Yakuza 極道 - S/T

Omslaget till Yakuza 極道

Yakuza 極道 was formed in 2020 in Galatsi, Greece, with the intention of playing "classic d-beat". After a promising demo in 2021 it's finally time for the debut album: a self-titled LP released by Extreme Earslaughter Records.

They've concieved an album that I think reaches their goal, to sound like classic d-beat, at the same time as having an own formula. They sound a bit like I'd imagine it would've sounded like if Discharge wanted to play finnish hardcore (Kylmä Sota, Riistetyt, Kaaos, Uutuus etc) where the strings makes up the Discharge part and the vocals lean towards the finnish bit. I like that the drums are standing out in the mix, the d-beat is so prominent that I'm reminded of Dissober.

Since the lyrics are in greek, which means I've been relying on translation services, I can't judge their writing skills per se, but I can see that the lyrics are following a tried and true d-beat formula. War, religion, hostility towards cops, being an outsider and having inner conflicts are all being ventilated.

The album is a bit short, I started thinking about where to draw the line in terms of calling something an LP - how long is the absolute minimum? There's nine tracks that span just over 16 minutes. Add to this that the intro is instrumental (which frustrates me a bit because it's got such a good core, but without vocals it feels unfinished) and that they include a cover of the Chaos UK track "A Month Of Sundays". That leaves seven Yakuza 極道 tracks with a total runtime of just over eleven minutes and with that we're closing in on EP territory as far as I'm concerned.

The length is, however, my only gripe with this album. There's not a bad track as far as the ear can hear. We've got short bursts, an obligatory slower track (but even that one picks up the speed half-way through) and the rest is just the right speed to make me play along with my hands and feet. For me, Yakuza 極道 shines the brightest on "Nόμιζες πως θα γλυτώσεις" (You Thought You’d Get Away). Even if the translation services do their best to confuse me when it comes to interpreting the lyrics we have a track that in all other aspects conveys their vision with the album and demonstrates their competence to get there.

I can, without a doubt, recommend this to everyone that likes the raw side of punk. It doesn't matter if it's Discharge-fanatics, people obsessed with finnish hardcore or even the ones who follow the school of Disclose. There's some aspect for everyone to enjoy!