Zanjeer
Berlin hardcore punk band Zanjeer returns with Seher-e-Maqhoor (Eng: Dawn of the Oppressed), the long-awaited debut album, scheduled for April 3, 2026, via Neon Nile Records on LP, CD, and tape, as well as across digital/streaming platforms.
Formed in 2020 in Bremen, Germany, Zanjeer has kept boiling with their blistering hardcore assault ever since, narrating the frustration, anger, and hatred born out of systematic and consistent oppression. Their 2022 EP, Parcham Buland Ast (Eng: The Flag is Raised), made their intent apparent. Now operating from Berlin, they have been playing in different parts of Europe and even headlined the first night of the most recent Antipode Festival in Istanbul.
Delivered in Urdu, a lingua franca across Pakistan and India, the debut record, Seher-e-Maqhoor, connects the politics of the language’s homelands with that of its global diaspora, while extending solidarity with marginalized communities worldwide.
The album calls to mind the sonic ferocity of acts such as Ratos de Porao and Raw Power, while its lyrics cut into immigration, neocolonialism, global South exploitation, Islamist extremism, and the ongoing massacres in Palestine. Zanjeer’s no-frills, blistering approach reprocesses the trusted formulas of hardcore punk while dragging in the grime of crust, unruly speed of d-beat, and frenetic kineticism of thrash metal. It never mutates into a hybrid or an aesthetic exercise; instead, the members’ backgrounds and lived politics are weaponized into a sound that is bruising, intense, inherently dangerous, and uncompromisingly urgent and authentic.
The album art is inspired by the 1857 revolt against British colonial rule in British India. “Anti-Deutsch” is a cover of Reagan Youth’s track “Reagan Youth,” with the lyrics altered to sneer at the Anti-Deutsch movement in German punk, which is widely shaped by alignment with American imperial foreign policy and a political culture rooted in historical guilt over the Shoah. “Bharosa” is a re-recording of “Nadaran” from the band’s first EP, this time replacing the Persian sections with Urdu.
Zanjeer will celebrate the album with a record release show in Berlin on April 4, followed by two appearances in Italy the following week, before embarking on a mini UK tour in late May.
Album Credits:
Recorded, mixed and mastered in Berlin by Johny Jo.
Cover art by Chabieb (@pure_x_hate)
—Album Lineup—
Dozakhi – Vocals
Ludwig – Guitars
Giacomo – Bass
Steve – Drums
Band Lineup:
Dozakhi – Vocals
Ludwig – Guitars
Giacomo – Bass
Fekete – Drums
Upcoming Shows:
4/04 – Berlin (DE) – Record Release Show
4/13 – Palermo (IT)
4/14 – Catania (IT)
5/21 – London (UK) – KILL THE DOVE VOL.11
5/22 – Bristol (UK)
5/23 – Sheffield (UK) – Noise Annoys
Pre-Order:
https://neonnile.com/products/nf012?variant=47446425895227 (Vinyl, CD, Cassette)
https://neonnile.com/collections/zanjeer (Merchandise)
https://zanjeer.bandcamp.com (pre-orders to be available soon)
Zanjeer:
https://linktr.ee/zanjeer
https://www.facebook.com/zanjeerpunk
https://www.instagram.com/zanjeerpunk
https://zanjeer.bandcamp.com
Neon Nile Records:
https://neonnile.com
https://www.facebook.com/NeonNileOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/neonnile
https://neonnile.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@neonnile
https://www.tiktok.com/@neonnile
