FILIPINO-ITALIAN hardcore punk band The Seeker recently released a split record with German power-violence crew Arno X Duebel. The Seeker’s split side of the record is entitled “Parusa,” and follows the heels of last year’s blistering album, “Malaya.”
The opening track, “#SleepTonightRevolutionTomorrow,” begins with the line, “What do you like in music? I like fast music.”
And The Seeker delivers the pain, all right. Parusa features seven songs—all performed at breakneck speed. The carnage is all over in 4 minutes, 45 seconds.
It just doesn’t end there. The album cover is striking and features an old photograph of a man being subjected to the garrote, perhaps dating back to the late Spanish times.
Half of the Milan-based band is composed of Filipinos Michael Dee on guitars and Eddu Jan Lapitan on bass. Drummer Andrea Covaz is Italian, while vocalist Dominik Dominak hails from Slovakia.
“We were on tour when we met these awesome German lads,” said Dee, who founded the band. “Arno X Deubel opened for us in Berlin and after that packed show, we got heavily drunk and the magic just happened. A split record was proposed and we said, ‘yes.’”
Dee describes Parusa as being “faster and more chaotic.” As for the Filipino titles of their records, the guitarist says the rest of the band doesn’t mind. “The language may be different, but [their] message is the same,” clarifies Dee. “We all think and feel along the same lines. We all strongly believe in [them].”
The band doesn’t shy away from politics in their native Italy, or even across their borders. Their songs rail against fascism, corruption and injustice. In fact, one of their songs on last year’s Malaya denounced extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
As for his home country, according to Dee, The Seeker has Southeast Asia and the Philippines on its tour radar. However, they need to work on logistics to make it happen. He said, “Maybe in a year or so, we can perform in the Philippines.”
The Philippines’s very own underground label Delusion of Terror, Germany’s Knochen Tapes, Italy’s Here and Now Records as well as Zas Autoproduzioni Records funded the split record.