This Canadian duo welcome you to the dark side on their brilliantly morbid debut!
Well, their name and their photo should be enough for you to realise that Active Bastard aren’t exactly on a mission to become super-famous. On the contrary, the Canadian duo describe themselves as “a deliberate refusal of spectacle.” That means no live performances, no tours, and not so much as a single video. It really is all about the music – and for that, we salute them, particularly as ‘The Golem’ is a superb record.
In two words; beautifully bleak. Much of this album is steeped in gothic atmospherics and none-more-black humour – just scroll down and look at those song titles, for goodness sake. Opening track ‘Into The Abyss’ is reminiscent of prime-era Poison Idea; speeding past in a two-minute frenzy of thrashy riffing and the anguished howl of vocalist Ian Taylor.
From there, things get even better. They take a few cues from the likes of The Damned and The Dead Boys on ‘One Bullet’, ‘Hate Me Baby’ and ‘Boring, Bitter And Ugly’ (the latter featuring some brilliantly guttural backing vocals), whilst the terrace-chants choruses of ‘All In Or Nothing’ and ‘Disconnect’ evoke the golden era of oi and street punk. Later on, the wonderfully weird ‘Dare Not Laugh’ is apparently inspired by Bo Diddley and features what sounds like a saxophone solo. Bizarre, yes, but somehow it works!
They also prove themselves adept at razor-sharp crossover thrash on ‘Rage’ and ‘The Bridge’, both built atop a mass of solid riffs, but the real treat arrives in the form of the longer and slower ‘Wheels Of Life’. The chiming guitars give it an almost post-punk vibe, whilst the echo on the vocals make it sound like it was recorded in some deserted old church somewhere. It’s probably the most atmospheric track on a record chock full of them.
That Poison Idea influence rears its head again towards the end of the record on ‘Prowling’ and ‘Why Am I Here’, and then they unleash the nearly seven-minute ‘Everything Could Be Wonderful’ as a finale. Featuring a couple of ‘Master Of Puppets’-style changes of pace, it mainly sees Ian adopting a kind of spoken word style over chugging thrash riffs, and ensures the record ends in suitably unsettling style.
Well, ordinarily we’d be itching to see these songs played live, but we already know that’s not going to happen. All that’s to be done is to play ‘The Golem’ to death, hugely enjoy it, and wonder excitedly if there’ll be a follow-up someday. Trust us, once you’ve heard it, you’ll feel the same.
‘The Golem’ is out now – buy the digital version HERE.
- Into The Abyss
- One Bullet
- Boring Bitter And Ugly
- All In Or Nothing
- Wheels Of Life
- The Bridge
- Dare Not Laugh
- Hate Me Baby
- Rage
- Disconnect
- Come Out Swinging
- Prowling
- Why Am I Here
- Sleep Forever
- Everything Could Be Wonderful
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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