TURBOCHARGED

AboveLords, BelowEarth GFY PRODUCTIONS

Unwashed d-beat ruffians stay on their wild, erratic course

After almost 20 years blaspheming and d-beating listeners over the head, Turbocharged have lost none of their ire on their fifth album. Stylistically, fans of the Swedish trio will know exactly what to expect: deathly riffs, a Venom-ous vocal delivery from “lead throat” Ronnie Ripper, plenty of chantable choruses, scuzzy punk rock attitude, and a looseness to the recording that sounds as though the band are about to careen off the rails in a drunken heap. While Above Lords, Below Earth doesn’t hold many surprises for the faithful, it acts as a timely introduction for fans of Midnight or even Entombed who might be unaware of the “unholy deathpunk” racket that Turbocharged can kick up before breaking sweat.

FOR FANS OF: Midnight, Gehennah, Motörhead shades that they’ve dialled up this time round keep it from being a carbon copy of 2016’s chuggy fuzzathon, Volume Rock. The standard psych fare that fizzes away on Into The Abyss is meditation music for fiery souls, rippling with Ryan Ferrier’s Layne Staleyesque croon. But what really piques the interest is the way the band balance hefty riffs with textured and lightly trippy moments, especially on the title track, keeping Old Gods fresh and engrossing.

FOR FANS OF: Orchid, Kyuss, Alice in Chains Epic crust veterans draw power from our ignominious age

It’s hard to tell whether it’s tragic or heartening that a band more than 20 years into their career are now releasing their strongest material. One of a handful of bands dragging melodic, charcoal-throated hardcore into an apocalyptic new millennium (see also: Tragedy, From Ashes Rise) Victims have outlived many of their imitators and settled into friendly uncle status, serving up surging, bull-necked ‘stadium crust’ so regularly that you almost forget they’re there. Thing is, though, they’re actually on rarer form than ever, and The Horse And Sparrow Theory follows up 2016’s Sirens with a sound that’s even more pounding, focused and desperate. Anyone would have thought the world was about to end or something.

FOR FANS OF: Tragedy, Doom, Unkind