You know what they say about Milan... “come for the fashion, stay for the powerviolence.” Okay, maybe they don’t, but after listening to The Seeker’s 2019 demo, they sure as shit need to start. Fresh off their ripping 2018 split with ArnoXDuebel — released with cooperation from the hardcore family via Delusion of Terror (Philippines), Knochen Tapes (Germany) and Italian labels Here and Now Records/Zas Autoptoduzioni Records — they’ve since upped the speed and doubled down on their snotty, hardcore-informed take on fastcore. Rallied together from Italy, Slovakia, and Philippines; the international supermachine of pissed off punks that dropped their angst-riddled debut a few short years ago have vaulted themselves into impressive company.
Their white-hot demo, which will be part of an impending split 12” with Mediated Form in March, has telling cover art. If we’re to follow their evolutionary chain, The Seeker has reached self-actualization as “anti-music," post-human sonic terrorists that lean heavily into their chaotic melange. Fittingly enough, the crossed out musical note lovingly nods at their scene-fellows Magrudergrind.
Lyrically, they fall somewhere between the self-serious and world weary nature of Enemy Soil or Disrupt and the zany, comedic, scene-concerned bent of Spazz or Charles Bronson. Littered with intros and Graf Orlock-worthy samples, these would be short at even twice their length. Though brevity reigns supreme, they still find ample time to skewer Neo-fascists as well as “weekend punks” and summer squatters, play acting as poor before moving on to the next trend. They even manage to dispense with and call out the “mall punk” sensibility that plagues their scene, their sights dead-set on the “Epi-Fat” sound.
The sonic touchstones that come to mind are the blown-out, buzzsaw approach of Fuck on the Beach, Conga Fury, or Black Army Jacket (I had to!).
Guitars like grinding gears are periodically punctuated by lone dives or squeals, perfectly complimented by blast beat assaults. They’ve clearly spent some time with their Apartment 213, Capitalist Casualties, and Sex Prisoner records. They tend to remain squarely on the DIY punk side of the fence, more concerned with flurries of madness than they are metallic or technical prowess.
The high point on the brimful demo is clearly the ferocious opener, “Bring Me the Head of Benny Mussolini.” In much the same way the US has seen a growing influx of Trump-emboldened Neos, of both the Nazi and Fascist variety, Italy has had its share of the same. In Milan and countrywide, it’s an altogether scarier proposition for a place that was once an outright dictatorship living under the veil of the National Fascist Party... so yeah, The Seeker is pissed. The scathing blur of powerviolence is a frenzied blast that ultimately acts as a warning to them, lest they be roped up and displayed for all in Loreto Square.
Up the punx... wherever y’all happen to be. The Seeker will find you.
Tagged: the seeker
