August 23, 2024
Tankcrimes Records' origin story begins sometime in the early 2000’s and somehow involves a one-inch button maker. That story is a little bit complicated and better told elsewhere, but through two decades, enthusiastic mastermind Scotty Heath has willed the label into a well-respected tastemaker and curator of extreme music.
As the catalog number climbs toward the 150-release milestone, the California-based label is as relevant as ever. Whether it’s death metal, thrash, or hardcore, Tankcrimes bands are among the genre favorites.
The task of whittling down the catalog to its top ten required some caveats and exceptions. Inevitably, a handful of terrific records have been left off the list. Admittedly, a couple of the picks are simply personal favorites. For clarity, any album with a Tankcrimes stamp was considered eligible. Enough of the qualifiers, here are the top ten Tankcrimes Records releases in chronological order.
1. Annihilation Time - Cosmic Unconciousness (2006)
Oxnard, California’s Annihilation Time was a decidedly different type of band in the oversaturated 2000’s hardcore scene. While bombastic breakdowns anchored one end of the spectrum with the ultra-popular melodic hardcore at the other, the no-nonsense approach of Annihilation Time didn’t quite fit in. Listen back to these tracks and you’d never know it! This EP followed up their modern punk rock classic II, originally released on Six Weeks Records and later re-issued via Tankcrimes. It’s only three songs, but serves as another stellar addition to their catalog of Black Flag and B’last-inspired hardcore punk. The rock and roll swagger of AT was an essential part of their sound and it pours out of the speakers. This EP is a party!
2. Ghoul - Splatterthrash (2007)
Much like Necrot later in this list, Ghoul has several albums deserving of a place on this list, but in the interest of spreading the love, let’s talk about one of them. Splatterthrash, the third LP from the hooded mutants leans hard into their thrash influences as shown early on the epic album opener “Into The Catacombs.” It’s forty minutes of face-melting riffs and foot-stomping rhythms with gravelly vocals from the demented mouths of Digestor and Cremator. The band deftly progresses between succinct garbled death grind moments straight into slick and proficient heavy metal guitar solos. Splatterthrash felt like the first indication of the extreme machine that the bizarre band would become. As with all Ghoul records, the album artwork is an experience of its own. Artist Greg Oakes delivered a detailed chaos for the eyes that pairs perfectly with the music it represents. From the artwork to the concept to the execution to the production, especially the delivery, Splatterthrash is a near-perfect slab of extreme music.
3. King Generator - Self-Titled (2008)
Seven songs from the short-lived trio including members of Municipal Waste, Tombs, Discordance Axis, and The Process. Pressed as a one-sided 12” LP with an etched B-side and screen printed cover. This record has an incredibly DIY feel from the production, the songs, and the packaging. There isn’t much information, material, or anything at all out there about King Generator. At least we got these songs out of them, but it’s a shame it’s less than ten minutes of music. Sometimes it’s best to leave a little meat on the bone.
4. Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust - Toxic Waste (2012)
Modern crossover kings Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust, linked up in 2012 for a split, cleverly titled Toxic Waste. The pairing was a natural fit on every level. Musically, both bands occupy the same crossover thrash realm, and the corresponding aesthetic flows through the record’s fantastic Andrei Bouzikov artwork. Complaints could justifiably be made on the brevity of the release. After all, there are only two tracks from each band. However, Toxic Waste is a premiere assemblage of crossover talent and those adept in the genre likely understand that sometimes brevity is part of the deal. Tankcrimes has released many awesome splits over the years, but this record is essentially the tag team champion of the format.
5. Dystopia - Human = Garbage (2014)
Tankcrimes very smartly latched onto some of California’s extreme music legends for much-needed reissues. Among the most revered is Dystopia and their landmark sludge-laden crust effort Human=Garbage. The band now holds iconic status in the underground, but their records haven’t always been easy to find. Thankfully, that changed with in 2014 when Tankcrimes began reissuing their catalog starting with their 1994 full-length debut Human=Garbage. The misanthropic deluge rollicks through its nearly hour-long running time bringing to mind the crust metal of Amebix mashed into the New Orleans sludge metal of Eyehategod. Those comparisons to other artists are a bit reductive, but it’s a starting point for the uninitiated. Dystopia is a beast of their own and worthy of their cult-like status.
