‘Ez a zaj megöli a fasizmust, Kikapcsolja a kapitalizmus, Felszámolja a hatalmat ez a zaj enni ad, Ez a zaj tisztítja a levegőt, Ez a zaj törli el a határokat, ez a zaj vágja át a korlátokat’ (This Noise) ‘This noise kills fascism, turns off capitalism, abolishes power, This noise feeds us, This noise cleans the air, This noise erases borders, This noise cuts through barriers’ (This Noise)

A little while back, I wrote about some of the ideas explored by Bill Peel in his book Tonight It’s A World We Bury (Heretical Distortions).  Principal among them was the idea of distortion and its function in music.  How aural antagonism can create a community for the exchange of ideas, one that continually regenerates by constructing difference through creativity.

And let’s be clear, Budapest’s Balta are the very definition of distortion.  On this their second EP, Mindenki Mindig Minden Ellen (Everyone Always against Everything) and follow-up to 2022’s Rendszerszintű Agybasz​á​s (Systemic Brainwashing), the duo launch an onslaught of unrelenting dissonance.  Frantic vocals that occasionally dissolve into raging cries of undiluted despair, and rabid, primitive drumming are enveloped in waves of discordant guitar, raw and blown-out.  Meanwhile, brief flares of melody and fleeting solos leaven the wall of noise as the band rampage through nine tracks in 10 minutes.

And this relentless distortion serves as the ideal medium for the band’s anti-authoritarian message as they tackle themes of creating personal autonomy (Nagyon Sajnálom / I’m So Sorry), how governing rationalites saturate our thinking (Minden Hiedelem / All Is A Belief), and capitalism’s hollowing out of society (Patkány Élet / Rat Life).