Where do I begin with this band? I don't even know. Perhaps I should describe their sound, but even that is a challenge for me to find the right words. As one reviewer puts it:

[Admiral Angry] has only three speeds: hardcore, slower breakdown, and glacial breakdown. One could also call these, respectively, "I ***ing hate you," "I am prepared to beat you to a pulp right this second, you little ***," and "I am literally curbstomping your stupid ***ing face right now, you God damned asshole".

And I think that sums it up pretty damn well, much better than I could ever try to express. If that sounds like something you might enjoy, then, oh boy, are you in for a treat. The reviewer is speaking about their first (and only) full length album, Buster, and it will be that album I'm going to be dealing with today because it's their only release that I'm really familiar with. I've listened to their earlier EP, 9/11... Only Worse, which is a much more speedy, grindcore sounding release, but I haven't listened to it nearly as much as I have Buster.

Ok, so, maybe I should give a very brief bio of the band. They formed in 2004 and four years later they released their first album, the aforementioned Buster. It was shortly after the release of that album that the songwriter/guitarist, Daniel Kraus (whom the band called the Admiral), died at the age of 22 from cystic fibrosis. In 2010 they released A Fire to Burn Down the World, a single twenty minute song written by Daniel before his death.

Anyway, that's some context, now on with the show.

---

[source]

One thing I really have to point out about this album and band is that behind the downtuned guitars, the anguished vocals, the angsty, nihilistic, misanthropic lyrics, and just sheer anger, is the groove. Seriously, once you get into this album you'll feel what I mean. And it's not surprising that the groove is such an important element when you read in this interview with guitarist Mark Richards that Parliament Funkadelic is one of the band's influences.

I'm going to leave the whole album here for any brave souls who are willing to traverse the whole 44 minute brutal assault of hatred. I'm also going to link to the bandcamp page here if you would like to purchase the album: https://shelsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/buster (I don't know if this is still the case but at one point all money from the sale of the album was being donated to cystic fibrosis charities).

[Admiral Angry - Buster (Full Album)]

---

And for those of you not willing to commit nearly a full three quarters of an hour to this album, or just for anyone who is interested, I'm going to go through a few of my favorite tracks here.

This is the first song on the album, and what a perfect introduction. Everything about this is fantastic, the ridiculous lyrics ("I'll fuck you away, I'll fuck you away, I'll fuck you away, I'll fuck you away if you wanna go home"), to that almost out of place drum beat at around 1:30 into the song. This really sets you up for the rest of the album.

[Admiral Angry - Sex with a Stranger]

---

Now we move on to track three from the album. This song sounds more conventional than the first one.

[Admiral Angry - Kill Yourself]

---

Ok, track four, and what can I say? I love everything about this, the guitars, the drums, the vocals and, the lyrics. I even love the breakdown where it feels like only one or two notes are being played for two minutes, yet somehow doesn't at all feel monotonous. And remember: "What's the point when no one's watching?"

[Admiral Angry - Plastic Bath]

---

Track five is another excellent piece of work. Out of such a pain filled album this song might be the one that best expresses that pain.

[Admiral Angry - Blow Down]

---

Ok, last one, and I think it's fitting that it's the last song on the album. I think I've said enough about how much I enjoy this music so this time I'll leave you with some lyrics from this song, which are some of my favorite lyrics from the whole album too. "I'm above your concern, my mind is infinite and my heart burns, an abscess where saints exchange smut verse by verse."

[Admiral Angry - The Illusion of Strength]

---

Ok, well, I hope you've enjoyed that. Another great, completely underappreciated band that I wish more people would listen to.

---

Music from the Underground #1 - GAIKA
Music from the Underground #2 - Crywank
Music from the Underground #3 - Various Artists