6. Die KreuzenDie Kreuzen
This is incredible, mind-melting hardcore from Milwaukee, Wisconsin of all places. Wisconsin is famous for cheese. Dairy products. And Jeffrey Dahmer, the cannibal serial killer. The Green Bay Packers, too, but that’s about it. It’s cold. It’s practically Canada.
Die Kreuzen should be listened to from beginning to end. It’s relentless and keeps going, like a rollercoaster ride. It’s probably 20-something minutes long in its entirety, but it’s like a flash of white heat. It doesn’t really fuck around with any fluff and gets going right away. It’s produced by Corey Rusk, and as a kid, you’re like, wow, this is crazy German stuff, but in reality they’re from Milwaukee. Just the fact that this was being made in Detroit in 1984 is incredible. They didn’t look really punk either – just normal looking guys.
The other thing that stands out is you can tell they were super good players to begin with. Amazing players with killer chops, and they still choose to play blisteringly fast hardcore. I think that’s totally awesome. It’s kind of like Bad Brains, you can tell they were in a fusion band before they became a hardcore band. It’s amazing, from beginning to end. This is an unbelievable record.
