There's the howling of sirens here. And not as an intro either - as part of the ‘actual music’ - which gives an idea of the crude assembly of this cacophony. And indeed,
Vermin Extermination works best loud, when the violence of approach is amplified. It becomes decipherable too – the elements of the noisy, feedback-filled mess traceable. This is similar to some raw, punkish black metal efforts but more drawn out, slow and clumsy. Yet it's all the more brutal for that: less a flash in the pan and more like the unrelenting grip of psychosis. There's a method to the madness in the way EXTERMINATION is repeated, protracted and amelodic. In a similar vein, the restrained intros, rustling noise and recordings are allowed to remain for just a bit too long, uneasy lulls bordering on grating. The demanding nature of these un-musical breaks separates them from the negligible 'respites' used by other acts. They're overbearing here because they serve an approach predicated on dwelling in unpleasantness. Likewise, while at first "The Fire of Holy War" takes an uplifting character with an underlying melodic motif, the noise and nastiness is allowed to intrude with repetitive wheezing, growling and snarling. "Gasmask" is interesting too – with a discordant intro, contrasted with the
stomping rhythm Hakaristi uses at points during this short release. It reinforces the familial relationship with punk but rather than over-utilising catchiness or other crowd-pleasing aspects, this music explores punk’s potential for nastiness and sloppiness and noise and filth. The ethos isn't concealed in the use of vocals, upbeat rhythm or melodies - the ways other ‘raw’ acts often soften their nastiness, to make it more palatable, more musical. If there's a shared vein in black metal and punk's potential for misanthropy and loathing, then Hakaristi have found it - fuelling something as aggressively repellent and ugly as possible.
