Conventional wisdom holds that releasing an album within a month of the holidays is bad sales strategy. Hence, the slim pickin’s of new releases around this time of year. Of course, if you’re a musician who’s primary objective is circumventing the current industry paradigms, ascribing to the punk ideology of committing fiscal suicide to reinforce you’re disdain for the capitalist model, then this is the perfect time for your album to hit the streets. The music biz is supposedly tanking anyway, right? Why even bother playing by the old rules? There’s at least three Northwest hardcore bands who don’t give two shits about retail plans, and as a result there’s three stellar records to tide you over during this annual lull.

First up, we have Tacoma metalcore outfit Owen Hart. Now, metalcore carries some negative connotations these days. It’s a scene that slowly crept into dubious territory when Integrity’s apocalyptic thrash and Rorschach’s blown vocal cords were co-opted by Orange County kids in Hot Topic-distributed Misfits gear. Granted, there have always been a few holdouts fighting the good fight, but the Atreyus and As I Lay Dyings of the world sadly overshadow the truly harrowing terror of bands like Acme and Deadguy. This makes the vitriol of Owen Hart’s Earth Control (Vitriol Records) a breath of fresh air in a realm typically dominated by Ozzfest side-stage bands with endorsements from crappy clothing lines, cheap music gear, and diabetes-inducing energy drinks. Owen Hart comes across as a hardcore band first, and their mining of death metal, thrash, and grind merely serves to make their onslaughts all the more overwhelming. Though their chops are definitely tighter, more competent, and more dexterous than your average VFW Hall mosh band, they share that unrefined DIY approach that lends authenticity to their double-bass breakdowns and tremolo-picked guitars. That raw element is a crucial component often absent in the triggered drums, melodic choruses, and Pro-Tooled sheen of so many of glossy metal bands. Ultimately, Owen Hart’s attack is more about creating orchestrated chaos, not pandering to the meathead demand for ham-fisted breakdowns and recycled chug riffs.

Countdown To Armageddon’s full length features fewer nods to the metal world, barring the requisite Motorhead buzzsaw attack behind every d-beat band. Eater of Worlds (Aborted Society Records) is definitely a part of the Profane Existence/Skuld lineage of black-clad crust punks dropping bleak, bare-bones riffs over even bleaker lyrical motifs of government control and the dehumanizing nature of industrialized society. Of course, this stuff dates back to Discharge and careens through nearly three decades worth of similarly nihilistic, driving hardcore. But CTA balance out their more traditional crust attributes—alternating shrieking and bellowing vocals, 16th note power chord riffs, blazing tempos—with less conventional musical choices—extended instrumental passages, chorus-effected bass and guitar, and more elaborate song structures. While Eater of Worlds is bound to appeal to fans of bands like Misery, State of Fear, and Tragedy, their more idiosyncratic moments help place them alongside more adventurous punks like Rudimentary Peni and Dead And Gone.

Lastly, we have Same Sex Dictator’s From Beneath You It Devours (Longway Records). Anytime your principle instruments are bass and drums and your delivery consists of sludgy distorted chords and more complex runs of odd-time riffs, a Man Is The Bastard comparison is inevitable. Same Sex Dictator definitely has moments that owe to the prolific Bay Area powerviolence act, but they also employ a variety of bass effects and keyboard sounds that lend the duo a significantly broader tonal palette. “Get Out Of My Dreams and Into My Trunk” bares the closest resemblance to MITB, down to similar distortion settings, sparring vocal patterns, and electronic noise accessories. But this segues into “Turning State’s Evidence”, which opens with remarkable atmosphere and paucity of notes before launching into its chorus-pedal-fed bass lines and blast beats. In such moments, the Seattle duo completely defies any comparisons. The austerity and headphone candy comes to full bloom with the title track. “From Beneath You It Devours” is comprised of just a few carefully chosen and completely unnerving chords on a Rhodes piano and some tom work on the drums. It’s a creepy number, and a noteworthy demonstration of the sonic range of the band. Over the course of the album, Same Sex Dictator continue to play off the opposing nature of their thunderous bass lines and forays into droney psychedelia. By the time album closer “The Redeadening” unleashes its blurry nightmarish crawl, the Man Is The Bastard comparison seems horribly inadequate to describe the range of sounds conjured by these two dudes.

We’re about halfway through the most depressing month of the year. In a few weeks, more touring acts will brave the winter roads and labels will start pushing their releases for the year. But for now, January is an ideal time to delve into these new records by gloomy Northwest bands.