More D-beat Sir? Victims

Come on, give us a cuddle. Please?

It may be old news that I remain obsessed with Trap Them’s Darker Handcraft as the latest manifestation of my deep and visceral appreciation of the chunkier permutations of hardcore, crust and metal.

But I don’t want to completely suck the marrow from that record just yet so I’m prowling the streets for a similar fix of fierce metallic hardcore.

While Disfear a while ago led me to fellow Swedish ragers Victims, I wasn’t immediately impressed.

Not heavy enough.

That’s changed with the introduction of a second guitarist (tip to hardcore bands: this is the secret to me liking you) and a muscular production job from Nico Elgstrand of some Scando band or other, Entombed I think.

Victims’ overlooked 2011 album A Dissident is as thick, adrenalin-charged and full of heaving fury as you could hope for from a dedicated d-beat crew that’s been knocking about for nigh on 15 years.

They kick in your doors, drink all your booze, snog your missus, torch the place then jump out the window before you even manage to pull your pants on.

While maybe not handing out as absolutely a thorough a beating as served up by Trap Them, A Dissident certainly more than scratches this particular itch while we wait for another Disfear album – if indeed it ever comes after the sad loss of bassist Henke Frykman to cancer last year.

As for Victims, check Slayer homage Victims in Blood Pt6:

and their more melodic side on We Are Not The Future:

Dudes also did a split with Kylesa in 2009, which makes them more than alright in my book.