Swedish crust mainstays Victims‘ latest album, The Horse and Sparrow Theory, is a ripping journey into the bowels of crust punk, D-beat and hardcore, recalling their contemporaries like His Hero is Gone and Tragedy. With a clear-but-dirty production job from Karl Daniel Lidén (Bloodbath, Katatonia, Craft), The Horse and Sparrow Theory takes aim at the fucked state of the world with vitriol.
A dreary tone surrounds The Horse and Sparrow Theory, reflecting its subject matter. Even the melodies are dark and the layers of feedback and distortion are suffocating, but songs like “Fires Below” and “The Birth of Tragedy” are also anthemic and catchy like the best punk tunes are.
Hear it for yourself below; The Horse and Sparrow Theory is out on June 28 via Relapse.