Ægisbraut Records is one of my favorite Icelandic indie labels. All Ægisbraut releases are put out digitally and on cassette, and as a physical media junkie I’ve taken steps to amass them all. Just last month they put out their twelfth tape, a 5-song house-fire by Smegmageddon entitled simply, I ♥︎ Smeg Volume-1. I wasn’t surprised by a punk band using the word “smeg” in both their band and album names. What I was surprised to learn, however, is that the word has somewhat different connotations in American and UK English. And perhaps even more so that Smeg is also a the name of a high-end appliance brand. Which seems like a really, really bad idea.
With only five songs and clocking in at a brisk 11 minutes, Smegmageddon get in and get out fast. The first two tracks, “Autobot Kush” and “Malaysian Ovulation Interlude, Pt. 2” are straight-ahead hardcore, blasting their way straight through you. Things take a bit of a turn with “Opp Anthem”, it’s slow drums giving way to a funky bassline on an instrumental interlude. We’re right back on the hardcore train, though veering a bit into thrash territory, with “Microdosing Microplastics”, and then close out with “Come On Baby”, which… doesn’t fit on this album at all, opening with a sample introducing wrestler John Cena before bouncing around as an EDM track that’s surprisingly fun.
Check out the Ægisbraut Records Bandcamp page HERE, though as of today I ♥︎ Smeg Volume-1 doesn’t appear there – so it’ll be a bit harder to track down. It is, however, available for streaming on various platforms, so check it out.