FUCK LIFE is the debut record from the Belgrade outfit, Suplexx. It consists of ten hardcore tracks that filter raw aggression through sludge metal, industrial noise, electronic, and emo. The tagline is VIOLENCE=ELEGANCE, and they mean it.
What makes the band interesting, before you even hear the record, is their origin story. The members draw from indie, shoegaze and DJ backgrounds, with a frontman who moonlights as drummer for post-punk outfit Sv. Pseta. Suplexx is a band that sounds like nothing else currently coming out of Belgrade, and the concerts, judging by their Instagram, look genuinely unhinged.
The record opens with the first of four glitchy, abrasive noise-adjacent industrial tracks called THE SHRIKE, before LOVEBOMB hits like a brick wall with chugging post-hardcore riffs, shrieking metalcore vocals, double kick bass, and flashes of sludge. Converge is the obvious reference point, and it holds up. NECROSIS keeps the metal energy high, barely giving you time to breathe before the title track arrives.
FUCK LIFE is the statement. Slower, heavier, more deliberate — sludge metal at its most suffocating — until the middle section opens up into something genuinely unexpected: the vocals begin to glitch and fracture, a wave of distorted electronics floods in. I had to replay this track immediately after hearing the shockwave breakdown halfway through. As of yet, nothing else from the region this year has done anything like it.
The back half spirals further as the sound slowly splinters from the original sludge metal. NEVER A FRIEND and HOPESFALL expose a post-hardcore emo streak that’s sharp and frenetic, while I AM FORTRESS and DEATH CRADLE carry an early Slipknot weight through heavy guitar riffs and growling vocals. The parallel extends to the frontman, who performs masked and in a dress — it’s the same give-zero-fucks energy, but through an entirely different aesthetic. CROUCH & COUGH closes the record out with a more atmospheric sound to begin with before dissolving into straight sludge metal.
FUCK LIFE is one of the most viscerally exciting debuts to come out of Serbia in a while. The only negative is that the record sits at a measly 18 minutes; I’d love to hear another 18 minutes. Still, the Belgrade hardcore scene is producing genuinely boundary-pushing work right now, and Suplexx are already near the front of it.
Where to Find Them
- Bandcamp: listen & support on Bandcamp
