If you ever played in a band and you’ve tried to sound as dark as you ever imagined, then you probably know how hard it can be to deliver that kind of atmosphere to the table. And by darkness, I don’t mean about some obscure riffs and wierd stuff involved on your cover artwork or lyric sheet. It’s all about the raw energy between band members who know how to understand each other while they play and arrange their music on countless rehearsals in stinky and dirty practice rooms, without aim to sound dark in any present moment. Stranglehold, a quintet from Los Angeles, CA are exactly doing that on their brand new cassette EP called In Spite Of It All. These guys are playing hardcore from their hearts and minds and clearly don’t give a fuck would you like it or not, as long as they have all the fun while they’re doing it. In Spite Of It All is produced in that way, totally raw and dirty without any aim to please all those hardcore purists who are not counting what bands have to say while they’re playing, but instead of that they are waiting for a single mistake so they can act as punk police. Their music is tight, with incredible riffs which will impress even more as this tape rolls out. Drums are really giving a lot of energy to this band, they’re a driving force on all the tracks and it’s quite obvious that drummer really feels all those guitar riffs I mentioned before. Everything is covered with snotty vocals, which are by the way not my cup of tea, but they easily fit to the music presented on this material. Perhaps vocals are even adding more darkness over the music, they’re giving that kind of vibe to the overall experience, so if you’re fan of slightly darker hardcore, this is right up your alley. In Spite Of It All EP is available on a cassette and it’s available directly from the band, so make sure to contact these guys and grab your piece if you’re into some snotcore.
THOUGHTS WORDS ACTION 