Down Under(ground): Aotearoa ‘23

Kia ora koutou katoa, welcome to Down Under(ground) '23. This end-of-year post focuses on my favourite rowdy releases from the far-flung (and El Niño-buffeted) shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. Before I go any further, Covid arrived in my whare while I was putting this post together, so apologies if things read like a fever dream. Here's to healthier days for one and all.

Obviously, everyone's taste in music is intensely personal – and thus highly subjective – and what resonates with me might sound like an abomination to your ears. With that in mind, this isn't a post featuring 'The Best' releases from Aotearoa’s shores in 2023. That's going to differ for everyone. Instead, I'm spotlighting the music that hit home hardest for me this year.

Most of the releases below reside in the punk or metal camps – or they mix both genres to create a full-bore hybridised sound. That said, other styles of music are featured below. For example, my favourite New Zealand album from the past 12 months ticks all the Kosmische Musik boxes.

Before you dive in, there are two caveats (i.e. desperate excuses) to consider.

Firstly, I've been in and out of hospital recently. I'm incredibly grateful to live in a country with free hospital care (and a shout-out to every overworked and underpaid health professional in the motu), but it's been a rough few months. I'm telling you this because I'm not in great shape, and I don't want any shaky writing on my behalf to reflect poorly on the music below. Cue the joke about me being ill but my end-of-year choices being fucking sick.

Secondly, I waved goodbye to social media a few years ago, which has been great for my mental health, but it means it's now impossible to keep up with the latest underground rumblings. I've likely missed several obvious end-of-year inclusions below. However, there's also the possibility that X album or Y band failed to connect, and that's why they're absent.

There's been a lot of chatter about the death of music writing in Aoteroa recently, with Creative New Zealand looking at ways to encourage more coverage. I applied for funding once – to write more critically nuanced articles about the kind of music featured below – but I failed to secure any funding. Bummer. Still, I carried on.

In fact, this is the 23rd year that I've been writing about homegrown music. (This year also marks the 40th anniversary of buying my first punk and metal LPs on the same day in 1983.) The truth is, I am old and an all-but-invisible contributor to discussions about underground music. But I remain super-passionate about loud, weird, and incandescently angry bands, and thus, I keep plugging away regardless.

I've never earned a cent writing about any of Aotearoa's underground art, but that's never diminished my enthusiasm for raving about the nation's noisiest output. Homegrown music has propped me up countless times, and writing about it is the least I can do to thank the bands and labels who've improved my life during tough and far happier times.

I'm a big ol' softy, and I like to think that underground music in Aotearoa maintains vital connections in an ever-more divided country. You and I might hold wildly different opinions on hot-button issues. But I'm writing this post (and you're reading it) because this country's subterranean music has enriched our lives in myriad ways. Sure, much of the music we love sounds like Hell on Earth. And sure, much of it is fuelled by hate, anger, bile and spite. But all that ugly noise provides a crucial cathartic discharge, and we're here, collectively, because ear-splitting music is our lifeblood.

I didn't struggle to find electrifying releases to write about this year, but 2023 wasn't overflowing with releases to consider, either. That's how it goes sometimes. Underground music in Aotearoa has consistently delivered an unpredictable yield. Sometimes, things lie fallow; other times, it's a bountiful harvest. Either way, fringe music in Aotearoa has always been tended by dedicated fans and musicians whose mahi has ensured that whatever hurdles it encounters, underground music will live on to fight another day.

I know it sounds painfully earnest, but I am always in awe of the underground music community in Aotearoa. Fans and bands have carved out self-contained and self-sustaining scenes grounded on DIY principles and a do-or-die attitude. I love witnessing diehards and newbies working hard to get things done. It's inspiring. Whenever I think I should throw in the towel, I'm reminded to stay the course; the cause matters.

Thanks for making time to peruse this post. Life is busy, especially at this time of year, and you could be reading a million more well-known blogs or writers right now. For all those reasons, cheers for tuning into Six Noises. You röck.

It's been a challenging year for many people, and from the looks of things, life in Aotearoa will get a lot worse before it gets any better. If you're struggling right now, I hope you can find peace and safety sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed, the music below provides a measure of respite.

