enjoy. Fuzzed-out yowls and waves of speaker-melting guitar were supercharged by incendiary levels of rawness and rage. Plus, there was an extra layer of mayhem and darkness here—no surprise, given the title of No Future’s latest EP—that the band mine for all its worth. High-energy sonic sorcery. Hell yea. (Televised Suicide, Iron Lung Records)

You’ll not be surprised to discover that Meeanjin (Brisbane) band Shitgrinder sound exactly like their name suggests. Grindcore’s old-school, bull-headed nastiness was in full effect on the band’s self-titled 2022 LP. Shitgrinder stripped their (punk-slathered) tracks back to Repulsion-levels of putrid grinding power. Everything here was punishing from go to whoa; a sanity-annihilating onslaught of d-beats, blast-beats, dumpster-fire vocals, and volcanic riffs dripping with red-hot—you got it—shit. Head-splitting speeds and 666% gruesome gunk. Bang on the gross as fuck target. (RSR, Headsplit Records)

DIY Naarm (Melbourne) crew Endless Bore released two bulldog recordings in 2022. The all-fire Drive Not Detected and What Do You Dig For?! 10″ were both (mind-)obliterating releases that saw hardcore’s in-your-face attitude scrapping it out with powerviolence levels of speed and savagery. Like all hurtling hardcore, the end goal was catharsis, and both Drive Not Detected and What Do You Dig For?! duly transformed negative sound/energy into positive emotional purges via the most brutal means. If you enjoyed the latest release from like-minded AUS band Extortion, you’ll love the fierce guitars, blast beats, and all of the breakneck and bludgeoning hardcore right here. (Self-released) (Noise Merchant Records, Inner City Uprising, Grindhead Records)

Do you love rough melodic riffs? How about hardcore-tinted punk ‘n’ roll? Yes to both? Great news, I’ve got the album for you. Simulation was the debut LP from popular Naarm (Melbourne) outfit Future Suck. The band’s spilled over with old-school charm, and Simulation featured hard-hitting power chords, crunchy bass, and volcanic vocals. Future Suck mixed pub rock with punk rock on some tracks, and hardcore with off-the-chain rock ‘n’ roll on others. Future Suck’s energy and enthusiasm remained high throughout. Dance while the world burns; you know the deal. (Rack Off Records)

The second EP from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland)’s “rag-tag party-punk gang” No Brainers was another fast ‘n’ furious affair. Acid Melt‘s tracks whizzed by at cyclone speeds, with No Brainers hurling raw-boned ’80s-inspired hardcore this way and thrashing fastcore thataway. Plenty of zeal was matched by plenty of zest, with No Brainers’ points of interest including shithouse life in NZ’s biggest city and the long list of dystopian stressors and strains facing today’s young peeps. Rip it up, tear it up, plenty of catchy hooks. (Self-released)

I wish AUS melodic hardcore outfit Cherish had been around when I first got into punk. Don’t get me wrong; I feel lucky to have witnessed the birth of a band like Fugazi, who opened my eyes to life-changing new ideas. Still, releases like Cherish’s Your Suffering EP would have been an enormous help during the years I struggled with gender norms and my sexuality. In both senses, Cherish are doing crucial work, offering shelter in a storm. The straight edge Sydney band’s queer and non-binary perspectives underpin blistering, politically-driven narratives that explode with cathartic and, most importantly of all, liberating power. “No one is free until we’re all free”—words to live by. (Self-released, Life. Lair. Regret. Records)

The second EP from Queensland band Grout was released by labels from AUS, the US, and the UK—all dead keen to get the word out. The band’s follow-up to their self-titled 2020 EP stuck to the same musical path, with EP II‘s hard-hitting tracks nodding to groups like Warthog, Gag, and Hoax. Grout’s songwriting was blunt and brutal, with the three-piece’s driving hardcore underscoring the maxim that less is definitely more. If you’re a fan of the bands mentioned above—or hammering hardcore in general—Grout’s bludgeoning approach might be the knockout you’re looking for. (Richter Scale, Deluxe Bias, Life. Lair. Regret. Records)

Fuck fidelity, mate. Naarm (Melbourne) band Informant’s cudgel-like demo was all the better for its speaker-rattling rawness. The five tracks here were punishing in potency and piercing in intensity. Informant’s zero-bullshit hardcore was stripped back to pure muscle and further corrupted by an acid-strength wash of blown-out noise. Gnawing, gnashing and with songs that hit like a baseball bat spiked with rusty nails, Informant’s demo was a nasty, ear-splitting trip. Blunt. Ugly. And decidedly unpleasant. All significant pluses round ‘ere. (Self-released)

