Tartarus Records, now in its second year with its 20th and 21st cassette releases coming, sends word of a forthcoming tape from Brighton, UK, punk grinders War Wolf. Crushing the Ways of the Old is available now for pre-order in a limited edition of 100 that I can’t imagine will last very long.

War Wolf boasts drummer Ant Cole and bassist Paul Hale, formerly of Dopefight, alongside guitarist/vocalist Oliver Heart of doomers Sea Bastard, and Crushing the Ways of the Old follows their split with Sob Story and their Riding with Demons demo, for which they toured earlier this year.

They’ve got a handle on some thickened hardcore punk, and they’re plenty pissed off as you can hear on “The Upper Hand” below. Dig it:

War Wolf cassette now available for preorder

TAR020 War Wolf – Crushing The Ways Of The Old

Finally the debut full-length album of War Wolf is upon us! This is the third release after their first EP ‘Riding With Demons’ and the split tape with Sob Story. Twelve tracks of pummelling Hardcore/Doom from Brighton, UK. Taking influence from the likes of Dystopia, Nihilist and Brainoil. Lyrically they express their hatred for Religion, Homophobia, Racism and Sexism.

This Cassette is a co-release of Tartarus Records and Dry Cough Records. (Vinyl version is being released by Tadpole Records, Atomsmasher Records and Headless Guru Records.)

Edition of 100 grey tapes
Comes with a War Wolf guitar pick!

http://tartarusrecords.com/album/crushing-the-ways-of-the-old

War Wolf, “The Upper Hand” from Crushing the Ways of the Old (2013)

Space. Sometimes it’s full of riffs. At least that’s the vision of the cosmos laid out by Dutch instrumental heavy rock trio Gigatron2000, who make their debut in the form of the half-hour full-length, The Cosmic Desert Cruise. Grooving out in the unpretentious spirit of Karma to Burn, the guitar/bass/drums three-piece keep to a straightforward approach throughout the album’s 12 tracks, so that each one winds up a crisp riff-led excursion, usually between two and three minutes long, that gets in and gets out and doesn’t waste too much time on extras, either stylistic or in terms of arrangement. Samples crop up here and there, and closer “Starcommand” has a bit of swirl preceding its chugging apex, but Gigatron2000 make themselves at home in the trenches of riffery and wind up with some pretty appealing if familiar nod as a result.

The longest of the bunch is the title-track, “Cosmic Desert Cruise,” which comes on at the halfway point and reaches to 3:48, but the ensuing “Ion Cannon” shaves two minutes off that for a faster rush, and the penultimate “Background Radiation Shielding” is hardly as long as its title, checking in at 1:44. But though they’re short, Gigatron2000‘s songs aren’t lacking for substance or discernible structure. They move quickly from one to the next — marked in places as opener “Ancient Hyperdrive” is by use of samples — and because The Cosmic Desert Cruise as a whole is short, it gives a sense of the band being in a hurry, but nothing here is underdeveloped either. You can hear it in the tempo change on “Ancient Hyperdrive” and in the slowdown that hits later into “First Contact” before drummer Sarban Grimminck picks up the rhythm again to cap with a lead-in push for “Positronic Accelerator.”

Bassist Kevin Kentie and guitarist Gerben van der Aa work mostly in tandem throughout The Cosmic Desert Cruise, and that helps give some of the material a more punkish vibe, but on the whole, Gigatron2000 are playing heavy rock for heads who know what they’re getting when they sign up for a solid half-hour of riffs. The band released a limited tape edition of the album through Tartarus Records that’s sold out, and have CDs for sale the first 100 of which were packaged each with a little robot toy or spaceship (as seen above), but apparently the final robot has gone as well, so kudos to the band both on the sales and the incentive. I mean, who doesn’t want a little toy robot?

In light of that, and the crunch that pops up in Gigatron2000’s riffs, and the fact that though they seem obsessed with space in that let’s-turn-ourselves-into-comic-book-characters (awesome) kind of way, they don’t actually give in to playing psychedelic space rock, The Cosmic Desert Cruisemay be one for those already well converted to the ways of the riff, but it’s still a satisfying and intriguing listen for all that, and Gigatron2000‘s no-frills ethic is bound to continue to serve them well as they press onward into the solar system. I’d be interested to see them work a narrative course into the music — there’s some of that on the Bandcamp page set up for the tape, but none on the CD itself — but for a start, these tracks hold up just fine on their own.

Gigatron2000, The Cosmic Desert Cruise (2013)

Gigatron2000 on Thee Facebooks

Tartarus Records on Bandcamp