(Andy Synn presents three short-but-savage examples of the Metallic Hardcore arts)
Ok, I’ll admit it, I’ve been neglecting the short-play side of the scene again
So today I’m going to shine a light on three hefty pieces of Hardcore – of the more Metallic variety, naturally – whose brief run-time still packs one hell of a punch.
And then, if you’re lucky, I’ll follow up with a more Death Metal focussed one next week, deal?
ECOTAGE – REDEMPTION
It’s fitting that an EP all about Finland’s decision to allow the culling of wolves, despite their endangered status and importance for the ecosystem, would have some serious bite to it.
I’m not being flippant about that either, as it’s been my experience that much of the best Hardcore comes from bands protesting and pushing back against oppressive and self-serving systems of governance – and, make no mistake about it, Ecotage‘s focus on animal liberation and the protection of the natural world puts them firmly on the Earth Crisis side of things in that respect – so it feels good to see a band like this ensuring that both the music and the message are as vicious and visceral as each other.
Whether that’s in the form of the pounding chugs and searing tremolo runs that propel “The Great Divine” (which opens with an ear-splitting howl of “God is dead!“) or the bone-rattling blastbeats and neck-wrecking rhythms (plus a quick burst of wild, dive-bombing lead guitar) that make up the majority of “Freedom” (“Freedom for one, freedom for all!“) the group definitely know how to deliver the goods, both lyrically and physically, with the heavy sound-waves smashing out of the speakers seeming to owe as much to early Hatebreed as they do equally-early Heaven Shall Burn.
Of course, the group’s sonic lineage goes much, much deeper than that – the strangling tremolo runs and throat-scraping refrain of “Scent of blood, thick and near, taste of death, sharp and clear” during “Sanguiniary Despair”, for example, could have come straight from Assassins… era All Out War, while the influence of similarly militant vegan/striaght-edge artists like Arkangel and Undying can be felt throughout the EP (with all of these elements and inspirations coming together triumphantly during epic, anthemic closer “The Beast Within” – but Ecotage clearly aren’t ones to shy away from their legacy, and instead have taken it upon themselves here to step up and continue the fight, whatever it may take.
MELTING – A PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LIFE
Melting‘s previous EP, You Exist Because We Allow It, was my favourite EP of last year (and you can check out the rest of them here, if you haven’t already) which means I was very excited (if not a little trepidatious) when they announced a follow up so quickly.
Thankfully any anxiety I might have felt that the band had possibly rushed things, or would end up just trying to repeat the same formula (and success) as their previous EP were quickly laid to rest by the opening barrage of “God Driven Fear”, whose nasty blastery and shrieking vocal venom soon transition into an increasingly crushing, claustrophobic chug attack that doubles, then triples, down on the heaviness.
Elements of The Acacia Strain and early Harm’s Way are still definitely present in their sound – the massive, sledge-hammer sized riffs and screeching, throat-scarring vocals (which, if anything, are even more intense this time around) of “Glare” definitely wouldn’t sound out of place going toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow with either band (especially when the song ramps up to its humongously heavy conclusion) – but the group have also dipped their toes even further into pure Deathcore (“The Sword”) and even found time to experiment with a bit of eerie, industrialised ambience a la END or Leeched in the form of the non-SEO compliant “…”.
The backbone of the EP, of course, remains the same punishing, Death Metal tinged brand of Metal(lic Hard)core that made their previous release such a brutal thrill – especially during the uber-heavy riffage, piercing harmonic hooks, and blood-spitting vocals of “Arrogant Fool” and the practically unrelenting, bone-crushing (and soul-crushing) breakdown that is the climactic title-track – only turned up to 11 (or possibly even 12) this time around… which means I’m already looking forward to seeing how much heavier, and how much nastier, they get on their next EP!
RATS WILL FEAST – AN EVOCATION
In comparison to the previous two entries – both of which went more for a “straight for the throat, pull no punches” style of Hardcore – the new EP from Finnish foursome Rats Will Feast is much more experimental and unpredictable, taking in elements of Sludge, Prog, and Mathcore, which allows it to hit you from a bunch of unexpected angles… while still hitting just as hard as anything else we’ve mentioned here.
This, of course, probably won’t be imemdiately obvious from the way that “First Snow” shimmers and drifts from the speakers like its namesake, but once “Burns Cold” comes lurching and spasming out of the speakers, all twitchy, anxious grooves and sudden explosions of seizure-inducing intensity – closer in style and spirit to similarly abrasive artists like Agabas and The Chariot (with some obvious underlying influence from the likes of Every Time I Die and Refused as well) – you’ll understand exactly where I’m coming from when I say that Rats Will Feast aren’t necessarily playing by the standard rules here.
The darker, sludgier, but equally unconventional, approach of “Observer”, for example, contrasts harshly – but, to be clear, not badly – with the sputtering blastbeats and stuttering riffs of “Smartless” (which errs far more towards the convulsively chaotic, Mathcore-ish side of the band’s sound, while still retaining an ear for unnerving atmospherics), while the jagged guitars and juddering anti-grooves of “Frail Bones” (replete with some hypnotic, almost Post-Metal-ish, passages of eerie introspection) juxtapose nicely with the more forceful intensity (building towards an unexpectedly melodic, but unsurprisingly massive, climax) of the title-track.
It’s always clear, however, that there’s a method to the band’s apparent madness, and that the same collective mind is behind all six tracks on this EP, whose carefully-cultivated chaos also conceals an undercurrent of keen intelligence (keep an ear out for some cleverly complex bass work here and there, and remember to pay attention to the ever-shifting dynamics both within, and between, each song), making An Evocation an EP that is far, far more than just the mere sum of its parts.