23-year-old David Hammer of Berlin (known to the world as Shizuo) has rocked the ceiling off my house and into the garden. His debut album, Shizuo Vs. Shizor sounds similar to his labelmates Atari Teenage Riot but expresses its anger purely through hard rhythm rather than angstful vocals.

This guy hides the rhythms of the universe in his underwear and he's not ashamed to admit it. On songs like "Sexual High" and "Blow Job," he's like a seventh- grader that just realized how to beat off. And meat- grinding isn't the only means of communicating the violence on this release.

"Punks" is a high- energy future anthem banging its head on linoleum tile as a lo-tech sample repeats, "The Punks! The Punks! The Punks!" And the shredding "Chill" could also potentially be the most intense 65 seconds your ears have ever endured.

Shizuo Vs. Shizor is an unstoppable hardcore getdown of assault and battery. It's hard to imagine what it would look like if Shizuo made a video, but if it looked anything like the album sounds, you'd never be the same again.

-Ryan Schreiber

Sound Clip:
"Sweat"
MPEG-LayerIII
64kpbs.44kHz.
323k.41sec.
converted from:
AIFF.3:1comp.22kHz.