photos by Katharina Fruehwirth
Vienna, Austria-based political hardcore punk/noise rock trio DESOLAT today unloads the tumultuous new “Pig Race To The Apocalypse,” the first single previewing their third LP, People As Idiots & Idiots As Leaders. The album will be released through an anarchic DIY multi-label international coalition, with Reptilian Records and Exotic Fever Records handling the US release.
While DESOLAT’s output combines elements of noise rock, sludge, and hardcore, at heart, its members are anarcho-punks who can’t let the injustices of modern society go unaddressed. The album’s chronology follows an initial assessment (“Idiots As Leaders,” “Pig Race To The Apocalypse”), followed by depression (“This Sadness Makes Me Rage,” “No Depression When Dead,” “Good People Keep Their Mouths Shut While The Assholes Believe The World Belongs To Them”), and ultimately culminates in cynicism and resignation (“Cyberdyne Employment Application,” “Humans Are Such Easy Prey”). It doesn’t sound very uplifting, yet anger at the state of the world and one’s own condition is omnipresent in the energy of the music and lyrics. Stylistically, emocore elements have crept into the band’s sound for the first time, revisiting the past projects of its members.
Additionally, People As Idiots & Idiots As Leaders features guest appearances by vocalist/musician Jarboe (ex-Swans), saxophonist Michael Masen (Mozo Mozo), and RBK from post-punk band Rolltreppe. As with its predecessor, the album was recorded and mixed at Cosmix Studio in Vienna by Rainer Spänle and mastered by Swedish death metal legend Dan Swanö at Unisound (Edge Of Sanity, Katatonia, Bloodbath). DESOLAT will appeal to fans of Unsane, Helmet, Cherubs, Couch Slut, Jesus Lizard, Entombed, Still Life, Four Hundred Years, Anomie, Neurosis, Lvmen, Eyehategod, No Means No, Lard, Tragedy, and Minor Threat.
With “Pig Race To The Apocalypse,” DESOLAT guitarist/vocalist Alfred Satani reveals, “This is the second song on the album and the second song about looking at the state of our world right now. It’s not looking good. ‘Pig Race To The Apocalypse.’ Cheers! Musically, the song is obviously influenced by The Jesus Lizard and Helmet. So, if you are into that and feel like dancing to the end of the world, this one is for you!”
Crush your adversaries to DESOLAT’s “Pig Race To The Apocalypse,” now playing HERE.
People As Idiots & Idiots As Leaders will be released digitally and on marbled oxblood vinyl on October 9th and disseminated to the masses as a DIY collaborative release by nine labels and three distributors from seven countries, including, Reptilian Records and Exotic Fever Records in the US, Bloodshed666 Records and Grazil Records in Austria, Araki Records in France, minoRobscuR in Germany, Geenger Records in Croatia, Rat Run Records in the UK, and Geertruida in the Netherlands, and distributed by Dischord Direct, Stickfigure, Sounds Of Subterrania.
Preorders for all regions can be found HERE.
Additional previews of the album and more will be issued over the coming weeks.
A hometown album release party has been booked for October 16th, with more live plans in the works.
DESOLAT Live:
10/16/2026 Venster99 – Vienna, AU *album release show
Nine years after the breakup of the stoner/sludge band Cyruss, the successor trio DESOLAT was formed, consisting of three longtime members of the Viennese scene and (former) members of Phal:Angst, Cyruss, Dim Prospects, La Ligne Maginot, Gfrast, Face The Owl, Radikalkur, E.M.S., and others. DESOLAT’s second album, Get Sick And Let Me Watch You Die, was released in 2024 on the legendary U.S. noise rock/punk label Reptilian Records, and marked a milestone for the band in terms of international attention.
The nine songs on DESOLAT’s People As Idiots & Idiots As Leaders largely follow a thematic concept rooted in our times. In a world where wannabe and actual autocrats, far-right extremists and populists, macho loudmouths, and religious fanatics are elected to lead nations, democracy appears increasingly fragile. When the trajectory of social and political development seems to be heading primarily downward, democracy becomes a precious commodity even for anarchists – one that we must hope will at least be maintained at its current level. The conflict between revolutionaries and reformists within the left-wing scene suddenly seems ridiculous. When one is surrounded by figures like Putin, Orbán, Erdoğan, Trump, Bolsonaro, Milei, Meloni, Kaczyński, and the like – and when parties such as the FPÖ and AfD (both far-right/populist) are enjoying enormous success in one’s own and the neighboring country – it becomes disheartening to hold out hope for the future. The media landscape is shifting towards sickening and emotionally radicalizing social media dynamics controlled by ridiculously rich oligarchs who openly express anti-democratic fantasies of omnipotence and would love to play the role of world leaders.
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The post DESOLAT: Austrian Political Noise Rock Act Drops “Pig Race To The Apocalypse;” Third LP, People As Idiots & Idiots As Leaders, Nears October 9th US Release On Reptilian Records And Exotic Fever Records first appeared on Earsplit Compound.