Lots of bands claim to play hardcore punk, but quite often that means hardcore spliced with bits of metal and other genres that dilute the overall feel. On their 2017 EP ‘Toxic Care‘, Natterers genuinely meant hardcore, with buzzsaw riffs played at breakneck speed. Their only concession to any different style came via a few surf punk riffs, but since those were derived from the Dead Kennedys debut, even those had a shrill and unrelenting attitude that could only come from a hardcore perspective. Like a smack to the jaw, that EP was easily the best punk release of the year.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
SOUL DISSOLUTION – Nowhere EP
Formed in 2012, Belgian progressive/post black metal band Soul Dissolution have never been afraid to stretch the confines of black metal. Their 2018 album ‘Stardust’ mixed standard black metal ideas with some surprisingly melodic passages, resulting in something that often sounds like Drama crossed with a very extreme version of ‘Jester Race’ era In Flames, stretching extreme riffs into cold, bleak shapes.
IMPELLITTERI – The Nature Of The Beast
Impelliteri’s tenth studio album ‘Venom‘ was a funny record. Not intentionally so, unfortunately, but lyrically it was so clichéd, it managed to make Judas Priest seem like they could be nominated for an Ivor Novello award at any given moment. Funnier still was Chris Impellitteri’s thinking behind the release: he supposedly wanted to “…create a metal record that would appeal to everyone… Even women”, apparently. Here was a man so stuck within a universe centred around 1984, he failed to even see how a lot of women were active on the metal scene at the time of its release. The very idea that some of them were even in bands might’ve just made his little head explode.
FOREVER UNCLEAN – Woof EP
Mixing skate punk, pop punk, melodic hardcore and scratchy 80s indie, Denmark’s Forever Unclean delve into a melting pot of sounds that can turn on a sixpence. It’s will full credit to the band that such a varied sound works as well as it does; if any of the musicians were in any way slack, the tunes on their 2018 EP ‘Woof’ could fall apart in an instant.
I AM THE LAW – Hymn Of The Vulture EP
Prior to the release of their second EP ‘Hymn of The Vulture’, I Am The Law shared stages with Superjoint Ritual and Crowbar. They also cite Pantera and Lamb of God among their main influences, so, taking these facts on board, you could probably take an educated guess at what these Nashville based Southern metal overlords sound like before even hitting the play button.
…And you’d be absolutely right.