I wasn't sure I had it in me to write an Aotearoa-focused feature this year, but I'm glad I did; it's fun scribbling about New Zealand’s nastiest noise. Thanks a million to the bands and labels whose releases fuelled my engine in 2023. Music's therapeutic properties have never felt more vital. It remains a privilege to write about rowdy music made from the heart, no matter how rotten or broken that heart may be.

Here's hoping a few of my choices below help to exorcise your seasonal stress demons.

Stay safe. Be well. Kia kaha.

Mā te wā.

xx

Ps: The blurbs below are not ranked in any way, except for the first two, which are my favourite punk releases from the past year.

Shut up already, Craig. Ok. Here. We. Go…

**Fog: A Black Cloud That Swallowed The Dove**

The lineup of Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island) four-piece Fog features musicians who've played in many well-regarded punk bands. The group's excellent debut, *A Black Cloud That Swallowed The Dove*, sounded exactly like an imaginative recording you'd find on the roster of a label like D4MT Labs or La Vida Es Un Mus. Fog mixed jagged anarcho-punk with angular post-punk, and then the band layered the lot with a thick coat of unorthodox creativity. *A Black Cloud That Swallowed The Dove*'s dark tracks were powered by driving bass and ice-cold guitar, with Fog's sub-vocalisations, *Sprechgesang* mutterings, and roiling instrumentation offering a marked point of difference. If you enjoy the off-kilter sounds of Straw Man Army and kin, you'll love this.
Bandcamp

**Putrid Future: Nightmare Reality**

It seemed inevitable that like-minded DIY labels Razored Raw (Aotearoa New Zealand) and Sistema Mortal (Italy) would eventually co-release a torrent of bleeding-raw hardcore. So it was with *Nightmare Reality*, the max-mayhem cassette from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) noise-mongers Putrid Future. Much like the trio's previous split release with Australian raw punks Szkło, *Nightmare Reality'*s d-beaten tracks drilled themselves into your brain while hammering nails into your chakras. Razored Raw released some great New Zealand noise this year, but *Nightmare Reality* was the best of the bunch. Über-abrasive. Harsh as Hell. And utterly eviscerating. *Nightmare Reality* featured back-to-back raw punk bangers.
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**Plague of the Fallen: Amongst the Rats**

The obliterating full-length debut from Ōtautahi (Christchurch) death metallers Plague of the Fallen was one for the ages. Long-awaited by New Zealand metal fans, *Amongst the Rats* wasn’t just staggeringly brutal and heavier than a funeral. Like several other metal releases below, *Amongst the Rats* was also a face-smashing example of how Aotearoa’s extreme metal scene births berserker bands whose sonic savagery and levels of aggression exceed comparable groups from overseas. With sledgehammering percussion, hostile yet hook-laden riffing, and gravel-gargling vocals, *Amongst the Rats* delivered an annihilating assault of railgun death metal.
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**Exterminator!: You Need the Service?**

Exterminator!'s knuckle-dragging debut, *You Need the Service?*, was released in the very last days of 2022. (Which is basically 2023, right?) The Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) trio's stomach-churning sludge was cooked up in the depths of the capital city's punk scene. Much like the band's antecedent, Meth Drinker, Exterminator!'s doom-drenched dirges had crossover appeal for punk and metal connoisseurs hungry for down-tuned muck and low-gauge misery. *You Need the Service?* was filthier than a crustie's undies, with the album's cement-mixer bass, downer-buzz riffs, and trepanning percussion tightening the noose on suffocating tracks.
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**Various: Hairy Palm Vol. 4 – Misery Guts**

*Hairy Palm Vol. 4 – Misery Guts* was the latest compilation from the on-point Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) label Hairy Palm. The crème de la shit(noise) of NZ punk gathered, with *Hairy Palm Vol. 4* offering fans from afar— or curious kids closer to home — an ideal gateway into Aotearoa's underground. *Hairy Palm Vol. 4* spotlighted bands like Bordger, Knifed, DAHTM, Radium, Manic Aggression, Spiteful Urinator, Displeasure, and Distant Fear. All were uncompromising noiseniks, and many stomped all over musical boundaries, mixing feral subgenres to amplify their aural onslaughts.
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**Unruly: Hominid**

