Before Fugazi became the best punk band in the world, and before Embrace essentially invented post-hardcore, Ian MacKaye fronted what may be the single most iconic hardcore band of all time.

This 1984 release compiles the seminal straight edge band’s blistering first two EPs into a single 12″, and those songs are just as visceral and frantic as they were in the early 80s.

Even over thirty-five years later, it’s difficult to imagine anything sounding louder or angrier than this. Certainly, there is more extreme sounding music, but the ethos and fury here is purer than anything released before or since. Even Black Flag sounds a little cheery in comparison to Minor Threat’s shredded power chords, machine gun drumming, and Ian MacKaye’s rabid bark. This record doesn’t even break the 17-minute mark, only two of its twelve songs going past two minutes. These are brief, brutal sprints, clad in Legion of Doom-style spikes and out for blood.

But where Minor Threat’s legacy is the most iconic is in the ethos of the punk movement. The straight edge movement didn’t even exist until Ian barked out a song of the same title sharing his disdain for chemical substances. As for DIY ethos, these EPs were released on the already formed Dischord Records label, which MacKaye formed with Minor Threat drummer Jeff Nelson when he was just 18. MacKaye’s famed political ideologies, which made Fugazi such a tour-de-force, are present here—although a little bit unrefined (see: “Guilty of Being White”  a song about racial tensions in DC which has been co-opted by White Supremacists).

And while many albums this influential pale in comparison to the scenes they inspired (compare any Neurosis album to modern post metal), these two EPs are just as exciting and engaging as modern hardcore—if not more so. This record is as timeless as it is furious. And thirty-five years from now, I wouldn’t be surprised if hardcore still looks to Minor Threat as a standard bearer.