Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Odpisani
Label: god bless this mess records
Release: year
Length: 25:11
Rating: 4/5
Who’d have thought? The Ljutomer boys are back. The ones who were the pinnacle of thundering decibel release on Slovenian soil throughout the second half of the nineties. The return of Odpisani! The brave hardcore crew are putting out their third full-length effort, after a longer break from which they woke up again in 2010.
The nineties saw quite a few “off-kilter” bands in Slovenia’s rock underground. They liked to mix the hard core impulses that were trendy at the time into classic punk expression. Besides Odpisani, Delaware from Sladki Vrh and Kmechka Godba also turned heads, each in their own direction. From a band that spewed all the anger of rebellion through the nineties, you can tell on the album Šah mat that the guys have sobered up in terms of maturity and eased off the top speed gear of uncompromising steamrolling a bit, but they’ve kept the thunder, the kind of noise that can still make sensitive ears bleed. No kitsch, no gloss. Just the sacred simplicity of the old punk school, born again through an unbridled striking of sparks of directness and authenticity! What you see is what you get. Odpisani don’t calculate anything. Now grown men, “cured” of youthful naivety and recklessness, they still go fully head-on at the glitz and misery of this (rightly so) laughable Slovenian state, its executioners (Grmada, Mater van sajavo, Slepa ulica) and indirectly mock the mute, the blind and the deaf (read: the conformism of sheep). For all their bitterness, true to their geographic roots as lovers of the wine drop, they’re always up for a good joke and a party, as the message of the excellent track Prlekli v vesolju embodies in the funniest way, keeping up a solid bond with the studio debut and the track Lotmerk underground.
»Šah mat« keeps all the expressive hallmarks of the band, rooted in the nineties. The flame isn’t dying in 2014. What flame? A proper blaze of rotten anger and rabies. Prlekija hardcore punk across all horizons, leaving no survivors behind. There’s no other philosophy. Vibe, approach, energy, delivery. You can’t get more sincere than this!
An important factor that puts Odpisani in a special spot on the alternative rock scene of the Slovenian “underground”, and beyond, is of course the use of lyrics in the Prlekija slang. All of this carries a strong charismatic stamp that gives the band’s dossier a unique charm. The lyrics and their delivery are actually the essential building blocks of the band’s distinctive character! Nobody can take that away from them, and it’s what always pulls a winning poker hand of aces out of the band’s sleeve, so that everything they undertake feels genuine. And one more thing. The band has matured and plays better than ever in their career. The album sounds alive, completely organic and garage-raw! Following the principle of performing a live show in the studio. The band is developing an extraordinary tightness in delivery. The chemistry between the four building blocks works perfectly.
The band has put together nine caustic rippers! Up front, true to the band’s tradition, thunders the bestially roaring vocal of Borut Horvat. A ripped, unleashed ironworker’s yell with a circular saw stuck in the throat! The vocal, woven into the roaring sound of rolling guitar riffs, is fertilized by the contrasting clang of rattling bass lines and a merciless drum march. Raw. Prlekija, like Prekmurje, have always been regarded as geographic spots with the most unique expressive appeal and excitement among the local acts, who have always delighted with a charisma of authorial oddness and individuality. Regardless of genre. Odpisani are just such a band, and with its virtues their comeback album »Šah mat« only cements the band’s credible position of great truthfulness of expression. »Šah mat« is an album that will seriously scrub your ear canals. Clear your head. With its frontal, socially critical pose, it shakes out all the relaxed napalm rage that has piled up in these guys over the years. A true rebel album, arriving at the right time in the right place.
Lineup
Borut Horvat – vocals
Peter Beznec – guitar, vocals
Jože Pal – bass guitar
Saša Dolgov – drums
Production
Ivor Knafelj AKA Plueg
Tracklist
1. Veter (02:35)
2. Prleki V Vesolji (02:34)
3. Na Grmadi (03:05)
4. Šah Mat (03:09)
5. Mater Van Sajavo (02:46)
6. Slepa Ulica0 (2:37)
7. Jeba (02:42)
8. Tisti Den (02:29)
9. Odpisani (03:13)
