picture by
Wonder Girl Photo
Whipping Post is hailing from Leeds, UK and has been around
since 2015 or something.
Before getting together
these guys already had quite a long list of musical acts on their
resumes, especially from the brutal side of the UK hardcore scene with
bands like
Mob Rules
and
The Flex
but also on the metal / power violence side with
Closure,
Brain Dead
or
Infernal Body...
More recently, and more in my sphere of interest, some
Whipping Post members have been seen playing in the great
Beta Blockers
(check it out if you haven't already!), the furious
Arson
and the surprising
Thick Syrup.
Busy busy indeed!
Oh yes and the name comes from the
Arthur G. Walker
sculpture Christ at the Whipping Post which picture is on the
band first release (see below) and not the Allman Brothers song
(which would have been extremely surprising to be honest).
So introductions being made, where are we now?
Well from the first seconds of Taste The Whip we are clearly somewhere in the late Rollins period of the Black Flag era, somewhere around and after My War probably (not like S.L.I.P which released a great LP heavily influenced by the early-ish Black Flag period a few years ago).
Yes this 4-track tape released by the band in 2016 (and as a flexi 7"
by Flexi Punk in 2017) is an ode to Greg Ginn and his
dark, tortured soul (I mean listen to Pull The Cord).
Influences are great, especially when they come from such a genius band
as Black Flag, and they are even better when you don't turn your
band into a lame copycat and that's what Whipping Post manages to
do. Yes you can hear a lot of the californian band in this demo but not
only, there is also Whipping Post and its identity!
The heaviness, despair and tortured atmosphere of these songs is
perfectly mastered, keeping it all together all along, forming a
coherent whole
Two years and a half later, the four guys from Leeds jump straight to the
LP format with
Spurn Point
(out on
Boss Tuneage)
and its beautiful refined artwork.
Whipping Post keeps heading the same way with a slow,
tortured and maybe slightly heavier hardcore than on the demo.
Black Flag yes but also early Rollins Band or Swiz come
to mind while listening to the noisy and chaotic despair of the 11 tracks
of Spurn Point.
Probably even darker than the demo, Whipping Post proves
to be able to keep it interesting on the long run without draining the
source of influences.
With Cheating The War Game, its second LP, Whipping Post keeps its artwork as refined as beautiful (these guys really have something for sculptures). Where Spurn Point was mainly black on the outside, this new full length is all white... but it does not mean that the inside atmosphere got more joyful at all...
Out on
Donor Records
this time, the latest production of the northern boys is also their most
achieved to date.
The recipe has not changed but the ingredients are perfectly
balanced, benefiting from a great recording quality, the band sounds
meaner, heavier and darker than ever.
It's slow and tortured hardcore at its best and I love it!
But after two full lengths I hope the band will be able to find a way to
spice up the mix a bit in the future or it may eventually sound
tiring...
You can listen to Whipping Post on Rien à Faire #14.
N,J'Oi!
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