What has impressed me most about this band live in concert is what impresses me most about this CD-EP – and that is the band's ability to write what amounts to real songs, real structures and something that hooks you in from start to finish, across a musical genre which, in the hands of most bands, is just simply an exercise for seeing how hard they can beat you over the head without any regard to what they're using to do it. Quite simply, this is hardcore metal that is not only loud, extremely heavy, aggressive and electrifying, but is hardcore metal that is more than listenable, more than enjoyable and which makes you absolutely in awe of the band that created it – the even more staggering part being that the band is a seriously young band who've been in existence less than a year!! Their titles are the stuff of hearty bouts of laughter, already showing that this band has a sense of humour, but when you listen to what they produce, the laughing stops and the admiration begins. While the opener, “Boof, A Hammer to the skull”, sets the scene with a roaring flare of startling metal proportions, it's “Pretty Pink Flowers” that really sets fire to things and is the track to take your breath away. First off, there's a stunning lead vocal from singer Andrew Downie, a sea of vocalising that turns into a chorus, a hook, and one that sticks around your head long after it's gone. Meanwhile, the two lead guitarists in the form of Michael Bell and Drew Cochrane, unleash this fury of riffing, but also a magnificent set of dual guitar lead breaks that is positvely amazing, while the rhythm section of Derek Patterson on bass and Sean Tait on drums, powwers it all forward, on a hardcore track that is one of the finest you'll hear in terms of its ultimate listenability factor.
That it's followed by “Beaten With A Flaccid Bat” where the band don't hold anything back and unleash what amounts to a nuclear powered attack on the senses with crushing mind-numbing rhythms, napalm fire electric guitars and a solid holler of a vocal that, all combined, provides a laser like intensity of furious rock proportions into which you fall inexorably and helplessly, loving every minute of the sheer overwhelming experience. The same could be said for “Bloody 'ell, there's a wasp in Twaders”, only here there's more variation, more twists and turns, more dynamics, all of which makes the track even more palatable, as you glory in the scorching vocal performance, marvel at the guitar density and searing heat leads, as the rhythm section defies you not to headbang like a demon possessed, Finally, “Camel” just erupts into life in a blaze of furnace heat guitars that surge forward in this almighty holocaust of guitar intensity as the drums rattle your skull and the bass makes your stomach bleed. Above all this, another great song is given the solid propulsion by the vocalist whose really letting rip with passion and power, as he has done throughout the EP. The whole track just roars along in unstoppable fashion as you once more are sucked in to this furiously riffing and roaring rhythmic world of hardcore metal with class and distinction, the sort of effect that early Motorhead had on its audience, only even more furious.
What really is amazing about every bit of this EP is the way the band play so tightly together, nothing out of place, nothing wasted, every note counting, but the sheer class of writing and arranging and playing is worthy of many a more famous band who've been going a great deal longer. To say that this is seriously impressive is like saying the Pope's a bit religious. Even though it's slightly demo-y in nature, this is nevertheless, essential listening for any fan of real roaring, rocking hardcore metal of quality and distinction.
