6 tracks of d-beat raw punk/käng. Vinyl comes housed in foldover screen printed cover with a double sided insert.Co-release with Children of the Grave Records (France) Our take: France’s Children of the Grave Records teams up with Prescription (Sorry State staffer Usman’s label) to bring us this split 7” between two of modern d-beat’s heavyweight bands. You probably already know Destruct if you follow Sorry State—we named both of their LPs Record of the Week when they came out—but hopefully you’ve also been paying attention to Sweden’s Svaveldioxid, who have released a whole slew of excellent records over the past decade. The two bands are well matched for a split 7”, both playing metallic d-beat that perfectly balances traditionalist and progressive impulses. That being said, these are some of the leanest and meanest Destruct tracks to date, their two originals here built on spare riffing that leaves the focus on the rhythm section’s jackhammer battering. Svaveldioxid’s rhythms also stick to the genre’s core points of inspiration, but they make room for some death metal nods in the guitar work and unexpected moments like the cool bass melody in “Stillbilder.” Alongside their two originals, each band covers one of the other’s songs, but you’d hardly know they were cover songs if the sleeve didn’t point it out. The bands don’t sound worlds apart in the first place, but each really puts their own stamp on their respective version. Both sides of the split sound phenomenal, too, with Destruct recording with Lance at Minimum Wage Studios (who did that recent Ultimate Disaster LP that sounds so great) and Svaveldioxid at the legendary Sunlight Studios. I also have to call out the beautifully detail-oriented packaging on the physical release, which not only includes some excellent new Wombat illustrations, but also employs thoughtful choices of paper stock and printing methods to build a package that feels distinctive, yet consistent with each band’s well-established aesthetic. It’s easy for a split 7” on a couple of small labels to get lost in the shuffle, but if you’re a d-beat fanatic, you’d be loony to miss out on this.
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