Look, I don’t normally place much faith in statistics but according to the data analysis thing in the back end of WordPress, these hardcore round ups have become quite popular. I can only assume that the extreme music world has finally recognised my immense talent for discovering good bands and writing hilarious words about them for you, the little people. To capitalise upon that interest we’ll be shifting the monthly round ups to a bi-weekly schedule for as long as I can be arsed to write them. I tend to pick and choose stuff that I personally enjoy for publication here. If you want to read the mean reviews I suggest you head on over to my author feed at Apathy & Exhaustion
Ok to business, lets take a look at Hangman from Long Island. Hadn’t checked out these guys before but they played some shows with Higher Power on their recent US tour and I heard good things so let’s give them a go. Vile Decree is the name of this new 7″ on Flatspot Records. Hangman set out their stall on opening track Pesticide, mid paced chugging malevolence. There’s groove and scorn in abundance and when the mid paced break in Coming To shows up I challenge all of you not to screwface and bob your head like you’re mean mugging in a Biohazard video or some shit. Set a rubbish bin on fire, wear shades indoors, take a mean dog for a walk etc.
Abandoned crunches into view and for some reason I’m reminded of the Full Contact songs from the NY Hardest comp even though I havent thought about that record in fifteen years. Brian from Long Island miseries Neglect drops a guestie on this cut and his tombstone drawl provides a dynamic contrast to the Hangman vocalists cleaner style. Overall a pleasing listen, recommended for fans of mid nineties New York hardcore and urban fonts. You can listen to them HERE
My old mucker Rich Perusi finally quit denying his true destiny and got back in a new band called Hypocrite from Copenhagen. Hypocrite play nuts and bolts hardcore punk like your Dad used to listen to back when he was full of piss and vinegar and wanted to show the world his cock. Now he’s just a fat turd sitting on the couch necking piss weak beer wondering why he married the first girl that flashed her garbage at him. Perhaps he should quit feeling sorry for himself and give the Hypocrite demo a blast to remind himself of the pure healing fury of the punk rock. Basically fuck your old man. If you dig the fundamentals, I’m talking Circle Jerks, Minor Threat etc, then do yourself a favour and listen to Hypocrite HERE
My man Chris Williams over in Seattle just got me hip to the Guard Dog demo. Even though it’s been out for 18 months I hadn’t heard the name around before. They might not even still be a band for all I fucking know. Anyway. The first song kicks in and I almost blew chunks into my own mouth because it reminded me of Justice. But then I remembered that once upon a time I quite liked the Justice demo and that I hadn’t always wanted to beat up the singer with a bike chain. Guard Dog remind me of that first bloom. No nonsense Straight Ahead vibes is the main order of business here. Fast and furious breaks before collapsing into righteous Side By Side style build up/ breakdowns. The singers got a cool thick necked vocal style and occasional guido’ism’s that compliment this brand of hardcore perfectly. FFO: Low skanks, high fives and Tommy Carroll’s bleached blonde head. Listen to the demo HERE
These days I really only ever listen to moshy hardcore when I’m running or in the gym. I have a playlist full of absurdly hard songs that fuel me with hatred and violence and it really helps me push myself to be honest. That said I seldom add to that playlist because if you’ve got the early Hatebreed songs, Merauder and a few choice Terror songs anything else is just eating up space. I bestow the highest honour then on Canada’s Withdrawal because they just made the playlist with THIS FUCKING RAGER
How have I never heard this record until today? It came out in 2016. It’s two years old. I feel like a glue sniffer. Have I been sleepwalking through my life? If I’d had access to this record six months ago I would be built like a brick shit-house and teeping steroid monsters into orbit instead of getting sand kicked in my face by the beach bullies down Margate sands.
How best to describe this record? It’s like the band have strip mined the (rob) ore out of Seasons In The Size Of Days. All the good bits… the malicious ambience, the sonic dissonance, the nihilism but instead of disappearing up their own arse and going all arty they weld that fierce inspiration onto a cast iron framework of rugged Buried Alive worship. Holy hell the intro to Your Dreams Are Dead is some lethal shit. Palm muted invocations to summon the demons of the pit and you are moshing to survive my friend. The drummer is working that double beater and china crash like you work a fucking job jackass. The guitarists have got riffs and breakdowns for absolute days and when they whip a tasty little solo out, well it’s kinda like when you order the Garlic Chilli Chicken Balti from Indian Spice in my village. They hide these dried chillis in the curry right and just when you think you’ve reached peak heat, well you bite down on one of those little rippers and it kicks you square in the dick. Exquisite levels of pain and triumph are unlocked, Pinhead style.
Behind The Music: Look, I’m an older guy now, I like to chill and write these bullshit reviews in my kitchen with a nice cup of tea . I’ll listen to two, maybe three tracks outta ten? I base my empty headed reviews on those couple of songs that I can be arsed to listen too then imagine what the rest might sound like and make it all up. And when I’m done I go and put Tatu back on. But yo, I listened to every song on this record. Never had me clenching my fists at the keyboard, my head swimming with visions of ancient enemies that I should hunt down and beat their skulls into tattered fragments with my fists.
Adams vocals are delivered with sheer guterall scorn. It’s not low end blast furnace like Jamie Jasta or Scott Vogel, it’s got that ragged edge like Human Furnace that sounds like a man clawing at the end of his rope. I like that, it’s way more violent and real. There’s enough texture and interesting ideas to elevate this album from the knucklehead ranks but Withdrawal have not experimented at the expense of neglecting the visceral art of the breakdown. Probably the best heavy hardcore full length I’ve heard in the past 12 months. Outstanding work. Please visit England so I can break my hip at a show and spend the rest of my days in crippled regret. Go pick up a copy from Escapist Records.