*Hominid*, the second release from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) doom punks Unruly, stuck to the band's previous creative recipe, combining maximum wretchedness with equal quantities of obnoxiousness. *Hominid* got elbow-deep into humanity's unstoppable slide into ruin, with Unruly's strident songs framing the bleak realities many endure. Praise be to the prophets of doom, though. *Hominid* reminded listeners that you're not alone in thinking the world is a dumpster fire. Misery loves company, so snuggle up to this 'fuck you' fiesta.
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**Mandate: S/T**

Ōtepoti (Dunedin) band Mandate features members from groups like Long Distance Runner, Cuck, and Electric Mayhem. High-powered fastcore and frenzied hardcore powered Mandate's self-titled debut. "Fast, visceral, and straight to the point" is how Mandate described their music, which accurately matches their turbo-speed guitars, cyclonic percussion, and vicious vocals. Mandate's debut delivered breakneck hardcore for backbreaking days. Get over the hump with this super-charged/supersonic racket.
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**Various: End Greyhound Racing New Zealand**

*End Greyhound Racing New Zealand* was a 31-track compilation from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) label Limbless Music that aimed to raise awareness around the horrors of greyhound racing in Aotearoa. All proceeds from the comp went straight to the Greyhound Protection League of New Zealand, and *End Greyhound Racing New Zealand* featured a long list of punk, hardcore, and metal bands untied in opposition to profiting off the suffering of animals. Loud, proud, and rabble-rousing. Punk AF. Support!
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**Methchrist: Pestilential Warfare Of The Black Flame**

Disciples of Methchrist's hate-driven scriptures had waited expectantly for the Ōtepoti (Dunedin) group's first full-length release. It's safe to say the band's dedicated parishioners were more than satisfied with *Pestilential Warfare of the Black Flame*'s sinister sermons. The album's more-evil-than-evil exhortations saw Methchrist celebrating filth and disease while championing the nihilist in all of us. Methchrist's profane psalms explored uncomfortable truths with the band's bestial black metal cataloguing humanity's long list of cruelties and failures. Methchrist tap into the poison that infects us all; fitting then, that *Pestilential Warfare of the Black Flame* exuded such nightmarish intensity.
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**Soul Void/Brainwave: Horrifying New Form**

*Horrifying New Form* was an all-killer split release featuring Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) metallic hardcore band Brainwave and like-minded Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) death metal outfit Soul Void. Brainwave's super-heavy contributions featured buzzsaw riffs, pounding percussion, and vocals that burned like sulphuric acid. Soul Void mixed the icier tones of Dismember with the pungent groove of Obituary, resulting in grisly tracks crammed with bloodthirsty vocals and gruesome instrumentation. *Horrifying New Form* was bone-chilling and spine-crushing; a #hardrecommendation.
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**Dick Move: Wet**

*Wet* was the super-catchy second LP from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) 'party-punk agitators' Dick Move. *Wet* sounded fiercer and more volatile than the band's popular debut. Packed with quick-fire anthemic tracks, *Wet* saw Dick Move tearing into neoliberalism's failures while detailing many of this era's struggles. However, as always, Dick Move also threw in a few hard-partying tracks with great big hooks. Raise your fist and speak truth to power, for sure. But don't forget to take time out to shake your ass, too. Life is tough. But it's worth living.
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**Swallow The Rat: South Locust**

At one point, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) trio Swallow The Rat were a post-punk band. But, these days, they are *so much more*. Swallow The Rat's third full-length, *South Locust*, saw the band further expand their creative parameters, blending post-punk's motorik propulsion with shoegaze's woozy distortion and hardcore's screaming guitars. Lyrical explorations of personal, political, and global issues all featured, and *South Locust* was another imaginative step up for Swallow The Rat.
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Nervous Jerk: Ugly Losers Club

