Perth, Australia is known for lots of things but by far our favorite item is that it's the most isolated city in the whole fucking world. And if you've ever spent time in an isolated place you know it does some real damage to your psyche after a while. Growing up there must trigger all kinds of violence and paranoia. Musically, GAOLED (pronounced 'jailed') is exactly that, violent and paranoid power violence encrusted hardcore punk. Criminally raw. Originally released by the band themselves, 'Bestial Hardcore' has been largely unavailable so Iron Lung Records has made this utter filth available to a wider audience. People like to pretend they know what raw sounds like but this is genuine article. Bestial indeed.


Our take: Iron Lung Records brings us the demo tape by this hardcore band from Perth, Australia. The medieval illustration on the tape’s artwork and the term “bestial” in the title both make me think of black metal, and indeed Gaoled sounds a bit like they could be on Youth Attack Records, a label known for releases that blur the lines between underground hardcore and black metal. I don’t hear black metal influences in Gaoled’s music per se, but the emphasis on primitive execution and the grim and hopeless atmosphere are consonant with that sound. If I had to choose a band that Gaoled reminds me of musically it would be Infest. While they don’t lean on blast beats as hard as Infest (there are a few, but not a lot), Gaoled’s music has a similar power and heaviness, and it’s also dripping with eerie vibes. While a lot of hardcore can sound like it’s most at home in suburban basements and garages, Gaoled’s music seems to come from somewhere else… somewhere deeper and more frightening. Five rippers and one nightmare dirge make up this demo, which is distinctive, powerful, and well worth your time.