‘National illusion of equality work, Praise as heroes, with nothing in return, Just a polished blank surface for the elite, Mask it as inclusion in order to build the new underclass’ (Servants)

Stockholm’s Xiao, who feature former members of The Long Haul and No Omega, return with their debut full-length, Control, following up two previous EPs, 2021’s Pain and 2023’s Burn.  The band continue to stride the murky edgelands of where hardcore and powerviolence interwine and mutate.

The latter influence is delivered courtesy of the gratifyingly robust riffage, sludge-mired breakdowns, and fierce blast beat eruptions.  Meanwhile, the feral, rasping vocals and, when not embroiled in the blast beat mayhem, spryly bouncing rhythm section inject an undeniable hardcore urgency that is captured particularly vividly on the venomous Wrong and the seething Karoshi.  Guest vocalists, including Hanna Stjernlöf of Socialstyrelsen and Sara Gregory of Entry, add further fervour to the battery.

The barrelling, groove-laden barrage is fuelled by a coruscating analysis of a socio-economic system that relentlessly privileges financial objectives over social concerns and reshapes society to serve the rapacious needs of rentier capital – everything is for sale (Control), individual wealth is valorised over the common good (Who Pays The Real Price?), and work has become increasingly precarious and unfulfilling (Karoshi).  The resultant atomisation and exploitation (Servants) have then proven the ideal breeding ground for right wing extremism (End Of Times).  A spiral that enriches the few and degrades us all.