false(-)negative – Зазидани дни

Artist: false(-)negative

Title: Зазидани дни

Release: Tape / Digital

Year: 2023

Label: Kontingent Records

A recently formed band comprising well-known members of Sofia’s underground DIY hardcore punk scene, false(-)negative released their debut album in September 2023, titled Зазидани дни (which translates to ‘Days masoned’), a name that perfectly encapsulates the album’s overall dark feel and tense, angular atmosphere. There is an excellent limited edition double-sided cassette edition from the ever-evolving Kontingent Records, as well as a digital release. They played numerous shows in the few venues in Bulgaria that cater to this kind of music, and it definitely seems to have caught the attention of our small but dedicated scene.

With members from already established bands, f(-)n, as they also call themselves, approach a desperate and angst-ridden sound that has hardly been tried in their country—crafting a vicious and unapologetic classic hardcore punk sound that reminds of bands like Negative Approach with a strong d-beat influence that runs through the whole release without fully defining it. Definitely not a dis-clone band, far from it. Vessy’s drums sound great and are perfectly timed as she experiments with different rhythms, not being afraid to move away from the typical genre clichés. The rhythm section is very well done all around, with her drums graciously aligning with Sasho’s furious bass lines. As for the guitar work, Razgruha’s Petyo delivers the usual onslaught of never-ending thrashing riffs, but not without some peculiar slower and more melodic moments, never once sounding like a Disclose B-side, tired or unoriginal.

Somehow he manages to keep them in perfect condition for the established expectations in the genre without sounding overdone or boring, always keeping the pace of the brutality that comes at you riff after riff perfectly. As for the vocals, Mitko’s high-pitched screams and occasional shrieks are vicious and original in their violent delivery, always sounding on point, sometimes changing his vocal range when needed—and effortlessly so. It’s a very well done style of hardcore punk screaming that seems to fit very well with the unique style the band is going for. All this musical mastery is very well complemented by Razgruha and Feedbacker’s Theodore Ivanov’s great mixing, mastering and recording of the release in his DIY studio. I think without his great work the album would not sound the same despite all its undeniable qualities. The mix is clean, almost too metal at times—but somehow it manages to create that perfect balance where you know you’re listening to a DIY recording, but made by people who know the ins and outs of modern technology and use it to their maximum advantage.

I can’t undermine the dark beauty of the Bulgarian lyrics in Зазидани дни, it’s something you would expect a modern day Teodor Trayanov or Atanas Dalchev to have written if he were living in late stage capitalism in the brutal, hateful reality of foggy post-“communist” Sofia. From themes of urban isolation and spiritual despair to angst-ridden anti-statist anthems of resistance, this is pure poetry. Dark, honest and unforgettable. Also, we can’t go on without mentioning the absolutely beautiful artwork by established artist and photographer Diana Danova, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the release, she really outdid herself here. The window depicted on the cover art speaks for itself, and I don’t want to ruin the graceful effectiveness with which it reveals its post-gothic beauty to us with boring culturological explanations of what it represents and so on. I think it speaks for itself, or rather, in a Samuel Beckett way, it doesn’t speak; it just is and stands there, waiting for us to notice it and maybe figure out a meaning for ourselves, if such a thing is needed at all (in my opinion, no, as the meaninglessness is enough of a meaning already, especially for a work of art of this quality).

You can support this new and promising band of scene veterans via their Bandcamp page and Kontingent Records. We can all be sure that they will produce even better things in the future, considering the excellent material heard here.

Source: diyconspiracy.net