3-Way Cum
Battle Of Opinions

It was with this 7" dating back to 1994 that years ago I approached music and the "crust" scene, so for me, it is simply a cornerstone.

For those less familiar with this genre, it is an offshoot developed at the end of the 80's from punk-hc, which, while maintaining a certain attitude, musically drew from death/thrash metal and beyond.

I believe that to truly enjoy this record, it needs to be listened to on its original medium, namely vinyl, and at a reasonably high volume! Only in this way can it unleash its real power; the record presents itself in full Do It Yourself style, all black and white, raw as it should be, with white tears on a black background, yet at the same time very well crafted in every aspect, including the inner lyrics; even the recording, unlike other works of this genre, is very good.
The 3-Way Cum are a quartet composed of Swedish guys, and this is their first work. Eight tracks that fly by in just under a quarter of an hour. At the moment, the group is not active, and indeed it has unfortunately been dissolved since '97.

When you lay the needle on the first groove of side 1, after some characteristic crackling of vinyl, it starts with a slow prelude "Rättvisa?" ("Justice?" in Swedish) where you can distinguish the full-bodied sound of the strictly distorted bass, the guitar, and the drums. After about two minutes, with drum rolls that are more like outbursts, the track picks up its speed and the first hoarse and dirty voice of Pjär alternates with Henke's guttural and deep one, which seems to come directly from the underworld! The track is sung in Swedish, unlike the others that are in English.
The second track is "Doesn't Make Sense". A minute and a half of very fast riffs and blaring drums, where the two contrasting voices alternate as always; the piece ends with a characteristic final shout effected with echo.
The rough, vitriolic guitar introduces us to "Home Sweet Hell", the drums always raging on crashes in its run; then it's the bass that opens a dragging downtempo bridge, only to end with the chorus. "We destroy the homes, the home of billions".

A celestial sample taken from the namesake musical precedes "Money Makes The World Go Around" that goes straight ahead during its about a minute without pauses, filled with the two great voices; at the end, another sample of a female voice laughing, probably again taken from the musical.
The second side of the record opens with "Angels Of Dirt". The drum "bursts" merge with the guttural voice's vomiting: "Angels of dirt...shoot them down!"; a slower piece precedes the last verse that starts again at 300 km/h.
A raw bass line introduces "Poisoned by your greed"; once again the power of drum and voice drags us in this minute and a little more that flies by very quickly. Now, the slowest track on the album: "Watch"; the attack is given by the big guitar riff where the other instruments and the usual voices weave in, joined in the chorus by the female voice of Bobbi (also the author of the artwork on the back of the record); once again the lyrics stand out for their "social commitment": "Programming our minds with propaganda attacks, erase our comparison, use what he lacks, everything of need that reaches the eye has surely forced people, people to die" and the piece ends precisely with the infinite repetition of these last words.
We return to the usual fast speed with the title-track "Battle Of Opinions", where there's also room for a rudimentary solo; the nastiness of the riff dominates and the legendary harsh voices of the two continue to spit out lyrics until the end; a well-placed sample closes the record: a female voice asks fearfully: "What the hell is that noise??"

The record is produced by the American Sound Pollution recs. This first work paves the way for other subsequent ones, including a full-length by the group.

The only thing I feel like advising, if you're interested in the genre, is to somehow get hold of this masterpiece on vinyl (you can still find some copies online!)