Thursday, March 2, 2023

Casus Belli - Punishment


 
Label: Amphetamine Reptile
Year: 1990

I posted this one many moons ago (2009) on this very blog, but that link is long dead, and in celebration of pulling this 7" out (of your mom's butt...[I'm sorry, that was very rude]) for the first time in quite some time, I figured, "hey, what the hell? Let's give 'em a thrill."
Are you thrilled?
Casus Belli is a one man project from former Bastards bassist/vocalist Anthony Martin, but you will no doubt be impressed with the full sound he manages on his own. I assume he is using a drum machine, but it's entirely possible that these are live drums playing a very driving, borderline industrial backbeat. The guitar and bass lock in together to make for a grungy wash of simple pulsations. And the vocals deliver a very satisfying vitriolic warning that sound slightly buried in the mix, but work well in the overall instrumentation of the two songs here.
Another one of those Amphetamine Reptile gems that you probably thumbed past a hundred times in your local record store in the early 90's, but that has aged very well and reminds you how spoiled you were in those early 90's with the insane amount of killer bands around every corner. Or lodged in every 7" box at the record store.