Barren Hellscape 'Anti-Holocaust' 2026 NZ Crust Punk

https://razoredraw.bandcamp.com/album... 00:00 Proliferation 03:05 Cobalt Bomb 05:33 Blood Murals 07:57 Wasteland Gaza 11:24 The Plight of Macaques 14:29 Ginsu Hellfire 17:27 Tormented and Tortured 21:10 Toxic Species 'With a name like BARREN HELLSCAPE, the chance that the music is going to be cheerful or an appropriate soundtrack for your stepbrother’s birthday party is pretty slim. This is the first album of this one-man project based in New Zealand and I have to say it aptly reflects the depressingly violent and bleak times we, sadly, live in. This recording is a more elaborate effort than last year’s already very enjoyable demo tape and the longer format allows the artist (so to speak, it’s probably just a dirty punk) to tell a more developed and more coherent story. The use of samples between each song - highlighting the political sentiments of the author - reinforces that sense of narration and generally works well (beside being a 90’s hardcore trope I must say). Musically BARREN HELLSCAPE has refined its sound by which I mean it stands as a more punishing, meaner, more focused work. The groundwork is still fast direct crustcore, not unlike late MVD maybe, but there is a dirty metal influence in the riffing and in the overall songwriting as well through a greater diversity of paces (even some blasting hardcore moments) and a tenser atmosphere. I am reminded of bands like DYSTOPIA or CONFRONTATION at times and dark metallic crust bands like SUMMON THE CROWS, even though the production points to the distorted side of punk things. A fairly original endeavour that should appeal to lovers of dark, heavy and noisy hardcore with a strong political message. ' -Romain Basset (Terminal Sound Nuisance) Matai- instruments/ vocals/ recording/ production Art by Zoe AKA Scroll of Sorrow