Up In Arms
The title track to their 2017 album
Bloodclot is touted as a “supergroup” as the lineup features members of Danzig and Queens Of The Stone Age (Todd Youth, Nick Oliveri and NYHC band Cro Mags (who played a benefit for Dr, Know at Tompkins Square Park not too long ago, with Breakdown, Token Entry, Antidote and Maximum Penalty; it was packed). Up In Arms is the first song from their forthcoming album (following 2008's Burn Babylon Burn by Joseph and members of Biohazard, Pro Pain and Merauder), and if it’s any indication of the current state of punk and hardcore, punk and hardcore are not dead. It's indicative of bands and fans making every effort to keep it alive despite the efforts to grind it under heel. Up In Arms has a distortion laden intro that reminded me of Hell Awaits-era Slayer. After this is a frenetic riff likenened to classic Discharge. This vibe continues without wavering in the slightest. Anyone who thinks punk is dead should listen long and hard to this song, especially the lyrics described by Joseph as “a call to arms for the people of America and across the globe who are sick of the lies, death and destruction of innocent people being caused by the military industrial complex who run governments and propagate unjust wars in order to fill the bank accounts of corrupt businessmen." Mainstream media is more encompassing than ever, which makes the song’s message more timely than ever. In many ways it’s like the 80s all over again, when punks, skins and squatters objected to government corruption. That feeling of going to your first Squat of Rot shows comes from listening to this song, with the feeling that you’re never too old to speak your mind about what's important. The band mist be in their forties or fifties by now and they’re still at it. And rest assured they drive their point home. -Dave Wolff
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