Nö Pöwer

No Peace is the debut LP by Charlottesville, NC’s Nö Pöwer. There are subtle elements of garage and psych at play here but it’s primarily raging hardcore punk, with a noticeable emphasis on the noise. It's a primitive and blown-out style of D-beat that’s been injected with a distinctive dose of artiness and then drenched in feedback. Although he’s not stretching the margins of hardcore vocals too far, the singer is still able to effectively convey a variety of emotion; whether it’s depression, anger, anxiety, or often times, inexplicable. The drums and bass step outside the Dis zone for brief periods of erratic improvisation, trying as best as they can to keep up with the lightning fast guitars, which squeal and swirl all over the place; driving the band’s sonic direction into face-melting realms. This comes as no surprise, considering this the same band that dedicated side B of their 2011 demo cassette to one four-plus minute jam of chopped and screwed remix racket that had the singer shouting the band’s name repeatedly atop an inordinate drum beat. While there’s nothing quite that bizarre on this LP, Nö Pöwer is still pushing the limitations of the big D beyond monotonous reiteration. Attention all other bands: start doing this now! No Peace is the perfect amalgamation of punk sub-genres and a furious goddamn record. How much art can you take? Exactly this much.

9.0 / 10 — Nathan G. O'Brien