"There was a time when you could get seriously beaten up for listening to music that sounded like this. Now the only thing in danger is your wallet, as anybody who has dipped a toe into the swirling seas of punk collecting will testify. And that's the great thing about Killed by Death -- so many "great" punk singles were produced in such stultifying minute quantities that, without this series, there would scarcely be a soul who'd even heard of them. Which may or may not be a good thing, as Volume 4 leads you into some of the distinctly dubious territory thrown up by the late-'70s/early-'80s (mainly) U.S. punk scene, as it shrugged off its earlier adherence to its Anglo-punk roots and began driving towards the more hellacious hardcore -- with a snarling demeanor to match. Four tracks from the Zero Boys include the brick-bat hurling "Stoned to Death," while Filth's "Don't Hide Your Hate" and Heart Attack's "God Is Dead" are high enough on attitude that the actual musical ineptitude that seems to be this particular collection's main criteria is scarcely even noticeable. Punk, after all, was never about actually being able to play your instruments, but even by the genre's traditional standards, Mad Virgins' "Fuck & Suck" and the Rotters' deeply un-PC "Sink the Whales (Buy Japanese Goods)" are a clattering racket built around adrenalin and shock value alone. Far more than on earlier volumes, the American bias of the collection is broken up by the inclusion of a handful of imported sounds, giving some indication of just how far-reaching the Killed by Death series would eventually become. Holland's Filth (later reprised on the Killed by Epitaph collection) and Belgium's Mad Virgins are joined by the U.K.'s novelty Jerks, Sweden's Brulkbajz, Canada's Subhumans, and Australia's Victims, all of them blasting through on a high-octane mix of disdain, discordancy, and -- according to prevailing wisdoms at least -- some genuinely dangerous rhythms." - allmusic.com
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