Thursday 19 February 2009

DEATH SENTENCE: Death And Pure Distruction EP (1982) upload...

Here's the first post for awhile, and a salute to much neglected early British hardcore.


The original MRR review of this 7" said:

An interracial punk band that currently sounds too much like the EXPLOITED for its own good. DEATH SENTENCE are fast, loud, and a little rough around the edges, so they could come on strong if they develop more of an individual style - Jeff Bale.

While this does sound quite like the good Exploited singles, there's a heavy dose of Discharge to this. Overall it's an archetype UK82 record, leaning more towards the speed and aesthetics (WAAAAR) of the Clay Records bands than the Oi! influenced sound of contemporaries. It's primitive and simple, which is part of its appeal. Just look at that front cover - you can judge right then if you'll like this record or not.

The mid-paced song 'Victims Of War' reminds me of the Disorder classic 'Victimized', or Discharge's 'Aint No Feeble Bastard'. I'm a big fan of these early 80s UK dirgey and repetitive anthems, 'State Violence State Control' being the ultimate example. They obviously had a huge influence on the emerging Boston bands, who nearly all included a Discharge-esque dirge on their records.

I know very little about this band other than that they were on the same label as similar bands External Menace and Uproar, and were apparently from Leeds. If anyone knows any more (bands that followed for example), leave a comment.

Also, I wonder if the mis-spelling in the title was an 'accident', or rather a reference to their blatant worship at the church of Discharge. If the latter, it would surely be one of the earliest examples of a conscious Dis prefix (run into the ground by a million D-beat bands).

Download here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Link doesn't work :(

RobT said...

I checked it and it was working, try again

Anonymous said...

I am steve the Drummer of then "Death Sentence".... I had no idea, our tracks even existed.... punk lives on! THANKS GUYS, IT WAS A GREAT TIME FOR US... GREAT FUN!

Pogo Punx Records said...

No idea your tracks existed??...The Japanese band Laukaus covered "Death and Pure Distruction" on their Mika On Tuolla EP!!