*Ugly Losers Club* was the best release thus far from Ōtautahi (Christchurch) trio Nervous Jerk. The band's usual power-pop punk was supplemented by jangling Flying Nun-ish riffs, rawer garage punk, and, at times, a new-found '90s slacker vibe. Nervous Jerks' ridiculously catchy songwriting crackled with energy on the band’s short, sharp, and snappy tracks. Nervous Jerks are sounding better and better, and *Ugly Losers Club* is the perfect point to jump on board.
Bandcamp

**Bloody Hell: Blood Metal**

Ōtautahi (Christchurch) band Bloody Hell's debut, *Blood Metal*, mixed Steve Harris-worthy basslines with guttural growls and thrashin’ riffs. So far, so metal. But there was plenty of punk rock attitude sizzling on Bloody Hell's latest tracks. The band's accent was old-school; think the snarl Bathory, the bite of Venom, and the gutter metal of Nuclear Assault. First-wave thrash, death, and black metal underpinned *Blood Metal*, but Bloody Hell served up a feast of boiling noise that satisfied the darkest desires of dumpster divers and rivetheads alike.
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**Skitkrimes: Skitzedout**

Skitkrimes' *Skitzedout* EP was a co-release from two of Aotearoa's most constantly rewarding DIY labels: Razored Raw and Limbless Music. (The founders of both Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington] labels also feature in Skitkrimes' ranks.) *Skitzedout* served up fittingly Skitklass-like råpunk, and much like Japanese mischief makers Skitklass, Skitkrimes' tracks adhered to a '*one minute of max-violence*' mantra. Add in that sweet-sweet ear-fucking sound of a blown-out four-track recording, and *Skitzedout* duly delivered pissed-off Wellington-via-Tokyo käng for the – well, maybe not the masses – but definitely for the diehard few! *Dope af*.
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**Ave Teth: A Riven Pap of Summer**

Ave Teth's *A Riven Pap of Summer* cassette was released by the always-interesting Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) label Wrought Material. *A Riven Pap of Summer* collected Ave Teth's final recordings, with the band's enigmatic sound drawing from experimental, industrial, and gothic rock realms. Like the rest of Ave Teth's oeuvre, *A Riven Pap of Summer*'s four tracks featured a hypnotic sense of gravity, with the band's unsettling soundscapes conjuring an atmosphere of fathomless dread. Psyches were twisted, and souls were shattered, and Ave Teth bid farewell with their mesmeric gloom and arcane darkness enveloping all.
Bandcamp

**Piss Baby: Rest in Piss**

Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Piss Baby's *Rest in Piss* debut sounded exactly like you’d imagine it would. At least, it does if you're thinking nine minutes of spin-kicks, windmills, and "chugga chugga whoop whoop". All the crudeness and harshness within was an absolute bonus, with Piss Baby pounding gruesomely raw hardcore right into your third eye. Tooth-rattling noise that's supposed to hurt. Ugly. Horrible. And hideous. Recommended, obvs.
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**BALTTW: Rejecting Obliteration**

I lost count of the rave reviews I read on overseas websites for Blindfolded and Led to the Woods’ latest release, *Rejecting Obliteration*. The Ōtautahi (Christchurch) band operate in a sphere unto themselves nowadays, with BALTTW’s technical death metal morphing into an even more forward-thinking blend of avant-garde and progressive creativity. *Rejecting Obliteration* featured a jaw-dropping assemblage of complex yet catchy songwriting, with rawly honest lyrics and heavy-hitting riffs fused in an emotionally charged cauldron. Devastatingly heavy in every sense, *Rejecting Obliteration* was an instant classic.
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**Standover: No Space is Safe**

Heavyweight Aotearoa crew Standover deal in chest-thumping metallic hardcore. It was no surprise, given the band's moniker and the title of their *No Space is Safe* demo, to discover Standover's dark debut was locked and loaded with plenty of 'fuck around and find out' attitude. Standover features veterans from a host of homegrown hardcore/metal bands in the ranks (including folks from Bible-thumpers Saving Grace and death metallers Forced to Submit). Standover's first release featured hefty production values and roid-raging riffs aplenty. The band's mammoth-sounding NZHC promises great things.
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**Bear Trap: Not a Matter of Opinion**

