Back in those dismal days of the 2020 pandemic and everything going into lockdown, the world had no end of great music to provide in-home entertainment. One of that year’s more interesting metal releases came from From Under Concrete Kings (you have to wonder how many different combinations of words were considered to create that acronym), which mixed elements of hardcore and groove metal with the artiness of bands like Between The Buried & Me to share something that not only had a great energy, but was far less predictable than “the norm”.
Six years on, ‘Impulse Tension’ works a similar desire to bend genre boundaries within the metalverse, but isn’t by any means an easy retread of what’s gone before. In fact, the first couple of bars of the opening track do not suggest anything particularly “metal” at all. Instead, the listener is confronted with melodic piano lines and a flowing vocal, more akin to something from the world of Styx, or even Jim Steinman. It’s just a ruse, of course, since ‘Anew From Bones’ then hits with some really tight thrash riffs and clean vocals, hinting at a love of classic Trivium, before twisting everything into a world of hardcore with a growling lead vocal to match. That’s three very different styles flaunted in just a couple of minutes, before the piano returns for a brief interlude and everything takes another twist with a classic, classic hardcore breakdown. This would be a perfect place to finish, but FUCK go the extra mile by dropping in a groove metal riff – introducing one of guitarist Alecia Marinelli’s most devastating tones – which acts as the perfect compliment to a genuinely intense vocal, then manage to blend in the kind of time signature more often associated with prog metal, just because they can… In lesser hands, this EP could’ve peaked early.
Opting for something heavier, ‘A Mirror’s Loathing’ jumps straight in with some blistering metalcore, with its main riffs delivering on a hardcore intent, driven by huge pneumatic rhythms supplied by drummer Eric Sheppard. This is a perfect base for some extreme vocals, and even when the track slows to introduce a severe grind somewhere around its mid point, the band show little sign of holding back. There are some thoughtful melodic passages dropped in, however, and there’s a nod to Killswitch Engage with the help of a soaring chorus driven by a couple more old school riffs and a clean vocal. If directly compared to the opener, there isn’t quite the same level of invention here, but for those who’ve followed the band for a while and are familiar with the first two EPs, this track will likely become a favourite. Launching into some classic sounding hardcore riffs coupled with superb lead guitar sounds, ‘Obfuscation’ immediately captures FUCK at full pelt, before a quick musical dogleg introduces some muscular bass work from Josh Previte, and another twist finds the band working through some impressive prog metal, full of angular riffs and bendy time signatures. Even when the latter part of this insanely heavy workout rests on some superb hardcore coupled with a vocal that leans towards a death metal grunt, and everyone approaches the closest approximation to their comfort zone, there’s an energy here that’s utterly immense.
In closing, ‘Covert Cadaver’ offers the listener something very different yet again, when coupling a classic metalcore riff to a clean vocal that owes a little more to goth and emo sounds. The more melodic aspects of this are left to really shine a little later when a huge, clean vocal taps into a crying tone that’s more within the melodic metal world than FUCK’s preferred metalcore. When that’s underscored by the twin guitars from Alecia and Josh (handling lead and rhythm guitars as well as bass), everything sounds superb. On a track absolutely brimming with great riffs, it’s impressive how the vocals take centre stage to become the best feature: the contrast between Joseph Izayea and Josh Previte’s delivery – one dirty, one clean – gives FUCK a genuinely sharp quality that, here perhaps more than on the other tracks, really lifts the material.
As with other works by From Under Concrete Kings, ‘Impulse Tension’ is never less than interesting, and never shows anything less than a hundred percent commitment from the musicians involved. These guys are superb players – that’s clear from the off – but the constant jumping between metallic styles can seem a little tiring if the listener isn’t equally as invested in the material. What this EP still represents, of course, is a work that makes it very clear that this Massachusetts based band remain one of the metal scene’s more interesting propositions, even if their sound mightn’t be for everyone. For those looking for a bold twist on some solid metalcore roots, ‘Impulse Tension’ is certainly worth seeking out.
July 2026