Razorblade from Den Bosch, the Netherlands, are one of those bands that have been with me for over twenty years. I first came across their early stuff back in my teenage years — and Spreading Fear and Skinheads Are Back (2002 and 2005) totally blew me away. That aggressive, razor-sharp sound with a rough, barking vocal hit right where I needed it — music that feels like a battle march but still reeks of the street. I’ve seen them live a few times, and they’ve never let me down — just like every record that followed.
For me, two albums stand above the rest: Music For Maniacs (2008), which became one of my all-time favorite Oi! / skinhead rock LPs and still holds that spot today, and My Name Is Vengeance (2014). These two records are, to me, cornerstones of European Oi! over the past two decades.
But every era comes to an end. The young guns have turned into the old guard — happens to anyone who keeps holding the line long enough. Razorblade announced their final shows and decided to mark the end properly — by cutting their last work into vinyl, ten years after their previous release. The result is a four-track EP that delivers exactly what we know and love from them. One song in English, three in Dutch.
The opening track, „The Old Guard,“ is sung in English and captures that feeling when the old crew gets together again after years apart. It’s about how we’ve become the veterans of the scene — and how old friendships come alive again for one more night. Twin guitars drive the record, giving it a full, powerful sound that defines the whole EP.
„Anti-Artistiek“ is a hard-hitting Dutch-language banger where the vocals and phrasing hit perfectly in their native tongue. The song’s grit and tone take me back to Den Bosch, a track I used to blast in my car on the way to every weekend piss-up. This time, though, the focus is more on the lead vocals than on gang-style choruses.
On the B-side, you get „Yuppies“ and „Wij Zijn Terug?“ Yuppies is a hardcore-tinged track that brings back that old, righteous hate toward the generation of slick, smiling sellouts — raw and unfiltered. The closing Wij Zijn Terug? stands out with killer guitar solos that give it a strong sense of buildup and release.
All in all, this is classic Razorblade — old-school, battle-ready, and still sharp as ever. I’m stoked on this EP, but I’m also gutted that it’ll be the last entry in their discography. Razorblade once again prove what they’ve always been best at — writing absolute bangers. They’re bowing out the only way they should: with weapons drawn and heads held high.
TOP TRACKY: The Old Guard, Anti-Artistiek
