DRÅP
En Naturlig Död
(self-financed)
23:35min

It’s not really breaking news that Sweden has a lot of great bands to offer. But this doesn’t only count for Death Metal. The Swedish Crust scene is either fantastic, with killer bands like SKITSYSTEM, WOLFBRIGADE or M:40, to name just a few. DRÅP fits in this line perfectly. Their name is Swedish for “Manslaughter”, so the title of their debut album “En Naturlig Död” already made me grin, for it translates “A natural death”. But asides from this tongue-in-cheek humor, this album has so many great things to offer. Just a look at the artwork made me drool, since it promised nothing less than some finest Crust overkill. And be sure, DRÅP deliver on this promise. “En Naturlig Död” is the best metallized Crust I heard this year, if not in years. From the opening bulldozer ‘Preparat’, DRÅP take no prisoners. Anger means nothing less than pure energy here, every second hits straight between the jaws. But it is not stupid or dull thrashing. The four piece not only knows what breaks are, but they place them in perfect manner. Guitar leads from distorted (‘Förstörd’) to harmonic (‘Höstmörker’) rule this album and are the real reason why I can’t stop listening to this fuckin’ killer! Be it short supersonic smashers (‘Häktad’) or longer, a little more complicated tunes (‘Nekad Till Vård’), every songs hits like a fist in the face. And in the end, this album offers its maybe best moments with the short, punked up ‘Ett Hopplöst Fall’ and the title track, that even has some more Death Metal edges than the rest. But, hey! It isn’t that easy to point out the highlights of an album that is nothing less than a highlights itself. I can only recommend “En Naturlig Död” to anyone who’s reading these lines. So, don’t wait a second and get this masterpiece from the band. Find out more at: www.facebook.com/pages/dråp/305747579538779, or visit http://drapcrust.bandcamp.com to buy the album either digital or physical as a 12” vinyl record.

Thomas Meyer

Thomas Meyer

DRÅP
En Naturlig Död
(Xtreem Music)
26:06min

We all need a bit (or lots) of adrenaline once in a while (or a daily dose), even in the extreme music genres such as Grindcore, brutal Metal, etc, you can grow tired of the same drumming pattern, guitar distortion and song structures so you start looking at other extreme labels that will pump your blood and make your head bang non-stop. During the last 4 years I have been listening to many Crust, Punk, D-Beat acts trying to fill that blasting gap in my head with great results. It’s a common idea to think that all the good Punk, Crust acts come from either UK or USA at least the well known ones, but we can’t argue that Sweden has released some great albums, splits and EPs from underground acts that are truly devoted to this type of underground lifestyle. Knew about DRÅP last year while buying new records from a friend of mine and main founder of DISGORGE (Mex), as he was putting out some great stuff like PASSIV DODSHJALP, NUCLEAR FROST, etc, and then I saw this black and white cover and knew it was a Punk / Crust band right away, so I bought it too, it was the LP version of this record. Went home, put the LP to spin and BOOM! It blew my ears (and almost my speakers). First thing I noticed was that it sounded like a mix of DISFEAR, SKITSYSTEM, TORTYR but with a more aggressive edge added on top of it say ROTTEN SOUND, UNKIND. Short songs that sound like a tank is running outside the door, but the well known melodies lay there, that’s the beauty of this genre, it’s slow, fast, devastating at times and even melodic in a rude way. Most of the people that listen to bands like DRÅP think that these bands are all about straight forward grinding songs, you better think twice when listening to “En Naturlig Död” as it’s a merge of old school and new school Crust (if that even exists). Clear raw production and lovely songs about social topics (that’s a bit I knew when trying to translate the lyrics) that are all in the Swedish language. This album has been released in CD format by the now once again very active Xtreem Music (with the bonus track ‘Min Förlorade Värld’ – Frank), so I raise my beer and say cheers to Dave Rotten for putting out stuff like this. Give it a try if you like Crust / D-Beat with a bit of Grind, or use it to bother your neighbors as they will run out of the fucking place when you play this record. Check it out at www.facebook.com/drapcrust, www.xtreemmusic.com

Mauricio “Rusty” Sanchez

Mauricio "Rusty" Sanchez

Related reviews / interviews:
DRÅP - Roten Till Allt Ont (Thomas Meyer)
DRÅP - Interview (Thomas Meyer)

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