There are precious few good things happening in 2020, but the rise of Infant Island has been one of them. Just in the past two months, the convulsive Fredericksburg, Virginia screamo rippers have released two towering works, the EP Sepulcher and the album Beneath. Guitarist and singer Alexander Rudenshiold has also unveiled his new band Mattachine, an absolutely ferocious metallic hardcore band whose songs are all about being queer and angry.

Rudenshiold — who has been documenting Fredericksburg protests and the police brutality on Twitter this week — has said that Mattachine is driven by feeling uncomfortable as a gay man in the hardcore scene. Today, they’ve released their debut EP Isolation As A Form Of Torture, and it goes absolutely fucking ripshit.

We’ve already posted the opening track “Sisyphus” — which, at three minutes, is by far the longest song on the EP. But I’d like to draw your attention now to the rabid closer “Boys Beware,” which takes its lyrics from 1990’s Queer Nation Manifesto and which is basically a queer take on the Earth Crisis anthem “Firestorm”: “Castrate the fucking breeders/ We’ll sign our names in red.” Stream the whole whomp-ass EP below.

Speaking of Infant Island, as previously reported, they’ve just released the new rarities compilation Collections 1, and all proceeds go to the Richmond Mutual Aid Disaster Relief fund and Fredericksburg’s VABBD’s protester rally defense fund. Stream it below.

The Isolation As A Form Of Torture EP is out now on Zegama Beach Records. Collections 1 is out now at Bandcamp.