The third release from Ōtautahi (Christchurch) trio Bear Trap was the band's most aggressive-sounding yet. *Not a Matter of Opinion* featured five tracks born from the womb of garage punk, but Bear Trap delivered those tracks with all of the speed and passion of hardcore. Bear Trap's high-energy punk sounded darker and angrier than ever. But no matter how fast or furious things got, there were also plenty of hooks to hang on to.
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**Hecotonchir: Venerations of Vexation I-III**

Hecotonchir is another monolith-sized project from long-serving Ōtautahi (Christchurch) musician Kris Stanley (see Witchrist, Stone Angels, Sinistrous Diabolus, Salient, and more). At the time of writing, Hecotonchir has released three EPs in 2023 – *Venerations of Vexation I-III* – and each slithered, crawled and smashed its way through the Stygian caverns of death and doom metal. Like all of Stanley's previous creative endeavours, Hecotonchir's EPs were devastatingly heavy in both sonic and psychological terms.
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**Putrid Future/Szkło: Split**

The degenerate noise-fuckery found on the split release from Naarm (Melbourne) outfit Szkło and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) bruisers Putrid Future was a feast for audio masochists. The trans-Tasman split saw the two DIY or DIE bands tearing bloody chunks off the rotting carcass of raw punk. Putrid Future proved to be artisans of extra-caustic and wholly assaultive noise, while Szkło's mangel-driven primitivism underscored their mastery of muck 'n' murder. A raucous split from two stubbornly obnoxious southern hemisphere bands. Win-win.
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**Half/Time: Scary Stories To Tell When You're Dark**

Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) trio Half/Time released two EPs in 2023, *Scary Stories To Tell When You're Dark* and *Black Union Jack (The Vault Sessions)*. Both releases filtered post-punk through a te ao Māori lens, with Half/Time's waiata intertwining English and te reo Māori lyrics addressing New Zealand's legacy of colonisation, institutional racism, and the resilience of Māori culture. The evidence of all that Half/Time spoke about is in front of you, splashed across your news screen.
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**Dole Bludger: Demonstration Tape**

Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band Dole Bludger's demo was a lo-fi stew of sewer crust, doom punk, and blackened sludge. (Think Dystopia or Eyehategod recorded on a flip-top phone.) Dole Bludger smashed out their four-song demo in a couple of hours, and unsurprisingly, the contents therein were as acidic as cystitis, ugly as a skid mark, and *wincingly raw*. Of course, that was the point. Maximum obnoxiousness was the key component. Horrible noise for horrible days.
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**Vorsen: A World on Fire**

John Halvorsen (aka Vorsen) has played in three of the most crucial noiseniks in Aotearoa's musical history – see The Gordons, Skeptics, and Bailterspace. *A World on Fire* collected three decades' worth of previously unreleased solo work from Halvorsen, recorded in New York and at home in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Influenced by "retro-futurist" sci-fi, *A World on Fire* mixed brooding alt-rock with space rock, wrapping shoegaze's melodicism around grungier riffage. Like Halvorsen's previous bands, *A World on Fire* soothed the soul and energized the spirit via silvery-toned yet heavyweight sonics.
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**Smokin' Daggers: Hot Cuts**

Smokin' Daggers are fronted by Aotearoa garage punk legend Andrew Tolley (Bloodbags, The Hasselhoff Experiment), and the Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) band's debut, *Hot Cuts*, was recorded to tape on a "single afternoon in the basement of a run-down Kingsland villa". *Hot Cuts* slapped together sewer punk, sizzling soul, and red-raw rhythm 'n' blues, with the album featuring classic tracks, deep cuts, and originals. Max-authenticity met max-primitivism on scorching songs.
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**Blood Cauldron: Infernal Patterns**

Ōtepoti (Dunedin) ne'er-do-wells Blood Cauldron mixed fiendish creativity with hellish amounts of fun on their *Infernal Patterns* LP. The album was made by musicians as well-versed in obscure 70s prog and acid rock as they were in lo-fi black metal. Addictive earworms abounded as Blood Cauldron's "dad-rock for Satan" piled on the Anti-Kosmik Magick. *Infernal Patterns* was a blast of diabolic rock, with the evil incantations throwing a cheeky wink at listeners, too. Heavy on unearthly symbolism and otherworldly subversion, Blood Cauldron's sinister melodies lured you into their nefarious web.
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**Magic Factory: Deliver the Goods**

