I don’t know whether the members of Boston’s Burning Lord are actual fucked up people, but they certainly sound like fucked up people. That’s a compliment. Burning Lord make the kind of feral, lo-fi hardcore that can’t really be described as anything other than hardcore. They bring a late-’80s hooligan intensity that draws on both punk and metal without ever crossing the line into either genre, and their murky crunch feels less like a genre exercise and more like a way to let the universe know that you absolutely hate it. They’re awesome, and their debut album has arrived.

Burning Lord got started during the pandemic, released a couple of demos, and developed a real reputation in the hardcore world. Their full-length debut Arcane Demolition is full of grime-splattered headbuster riffs and reverb-drenched monster-chant choruses. This music makes me want to crawl around in mud and bite people’s ankles. Stream the album below.

Arcane Demolition is out now on Streets Of Hate.