‘Collected Violence’ contains nearly everything released by Apartment 213, including the ‘Vacancy’ and ‘Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things’ EPs, the splits with Gehenna, Thug, Benümb, Dahmer, Forced Expression, and Nothing Is Over, ‘The Power Of Tools’ Demo, and the tracks from the ‘This Comp Kills Fascists Vol. 2’ compilation. The split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed is available through Relapse Records and the Cleveland Power Violence album was also just digitally reissued through Magic Bullet Records, but virtually everything else they have released is in this collection. They started in Cleveland, Ohio in late 1993 and was most active during the initial five years as a band. While a formal cessation was never announced or planned, extended breaks became normal for the band. After a couple of split 7” releases in 1998, it would be another eight years before the band’s only proper full-length, ‘Cleveland Power Violence’, came to light, followed by a split LP with Agoraphobic Nosebleed a year later. The oldest of the songs contained here go back to 1993, with the most recent being 2010, and if ever a band was inspired by early Napalm Death then it has to be these guys.
Napalm Death were inspired by Discharge and then moved into a more metal area, playing harder and faster than anyone else to singlehandedly create the genre of Grindcore, and Apartment 213 obviously started at the same base, but have maintained more of a hardcore to what they are doing. The result is something that isn’t really grind, but is heavier and more aggressive than normal hardcore (if there is such a thing). 47 songs, with a total running time of just over 70 minutes, this is pure nihilistic aggression, full of anger and hate. In many ways, this is far more about the emotion being portrayed than the musical ability or songs, as while they may not much on one front, they have plenty on the other. If ever a riot could be captured in some sort of musical form, then this is it.