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) rockers Magic Factory feature members from groups like Vietnam War, Drab Doo-Riffs, Raw Nerves, and more. Magic Factory's second LP, *Deliver the Goods*, was a throwback to the sounds of the '70s. (Specifically, *Sticky Fingers*, *Toys in the Attic*, *Burrito Deluxe,* and *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*.) *Deliver the Goods* strutted its way across genres, mixing country, boogie, a ditch-weed rock. A woozy, cruisey, and red-eyed stroll down the highways and byways of authentic songcraft.
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**Sewage: S/T**

Sewage's self-titled double LP featured tracks recorded at Ōtepoti's None Gallery back in 2017. The wildly creative duo (and trio on a few tracks) saw mainstays – saxophonist, violinist, and vocalist Ro Rushton-Green and drummer Gabriel Griffin – deliver an unrestrained feast for noise fans and free Jazz aficionados alike. Ecstatic experimentation built to frenzied heights, and Sewage dove into a few mesmerizing sonic caverns, too. Sewage's mind-wrecking artistry was as challenging as it was unpredictable – and as provoking as it was entrancing.
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**Vor-stellen: Parallelograms**

If we're playing favourites, this is the Aotearoa-born album of the year for me. Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) three-piece Vor-stellen features members from Flying Nun alums avoid!avoid and The Subliminals, and the trio's double LP, *Parallelograms*, was an engulfing journey across vast *kosmische* soundscapes. The thrum and strum of Krautrock melded into the open-ended pastures of improvised experimental rock, with Vor-stellen constructing ghostly songs from guitars, drums, looped electronics, and haunting vocals. *Parallelograms* was a triumph of hypnotic minimalism. A dark, spellbinding well of long-form transmissions. True musical magic.
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**RIOT 111: 1981!**

RIOT 111's *1981!* LP collected the long-defunct Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band's two self-released 7-inches from the early '80s. RIOT 111's protest punk – born from the anti-apartheid street battles during the 1981 Springbok tour – still felt relevant today, with prejudiced institutions and racist politicians as prevalent as ever. Championed by the Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra (and once playing with The Fall on their legendary New Zealand tour), RIOT 111's raw passion still felt relevant and vibrant decades after the band’s demise.
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**The Dud Uglys: Death by Doomsday**

Recorded in around 40 minutes at the Ōtepoti (Dunedin) trio's third band practice, The Dud Uglys' *Death by Doomsday*'s EP featured four short, scrappy tracks that were, unsurprisingly, as raw as a prolapse. Released by UK label Noise Merchant Records, *Death by Doomsday*'s primitiveness was its finest attribute. Crude af – *obviously*. Fun af – *definitely*. Snotty-ass hardcore for shit-ass days.
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**Weedian: Trip to New Zealand**

It would be a lie to say I like every band on Weedian's epic-length *Trip to New Zealand* compilation. However, in terms of gathering a host of Aotearoa's mightiest stoner, sludge, and doom metal bands together for international or local fans to sample, you can't fault *Trip to New Zealand*'s breadth or heaviness. There's a lot of variety here, too: hard-psych outfits, fuzzed-out stoner bros, punk-metal bruisers, and full-metal warriors. Like every Weedian comp, quality varies, but overall, *Trip to New Zealand* was an ear-splitting exhibition of some of Aotearoa's dirtiest and dankest rockers.
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**Total Violation: Mr Plow**

Total Violation's crossover thrash was born from gutter punk and hardcore fusing with eviscerating speed metal. Produced by members of Stalker, Putrid Future, and Beastwars, The Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band's *Mr Plow* cassette called to mind old-school ragers like Nuclear Assault, Razor, and Whiplash. Total Violation's 'metal up your ass' ferocity reeked of poser-free authenticity; total commitment to total destruction.
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**Mermaidens: S/T**

