Just over a year since we helped put out their first 7" comes Boak's second missive. A trio hailing from Aberdeen in Scotland, Boak evoke the spirit of classic powerviolence hardcore mixed with modern grind sounds, all with massive, catchy riffs. Please note: 'Boak' is Scottish slang meaning vomit or feelings of excessive nausea.

Boak are Tea Bags (g,v), Ewan (d) and Ben (b).
Guest vocals on "Heartstopper" by Emma Low.

Recorded at No Studio, Manchester.
Engineered and mixed by Joe Clayton.
Mastered by Will Killingsworth.

Cadaver Garden
Boak for those of you who do not know-as I did not know until the band informed me-is a Scottish slang word meaning “vomit; or feelings of nausea”. With a band name like that it is pretty appropriate that these gents play some seriously sickening grind. There are only four songs on this EP, and each song is whiplash inducing, riot inciting, and purely bulldozing. As short as these songs are they kick you in the fucking mouth and don’t stop until you stop breathing. Boak’s new EP begins with a song titled Justice For Kelly Thomas. As some may know, Kelly Thomas was a homeless and schizophrenic homeless man who was beaten to death by six officers in Fullerton, California in 2011 and punishments were never dealt to the officers. Even though each of the four songs are entirely pissed off, this has to be one of the angrier songs and for good reason. Some of the lyrics in this song read: “Kelly died while they are doing just fine, Kelly died, where do you draw the fucking line? Justice? None was ever served, And now they want to “protect” you? One life lost is not just a fucking mistake!” With everything that has been happening recently with more than enough cop killings to last a lifetime, this song not only seems to have more piss and vinegar in it than the rest, but it also resonates a lot and hits incredibly hard. After the brief intro by a newscaster you get thrown back in your seat and subjected to a beating upside the head with a completely deadly grind assault. Each song is just as ferocious and sharp pointed as the first and Boak doesn’t ever let up on their attack. All four songs are blistering and are more than capable of splintering your bones and holding your head up to a grindstone until you listen to what they have to say. Boak is a force to be reckoned with, and with two EPs under their belt it’s scary to think of what damage they can cause with a full length. This EP leaves you wanting more and keeps having you come back and pressing play more than often to get that intense and filthy grind fix. Their overall sound is raw and barbaric and each song is in your face, cranked to eleven and pissed off beyond belief. This EP is madness and pure chaos and Boak is more than prepared to steamroll you and your town and can very well do so with this release. Each of the four songs is filled with crushing riffs, spastic drumming, and vocals that never quit and sound like they are coming from inside of your head at all times. If you are a grind, powerviolence, hardcore or even a punk fan, then this release is for you. It’s heavy, destructive, pissed off and incredibly catchy. This EP is a wave of noise that gets you riled up and angry and has you moshing about and inciting riots of your own. This is grinding madness, and as soon as you press play you can’t get enough.

Metal Trenches
A little more hardcore to round this list out. Blink and you might miss it, this 7 or so minutes of hyperviolence is courtesy of Scottish band, Boak. The crunchy distortion and throat-ripping vocals are broken up by audio samples that range from humorous and random to downright disturbing. Leaning heavily on their punk roots, Boak is prepared to burn down a dive bar faster than you can scream "oi!" And these D-beats? Get a load of this guy. There's one part that sounds like a hybrid D-beat/blast. Blew my mind. I'm sure someone more adept on the kit could name it better than I, but damn it's good anyways.

Ninehertz
Boak, Scottish slang for vomit, puke, regurgitate one's munchie box. Apt for the music within for sure, this second 7" (missed the first one, will have to track it down now) from this Aberdeen 3-piece is raging in a powerviolence kind of way, but they take that sometimes simplistic approach and at least let the songs fester for more than a minute a time. It's fast, blunt and will probably elicit cries of 'is that it'? But there's the appeal, repeated plays mean these four tunes remain lodged in your brain like fragments of splintered bone. There's a sense of self-deprecation to proceedings , particularly through samples, along with the seriousness. The first song concerns a particularly brutal police assault and the subsequent death of a vulnerable man (the case has since changed the way police in the US deal with those with mental health problems), the song's curt and blasting anger suits the righteous outrage. Elsewhere, vegan/veggie messages are scrambled across similarly brutal cuts, which really hit the spot. It's one of those 7s that won't leave the turntable for a long while and you can be assured that there's more material on the way that will slam as hard as this too.