Doom ‘Corrupt Fucking System’ CD/LP/DD 2013

Doom 'Corrupt Fucking System'With an album title like that, you can pretty much guess you’re in for some form of violent ride. How violent I guess depends on your general tolerance levels for this kind of thing. When it is vicious, crust punk legends Doom, I’m very happy to be pulled along for the trip.

When ‘Stripped, Whipped and Crucified’ comes roaring out of the speakers, it is VERY clear how influential Doom have been. Pioneers of the diabolical breeding between anarcho punk and extreme metal, they sound like the best album Napalm Death didn’t write in the Eighties. What now would be considered ‘proto grindcore, the band clearly hasn’t lost any of their fire nor their disgust with the current state of human existence. ‘Prey For Our Souls’ strikes for the establishment, utilising infamous punk poet Andy T as some kind of anarchist preacher. There is something very stark about the presentation of this record.

Human Meat’ races past Discharge-esque, and leads into the more rhythmic ‘Yes, They Still Test on Dogs’. The message is clear on that track, make no mistake. It’s a passionate railing against animal testing, and speaks volumes about the values that Doom hold. They are very true to their DIY punk ethos, producing the record themselves and releasing it through their own label Black Cloud. There’s something delightfully ironic about a band releasing an album including a track called ‘Eat Shit & Buy’ on Christmas Eve. Whether or not it was a deliberate ploy to draw attention to the rampant commercialisation of Christmas and the ridiculousness of it all I don’t know, but I like to think so.

Doom have picked a great time to release a new record. Over a decade since their last, and how we have given fuel to the fire that burns in the heart of Doom. No one is safe, be it governments, religion, capitalism and more. The title track is another plea to society to wake up and revolt against the system, this Corrupt Fucking System, that is holding us all down. The stark, black and white album art depicting some kind of vile capitalist dinosaur shitting all over corporate logos and religious iconography speaks as much about the band’s political leanings as any of their songs do. It is almost sad to think that the same issues that they were attacking twenty plus years ago are still as prevalent today, and still enough to make such genre stalwarts so angry.

Doom are a band who live and breathe their philosophy, which makes their message all that much easier to swallow. They are DIY to the core, and their filthy, Discharge-esque d-beat racket belies their position as a vastly important band in the world of crust punk and grindcore. Espousing the values and style that has defined a lot of grind over the years, Doom will always have that integrity and passion that makes this kind of music vital. ‘Corrupt Fucking System’ is 35 minutes of raging d-beat, pouring scorn and rage over all who step in their way. Doom have not reinvented the wheel here, but what they have done is thrown it through the establishment’s window. Riveting stuff.

Label: Black Cloud Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter

Scribed by: Sandy Williamson