When the San Jose beatdown hardcore band Sunami started in 2019, they saw themselves as at least a little bit of a joke band. Sunami aimed to make the heaviest, most ignorant music on the face of the planet, and their initial plan was to play a grand total of three shows: a first show, a last show, and a reunion show. They only got as far as the first show — a wildly violent set at a Halloween house party — before the pandemic hit. When people were stuck at home in 2020, Sunami’s gospel spread. By the time live shows started up again — Sunami making their grand return at the instantly-legendary Real Bay Shit guerrilla show with Gulch, Drain, Xibalba, and Scowl — they were one of the biggest bands in hardcore. Now, after all that, Sunami’s first album is finally here.

Sunami did a lot before finally coming out with this LP: The demo, the self-titled EP, the split with Gulch, the 2022 promo tape. Earlier this year, they went out on what looked like an utterly insane full US tour, playing to huge and rabid crowds. At least within hardcore, the arrival of Sunami’s self-titled LP is a big deal. The band recorded the album with longtime collaborator Charles Toshio, and it’s got re-recorded versions of a couple of older tracks — “Contempt Of Cop” from the demo, “Six” from the promo tape. Some people get annoyed when bands reuse songs from past records, but I don’t think anyone will be mad at getting more hi-res versions of these anthems.

The Sunami style is a particular thing: Juddering down-tuned riffs, ugly blast-beats, riot-starting breakdowns, furious bellowed-out lyrics about killing cops. This is state-of-nature troglodyte music, and you probably already know whether it’s the kind of thing you need in your life. It won’t be for everyone, but an eight-song, 17-minute record of kill-everyone music is your idea of a good time, it’s fucking transcendent. Stream it below.

Sunami is out now on Triple B Records.