Livia Sura - S/T (2011)

Here's a record I'm loving the fuck out of recently, Livia Sura's first self-titled material. The band hails from Timișoara, Romania and its members are heavily involved in the Romanian underground scene, each of them playing in other kickass bands like The Bad Days Will End and Pavilionul 32.

This demo features four songs of unrelentless, pissed-off blackened crust punk excellence much in the vein of All Pigs Must Die or Nails. The lyrics are sung in Romanian - it's great to see a band disregard English for a change and sing in its native language - and deal with social and political issues, corporate and governmental distrust, misanthropy and a general feeling of disgust with the diseased society we find ourselves living in. My favorite songs are Poraimos (a Romani word which is used to describe the genocide inflicted upon gypsies by the Nazis during the Second World War), which uses actual accounts of survivors to spin its tale of dread and suffering, and Generații de mizantropi, a short burst of vitriolic rage directed towards ignorant and prejudiced people, who are the cancer of our society. The entire demo is rock solid, though, and it makes me wanna destroy my possessions every time I play it. The abrasive guitar riffs are complemented perfectly by the distorted, rumbling bass lines and the heavy drumming, while vocalist Raul is spitting venom with every harsh scream, sounding like he's about to go off into a fit of coughing any second.

Livia Sura are offering this material free of charge, so head on over to their Bandcamp page and get it, then give them a like and some kind words on their Facebook page. They deserve it.