Venomous Concept
Retroactive Abortion

What grace! Shane Embury (Napalm Death and a thousand others), Buzz Osbourne (Melvins), Danny Herrera (Napalm Death), and Kevin Sharp (vocals from Brutal Truth, one of the most extreme bands on the planet) united in a single project! And what kind of project, then: they personally renamed it ''Outlaw Punk''. And, well indeed, the definition fits perfectly.

The attitude is what you logically expect from personalities of this caliber, accustomed to playing (and winning, by the way) by their own rules in everything, music business included. The ingredients from the mother bands are all present: there's the fury of Napalm Death, the arrogant delirium of Brutal Truth (''Infest'' is the most hallucinated example), the desecrating moves of the best Melvins, and of Buzz Osbourne in particular, a guy who is definitely not used to taking himself seriously. The result? ''Retroactive Abortion'', one of the most fun Punk/Hardcore albums of the last decade.

I'm talking about harmful Hardcore in any case: linear and abrasive structures and riffs, fleeting and cruel tracks, sudden accelerations when needed and Sharp's sandpaper-like voice making the offer even wilder. Reminiscences of the old Crust/Punk style of Discharge, Exploited, and Ratos De Porao are distinctly perceivable, recovering their raw and fierce origins and bringing back to people's attention a sound that seemed forgotten and, by many, nothing short of snubbed.

More than one factor makes ''Retroactive Abortion'' appealing and fun. Its being at the same time attentive and respectful of tradition without falling into nostalgia; its being consistent and sincere without being monotonous (it effortlessly moves from Grind, to Punk, to riffs that could easily come from Motorhead if they played Hardcore); its displaying black anger towards anything it doesn't like, yet proving anything but reserved and presumptuous in both lyrical and musical scope. Also because, if it wasn't like that, it would indeed be complex to frame tracks like the untamed ''Braincrash'' or ''Freakbird'' (to name just a couple) which benefit quite a lot from the synergy between Buzz's manic guitar and the sustained rhythm of the Embury/Herrera duo. No surprise, then, that a certain Mike Patton decided in 2004 to release it on his label, Ipecac Records, a refuge for artists from the most disparate contexts but with the common sentiment of expressive and artistic autonomy.

In short, for those who love the aforementioned sounds, ''Retroactive Abortion'' represents an album to procure and listen to; even if it's just for the sake of honoring all those evenings spent in the smokiest and most ''notorious'' venues known, destroying themselves at the live shows of people like Venomous Concept, when at 3 a.m., on the way home, stopping at the sandwich shop halfway, realizing only then that you've lost your wallet; surely in the venue, quite likely during the first mosh pit.

Tipsy, exhausted, with bruised shoulders, without money and documents but with the irresistible desire to do it again.