6. Spazz - La Revancha (2018)
Powerviolence legends Spazz released the bulk of their music in the late ’90s on Slap-a-ham Records. That makes a lot of sense considering bassist/vocalist Chris Dodge ran the label until its demise in 2002. Slap-a-ham released some of the finest hardcore, powerviolence, and grind in its thirteen-year span. With the label shutdown and the years gone by, Spazz material became increasingly rare to come across. That is until Tankcrimes began reissuing their material in 2016. Two years later, they got around to releasing La Revancha, originally dropped in 1997, one of the all-time greatest powerviolence records there ever was. In their 2015 Hall of Fame induction Decibel Magazine called it “an abrasive and brutal brand of rapid-fire hardcore that assaulted all borders of death, thrash, grindcore, and punk.” We all owe Tankcrimes a thank-you note for getting this record back in availability.
7. Fucked Up - Year Of The Horse (2019)
Fucked Up is a tough act to follow. Put that in whatever context you’d like and it will remain true. Their discography is a twisted menagerie of records that rummage through hardcore punk, metal, psychedelia, garage rock, and the obscure. Somehow the band of cockamamie Candians fits perfectly on the Tankcrimes roster, and the two have happily co-existed since the 2014 Year Of The Dragon EP. So far, their ultimate collaboration came with the expansive 2021 double LP Year Of The Horse. The follow up to the critically acclaimed Dose Your Dreams (Merge Records, 2018) this experimental masterpiece is delivered in four acts, which are divided into scenes, but delivered in one piece. It’s confusing, but only when you try to make it make sense. The best way to enjoy Fucked Up is to let them lead you into their world. Year Of The Horse is a wild and thrilling ride.
8. Despise You - West Side Horizons (2021)
You might call this cheating, but that’s okay. The Tankcrimes reissue of the 1999 compilation of tracks recorded between 1994 and 1996 by West Coast powerviolence gods Despise You is essential listening. This slab of vinyl houses an unbelievable sixty-two tracks, each one an absolute face-ripper. Originally released only on CD through Pessimiser Records, this collection includes all of the band’s vinyl material up to that point. The first blast of tracks comes from an unreleased split LP, the remainder features tracks from splits with Suppression, Crom, Stapled Shut, and other various Despise You EPs, demos, and compilations. Song lengths range from just eleven seconds to nearly three minutes and include covers of Possessed, Circle Jerks, and DRI. This is like the powerviolence equivalent of Minor Threat’s Complete Discography release for straight-edge hardcore.
9. Dead Heat - Endless Torment (2023)
This joint release with Triple B Records is a killer dose of California crossover. Having established themselves in the hardcore scene with two LP’s and a colossal split with Mindforce, Endless Torment felt like a bold introduction to the metal world at large. The five tracks on display bring to mind contemporaries Power Trip, as well as thrash OG’s Sepultura and Slayer. The whole package is delivered with punk energy and rawness that make the release feel at home on Tankcrimes Records. There are explosive breakdowns, shredding divebombs, and intense shouted vocals, but it’s the composition of the songs that keeps the EP exciting. Dead Heat has an endless display of character on Endless Torment and it teases a highly-anticipated full-length somewhere on the horizon.
10. Necrot - Lifeless Birth (2024)
Up until now, Necrot has had four releases under the Tankcrimes banner. With each successive collection of tracks, they have outdone their previous offering. Every one of them, The Labyrinth (2016), Blood Offerings (2017), Mortal (2020), and Lifeless Birth (2024), deserve a place on this list. For the sake of parity, we’re going with their latest. It’s seven tracks of devastating death metal from the West Coast trio in just over forty minutes. Necrot delivers brutality that’s as catchy as it is pummeling. “Cut the Cord” opens the album with a powerful warning statement for the deluge of death that follows. “Drill The Skull” is a rare bonafide death metal single. Necrot is not a band that relies on technicality to make an impact. It’s the songwriting that makes their brand of savagery appealing. On Lifeless Birth, they achieved their finest form yet, but it’s reasonable to believe that their next effort could top it.