Mermaidens' 2023 self-titled LP had been slowly cooking since 2019. The Phoenix Foundation's Samuel Flynn Scott lent production and mentoring support on the band’s latest LP, which was Mermaidens' most creative yet. Shimmering indie pop met shoegazing alt-rock, while sublime harmonies nestled amongst unorthodox post-punk. Easily the band's most sonically diverse release thus far, Mermaidens sounded open to pushing their artistic boundaries, incorporating inspirations from near and far.
Bandcamp

**Demons of Noon: Death Machine**

Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) band Demons of Noon tagged themselves as a cult doom band. However, the group's full-length debut, *Death Machine*, exhibited greater artistic ambitions and offered a much broader scope of atmospheric music. Demons of Noon's heaviness was assured, but the band were also as acid-fried as they were shroom-inspired, sounding influenced by experiences beyond the usual all-metal gamut. *Death Machine* was as dark as the witching hour. However, Demons of Noon lit up the night with mammoth yet melodic music that was as skull-cracking as it was heart-gripping.
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**Beastwars: Tyranny of Distance**

Beastwars' released their strongest album a decade ago, with 2013's *Blood Becomes Fire* being the perfect summation of the Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) band's finest attributes. This year's *Tyranny of Distance* was a massive return to form. The LP saw Beastwars reinterpreting tracks from Aotearoa artists like The 3Ds, The Gordons, Snapper, Nadia Reid, Marlon Williams, Julia Deans, and more. Beastwars' powerhouse covers boiled over with due reverence while the band turned every song into their own. Heavy as hell, sludgier than a tar pit, and with distorted riffs and howling vocals galore, Beastwars sounded on fire and alive with the flaming passion of old. Fvkin awesome.
Bandcamp

**The Spectre Collective: Neuro Death**

The first new recording in three years from Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) sound explorers The Spectre Collective was a *kosmische* triumph. *Neuro Death* featured doom-laden robo-psych, sci-fi synth-scapes, and all manner of apocalyptic imaginings. Again, The Spectre Collective plucked from myriad alternative and avant-garde genres to create highly imaginative tracks that drew you into their paranoic depths. *Neuro Death* was The Spectre Collective's best release yet.
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**Playthings: S/T**

Ōtautahi (Christchurch) band Playthings formed in 1980, and the band's self-titled 2023 release collected remastered versions of their two early '80s 7-inch releases – plus a previously unreleased country punk track. Released by Christchurch label Leather Jacket Records (who had a very busy year), Playthings' six-song 12" featured jittery tracks that jingled and jangled like the best 80s post-punk. Angular, energetic, and lo-fi. A perfect archival re-discovery.
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**Starving Millions: VII**

Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) four-piece Starving Millions have been serving up solid hardcore for a decade. (And that’s well beyond many local punk bands’ lifespans or artistic capacities.) Starving Millions’ *VII* EP was the band’s first release for a few years, but there wasn’t any sign of rustiness on the band’s behalf. If anything, Starving Millions sounded more creative than ever, venturing deeper into post-hardcore territory on *VII*. There’s a lot to be angry about out there. Here’s your soundtrack for punching through walls.
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**Abysm: Neuroses**

It’s hard to nail down Aotearoa metallers Abysm's abrasive sound. But that's also the best thing about the band. Abysm hunt and kill across varied sonic terrain. The band’s *Neuroses* album was packed with hyper-speed riffs and saw death metal shoved down the throat of grindcore and then spat out by mathcore. Listen to extreme metal long enough and you become desensitised to its intensity. However, *Neuroses* was one of those ultra-violent releases that *re-sensitised* all of your nerves, neurons, and psychological kinks.
Bandcamp

It's Not My Cup Of Tea, But Maybe It's Yours?

Every year, I end up with a pile of releases that didn't hit home (for one reason or another), but I can still hear why those releases resonated with others. Some folks like to tear the music they find unappealing to pieces, but these days, I don’t spend time criticising other people’s choices; unless those choices are beyond the pale. Sometimes, things don’t connect. It doesn’t automatically mean they are worthy of censure or ridicule. More to the point, life is short and often challenging, so love what you love. Who am I to judge? You've seen my year-end picks. Half of them sound like they were recorded in a fucking Portaloo.

Anyhoo, here are a few more noisy New Zealand releases that might float your boat.