Massacre System – Self-Titled (Demo Tape)

This is the kind of massacring raw punk wildness that immediately made it one of my favorite demos of the year so far. Massacre System come from Richmond, Virginia, and this tape is one of the latest releases from North Carolina’s finest, Bunker Punks. Richmond is already home to one of the best current d-beat bands around, Destruct, and while I don’t think the two bands share any members, Massacre System deliver another perfectly lethal dose of Discharge-inspired devastation.

It’s short, exactly as it should be for this kind of music, with four tracks and the longest barely stretching past a minute and a half. The tape opens with ear-piercing static, comes loaded with classic song titles and familiar lyrical themes, and makes absolutely no attempt to reinvent the genre. This is abrasive, rough, brutal d-beat punk that ticks all the right boxes. At the same time, it never feels like a one-dimensional clone. The four songs pack in plenty of variety, with no riffs or sections overstaying their welcome. Tempo changes, breaks, guitar leads, and groovy moments keep the energy shifting from one attack to the next. As with so many great punk bands, you can judge how good Massacre System are by their drummer. Sammie, who also plays in Armor, drives these songs with precision and power, giving the whole demo an extra kick without ever sounding too polished or controlled.

The tape pulls heavily from the d-takt canon, throws in a bit of Concrete Sox on “Apathetic Destruction” and Heresy on the closing “War Crime Technology,” then pushes everything straight into the red. Put it right alongside bands like Scarecrow, Yellowcake, and Ultimate Disaster. I might end up writing another list of my favorite demos and EPs of the year, and this one will almost certainly be right near the top. Guaranteed audio carnage.