Healer Of Bastards – Simpler Times

“Better late than not at all” is our new motto for this week here at The Punk Site, Healer Of Bastards released the Simpler Times album back in…. well last year anyway.

So lets make up for lost time and give this anti fascist Thrash Punk band their dues, and reveal just what makes this album one that I listened to over and over, but never got the time to actually write about it until now, and album of pretty epic songs by the way.

‘Choose Your Battles’ hits the ear drums first, its like Slipknot on speed I guess, the aim of this music is to make you sit up and take note, and this is exactly what you get from every single sinew of the vocal assault and musical machine gun.  ‘Living Free’ is second up and the lyric “all I want is to be me” and “I am Free” makes all the sense in the world, until then we shall never truly be a race that has its own place on this planet, and live together as equals. 

As you work you way through this album, your made even more aware of the heavy metal link to the sound, the aforementioned Slipknot guitar riffs and licks are never too far away, but this is all just a means to an end, its a cry for you to hear the anger and the need to give the lyrics a means of delivery, like shells from a howitzer, which are the only things that should be getting fired from such weapons.  

Then we come to the real atomic bomb of a lyric, the song that sits up there with the likes of ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’, ‘Die, Die, Die, Nazi Bastards’ should be the intro song to all punk gigs and festivals a song that says exactly what all true Punks and Skins stand for, a world that’s free from the vermin, “Die, Die, Die, you fucking fascist wankers, why won’t you try to catch an incurable disease” . 

I have to admit that after a number of listens, it took a while before I could get past track five and listen to the rest without being so blown away by that song, that the rest just didn’t somehow give you that feeling of greatness, but please please, don’t be a shithead like myself, because this is actually an album full of hard hitting life affirming songs, no they don’t all rock like die, die, die, but shit man they are worth every second of your time.

The simpler things in life are all found here within, you’ll need a new hearing aid when finished, but it’s worth every second of pain, listen to every word and understand why it’s an album titled in such a way.

You can get this album digitally now and pre-order the vinyl via Bandcamp

Link up with the band via Facebook

Released in conjunction with Horn And Hoof Records