Started in 2018 as a side project from two friends, Shalo (guitar/vocals) and Stan (drums), who wanted to play 80’s Swedish style punk influenced by bands like Anti-Cimex, Sound of Disaster, Avskum, Disarm, Asocial and Puke, Ghent based gritty hardcore punk band FRUSTRERAD just dropped their new 7” EP The Truth in Lies on Revenge Records. Today, we’re pleased to host a special track by track commentary for each and every jam from the EP.
Frustrerad is: Shalo – guitar/vocals, Pawel – Bass, Stan – Drums
Kicking off three years ago, FRUSTRERAD convinced their friend Koenraad to fill-in on bass for the recordings of a demo tape titled ‘Shadow of Life’. The recording was done by themselves at their rehearsal room in most lo-fi style possible and released on May 2019.
The demo tape caught the attention of Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll, who wrote: “Clenched-fist käng fire from Belgium. They adhere to The Formula quite well: Euro D-beats, verse/chorus/verse with no funny stuff (maybe an occasional bridge), treble rebel recording, shouted earnest vocals…and a VARUKERS cover. I mean, it’s all here and they do it right.” (MRR #435 • AUGUST 2019)
After a few local gigs, Koenraad left and Frustrerad recruted Pawel as a steady bass player, the line-up was finally complete. By March 2020 on the verge of lockdown, the new line-up managed to record 4 new tracks for their debut EP. The recordings happened again at their Rehearsal room and were mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door Mastering.
Following their D.I.Y ethos the band decided to self-release the EP and sent the material to the pressing plant. But the pressing faced production delays, taking almost a year to be done.
Frustrerad’s debut 7” ‘The Truth in Lies’ was premiered at No Echo on May 18th and released on May 21st 2021. For physical copies, please contact the band via [email protected], or send a DM to any social media page: Facebook, Bandcamp.
Track by Track commentary:
-The Truth in Lies-
You lost your own way
In the alleys of lifeYou fail to see reality
You build walls around yourself with liesThe regrets along the way
I see them in your eyes
“This song is about the lies we tell ourselves and others to be able to cope with our own fears and failures. When someone puts up a mask, shows off on social media, tells another incredible story just to boost their ego, I can almost touch their despair and insecurities. We are wounded animals ending our lives alone inside the walls we built around ourselves with lies.”
-Sentenced-
You ain’t going far with all your stagnation
Expecting things to go your wayYour life
In your righteous mind, you scream your lungs empty
But who is listening anywayYour life is not yours
You must be blind not to see you’re sentenced
To what is happening to you
“This is a reflexion on self-entitlement and self-sabotage. It’s easy to think everything is against you and people are holding you down. It’s normal to encounter resistance in life, we all do, it’s part of nature. Are you gonna cry out loud and play the victim? Say you could accomplish so much, if only things were different? By giving all these excuses for your stagnation, you are sentencing yourself to failure. Unfortunatly life is hard and you have to fight for it.”
-Land of Hate-
A bright light in the sky
As I see a cloud on the horizon
Engulfing buildings into flamesThey dropped the bomb
And life ends in this land of hateThe day becomes night
And the wind blows it away
My final breathNo one survives
As the flesh burns to ashes
Cleaning our hearts from this pain
“I still believe omnicide is an inevitable future and part of me wishes I would live to see it happen. This song is a nihilist view on extinction. It takes you through a first-person narrative where the character is in the midst of a nuclear explosion that extinguishes all life. But in a surge before death, he comes to terms with the end and is glad all hate and suffering is over.”
-Stay Free-
Can you change your fate
Are you born to be their slave
Or fight for your lifeStay free
They say you must pay
You trade your whole life away
For whatRefuse to play their game
And realise before its too late
This is your life
“You become the choices you make. In a society who puts profit before people and forces you to adapt to the market, it’s so easy to go with the flow and lose track of who you really are. Every time you deny what you feel is right, you cross a line that cannot be taken back. It’s a rat race out there and while they advertise freedom, you are living in a cage.”
