Record of the Week: The Massacred: Death March 7"

The Massacred: Death March 7” (Active-8 Records) Death March is the second EP from this Boston band, and holy fuck is it a powerful hardcore onslaught. While the Massacred’s sound and presentation are steeped in early 80s international punk, those influences feel digested and synthesized here, cooked down to a dense and ultra-potent concentrate. Jeff always mentions Headcleaners when the Massacred comes up, and I definitely hear that on Death March, particularly in the guitar playing, the way the riffs bounce around while the guitarist’s right hand barely ever deviates from this inhuman buzzsaw rhythm, the relentless pick attack captured perfectly in this raw but nuanced recording. While the riffs move around a lot, there’s straightforward pop songwriting at the core of these songs, which often build to harmonically satisfying crescendos that make me feel almost weightless. While the Massacred has made sure the bones of these songs are strong, they keep the focus on ferocity in the performance, with the bludgeoning rhythm section and caustic vocals coming from the Shitlickers school of all-out intensity. Like the music, the lyrics are grounded in convention (Discharge-style meditations on war and human savagery), but find room for subtle innovations that make them come alive, whether that’s an arresting image (“Hang them up on chains / rectal fed and bludgeoned / shine your boots sloshed in rotting green puke”) or an interesting metaphor (“Septic Appendix” casts political and military leaders as diseased organs infecting everything around them). Every second of music here, every square millimeter of artwork and packaging, feels considered and optimized for maximum intensity and impact. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good pummeling.