RAW WAR
RAW WAR “Total Raw War”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Canadian crusty grinders RAW WAR only existed from 2009 to 2013, but they dug a lot of graves during that brief period. This record stands as a testimony to their short and brutish existence. This band is more NAPALM DEATH than NAPALM DEATH has been in the last 20 years. This is punk pushed to its final extremity and about as subtle as Israel bombing a hospital in Gaza.
There is much resemblance to the old school D-beat/crust legions like DISCHARGE, DOOM, VARUKERS, HERESY and the like, but if I really had to put a finger on RAW WAR, I’d say they are closest to the old ravaging Swedish crust like ANTICIMEX. “Victims of a Bomb Raid” has left its mark here for sure. Each of the 17 tracks here is primitive, brutal and catchy, with bellowing roars about social ills and political betrayal. Those things are worse in 2024 than they were even in 2013. RAW WAR play two styles...fast and faster. Some tracks are chugging D-beat punk and some speed that up to obliterating grindcore.
Longest track is “Voluntary Manipulation” at almost 4 minutes and that’s too long for shit like this. Better to cap it at about two minutes or so or run the risk of monotony. RAW WAR was about as original as the latest NCIS clone, but this band was not about originality. They were about annihilation and they did their share before expiring.