Review roundup - September 2024
October 7 marks one year. Free Palestine.
Fatal Realm - Demo (Self Released)
Some people swear death metal is better when you apply a hardcore lens to it. I personally like four-plus-minute riff parades that pummel you into submission and don’t give a shit what‘s happening on the dance floor. Hardcore kids won’t stop writing short, pit-friendly death metal anytime soon, though. Fatal Realm is a prime example of how it should be done. Vocalist/guitarist Mike Shaw shows us where he developed some of the chops he uses in Mindforce, who’ve covered Bolt Thrower and Obituary live. Shaw’s sharp howls sometimes conjure the latter’s John Tardy, which is always a win in my book. The production also leans into the classic Scott Burns sound. Another fat W. Most importantly, the fast parts sound like actual death metal riffs from the 90’s (when speed mattered), instead of the limp-wristed deathcore most contemporary bands end up recycling. Some of the slams feel sluggish and overbearing, but more often than not, Fatal Realm get it right.
Goon - God’s Only Option Now (Convulse)
Leading into the pandemic, a small but impactful wave of stompy, mid-tempo punk bands with effects-drenched vocals cropped up across America. Convulse Records adopted the movement early, carving out an identity as the premier purveyor of “weird shit”. Goon’s 2019 EP Natural Evil may be patient zero for the “Convulse sound”, a style that’s blown up since, going from hardcore’s best kept secret to peak over-saturation. It still works well in the right hands, though. Some early adapters also realized how to keep things fresh by using the same cutting edge creativity that found them ahead of the curve in the first place. For Goon, that means mixing noise rock, post-punk, and maybe even a smidge of early DC emo into the sauce. The long songs are highlights on this eight track LP, pushing the capabilities of sopping wet pogo punk to their limits. Usually, 20 minutes of this would be enough for me. With the Goon LP, I’m left wanting more.
Discontent - Fifteen Souls (Streets of Hate)
Modern beatdown bands are currently playing a game of chicken to decide who can capture the most obnoxious snare tone. Discontent are the current champs. When I put this EP on in my car, it sounds like they replaced the snare with a sample of somebody rubbing their wet finger around the rim on a quarter-full beer glass. I wouldn’t normally check this out, but a bunch of my friends love it, including my buddy Junaid who told me it lands faithfully between Terror Ave and some band I’ve never heard of. It’s deep cut goon music for real heads. Fortunately, casuals like myself can enjoy it too. The production (aside from that ungodly snare) sits in a sweet spot between 90’s analog charm and biting modern fidelity. There are plenty of fast parts, and even the breakdowns maintain enough of an energetic tempo to keep everything fun. Nobody’s reinventing the wheel here, but that’s not necessary. This is pre-wheel music. Straight caveman shit.
Nails - Every Bridge Burning (Nuclear Blast)
Nails is the band that pops into my head when I think of the phrase “extreme music”. These LA legends pushed limits on their first four albums with an HM2-drenched mix of death metal, hardcore and grind. If not for the hyper-catchy mosh parts, pre-hiatus Nails would be more of an endurance test than a musical experience. So, what does a band do eight years after their last release, when getting more extreme isn’t an option? In this case the answer is: try new songwriting approaches. EBB has the band’s highest concentration of two minute plus runtimes — a whopping 4/12, even without a powerviolence-style dirge closer. Tracks one through three blast by in typical fashion. Then, things get weird. “Give Me the Painkiller” explores the band’s deep but untapped classic d-beat influence. “Lacking the Ability to Process Empathy” feels like a nod to modern hardcore, slammy breakdown and all. This isn’t the best Nails record. The back half loses steam. It might be their most ambitious work, though.
Draped in Black - Pure Ecstasy Through Perforation (Ephyra)
Metalcore’s current revivalist wave works because it rejects the cloying, MySpace-style self-importance that’s plagued the genre for two decades. Say what you will about hardcore and black metal elitism, but I find being mysterious much more charming than begging for pre-saves on Instagram. My only info on this band comes from Eli Enis’ Chasing Fridays review. He somehow found out they’re from Kentucky, probably by DMing someone in the know or inferring based on show flyers. The music’s black metal elements (including its cold, stuffy production) hit harder for me than the Cradle of Filth-style pageantry of Balmora et al. This is raw and dirty. A few “suicidal depressive” motifs pop up, which is interesting if intentional. I find keyboards over metalcore to be a jump scare, having grown up in the orbit of Abandon All Ships, but their sparse use on this EP adds unique texture. I wonder if the goal was dungeon synth. For me, the keys sometimes conjure distant memories of Bleeding Through.
Search Warrant - Unlawful Demonstration (Self-Released)
New bands who cite The Rival Mob usually only emulate the Boston legends’ catchy two step parts and singalong choruses. A few Rival Mob songs bop the whole way through, but some of the best ones feel like you’re biting concrete for a minute and a half for just mere moments of delicious payoff. The first track on this Search Warrant EP, “Insanity Plea”, does the formula perfectly. It’s hard, fast and relentless until the last quarter of the song, where the pile-on part hits and catharsis is realized. The rest of this release is solid, but the songwriting feels much more immediate and never recaptures track one’s magic. I wish this was faster. Whenever they speed up, it sounds both good and faithful to what they’re pulling from. The riff writers are clearly Rival Mob fanatics. A few hyper-modern moments arise, but they feel like necessary updates instead of tasteless shoehorning. This is good. I just wish we got less Lockin’ Out-style playfulness and more Gang Green-style psychosis.