I love me some Rorschachian German HC, especially the stuff out of Bremen and the Kuschelrock Studios, like Systral, Morser, and other early Per Koro label bands. I'm a nut for gasoline vocals like that. The Systral 10" and Morser LP/CD are two of the best releases of the 90s and bona fide hardcore classics in my opinion. I think one of the Morser/Systral guys owns Kuschelrock Studios, which I'm told is possibly why the Systral 10" is so well executed. They had ample time in the studio to work through all the ideas. That Systral 10" plays out like a concept album of perfectly assembled song pieces and precision sequenced tracks. You could index it like a classical music piece. The Plot comp is one of the most important compilations of the 90s (and it can be had for $2 on discogs). For a few years there, I used it as a map (similarly to how Crust and Anguished Life functioned).
https://www.discogs.com/release/2650255-Various-PlotI've been getting into the second tier, latter bands. Anger is Beautiful, Shikari (Dutch, but recorded a tKuschelrock Studios), Cathode (also Dutch), Fear is the Path to the Dark Side, Paranoia Keeps Crawling, Zeroid*, Arsen aka König der Monster, The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, and maybe a couple others I'm forgetting right now. Some of it gets dangerously close to screamo, but I can deal with that to a point. Apoplexy is right there on the boundary. I do like some screamo, like Mohinder, Starkweather, Song of Zarathustra...
*Zeroid is related to Jeniger. With the passing of one of the core members of Hiatus, and after watching an interview with Paul Burdette (His Hero is Gone, Deathtreat, Tragedy), I've been thinking about what influenced that sound. Jeniger arrived at a similar place to Tragedy around the same time, and I've always thought Tragedy was influenced by Result (Japan) and Kort Prosess (Norwegian HC in general, like Bannalyst), but I'm now wondering if Unhinged had something to do with it. The first Unhinged album was hugely popular with the crusties and anarchopunks in Minneapolis, and because of how tight-knit the European squat and Skuld scene was, I think it reasonable that Unhinged played some role in where Jeniger ended up (and probably Tragedy too). It's also been said that At the Gates was influential in the evolution from His Hero is Gone to Tragedy, but I'm not as interested in that element.
this Unhinged album, which cover had a unique feel to the cardstock and low-quality printing:
https://youtu.be/9qObnFWadyo?si=vV6kEIbBwXjBV55Vand check out the fantastic Hiatus transition at 6:06 of this track:
https://youtu.be/ywFM7uuTMVY?si=uPwmIM-SVmbMriU5&t=290and lastly, Genital Deformities...
Genital Deformities/Subcaos 1994 - I can almost guarantee I haven't heard GD since the 90s, and then I wouldn't have given them a fair listen - surprised they haven't come up in talk, particularly when I've asked around for recommendations in that caveman/Agathocles realm - what a strange multi-cusper of things they are - crustier than Agathocles when Agathocles is at their crustiest (Black Clouds Determinate), but deathy like mincecore - Subcaos didn't have a chance of me paying a lot of attention, but they're good too.
Genital Deformities - Shag Nasty Oi! 1989 - also great, but I like the split material better - need to hear their demo. Someone please reissue all GD on a 2LP.
There's been some great crust lately, but that's for another time.
Alkochol Front - ...? 1995 - another one of those Polish tape-only albums, and it is their only release on Discogs - one of the vocals sounds like Shawn from Capitalist Casualties, and the other guy sounds like Dean when Extreme Noise Terror played live around the Phonophobia era, so a little crusty and a lot more HC thrashy.
Kangrena - Estoc De Pus 1984 - Spain - this is interesting; sort of borders on fuzzy, quasi proto noisecore with SoCal singalong punk elements - new to me, and I appreciate it; not sure I'll come back to it very often, but for 1984, it's very cool.
