XIAO – Burn EP

I recently read on social media that Dead In The Dirt’s seminal LP The Blind Hole was released on Southern Lord exactly ten years ago in August 2013. Drawing from the same well as DITD and other ‘00s/’10s bands like Mind Eraser, Hatred Surge or The Endless Blockade, Swedish hardcore band XIAO immediately came to mind when thinking about current bands that similarly manage to blend violent blastbeat fury with searing pain.

Formed in Stockholm in the summer of 2019, XIAO released their debut EP, Pain, in 2021 to reflect on the violent and desperate world we live in, and we were honored to premiere it at DIY Conspiracy. Last summer, the band also released a crushing single called Change, which goes for the throat with a straightforward message against toxic and abusive behavior in intimate relationships.

An aggressive, no-holds-barred message filled with anger and frustration at the state of the world today is still the backbone of XIAO’s music on their latest release, once again titled in one word: Burn! Consisting of six brutal new songs plus the experimental track “Ixao”, which serves as an interlude to the last song “Corrupt”, this new EP is another triumph for the young Swedish band.

Burn displays the band’s intense and emotionally charged sonic crusades in the best possible way. With an incendiary mix of skillful, fierce aggression, these seven compositions blend powerviolence-laden blastbeats, sludgey breakdowns, and traces of Swedish d-beat akin to Wolfbrigade. On yet another short seven-inch, XIAO keeps a tight grip on relentless hardcore rhythms and infectious riffs that draw from a wide range of influences. Produced by the renowned Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios, the mix captures the intensity of hardcore punk music without sacrificing its raw edge.

The record was released on vinyl in March 2023 by the tireless Marcus Ericsson of Quarantined Hardcore, who also publishes a great fanzine of the same name. Along with Stockholm bands like God Mother, Blood Sermon, Vidro and Speedway, XIAO is part of a revitalized hardcore scene in Sweden, ensuring that the hardcore spirit and radical politics in the genre will continue to resonate through time.