Asta Kask, Hellshock, Arctic Flowers, Wild Mohicans at East End

Bonni of Asta Kask (all photos by Robert Hanna)

From L to R: Micke, Ernie, Bonni of Asta Kask

Reunion shows can be a double-edged sword.  It’s great being able to see a band you’d never thought you’d have a chance to witness live.  Yet, there’s nothing worse than having your memories tarnished by going to see a band you once idolized and having them let you down.  The last several years there has been resurgence in reunion tours by seminal punk bands of the 70’s and 80’s, and unfortunately only a very small percentage of them actually deliver.  Most reunions end up being a sad assemblage of burnouts and virginal newly recruited talent, against a backdrop of overpriced tickets and merchandise. When I heard Asta Kask from Sweden had reunited and was planning a US tour, I shuddered a little.  I also knew that it could be one of those life-changing experiences, so passing it up the chance to see them play was out of the question.

Drummer Dadde Stark of Asta Kask

Bassist and vocalist Ernie of Asta Kask

Asta Kask is one of the most influential bands to come out of the second generation of punk in Sweden, which was known largely for more fast and hardcore acts like Anti-Cimex and Mob 47.  Formed in 1978 in Töreboda, the group is largely responsible for helping create a subgenre of punk called “trallpunk” (Swedish for ‘melodic punk’).  During the mid to late 90’s there was an upswing in Scandinavian hardcore bands, many of them coming out on Sweden’s now defunct Distortion Records.  Bands like Totalitär, Wolfpack (later renamed Wolfbrigade), and Skitsystem had more or less re-energized the crust genre and all eyes were on Europe’s northern territories.  Distortion released a triple CD collection called Värning for Punk, which was more or less a complete testament to the second wave of hardcore punk in Sweden during the early 80’s.  This is where I heard Asta Kask for the first time and instantly became a huge fan.

Back in the 80’s in Sweden, it was considered “selling out” if a punk band released anything besides a 7” vinyl single, so Asta Kask primarily only released singles and one 12” maxi-EP.  In 1986 the band, which had fought to keep stick to their ideological guns not to get big, were struggling with their rising popularity, constant gigging, and offers from labels.  They released an Aldrig en LP (Never an LP), which was a kind of self-mockery intended to provoke their critics, went on a final tour and called it quits.  20 years later the band returned to the studio to record En För Alla Ingen För Nån, with Dadde from Wolfbrigade replacing original drummer Bjurren who left in 2004.  There aren’t many bands that sound like Asta Kask, so it’s hard to compare them to anything but themselves. Asta Kask managed to make wonderfully fun and catchy punk music yet still somehow maintain a hardcore aesthetic. It was actually pretty fun figuring out the actual titles of songs when Hohnie Records in Germany released a thorough Asta Kask collection LP back in 2000.  Every Asta Kask song is a sing-a-long anthem  regardless if you know what they are saying or not.

Hellshock – Top: Singer Joel Smith, Bottom: Guitarist Brian Hopper

Playing with Asta Kask was Hellshock, a band at the forefront of modern underground punk in America.  Hellshock plays dirgey metal-influenced crust punk (dubbed “stenchcore” in the late 80’s in the UK), and are musically aligned with bands like Axegrinder, Deviated Instinct, Amebix, and Bolt Thrower.  Hellshock’s line-up has current and former members of prominent PDX bands The Estranged, Terokal, Guided Cradle and Burning Leather to name a few, and are an absolutely devastating live band.  Their latest LP They Wait For You Still is one of the finest crust albums to date, and the band only continues to get better and better.

Wild Mohicans

Arctic Flowers

Starting off the show was one of Portland’s newest arrivals, Wild Mohicans, which features members of Moral Hex, Peroxide, and Terokal.  Wild Mohicans are reminiscent of the more aggressive bands from the UK ’82 movement and play fast, straight forward punk rock.  Musically they are along the lines of groups like Ultra-Violent or The Insane and were fun live.  Following them were Arctic Flowers, one of Portland’s more up and coming underground punk bands.  Arctic Flowers feature an ex-member of Signal Lost (Prank Records) and play melodic post-punk with a goth influence, something of a more anarcho-punk version of X-Mal Deutschland.  They have a new LP coming out soon on Inimical Records.

Hellshock floored the crowd – the band is mercilessly tight and singer Joel Smith’s gutteral vocals permeate thick layers of distorted guitars and bass.  The East End is a smaller venue but there was a decent amount of people attending and everyone was having a great time.  Asta Kask entered and immediately tore into their set, which was a good mix of old and new songs.  The new Asta Kask material is comparable to where they left off, just with much higher production and a bigger sound.  The band was having immense amounts of fun, and in turn you couldn’t help but get excited while they played.  The crowd pogoed and whipped each other around in a frenzy while Asta Kask jumped around and belted out songs old and new in well aligned three-harmony vocals.  The band is just as valid today as they were back then.  They did not disappoint, nor did you feel like you were seeing simulacra of what the band used to be.  For a band to exist this long and still be completely sincere about what they are doing is certainly a rare thing.

Bonni of Asta Kask