Blast Worship: Dead Instrument

Where they from? Copenhagen, Denmark. According to Wikipedia, Copenhagen lost about 22,000 of its 65,000 population to the plague in 1711, over three centuries after the bubonic plague was first introduced to the European continent. Not only that but Copenhagen suffered the “Copenhagen fire of 1728”, the largest fire in the city’s history which destroyed 28% of the city’s infrastructure and left about a fifth of the city’s population homeless. Yikes. The good news is that towards the end of the 18th century, Copenhagen greatly benefitted from its neutrality during the great European wars and was able to benefit both financially and culturally from staying out of these conflicts.

What do they sound like? A band that literally only plays blast beats.

Why the hype? So a few weeks ago I did a sort “blast from the past” article on here about the defunct Cellgraft, a band who thoroughly kick major ass despite having broken up over five years ago and it got me to thinking about other bands who are in similar positions of  being quite excellent though not necessarily active and these Dutch boys are the first ones I thought of. Despite releasing a three-way split with Chiens and Whoresnation (both excellent French grindcore bands in their own right), I don’t get the impression that this band is still together, which is a shame because they are, in fact, amazing. I have never in all my travels encountered a band that was so incredibly dedicated to literally JUST PLAYING BLAST BEATS. Honestly, the blast parts are so ubiquitous here that if you play one of their albums at a low volume, it actually turns into a steady stream of white noise that lulls the listener to sleep, which is how I spent the majority of my bus rides between Philadelphia and New York this past weekend.

Favorite release: Yeah, that three way split was the most recent thing this band put out but to me the ultimate Dead Instrument release will always be their 2014 EP, See Through Negative. Some of you might be turned off by the notion of a band literally only playing blast parts but the crazy thing about this band is that they actually keep the guitar parts simple and punk enough that each song has its own memorable melodic hook to it that’s easy for the brain to attach itself to despite the hellacious velocity of the rhythm section. Honestly, songs like “Most Worthless” and “Streetwalk Crosshairs” are not only some of the most intense pieces of music I’ve come across, but also some of the most memorable crusty punk music I’ve ever encountered. And if that’s not enough to sell you, did I mention that THIS BAND ONLY PLAYS BLAST BEATS?

Find them on Bandcamp.