Belgian-German aggro punk outfit Nasty (stylized as NASTY) bomb-drop their new album, Heartbreak Criminals, via Century Media. The quartet—featuring Nash (drums), Paddy (guitars), Berry (bass), and Matthi (vocals)—follow-up Menace (2020) even more pissed off and with even more love in their hearts. Tracks like “Resurrection” and “Don’t Play with Fire” illustrate Nasty’s growth as artists while continuing to hold the flag of “f*cked-up music for a f*cked-up world” high. Indeed, re-recording old-school, fan-favorite tracks "Declaring War” and “Chaos," both off 2006's Declaring War, connects Nasty's brow-beaten dots from the beginning to who the group are today. Heartbreak Criminals a sonic life lesson of fist-fights lost and battles hard won. Nasty are perseverance.
Formed in 2004 in Kelmis, Belgium on the Belgian-German border, Nasty quickly set off as a band of action, not words. Across seven full-lengths—starting with the bloody knuckles of Declaring War through the creative mosh of Menace—the group’s cudgel of hardcore, thrash, hip-hop, and other rabblerousing genres has proven to be a game changer. On the weight of live staples like “Fire on the People,” “Slaves to the Rich,” and “Chaos,” they’ve toured Europe, the United States, Russia, Brazil, Japan, China, and South Korea, sharing stages with high-profile acts like Suicidal Tendencies, Terror, Strife, Madball, and more. Their performances at Wacken Open Air, Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, With Full Force, and Resurrection Fest worked to solidify Nasty as not just a small-venue act but one with the swagger to decimate audiences on the biggest festival platforms. Their recent winter foray across Europe with Cabal, Frozen Soul, and Dying Fetus was a resounding success, exposing Nasty’s broken-bottle anthems to new audiences.
Heartbreak Criminals was written ad hoc throughout 2021 and 2022. The group met up at various times to break through the post-pandemic haze, hashing out stormers like "Roses," “Reality Check,” and “Total Domination” with a ready-to-kill attitude. Videos for “Resurrection” and “Declaring War” have already introduced the firestorm that is Heartbreak Criminals. To underpin Nasty’s visceral heft, Matthi (vocals) explored the depths of heartbreak, the rawness of betrayal, and a thing he calls “real talk.” There’s no lyrical holds barred in “911,” “Nobody Cares,” and the title track. Whereas most bands are about the monolog, Nasty only cares about delivering results on Heartbreak Criminals.
Nasty recruited Andy Posdziech (Caliban, Any Given Day) yet again to manage Heartbreak Criminals' controls. The Gelsenkirchen native holed up with Nasty at Bestes Studio for over nine months. The goal: make Nasty "harder." That's precisely what Posdziech did, grinding devastating 13 tracks out of the group. The powerful effect of “Resurrection,” “Don’t Play with Fire,” and “Kiss from a Rose” was further enhanced by mix/master maven Marvin Kinkel (Beginning, I Am the Poison). The capper to Heartbreak Criminals is the vivid cover art by illustrator/tattoo artist Marcel Kristensen. Where Heartbreak Criminals takes Nasty isn't up to fate—they're not about pie-in-the-sky concepts. Instead, they hit the streets and put in the work. Just as the group powered through sour times before, with Heartbreak Criminals Nasty are gonna come out on top.
