2011, according to Time Magazine and just about every other news outlet, was the year of the protester. Now only history will tell if this year was the beginning of some kind of global political shift or if people will free fall back into the pits of complacency. Since I am a cynical shithead I believe it will be the latter, but Liberteer’s debut album Better to Die on Your Feet Than Live on Your Knees might cure my disenfranchisement in a way that drum circles and cliched sloganeering never could.

The one man grindcore project from Cretin and Exhumed veteran Matthew Widener is the most inspiring and, consequently, one of the most left of center grind albums ever recorded. The opening brass horns of “The Falcon Cannot Hear The Falcon” elate a feeling of nationalistic pride which is ironic considering the album’s primary thematic device espouses the principles of anarchy. While using off the wall samples is not uncommon in grindcore, Liberteer blends samples of brass horns, banjos and mandolins with Repulsion tier riffing. The unique mix sounds like Napalm Death taking a detour as an American Revolution reenactment marching band.

Although grindcore has dabbled in politics before, Liberteer decries the current system while at the same time offering a potential replacement. Song titles like “Rise Like Lions After Slumber” and “99 to 1” are rallying cries to the masses and the major key triumph of many of the songs can stir even the most skeptical. If you aren’t completely sold on the anarcho ethics of Liberteer you can still get pumped to songs like “Sweat for Blood” which wouldn’t sound out of place in a Rocky training montage. If you want your revolutionary siege  scored by breakneck riffs and extensively developed rhetoric, or just like bad ass unique grindcore, this album is highly recommended.

Click here to pre-oder Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees available from Relapse Records January 31st.

Click here to follow Liberteer on their Facebook page.

- Clark Johnson