Full Circle. The phrase suggests a beginning and an end, we’ve come full circle, back to where we started. In some ways this is true of this new release from punk agitators Instigators. They were part of the new wave of punk in the mid to late ‘80s that were very vocal, very angry and very passionate. This was an era of Thatcherism, poll tax riots and the threat of right wing extremism. Full Circle hey?
This revamp of their 1987 EP sees the two original tracks - Full Circle/The Sleeper alongside 2025 versions. If you weren’t told which were which, it’s not difficult to tell tbh. The originals sound like they were recorded in someone's bedroom or basement, tinny, rough, DIY. That was how it was then for the myriad of punk bands that were fighting to be heard.
Both songs reflect the times they were recorded. Bleak, angry. Full Circle, fast paced, vitriolic. The Sleeper starts off with an almost John Lydon/PiL sneer and snarl feel to it before exploding into a typical punk anthem. I never understood why they never moved on from this release, for me it was a cut above most of the dross that was being put out by DIY labels at the time. Turner’s vocals were powerful but poetic, reminded me of Kirk Brandon in many ways, whilst Mooney’s guitars had that jangly sound much more akin to the post punk guitar driven bands.
The updated versions are simply more polished, cleaner - digitised. Do I prefer that? Actually I’m on the fence, the originals need to be listened to on vinyl, cranked up through the speakers as they would have been, whilst the 2025 versions sound great through my Bose headphones. As for the new track, Suicide Investigation Team, they’ve simply taken up where they left off, but more refined. Overall an interesting retrospective look and re-imagining of their punk roots and ethos.
So, Full Circle, a beginning and an end? Or history on its never ending cycle of repeating itself? Instigators certainly show no signs of ending it just yet with live shows coming up and they’re showing us that they still have something to say and that message is has relevant today as it was back in 1987. 8/10
Casket Rats - Rat City Rockers (Tee Pee Records) [Rich Piva]
Tee Pee Records is bringing the straight up sleazy, dirty, leather and denim clad rock and roll with Rat City Rockers, the debut record from Boston’s Casket Rats. You know what I mean here…think bands like AC/DC, Hanoi Rocks, early Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, early L.A. Guns…if you like stuff like that, and wish Buckcherry was what they think they are, Casket Rats will be for you. The guys put their own spin on this classic genre, so no posing or copying exists here across these nine tracks.
Some of my favorites are Looking For Some, with its killer guitar work and heavy 80s-but-the-cool-stuff vibes. The dual guitar work on Watch It Burn is where I feel the Thin Lizzy coming from, while the opening two tracks set the filthy rock scene, with the killer rippers Blood In The Water and Whiskey Queen. There are no skips on Rat City Rockers; only nine tracks that prove rock is still alive and well.
No gimmicks here, just pure rock and roll that will rock your socks and other undergarments right off. Rat City Rockers is here for your Friday night party. Go until the morning light, and beyond with Casket Rats. 8/10
Dysentery – Dejection Chrysalis (Comatose Music) [Spike]
Let’s not mince words: this is Brutal Death Metal. If you came here looking for ambient passages or emotional ballads, you took a wrong turn at the morgue. Dysentery’s Dejection Chrysalis is a furious, uncompromising slab of Slam that feels less like music and more like receiving blunt force trauma in a rapidly accelerating tunnel. After almost a decade of silence, this record is the sound of the band returning to the scene with a very specific, punishing agenda.
The production here is essential to the attack. The drums, particularly the snare, spring through the mix like an antipersonnel mine, a crude, crass mechanism of pure butchery. The bass carries the fleshy, suffocating weight of a fresh mass grave, each low end rumble a corpulent thud that compacts the mix into a singular, impenetrable wall of filth. This is a primordial sound, the sonic equivalent of one ape slamming the skull of another into a smear on the jungle floor.
The record opens with the brief instrumental Transference, which, despite its length, perfectly encapsulates the entire album’s manifesto: dense, slamming riff structures delivered with maximum aggression. It's the moment of tension before the release of violence. The ensuing tracks, like Enslavement For The Obedient, Agony For The Wayward, and Indignation Unravels, prove that Dysentery is not concerned with subtlety. They operate with blast beats like gunfire pinning the listener in place while low-pitched, guttural vocals gurgle and splash the entire sonic environment.
The album is a relentless, half-hour exercise in velocity and brutal groove. While a simpler band might just ride one breakdown into the sunset, Dysentery finds intrigue in the shifts. There are moments of technical flair, like the sudden pinch-harmonic ice picks jammed through your eye sockets in Indignation Unravels, but those are fleeting. The core focus is the chug. This band understands that sometimes, the most effective brutality is the least inventive. They ride a chromatic slam pattern that is utterly typical, yet delivered with such conviction that it becomes irresistible.
The guest appearances further spikes of violence. The duo of screamers on Exhausted Bliss Of Self Loathing (featuring Josh Welshman of Defeated Sanity) and the double-team vocal savagery on Fratricidium (with JT Knight) are highlights, showcasing a commitment to elevating the gratuitous barbarism beyond mere one-man output.
The later tracks, such as Obsidian Womb and the closer Ascend This Harrowing Dream, hammer home the unadventurous, yet punishing spirit. They ride serviceable, heavy riffs for what feels like years, daring you to get bored before the next crushing breakdown arrives. Dejection Chrysalis may not rewrite the genre rulebook, but it reinforces the foundations with sheer determination and uncompromising noise. It's a testament to the visceral power of the slam riff. 7/10
Zebulon - Come Day Of Reckoning (Apollon Records) [Matt Bladen]
Bloodstock Metal To The Masses Norway winners Zebulon deliver Come Day Of Reckoning, full of the glacial doom that you'd want from a Scandinavian band. Their music explodes judgement and faith and musically they're inspired by the legends of the genre. Day Of Wrath comes from the histrionic sound of Candlemass (in the vocals) via Black Sabbath (riffs). It's got twin guitars driving the slow heavy riffs and the vocals evoke Johan Lanquist.
They open themselves up to some other types of doom with Headstone which goes more into Type O Negative gothics while Break Bread With The Dead has more of the classic melodic metal influence of Atlantean Kodex. On the evidence of this album I can see why they won M2TM in Norway, Come Day Of Reckoning is a melodic doom record that relies just a heavily on the light as it does the dark. A great debut from Zebulon. 7/10
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