\n
What is surprising, however, is how the band use sounds and influences I\u2019m not used to hearing in hardcore.\u00a0 After the rousing anthem of lead track \u201cLegs Feed the Wolf,\u201d the band slows down to some crunchy rhythms and almost post-punk chords for \u201cYou Got Heart Kid.\u201d\u00a0 Track three is where things get really interesting.\u00a0 Musically it\u2019s almost a rockabilly romp, but with shouted hardcore vocals and the return of those effective gang vox over the top warning, \u201cThe devil creeps, the devil crawls, the devil lies.\u00a0 The devil don\u2019t take holidays!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n \u201cVictorious\u201d carries on the experimentation with mixing punkabilly rhythms with hardcore shouts (think Social Distortion on steroids), admonishing the listener to trust in the power of Christ: \u201cVictorious you will be!\u00a0 Victorious you will see!\u201d\u00a0 The instrumental number \u201cThe Puck Stops Here\u201d rounds out the first half of the EP.<\/span><\/p>\n \n The second half features demo tracks of earlier material.\u00a0 However, these songs are just as strong as the newer studio recordings, just a little rawer.\u00a0 \u201cRattle and Roll\u201d would be at home on a lost demo from Minor Threat or Ceasefire, as would \u201cDrown Your Guilt.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cOpen\u201d once again sees the band experimenting with influences from other genres\u2014this time it\u2019s post-punk and even a touch of surf rock (not surprising considering the band\u2019s contribution to the FleaHab Sober Living Environment Compilation last year, a compilation of surf rocks tracks).\u00a0 The track reminds me of the best elements of late 80s and early 90s alternative rock\u2014that era when it seemed nothing was off-limits in terms of sounds and influences.\u00a0 \u201cLighthouse\u201d carries on that hardcore shouting meets post-punk riffage to great effect.\u00a0 The vocal inflection on this track reminds me a little of No Division-era Hot Water Music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n The album is finished out with another hardcore romp in \u201cHard Head & Black Hearts,\u201d but closes with a super-heavy outro with layered guitars and again those effective gang vocals. \u00a0The band crank through all 10 songs in just over 20 minutes.\u00a0 I really hope this band can manage to stick it out and release albums for years to come.\u00a0 Best hardcore album in the last 5 years, IMO! (Thumper Punk Records) 4.5 out of 5 stars<\/span><\/p>\n \n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I haven\u2019t been this excited about a hardcore release in quite a long time.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1020],"tags":[202,89,204,198,203,201,206,205,200,199],"class_list":["post-2616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-ceasefire-d0","tag-cross-check-d69","tag-fleahab-sober-living-experiment","tag-hardcore","tag-hot-water-music","tag-minor-threat","tag-punkabilly","tag-rockabilly","tag-social-distortion","tag-thumper-punk-records"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/39dbb9_4a90d46074a848faac7cee756e1057bf-mv2-9.png\")
<\/p>\n