There are few things as genuinely cathartic as a hardcore punk show. You may never have heard of Varukers, and that is understandable. They were never a household name, and unless you are deeply immersed in the scene that produced Discharge, The Exploited or GBH, you might easily have missed them. That would be a shame. "Songs like Led to the Slaughter" or "Die for Your Government" remain perfect distillations of the genre, abrasive, confrontational and unapologetically anti authority.
Frontman Anthony Martin, better known as Rat, leads the band with his trademark barked delivery, a surprisingly warm stage presence and a distinctly English sense of humour. There is an immediate connection between their sound and that of headliners Napalm Death:while the Birmingham veterans have pushed things further in terms of speed, noise and extremity, the foundation remains the same. At heart, it is still punk rock.
There is something elemental about that sound and that rhythm. It cuts straight through you, rattles your bones, floods your system with adrenaline and leaves you no choice but to raise a fully extended middle finger and yell, “I Don’t Wanna Be a Victim!”
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