VICTIMS: Sirens Vinyl LP

Stockholm's Victims have spent two decades being one of the most dependable bands in European hardcore, the kind of group that other bands cite while they themselves stay largely invisible to the mainstream. Good. That's where the best crust punk lives.

Sirens, released in 2016, sits at the intersection of d-beat brutality and something approaching post-punk atmosphere, which is a trick not many bands in this corner of the underground pull off without losing either edge. There's a bleakness here that goes beyond genre exercise. The Swedes have always had a particular relationship with darkness in punk, from Discharge worship to Totalitär, and Victims fit cleanly into that lineage while sounding like themselves. If you've ever found yourself at a dingy Melbourne hardcore show thinking the room needed to be slightly more hostile, this is your record.

Vinyl LP, released 2016, Sweden. Fans of: Martyrdöd, Disfear, His Hero Is Gone.