This blog doesn't often live up to its name, but today's post ought to do the trick. You may recall I was crazy about a band called Dead Meat back in lockdown times. The London-based foursome released two great EPs of Bloodstains/Killed By Death style punk/hardcore and then called it a day. Band members Adrian Alfonso and Fisher announced the intention to start another group along the same lines. A couple years later, Dross has emerged from the ashes of Dead Meat. Adrian and Fisher found the perfect partners-in-crime to sustain the musical vision that began with Dead Meat. On vocals is the mighty screamer Paul Froggatt from The Cavemen. Cunha from the brilliant Trash Culture is pounding the skins. On its debut release Nightmare World, Dross kicks up a sound so bleak and ferocious that it makes those Dead Meat records sound like easy listening. Meeting at the intersection of trashy punk and early '80s hardcore, Nightmare World races through ten blistering tracks in less than 19 minutes. Froggatt, one of the most extraordinary punk vocalists of contemporary times, is fully in his element singing these songs about despair, misery, rage, violence, and the utter hopelessness of modern existence. The song titles alone ("End It Tonight," "Drug Fucked," "Losing My Grip," "Hateful Hellhole," "I'm Worthless") tell you pretty much everything you need to know about this album. And in case there was any doubt about Dross's modus operandi, a faithfully raging cover of Tapeworm's classic Killed By Death cut "Break My Face" makes it all crystal clear. Oddly enough, Dross will already be playing its farewell gig in less than two weeks as Froggatt readies a move to Melbourne. Nonetheless, Nightmare World is a thrilling debut that is absolutely for you if fast, scuzzy, and super-intense punk rock gets your heart racing. A vinyl release is coming later this year on No Front Teeth Records!
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