Perth Express

The second coming of Bliztkrieg is upon us.

Significantly less casualties are expected, but the sound will be just as heavy, the mood just as dark.

Hailing from Germany, Perth Express have finally found their way to the United States, and they have brought with them a metallic hardcore sound as destructive as the bombs laid and missiles fired in World War II.

The band's self-titled release is a collection of their previously-released 12", 10", 7" and their original four-song demo tape. What's impressive is that which song came from which release is indistinguishable -- all 23 songs flow as one, albeit long, album. That's not to say all the songs sound alike, either, as there's plenty of variety in this hour and ten minutes of music.

Throughout the course of the disc, there's lightning-quick tracks such as "1001," and there's slower, more instrumentally-driven efforts like "Einbahnstrasse," and in each style Perth Express are fluid and punishing. Not a moment is wasted as the quartet tear through "1001" with reckless abandon; the chord progressions fluctuate speeds in milliseconds and the scathing vocals tear through it all. "Einbahnstrasse" is somewhat of a change of pace for the band -- they roar out of the gates as usual, but halfway through the song the vocals cut out and the song begins to climb. At first it's just some slow, mid-tempo riffs above matching fills, but the riffs gradually speed up and become more complex; the thump of the bass drum becomes louder and louder until the song fades completely into a crackling wall of feedback, like a thunderous wave crashing onto the shore only to quietly recede with little trace of having been there in the first place.

While Perth Express do implement a fair amount of diversity into their sound, it's when they're going full-force that the biggest impact is made. The raw power and musical dexterity shown in "Richtungsfolge, Folgerichtig" is impressive, to say the least; the band whips into a frenzy right from the start, not yielding for so much as a second. Hard as it is for the band's vocalist to keep up with the torrent of noise produced by his bandmates, he steps to, and answers the challenge.

There's no doubt that Perth Express posess all the power of a full-scale war.