Extreme Smoke 57
Anyone who grew up in Yugoslavia before the early 1990s still remembers the iconic design of Filter 57 cigarettes, which you could find on every construction site or playground. The Gorizia-based band Extreme Smoke was formed in 1990 and soon added the number 57 to their name, referencing these cult cigarettes. But Extreme Smoke 57 are not legendary only because of their name—they are also known as Slovenia’s first grindcore band (grindcore is a genre of extreme guitar music that emerged and was popularized in mid-1980s Britain by bands such as Napalm Death).
Unsurprisingly, one of their key influences were precisely these British pioneers, whose 1987 album Scum (released by Earache Records) shook the alternative guitar scene and sparked a true revolution. Today, Extreme Smoke 57 are considered the “kings of noise,” standard-bearers of loud and extreme guitar music that, since the 1990s, has evolved into numerous subgenres. Among their main influences are also bands such as Sore Throat, Fear of God, Seven Minutes of Nausea, and Agathocles.
As with many other bands from the Gorizia scene, the members of Extreme Smoke 57 were active in various local projects, including Patareni, Deeper Than World, Cadlag, PureH, Mozak, Panic Overdose, Absent Minded, Ear Slaughter, Diarrhoea, Strobodeath, and Psihoza. The band disbanded in 1993 and returned to the stage 16 years later, though without their original drummer, who had passed away in 1998.
Over time, the band expanded their sound beyond pure grindcore into thrash territory, and since 2008 they have performed at major European festivals such as Metaldays, Obscene Extreme, EXIT, and Punk Rock Holiday. Their discography (a small portion is available here), which is extensive and consequently somewhat hard to navigate, includes dozens of demo recordings, EPs, compilations, split releases with other bands, as well as live and studio albums—and even a mini DVD. One of their landmark releases was the EP Who Sold The Scene (T.V.G. Records, 1996), described by reviewers at the time as the most intense, violent, and grotesque grindcore release of its era—virtually impossible to market.
With their crushing guitar riffs, blistering rapid-fire drumming, and the piercing vocals of frontman Borut Jakin – Boco, Extreme Smoke 57 wrote some of the earliest and most important chapters of extreme guitar music in Slovenia. And although they may not have had a direct musical influence on younger generations of Gorizia musicians, their DIY ethos and countercultural spirit undoubtedly left a massive mark on the local music scene, which, in the second half of the 1990s, grew from the ashes of Extreme Smoke 57.
Avtor: Jaša Bužinel
Kraj: Nova Gorica
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