Axis of Despair – Mankind Crawls (Review)

Axis of Despair are a Swedish grindcore band. This is their latest EP.

Okay, so I don’t normally do this, but as an introductory description of Mankind Crawls I’m just going to directly lift the promo blurb –

“Axis of Despair features former and present members of such bands as Nasum, Coldworker, Infanticide, Volturyon, Livet som Insats, Nervgift and Overtorture. To be exact: The band was formed by former Coldworker members Anders Jakobson (drums), Oskar Pålsson (bass) and Joel Fornbrant (vocals) in the end of 2013. They play old school and raw (to the best and purest extent) Swedish grindcore!”

That’s right – Nasum. And that’s not to mention the rest of the talent that’s gone into this. With expectations set high, (probably unfairly so), Mankind Crawls gives us less than 10 minutes of belligerent Swedish grindcore in the best traditions of the genre.

With a good mix of blistering speed and mid-paced aggression, the tracks are self-contained whirlwinds of destruction. For all their speed and brevity, the songs are catchier than you might think though. The collective experiences of the various band members come through in the music, and with all that knowledge and skill behind these songs, they were never going to be duds.

The music on this short release largely lives in the world of old-school grind, while also showing crust influences. It’s all frenetic, breathless and full of a visceral energy that I imagine would see Axis of Despair going down well in the live arena.

Enjoyable and savage. Check this one out.