Hellbastard
Heading For Internal Darkness (2lp/it/red)
A manic clash of guitars, bass and drums beating each other's brains out in the same sonic bullring? Check. Despite already (if a little unbeknownst) being considered crust pioneers, by 1988, Hellbastard had firmly inserted themselves, even proudly so, in between a series of bifurcated genre schisms well-protected by those scene's respected guardians. Their official debut, 'Heading For Internal Darkness' no less perfectly exemplifies that schism. With Wendy V Gill's haunted-cosmos monologues injecting some transcendental light into the neck otherwise being mercilessly ripped to pieces by Scruff and Scotty's spaced-out vocal grunts, opener 'We Had Evidence' to the equally arresting elevator-shaft-with-a-mind-of-its-own 'Death Camp' to 'The Pylons' whip up seriously dark whirlwinds into atmospheric dances of rapid energy and relentless spasms of spellcasting drama. Never mind metal, too punk for anything. Limited to 100 copies on red vinyl.