“Sundowning” (released by Trustkill) sees This is Hell continuing to hone their brand of lightly metallic hardcore that’s got a forceful sense of aggression to it that’s wrapped in both blatant melody (not wholly uncommon for their Long Island residence) and an obvious sense of sincerity – comparable on some level to a number of other contemporary bands within this scene that fit into this particular niche in one way or another. However, This is Hell seems to be adding a slightly more post-hardcore sounding spin to their take on this direction, which is a nice touch. I do sort of feel like the recording on this outing comes across as a smidge too thin (there’s a lot of midrange in there), there’s not quite enough crispness to the low-end, so a little bit of the clarity and balance can suffer. More punch to the rhythm section (especially the drums) could’ve really given this material an extra kick in the ass, but nonetheless I really like these songs a lot and feel like this is a logical progression from the band’s earlier work – retaining that basic framework and the sheer intensity of the screaming vocals while adding in significantly more melody to the riffing and achieving a broader focus that lets the songwriting come across as more diverse and “mature” (for lack of a better word), but also more memorable. With 13 tracks in but a little over 28 minutes the impact of the energy level never really has time to slip either, and that’s a great place to be. This is their first full-length recording and the band seems to be fairly young, so if all goes well they should have a long and fruitful run ahead of ‘em…
This is Hell “The Polygraph Cheaters”
This is Hell “Nobody Leaves Without Singing the Blues”
Make the grab if it suits your tastes:
@ Interpunk
@ RevHQ
Damn if “Unbowed” isn’t one of the best
Surprise Attack releases to date, and it happens to be the US pressing of the first “full-length” offering (though it’s only about 25 minutes long) from UK hardcore act The Break In. I honestly don’t seem to hear all that much of this particular style from the UK, but whatever the case this is pretty furious metallic hardcore that takes the standard foundation of chunky power chords and moderately fast tempos littered with thick midpaced breakdowns and then tosses in some odd dissonant riffs that add an extra tinge of metal while also keeping things from sounding totally standard on a musical level. They also go with a nastier than average guitar tone that’s got a dirty yet efficient texture to it, which actually works quite well against the over the top intensity of the vocal performance – which actually adds a rather Ringworm-esque touch to the material, so it should appeal to fans of that whole niche. Something about the busy textures of the layout printed on matte stock with differing shades of brown ink catches my eye for whatever reason as well, so this is good stuff across the board. It’s a relatively straightforward attack when all is said and done, and definitely an aggressive fuckin’ release, so I’ll look forward to hearing more from these cats at some point.
The Break In “Coffin Dodger”
The Break In “Iron Hammers”
The label’s selling copies of this thing for an inconceivably cheap $5 apiece, so if you dig the tunes you’d have to be an idiot not to buy it straight from them – not to mention you’re a seriously cheap motherfucker if you pass on picking it up for such a cheap price:
@ Surprise Attack Records
Original post by Andrew @ AVERSIONLINE and software by Elliott Back
