New crushing single from our favorite Swedish metal-punks!Our take: Tatari originally appeared as a companion piece to Paranoid’s 2021 digital-only album Cursed, pressed as a gift for people who bought the digital version of the album through Bandcamp. That version sold out quickly, and I’m glad Paranoid has seen fit to make a small repress that’s more widely available. While neither of Tatari’s two tracks appear on Cursed, stylistically these songs are of a piece with that album. Less frenetic than Paranoid’s noisy earlier work, these tracks ride heavy, locked-in d-beat grooves a la later-period Anti-Cimex, with hoarse yet snotty vocals that make me think of Venom (but without the goofy / cartoonish element). Paranoid are pros, so it’s unsurprising that the songs are dynamic, “Senka” cresting with a melodic lead guitar riff that evokes the wind whipping through an isolated fjord. Paranoid has always released some of their best songs on EPs, none of which stick around too long, so grab a copy of Tatari while you still can.
