Congratulations reader, you have made it to Friday. And if you are starved for riffs and heavy hits, we have it in spades. But if you don’t like politics then I suggest you walk away. Because what we have here is two heavy swinging bands that show no mercy. One Terminal Nation out of AK, and the other Kruelty hailing out of Tokyo, Japan. Both bring crushing, uncompromising, fist swinging riffs to the pit. Here they have teamed up for a split with The Ruination of Imperialism.
Let us take this one at a time: Terminal Nation has been turning out crushing, uncompromising music for years and years now. A vehemently anti-corruption/anti-racist group that has made no stranger of taking on and shining a light on injustice in the US, while writing some of the heaviest music on the planet. They have moved shifted their powerviolence beginnings to something more rooted in metallic hardcore and death metal. Bolt Thrower comparisons are apt. And on this split, they offer up three brand new tracks of crushing protest.
Opening with "Curators of Brutality," Terminal Nation opens with a chugging, heavy-as-a-brick-to-the-forehead opus. It even quickly lets loose with some industrial influence and then slams back into the heavy, mosh-laden territory. "Sacrificial Capital" (which features a guest spot from Tatami of Kruelty) follows, keeping things incredibly heavy and punching things forward more. It is a circle pit of a song with breakdowns hard enough to crush granite. The last offering, "Embalmed Crucifix" starts out a little sludgy, a little doomy. And keeps that going for a second until erupting into a shredding guitar solo and getting more into the hardcore spirit of things but keeping that spirit of death metal. It is a dummy thick that only ends one way: total moshing, fist throwing chaos.
Kruelty has also been pumping out hard-hitting, no mercy music for a while now. The Japanese group has been kicking out brutality since 2017. Like their counterparts here, the band is plenty hardcore and plenty death metal. Offers no shortage of riffs, heaviness, or mosh. Here they give us two tracks that are bound to snap a few necks like stalks of celery.
“Suppression” opens Kruelty’s side. It starts heavy, it gets faster, and it stays heavy. It is the kind of track that wants to grab the listener by the cheeks and spit at them. The track almost immediately moves into a heavy mosh section before breaking down. And then it quickly moves into passages that are equally hardcore and death metal. The track is hard as hell and showcases exactly Kruelty’s mastery over brutality. The following track, “Under Your Pressure (which features a guest spot of Stan from Terminal Nation)” maintains a similar attitude. It is heavy, it is ugly, it wants to peel your skin back and crush your skull. And crush it, it does. This track goes incredibly hard and ups the intensity. This track is the soundtrack to crushing your worst enemy’s skull with a cinderblock.
To paraphrase and bring this all around, the overarching idea of The Ruination of Imperialism is opposition to the ruling class, regardless of location, and regardless of status or ideals. It is a fist in the face to oppression and those opposed to progression. These tracks are about fighting back. Both Terminal Nation and Kruelty swing hard track after track, and as a united front, we can swing harder. Pre-orders for this album can be found here. You can follow Terminal Nation on Instagram, Twitter, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Kruelty here.
