REVIEW: Virus- Dark Ages reissue

Fuckin' Virus! Donna Damage teams up with Keifer Modoreefer in order to reissue this NYHC classic on what seems to be a remastered version on CDR. Even upon forming, you pretty much an all star line-up in this band with members who served in No Thanks, the Undead, Agnostic Front, and the Crypt Crashers, and released this EP on Rat Cage Records. They set the bar pretty damn high, with some great musicianship and interesting songs that really stand apart from the NYHC sound circa '83. These guys were much tighter musicians than a lot of the NY bands at the time. The rhythm section with Natz and Patrick Blank is super tight and they bust out some dark, almost post-punk sounding rhythms. Jimi of No Thanks fame lays some grating guitar tracks over that and Jimmy Kontra sounds positively maniacal on vocals. Listening to this all the way through, you really start to feel that these guys suffered from the NYHC dysfunctional band-syndrome; they had tons of promise but for some reason or another they weren't able to keep it together to get the recognition of bands in other scenes. Shame, as this is a great record...

Virus tribute page on myspace
Mr Modoreefer Records