(Andy Synn kicks off another week here at NCS with a brutish blast of Hardcore/Death/Grind)
Last week was a big week for Hardcore/Metalcore (the good kind, obviously) with the release of new albums from both Converge and 100 Demons (as well as a whole host of other, equally abrasive acts from across the ‘core spectrum).
And while I’m hoping to write a little something about them later on this month (I’ve already got Embrace the Black Light pencilled in for the next edition of “Things You May Have Missed”) I thought that my time and energy might be better expended covering something that probably needs the exposure a little more.
Which is why today we’re taking a look at the recently-released debut album from France’s Corruption Pact, which delivers a short, sharp burst of stripped-down, straight-to-your-face Hardcore – blended with a lethal dose of razor-edged, Death Metal influenced riffing and pissed-off, Grind-inspired politics – that gives absolutely zero fucks and takes no prisoners!
Sure, the record doesn’t properly get going until “I Stole and Then I Lied” kicks in (there’s nothing wrong with the underwhelmingly named “Intro”, by any means, it just doesn’t really add all that much), but once it does get going… well, you’d best strap yourself in for one hell of a ride as the song gallops and chugs, blasts, and grooves without mercy or restraint in a sub-two-minute sonic beatdown that finally asks the question “what separates a man from a slave?”
“HDS Scum” is equal parts pounding, pugilistic Hardcore rhythms and seething, deathly tremolo, topped off with some seriously vicious, venom-spitting vocals taking aim at “Lethal Idealogies / spreading like diseases / criminal companies / stolen lands for oil” while early highlight “Kings of None” introduces a little more musical nuance into the equation with its deathly, dive-bomb-laced lead guitar work and rapid-fire riffage reminiscent of All Out War at their best (though any suggestion of nuance is largely abandoned at the end as the song collapses into a brutish, chugging breakdown guaranteed to whip up some really nasty pit action).
And while the second half of the album leans even harder towards the Death-Grind side of things – although both the gut-wrenching blast ‘n’ bludgeon of “Empty Bottles” and the 99 second slab of pure sonic violence that is “Vacant Existence” manage to incorporate a dash of dark, moody melody while still sticking to the group’s “all killer, no filler” vibe – it also contains some of the recording’s biggest highlights, with the monstrous, Misery Index-esque “Swindlers” and the equally massive, even more Death Metal influenced “Fatal Outcome” being particularly worthy of note.
I’ll grant you that Unanswered Cries probably could have done with a little more meat on its bones (I know that “less is more”, but sometimes “more is more” too), as it definitely feels like a couple of extra killer cuts like the latter two wouldn’t have gone amiss, but there’s no question that the potential for something even bigger and better is definitely there, marking Corruption Pact as “ones to watch” going forwards if you like your Hardcore mixed with a hefty helping of Death Metal (and vice versa).