Written by Nikolai Dineros People the world over decry the looming threat of war and invasion. Filipinos, faced with a dilemma of their own, grieve in remembrance of comrades lost. Of Rats and Swine could not have come at a more vital time. Behind this full-length record is Abanglupa, a hardcore punk/grindcore duo hailing all the way from Pateros. With Of Rats and Swine marking the band’s debut album release, the Vivo brothers comprised of Abanglupa, Ronnel and Ronaldo, released around a month before the album’s 22 February release date a manifesto expressing their grievances toward the Marcoses for their lies, callousness, insatiable greed, and total lust for power. “The Marcoses will do anything to return to Malacañang and claim power for themselves,” the statement read, as Abanglupa teased “Forced Dementia” — an allegorical protest against historical revisionism and the distortion writ large of the resistance’s raison d’être. “They will stop at nothing even if it means sowing discord amongst the Filipino people.” Abanglupa doesn’t beat around the bush, never indulging itself with the ominous. Across the ten short but powerful tracks in Of Rats and Swine, the band resonates their anger with the oppressed collective through guttural screams and loud riffs, and calls for the destruction, not the redesign, of the carceral structures that enslave the poor. The title track, “Erase”, and “Decorated Vultures” are just three among the ten hard-hitting songs that heavily emphasize these themes. As far as their sound goes, Abanglupa has a lot going for it. The band has previously cited the New Hampshire-based hardcore punk act Trap Them as a major influence. But as cumulative as influences are, comparisons do not end there. On many occasions, Of Rats and Swine crosses over borders of punk subgenres and metal, but it is hardcore at heart. But the rage of Abanglupa in their debut album is far more than the slew of crust, sludge, and grind elements the Vivo brothers have colorfully thrown into the mix. It is best encapsulated by the masses’ anger for tyrants and the system that bred these corrupted people to enrich and rot amongst themselves on the pedestal, to be spewed by society of their poison, only to be ingested once again with that same poison. Of Rats and Swine is a call-to-action. To violently topple down the powers that be – and may be. Support the art & the artist: https://abanglupa.bandcamp.com/album/of-rats-and-swine