BAND OF THE DAY: OD VRATOT NADOLU

All of the conditions for a thriving crust scene in Serbia, apply to Macedonia too – trapped between the pan-European idealism of its neighbours and a twilight of sectarian hatred and territorial squabbles that for many defines the Balkans, Macedonia, like Serbia, is a country on the wrong side of the glass, banging on the window angrily because life is that little bit harder, that little bit more frustrating and that little bit more of a pain in the cock.

Skopje-based, Man is the Bastard-worshipping hardcore two-piece Od Vratot Nadolu deliver more than the juvenile thrill of pasting Од Вратот Надолу into iTunes and fucking everything right up, they offering up swaggering, snarling rocking crust – all throbbing basslines and infected yelps – on their debut album, 'Ziva' (available via Macedonian label Hell Militia, who've done all sorts of brilliant stuff - have a look). Favouring the knuckle-dragging, inebriated lurch, rather than the reckless charge, their banging on the glass of modernity is slow, steady and rattles the frame like a passing truck.