Monday Night Violence: Lycanthrophy

If the Czech Republic didn't already bless us with great hockey players with better haircuts, good beer, sausages, and one of the most humorous authors in the world, then we've been truly blessed with Lycanthrophy.

Taken from their Myspace, Lycanthrophy formed in 1998 and quickly produced a demo and played what/where they could. Fast-forward nearly 12 years later and we finally have their first full length, simply titled Lycanthrophy. Their s/t completely blows anything they've done out of the water. While there's no drastic change in sound, everything from the production to the exact moment the vocals change is perfect.

I came upon Lycanthrophy by chance after my interest in Suffering Mind had been piqued by their, self-titled LP. Suffering Mind's split with Lycanthrophy ranks among one of my most played 7"s. Besides Suffering Mind's offering, Lycanthrophy's endless barrage style appealed to me right off the bat. Furthermore, the somewhat recent addition of a female vocalist was a huge vat of icing to be shoveled directly into my mouth, skipping the cake.

Lycanthrophy's style and delivery is completely unrelenting which makes impossible (and pointless) to pin them to either grindcore or power violence. Punk sections shift to blistering blast beats without a second's notice, frenzied guitar riffs strum out to punk power chord progressions. Measure to measure is like a roller-coaster fashioned after the slimmest W's you've ever seen.

Having never made it across the Atlantic (to my knowledge) there is still hope! Until then, if you find yourself in Europe they seem to get around plenty. On a side note, connecting last week's band of choice, Lycanthrophy covers "No More Feelings" on their split cassette with Neni Uniku. While the cover's nothing much to speak of (the singer sounds like he swallowed the mic and is singing into a sock), it's still a funny coincidence.

For fans of Agathocles, Warsore, Crossed Out, Yacøpsæ, Gride, and Dropdead.

Essential Discography

Split 7" w. Suffering Mind
Split 7" w. F.U.B.A.R
Split 7" w. Gride
Split LP/CD w. Saywhy?
Lycanthrophy

Good luck finding their stuff this side of the Atlantic. I was able to snag the s/t on Discogs, and the split with F.U.B.A.R and the one with Suffering Mind, seem readily available here.