ACTIVE BASTARD – The Golem

Active Bastard is a Canadian recording project spewing a potent mix of negative hardcore, street punk, and crossover thrash — all served in a gilded chalice of gothic misery.

Formed by two long-jaded punks with decades of psychological scars and zero patience for optimism, the duo’s debut The Golem is a love letter to despair, self-loathing, and vintage hardcore.

Ian, former vocalist of The Groggies, unloads his blackly hilarious lyrical self-destruction over Ionas’ melancholic, metal-laced riffwork (of blackened punks Sardu). Together, they trudge through melody and misanthropy — from the Bo Diddley murder ballad parody “Dare Not Laugh” to the 20-riff existential monologue “Everything Could Be Wonderful.”

Active Bastard is not a revival project, a nostalgia act, or a touring band in waiting. Hardcore reduced to its most private function: a ritual performed without witnesses.

Don’t ask them to play live. That would mean going outside and interacting with other idiots.