Wiccans – Skullduggery

I have always been really big on punk rock, especially hardcore. My favorite thing about the punk/hardcore scene is the diy attitude. Do it yourself, cause no one is gonna do it for you. This attitude of doing things yourself is relates to many fascists of life, not just where music is concerned. In order to get things done, sometimes you have to do it yourself. Denton, Texas' Wiccans are no exception to this do it yourself attitude, having just come off a successful self booked national tour of the United States and their recent LP release Skullduggery. Wiccans are definitely doing it for themselves.

From beginning to end, Skullduggery feeds my need for punk rock. We begin our journey with the song, "Intro". Much as the title depicts, it is our first glimpse of what Wiccans has to offer. It's as punk rock as punk rock can get. The sound is a non stop punk, reminiscent of Black Flag. The first official track on the album is a song called, "Ephemera". Man, is it good. Clocking in at under two minutes, this song features a melodic guitar and one hell of a catchy beat. Vocalist Adam's voice adds a special uniqueness to the mix. Vocally the lyrics are shouted but his voice itself is totally different than anything I have heard before.

"Crusty Royalty" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It is reminiscent of Agnostic Front, sprinkled with Gregg Ginn-ish guitars. It's fast, it's good it's punk as fuck. Another amazing track on this album is "Key To Success". Again, really catchy song right here. A nice little breakdown towards the middle of this song makes it stand out from some of the others. The vocal delivery of this song really makes me think of Black Flag's song "Damaged".

If you're like me and you love punk rock and hardcore Wiccans is the band for you. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, Wiccans will most likely be touring again soon. You just can't keep these guys away. Their live shows are full on non stop intensity. If you have a chance to catch them at a local diy house show or anywhere, do yourself a favor and make it happen. Did I mention you can download their LP for free? This means you have no reason not to take a listen to some awesome hardcore punk.

Wiccans goes good with: Black Flag, Ragging Boner, Harm's Way, Weekend Nachos, MDC, D.R.I., Agnostic front, Mundo Muerto, Unit 21

Buy or download the LP here: http://katorgaworks.bigcartel.com/product/wiccans-skullduggery-lp

--Cicatriz

Harm's Way - Isolation

Hey, Waiveriders! It's your old pal Cicatriz. Today I bring you another awesomely hard hitting Hardcore album. Today we speak of Harm's Way. Harm's Way is a Metallic Hardcore outfit out of the Windy City, Chicago, Illinois. They bring us their new album Isolation.

Harm 's Way kicks things off with the track, “Scrambled”. This is a great opener. It starts off as an intro with a simple drum beat, casually adding in guitars that and at the 1:31 mark it's on. Full of down tempo guitars and bass. Classic hardcore ethics here. Drums on this track are the stand out in my opinion. They are a nice mixture of classic hardcore drums, with a little d-beat and metallic double bass thrown in. Vocally this song is angry as all hell. The lyrics are spit it you in a manner where you don't feel like you're being yelled it. They flow with the song perfectly.

The title track “Isolation” is the third track on this eight track hardcore masterpiece. Much of the same going on here. Hard hitting drums, crunchy guitar work and one angry sounding vocalist. For fans of riff heavy hardcore this is the jam to check out. Some of the lyrical content I was able to make out clearly were, in no particular order: “bitter wasteland...separate myself,.. separate my soul..there's a place for me”.

“Pretender” is the final and longest track off Isolation. Clocking in at epic 7:28, “Pretender” wraps things up nicely. (Well angrily but you know what I mean.) This is a very cool track. Seems almost spacey to an extent as if these straight-edgers accidentally hit the bong before recording. The track starts off like any other hardcore song but at around the 3:30 mark you are hit with a clean guitar sound spoken words. Soon after the drums kick back accompanied by some spacey sounding guitars and Isolation comes to a close.

All things said it's an awesome album. I can only imagine a bunch of “hardcore kids” karate chopping, throwing elbows and “picking up change” in the pit at a Harm's Way show. Harm's Way may be a new name to some Hardcore listeners but are well on their way to becoming a household name to metal and hardcore listeners alike.

Harm's Way goes good with band such as: Weekend Nachos, Bitter End, Mind Eraser, Trapped Under Ice, Pulling Teeth.


-Cicatriz


Buy here: http://www.allinmerch.com/product/HWISOCD.html