Obliterations: Poison Everything

Hirsute West Coasters deliver the shape of hardcore to come

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The name-dropping surrounding the debut release by this California hardcore punk outfit (ex-and-current members of Night Horse, Black Mountain and Saviours; recorded in Dave Grohl’s studio; video shot by Strife vocalist Rick Rodney; recorded by Chris Owens; mixed by Kurt Ballou; mastered by Brad Boatright; The New York Times loves ’em) is enough to have you wondering what weaknesses are hiding behind the veil.

Folks, believe the hype! Obliterations manage a deft balance of old and new, chaos and restraint, sloppy as shit and tight as a duck’s. Their sound crams the naïve freedom of 70s proto-punk and attitude of Black Flag into the gullet of classic American hardcore. Walls are broken down as the d-beat lives beyond the confines of crusty peace punk and shoddy Discharge-inspired sycophants, with Shame and the title track also summoning the dour mood of Celtic Frost, The One That Got Away’s Die Kreuzen-like song smarts and the mix of powerful choruses and volatility that propels Poison Everything beyond simply being greater than the sum of its parts, to its position as a modern hardcore history lesson.

Via Southern Lord