K-Beat

What's that creaking underfoot? Is this derelict barge finally starting to budge?  Yes, it's sailing once again, but the waters ahead may be choppy and a bit foggy.  I can't be sure it will get far, but it's time to leave dock and let the current take it where it will...

This post consists of the other two bands I alluded to in the Acursed post.  Lest they be forgotten, I thought it'd be a good idea to post a retrospective on a band that really hooked me in to all the dark scandi-core of the late nineties/early naughts.  The first album by Kontrovers seemed to gush an endless supply of manic, thrashing riffs, made endlessly listenable by their tasteful touches of guitar melody.  I'm sure this garnered them many lazy comparisons to Tragedy, and genre-wise that isn't entirely off.  But I certainly wouldn't want them to be written off as some disposable derivative.  I think their discography speaks volumes to the band's worth, and below is the bulk of it.

The idea behind these posts was to gather the odds and ends, so this link is in keeping with that goal.  It collects the band's early 7" and splits with Beyond Description and Mass Separation.  On many of these tracks we see a slightly "grindier" and more raw approach.  While I prefer their later, more intricate song writing, there's not a thing wrong with these little records.

All three records here.







In case you've passed Kontrovers up before, I wouldn't feel right letting you go without loading you up with my favorite releases of theirs.  Their two albums offer some of the finest work this sub subgenre produced.  The massive 20 track debut is a real feast, but the final LP exudes a confidence and mastery that really distinguishes it.

Kontrovers LP (Putrid Filth Conspiracy, 2002)... If anyone has better quality rips of this one, let me know! I really didn't feel like ripping my copy of the LP

Kontrovers- "När Spelreglerna Ändras" LP (Putrid Filth Conspiracy, 2003... 320 Kbps)

The lesser known of the "K" bands, Konfrontation only managed to drop one LP, but it was quite the doozy.  From when I posted it before, I vaguely remember using imagery of finely crafted surgical instruments to describe the way this band can rob you of your vitals with a precision that is both artful and savage.  Instinct of course led me to explore their back catalog, and while none of their EPs quite match "Nedbrytningsprocessen," they still collectively make for a great listen. If you missed out on the LP, though, you can find it here.

 Two Konfrontation EPs and their split with The Slicks (also a Swedish band, but with more of a punk 'n roll thing going on).

I hope to do the impossible and get another post up before the end of week, along with new favorites in the side bar, and, after I check all my e-mail, some re-upload links.  Stay tuned, those of you who haven't given up on me yet.

Spiritually Cemented Dystopia

It was in the mid aughts when I was sure the Swedes were going to take over again-- Acursed, Kontrovers, Skitsystem, Martyrdod-- a small but terrifying enclave, harbingers of a new generation of bleak, razor-sharp Scandi-thrash. The blunt implements of their ancestors were traded in for scalpels edged for surgical precision, only to be applied with a nihilist's abandon. And then... I'm not sure what happened. Momentum petered out, or was diluted into more "progressive" forms of metal that were arguably more boring. Enter Konfrontation, who arrived on the "scene" like a star player 30 seconds late for its train. The unsuspecting station patrons would delight in what they witnessed, and this post is a weak attempt at deflecting the glint of the band's highly polished steel to a few more onlookers. What you'll hear on the band's LP is not unlike the gloomy excellence you've heard from the above bands, although the slightly more daring structures make for a much more memorable ride than most forays into this already intense subgenre. I've been keeping an eye on this one for a while, and although a ton of different labels released it, it is finally out of print, and as far as I'm concerned, public domain...

"Nedbrytningsprocessen" LP by Konfrontation