ACxDC – Antichrist Demoncore LP Review

Southern California and powerviolence? Is there a better duo? Make a checklist of pivotal PV bands old and new that have come from the region, and the list gets lengthy. ACxDC are one of those bands.

Now in their 11th year of existence, the west coast band may not exactly command the same kind of grandeur as, say, Despise You, but their consistently great output over the years will definitely ensure their reputation, and newest LP Antichrist Demoncore continues that expected trend.

Expected is probably the best word to introduce this record. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it knows what it wants to do and just does it. In case you hadn’t figured it out the album’s title is the band’s acronym (it’s also a hardcore-band-play-on-words of some Australian band that are apparently pretty popular or something). The simple title indicates a simple basic approach to powerviolence that you’ll hear on this record.

ACxDC do the basics perfectly well, as heard on opening track ‘Destroy Create’ and from there, they rage to their hearts’ content for the remaining 20 minutes.

‘Paid In Full’ reels in the madness for a brief respite, chugging away with that quintessential slower trudge that’s synonymous with powerviolence from time to time before giving way to the vicious conventional HC stylings and crushing breakdown of ‘Vegangelical’, which immediately wins a few points for sarcastic song title of the year.

The vibe never takes itself too serious, which is what you would expect but that’s not to say the furious nature of the album ever loses sight of its goal, which is to deliver a pummelling hardcore and powerviolence record and that’s exactly what ACxDC.

In fact, in the broad world of HC, powerviolence and grindcore, Antichrist Demoncore is likely to be one of the most impressive of the year.