Dishumanity – Armageddon, Rise Of The Mad Punk LP (Various Labels)

Today, we have some more excellent music for your listening pleasure. This time, I will be writing about a band that doesn’t need any introduction. If you ever crossed paths with any punk rocker from the Balkans or felt inclined to check out quality underground music from this particular region then you probably stumbled upon Dishumanity. The band has had many lineup changes over the years, but that detail never occurred as an obstacle to them. It just encouraged them to move and pursue an even more experimental current that sounded like a natural progression of a band interested in evolving, learning, and further developing their sound. Hailing from Kragujevac, Serbia, Dishumanity has almost always revolved around Vuk and Marko, two principal songwriters who pushed the envelope as much as possible. Their efforts resulted in “Armageddon, Rise Of Mad Punk,” their most ambitious work to date.

This material consists of thirteen excellent songs, proudly carrying the banner of their evolution. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice Dishumanity isn’t solely into a crust punk genre. Surely, crust punk could be an excellent starting point, but there is always more than meets the eye. These folks stacked their compositions with fundamentals of this obscure genre, but you will also notice British d-beat and stenchcore, Finish and Latin American hardcore, US hardcore, Japanese hardcore, Swedish neocrust, a second wave of black metal, stoner, sludge, and perhaps many more if you dig even deeper into their sound. Still, this is an astounding crustcore album in its essence, and you should perceive it like that. These additional elements are some details and nuances that uplift Armageddon, Rise Of The Mad Punk on an entirely new level.

A boundless creativity, brilliant ideas, exceptional musicianship, intelligent songwriting, and genuine arranging are just some of the principal characteristics that resulted in such an incredible album. Dishumanity has that impressive ability to push things further than anyone else, so the entire album arrives like unstoppable crusty machinery ready to tear down everything in the broad radius. Vuk’s immensely powerful, highly aggressive, heavily distorted screams, shouts, and growls are the centerpiece of the material, delivering a significant socio-political message and pointing out all the injustices that struck down modern society. You’ll also notice Marko’s high-pitched screams on tracks such as “Armageddon,” “Black Flags,” and “Hardcore,” his trademark vocal articulations that he perfected during his time in Thimble, the renowned emo/post-hardcore/screamo band also hailing from Kragujevac.

The guitar works are exceptional from scratch to finish. Marko undoubtedly invested a lot of effort in every riff, harmony, melody, theme, and lead while the generous servings of fuzz distortion arrive as more than necessary rawness, abrasiveness, and dirtiness. Still, you’ll notice everything he tried to achieve with all these fast-paced sonic maneuvers. Many of these instrumentations are Marko’s signature moves rarely heard or seen on the albums by remotely similar bands, so Dishumanity nails it in every possible way. You’ll also notice a thick layer of intricate, vividly hearable, equally distorted low-ends rumbling right beneath the guitar layers, offering more than necessary heaviness, depth, and clarity while simultaneously binding the mentioned orchestrations with Vuk’s impressive drumming. Speaking of drumming, these rhythmic structures will blow you away thanks to the speed, dynamics, agility, groove, and other qualities of one of the best drummers in the game. The sheer amount of creatively assembled beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics define these compositions, dictate groove and pace, but also keep the remainder of the instrumentations in line. Everything sounds top-notch from beginning to end, offering a tremendous demonstration of aggression and power.

Dishumanity paid attention to even the tiniest components, so the artwork is another detail worth mentioning. It’s a memorable piece of art that will fascinate anyone even remotely into the crust punk music. This full-length also contains a high-quality printed sleeve with liner notes and lyrics, while the vinyl record is available in black and green or standard black variants. Armageddon, Rise Of The Mad Punk is a crust punk masterpiece you should immediately put on your radar. For more information about ordering, contact the band or some of the involved record labels.