Exploited
Fuck the system

THE REVIEW

The most incredible thing about this group of indestructible punks is their consistency and attitude: so violent, anarchic, so deliberately made NOT to please, that it makes you think there's a catch. Some scam, like: these guys are here to pay for their gold-plated bars, private jets, and three-story villas. More like "Fuck the system." "We only play for the money," said J. Rotten many years ago. In 2003, the Scottish singer of the trio, Wattie, seems to want to tell us: "not even for that." And as often happens, the one who fully enjoys is the listener, if a lover of raw, nihilistic, no-frills sounds. However, these 40-year-olds simply risk coming across as ridiculous: they are delightfully anachronistic, terribly not-for-everyone, noisy and raucous like the thrash of some 80s German bands. One wonders, "what made them do it?" And the most direct influence is evident: not "Fresh fruits for rotten vegetables" by the Dead Kennedys, but "Masquerade in Blood" by Sodom! Certainly, with this album the Exploited received less recognition than they might have gotten: indeed, they could have simply exploited their name and become attractive to many people by changing style, adapting to the times, getting a bit less angry. This is not the case. There are different ways to talk about today's society, certainly one of these is: recycling stereotypes. Specifically, taking issue with everything and everyone, in the name of such ostentatious anarchic independence that it makes one think of a scam (here we go again). In part, it's what the Exploited do. But it doesn't end here. Let's look at the musical side: there is no shortage of outbursts, the impact is intense, and that's the most significant thing. If you're familiar with Slayer's "Undisputed Attitude," maybe you can get an idea. They really step on the accelerator, the tracks play one after the other, monolithic, but without feeling heavy. All in all, you can "calmly" enjoy the CD without paying too much attention to what the singer rants about, who loves filling the lyrics with a "fuck"/"fucking" every 20 seconds or so. There's a bit of monotony: certainly some "change of pace" (to which every "old school" punk claims allergy) or at least some variation wouldn't have hurt: maybe they would have codified a new genre, considering they've also improved technically. A pity. Unexpected openings (a chord! a solo!) end up enriching and making this decent gem of modern punk/hardcore quite acceptable, without any pretensions, which once again spits in the face of melody, in favor of a powerful, aggressive sound, at times unrecognizable (they are no longer the ones from "Punks not dead"): it might please the fans of the genre (perhaps).