OH! I can't believe I forgot about this wonderful and horribly underrated album:
It's a shame there is so little discussion of Choking Victim on this forum, but then again the punk sub-forum isn't too active in general. I absolutely adore this album and IMO its a record anyone interested in punk rock should give a listen as well as one of the best punk albums to be released over the last decade. They were a great live band as well and they continue to maintain a cult following especially in and around my home state of New York.
After Choking Victim broke up most of the members formed Leftover Crack. Obviously since the bands line up didn't have any major changes the two bands sound very similar. In the case of these two bands the similarity turned out to be a good thing, especially since CV was such a short-lived band and their only release left me and many others craving their eccentric mix of ska punk, crust, hardcore, and anarcho. They even managed to include death metal influenced riffs here and there.
In a sense though I'm reluctant to point out their incorporation of ska influences because of the other bands associated with the genre. I'm not for the most part much of a fan of the vast majority of ska punk bands, though I do enjoy the few bands that fit under the ska punk umbrella that do it creatively and effectively. However Choking Victim is undoubtedly not your typical ska punk band. They combine those elements with their own more abrasive and cynical sound.
Also, if you're like me and you despise the police, Choking Victim and LOC are two bands that share in our disgust for officers of the law as they have a substantial amount of songs about killing cops
(for instance One Dead Cop, Gang Control, Crack Rock Steady,etc.). Aside from killing cops, their lyrics tend to stay within the range of subjects that are common among punk bands like politics, drug abuse, anarchism, rebellion, criticisms of society, etc. Even so Stza (the leader singer, his name being a Wu-Tang Clan homage) manages to write very effective, dark, and often humorous lyrics despite their relative simplicity.
No Gods No Managers is without a doubt heavy and intense listen, but they don't sacrifice their own brand of intellect, cynicism, and dark humor. If you enjoy punk music of any kind and you've never listened to Choking Victims debut/swan song then I strongly suggest you give it a listen. Admittedly for some people Choking Victim can be the type of band that you'd have to let grow on you for awhile to really appreciate. In any case, they are definitely a band that's worth looking into in my opinion.
For the time being that is all the knowledge I'm going to drop regarding one of the best punk bands to make music in recent history
