‘The architects of our destruction They’re laughing now, Divided? Conquered? How can that be? It’s all connected, It so easy to see, Fates intertwined intrinsically’ (All We Got Is Us)

It has been a little while since Nekra’s debut 7-inch, 2020’s Royal Disruptor, and since then members have been keeping busy with a myriad of other projects, Child’s Pose, Sarcasm, and Turbo among them.  But absence has served only to fuel the fury as they return in typically uncompromising fashion on their latest five track EP.

Is It Really Living? sees the London band bring their trademark rhythmic bite to bear with a renewed ferocity.  The darkly metallic edge to the guitar and the visceral sneer to the vocals, as they alternate between Spanish and English, introduce a menacing counterpoint to this bouncing swagger.

Lyrically, the EP focuses on the need to nurture hope as the kernel of community resistance to a system that actively seeks to ferment division and justify its warped priorities to protect the privileges of capital.  Bad Bitch Stomp kicks off proceedings with a muscular directness, before the bristling exhortations of All We Got Is Us and the squalling, noise fuelled climax of Risk Factor.  I think it’s fair to say that time has not healed.