It's been a while but the Just Some Punk Songs' favourite Belgian Dirk Ceustermans returns today with a recommendation for you to check out...
HETZE - UNTIL I SNAP 12" (Loner Cult, March 2024)
This rocking combo has been around for a good few years now, being regulars on the Belgian punk circuit with proper success. Often invited and touring abroad, it is not unlikely you may have come across their name on a bill or even have seen them live. I did so a good few times and the energy that sparks off their shows is mind-blowing. But how can such power violence band transmit that live energy onto vinyl? Well with "Until I snap" they pretty much nailed it.
They already have a string of releases of which I may baptize as modern day classic (Bedbugs for one, from 2018) so if you are familiar with those releases, I'm sure you'll notice the leap in production, recording and song writing.
This new 12", a 45 rpm mean green coloured slab of plastic contains 16 merciless attacks of brutal Power-Core ("power violence" ...I don't like that name for a "genre" actually). Trench Club opens the rollercoaster ride all through to the very last song. And the words... the words you read while being knocked out by the pounding drums & loud guitars make you wonder what is all behind the veil of anger and anxiety.
I picked Homesick, a track somewhere in the middle of side one. It grabs me completely by the throat.
A good old friend said to me "forget about solos, a good riff is what is remembered". And by jove, this riff sticks in my head. What is Eva singing here? Does she introduce a new meaning of the word Homesick? As in "sick of being at home" rather than the opposite? Things that happen at homes that aren't spoken about outside the walls of a house? Maybe I got it all wrong, but this is the power of her lyrics in general: They aren't specific, so it challenges the listener to a free interpretation. Until you snap.
HOMESICK
Walls go up
For tortured souls
Broken
Fear explodes
What will you do
She could be you
No forever
No forever
In this future
Trap the past
Make it last
She could be you
The noise
The hatred
What will you do
She could be you
She could be you
Walls go up
For tortured souls
No forever
In this future
