���� I've gotten turned on to a lot of killer death rock/goth punk through Mass Media Records recently, stuff from Horror Vacui, Lost Tribe, Cemetery and Rule Of Thirds all bringing the gloom to the C-Blast turntable in recent weeks. Another band that I've discovered through the label is Dystopian Society, an Italian outfit whose four-song EP Violations ticks off all of the boxes for me when it comes to this sort of nihilistic blend of death rock and hardcore. The band specializes in rocking, mid-tempo anarcho-punk with a heavy dose of death rock atmosphere heard in those droning, trebly guitar leads, chorus drenched guitars, and loping bass lines that wind through this EP, and the singer has this distinctive snotty, nasally bark that works really well. Catchy and ominous stuff that sort of comes across as a blend of Christian Death, early 80s hardcore and classic Killing Joke, with a harder, more furious energy behind it. The title track is an anthemic rail against ecological collapse, while "No Deliverance" is a slower, more sinister dirge driven by tribal drumming and sheets of atmospheric guitar. Lyrically, these songs are an outcry against assorted global ills in classic anarcho-punk fashion, but I can certainly dig their level of disgust. Only one song has Italian lyrics ("Morire Per Vivere"), and it's a quick and dirty blast of classic hardcore punk tossed into the middle of all of that gloominess. Good stuff; this includes a digital download code, and was issued in a limited run of one hundred forty copies.