NZ punk bands Anti Stasi and Carradine Choke are both based in Ōtautahi (Christchurch). Carradine Choke’s manky hardcore is propelled by UK82’s momentum, while Anti Stasi’s bass-heavy tracks blend various strains of dirty noise—see crust, d-beat, hardcore, and thrash. The two bands’ collaborative 7-inch, A Fucking Split!!, featured universally coarse/crude songs that were as raw/sore as an infected tooth. Anti Stasi’s Ōtautahi Rāwhiti EP also featured spitting and snarling punk that spoke of urban decay and the myriad ills of modernity. Everything here is gruffer-than-gruff and thus ideal for fans of rough-as-guts punk. (Self-released)

The 2022 split from long-running Warrane (Sydney) veterans Dark Horse and Naarm/Meeanjin (Melbourne/Brisbane) horde Parasitic Equilibrium featured a host of grim-sounding tracks. Parasitic Equilibrium’s ‘asphyxiating misanthropy’ was dialled up to 11 as the band mixed blast-beaten, blackened, and doom-choked metal. As usual, Dark Horse tore into modernity’s endless plagues with blasts of uncompromising noise that pilfered from hardcore, death metal, crust, d-beat, and grindcore. Every heavy/heaving track here was aflame with incandescent rage. (BloodyOath Records and Bitter Loss Records)

The crust-driven debuts from AUS bands Eviction and Pangayaw exhibited clear differences in their heaviness and burliness. However, both bands’ matched each other in terms of fierceness and focus. Meeanjin (Brisbane) act Eviction’s demo featured plenty of thickset, growling heft, which the band put to solid use on dirt-caked tracks that sounded weightier and punchier than your standard demo fare. Kaurna (Adelaide) band Pangayaw’s Watch Them Burn album was a rawer and rougher release—that’s no criticism, by the way—and the fierce anti-colonial tirade exposed the past’s sins while exploring the present’s ills. Both bands displayed plenty of enthusiasm and grit. More than that, both demonstrated abundant potential. (Self-released)

The debut LP from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) four-piece Dartz, The Band from Wellington, New Zealand, was released by the well-known NZ label Flying Nun Records. (And the album debuted in the upper reaches of NZ’s Top 40 album chart too). Dartz’s party-punk is more upbeat than the other music on this list, and the band’s irreverent sense of humour is a prime component in their aesthetic. (“Half of it is music, half of it is shenanigans”—band founder and lead singer Danz.) Packed with beer-soaked anthems, The Band from Wellington, New Zealand was recorded, mixed, and mastered to replicate Dartz’s energetic live sound. If you’re looking for foot-to-the-floor fun to blow away the cobwebs, Dartz’s lighthearted hijinks might be just the ticket. (Flying Nun)

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) band Wolves features members from various ‘famed’ hardcore and metal bands, including a couple that found significant mainstream success in NZ. To be honest, Wolves’ style of windmilling hardcore isn’t my thing, but credit where credit’s due, the group’s seven-inch split with Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Gravel Pit was a legit underground hit in NZ this year. Wolves’ tracks drew from the thick-necked school of hardcore, but thrashier riffs fleshed out the band’s chug-heavy style. Gravel Pit took a different route with their contributions featuring snappy melodic hardcore injected with short/sharp hooks, ably supported by Gravel Pit singer Bailey Palmer’s powerful voice. (Self-released)

Video Nasties: @ShortSharpShock / @younghunglin

I also want to highlight two YouTube channels steadfastly chronicling punk and hardcore in NZ and AUS. Many of you will already be familiar with the following hotspots. But if you’re not, you should hit subscribe forthwith.

Helmed by ex-NZ, now AUS-based musician/videographer Lance Downing, @ShortSharpShock is stacked with live footage, band interviews, and music videos from the DIY scene in AUS and beyond. I couldn’t recommend @ShortSharpShock’s content highly enough. (See Thatcher’s Snatch self-titled 7-inch or Fükkheads’ Speed and Political cassette above for Downing’s recent musical handiwork.)

The dedicated efforts of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) musician Andy Young also deserve high praise. Young’s @younghunglin YouTube channel has been tirelessly documenting the NZ punk, hardcore, and metal scenes for many years, accruing a mountain of crucial live footage you’ll not find anywhere else. Again, highly recommended. (See Knifed’s self-titled 7-inch above for Andy’s latest musical endeavours)

Kudos to @ShortSharpShock and @younghunglin for compiling rowdy resources for anyone who wants to explore underground music in NZ and AUS further.

Featured image by @xtreizx