Concrete Elite / Faction-S – Split EP

Rebellion Records

 

Please caution, because there’s a massive split EP coming up on Rebellion Records! Come to think of it, I already have the digital files of this 7”, shared between Concrete Elite and Faction-S, on my laptop for nearly nine months already, but now – with its release date in sight – I can finally do a little write-up on it! And believe me when I say that this little record was definitely worth the wait!

 

Because despite its size, this EP is explosive to boot! But hell, did you expect anything else with the boys from Austin, TX – Concrete Elite – on side A? I certainly did not! As always these guys do not disappoint, delivering some of their most vile work to date with two new tracks named “We Are Everywhere” and “True Sounds Of Misery”! Their raucous mix of Oi! and hardcore-punk only seems to get tougher with every single release they put out and especially the latter track is a tormenting anthem from start to finish! Still going strong after a decade and still one of my favorites!

 

And while we’re on the subject of favorites we have Faction-S on the flipside! The Parisians already released a superb demo and killer EP in respectively 2019 and 2020 and now they’re back with even more dynamite! Unleashing the tracks “Magnitude 9” and “A Vif”, the French crank out their most savage and hard-hitting work to date, making sure they’re on par with their American brothers in arms! Extremely powerful indeed and it exactly underlines why they’re one of my ‘newer’ favorite bands!

 

The black base of the sleeve covered in metallic gold ink matches the two vinyl options, namely black (200 copies) or gold (400 copies) vinyl and comes with a two-sided, black and white insert. So yup, this doesn’t just sound bad-ass, it looks the part as well! Must-have for the barbaric!