Labels: Static Shock – Video Disease
Review by: Alex Deller
Whether the balaclava’d goon on the cover of this EP is coming or going is debatable, but either way they’re clearly up to no good at all, and the grim air of criminality the image conjures sums up this EP rather bloody well. Ultra Violent were a brief spurt of a band, and this, their sole vinyl release, was originally released by Riot City back in ’83. Brought back into circulation thanks to a transatlantic team-up (Static Shock and Video Disease, both take a bow) it’s nothing less than essential: raw, mean and incredibly tough-sounding UK82 stuff that definitely veers into hardcore territory, particularly with the final track’s caustic jab to the throat. The guitars saw away, the vocals are spat out with disgusted, determined vigour and the songwriting’s sharp enough to lodge in your head like a broken-off Stanley blade. Of the three songs mid-paced rabble-rouser ‘Where Angels Dare Not Tread’ is where my money’s at, but it’s a great, must-have release all round if you like your punk steeped in shit, grit and bloody-minded malevolence.