Tragedy – Fury

A crust legend surprisingly comes back with a new record. How’s that for a title? Well, actually Tragedy is not the best example of a band that gives a damn about any press coverage. With no official website, no social media presence, no marketing efforts, and barely giving any interviews or updates about the band’s whereabouts for nearly two decades of existence.

So, there’s a new Tragedy record called Fury and I’ve got misty eyed before listening to this record for a first time. It’s not that I’ve been disappointed with their Nerve Damage (2006) and especially Darker Days Ahead (2012), it’s just that they were not as intense and uplifting as their absolute classics prior to that.

In Darker Days Ahead they’ve lost a huge portion of their intensity and pounding d-beats to a more mid-tempo metallic approach. It’s my least favorite Tragedy record up to date and I just can’t get to it. But still… Six years later the darker days really came by to us. Rising fascism and authoritarian regimes are leading to social inequality basically all around the globe. More walls, more jails, and more sophisticated surveillance systems and methods. Devastating natural disasters are spreading around the world and whole ecosystems are on the brink of total annihilation.

So, Tragedy is back and their lyrics are as bleak and ruthless as always. Right from the title you know it all, FURY. It comes as a raw, heavy and hard-hitting thrash that just blasts in about 17 minutes of mayhem. Angry as fuck vocals are constantly screaming over this musical acrimony against the world we are currently living in. The raw intensity is finally back and flowing throughout the entire record. It’s a throwback to the old lore of the Portland epic crust veterans: fast, heavy and loud. Just as in their superb Can We Call This Life? (2001) and To The Dogs (2004) EPs. Another blistering assault from a hardcore punk band that have made themselves huge without selling out neither their passion nor their ideas.

The vinyl version of Fury appeared on the merch table at a sold-out Tragedy show in Portland on August 31. Now they are touring Europe and it seems like they are still really enjoying it. Tragedy seems to be existing on their own pace. They are putting out albums, touring or simply going into oblivion only whenever they feel like it.