Vision Quest – Bear Witness 7” (Crew Cuts Records / Angry & Hungry Records / Blind Rage Records)

There’s something unique about UKHC that makes me want to flip everything upside down, tear apart anything that comes close in the nearest radius or stage dive off the couch with my ribs facing the coffee table. At least that’s how I feel about UKHC, which in my humble opinion, differs a lot from USHC. Perhaps the music is similar by all means, but UK bands are more robust, raging, and energetic. Vision Quest entirely verifies my statement with their latest offering to the broader audience. Bear Witness is their most advanced recording comprised of a handful of raging compositions stacked on a beautiful splatter 7” vinyl. Bear Witness commences with Release, a blistering seventeen-second introduction to a powerful sound of Vision Quest. This particular track provides a closer look at the intense approach to contemporary hardcore sound, but the group also liberates some old school vibes through enormously dynamic guitar shreds. Sadly, this could be an instant hardcore classic if Vision Quest kept it a bit longer, but the shortage doesn’t spoil all the fun. The band delves even deeper into the fundamentals of the contemporary hardcore scene with Psych. This number reveals a much heavier side of the group, accompanied by the stalwart female lead vocals of Saskia. Guitar works serve another monstrous dosage of intense riffages, followed by the ferocious maneuvers of an enormously precise rhythm section. Vision Quest keeps at the same pace with Hot Drop, third composition off this promising recording. The accentuation remains on heavy shreddings and charismatic vocals, while the basslines are filling the ambiance with gradually distorted low-end tones. Drumming performance serves even more catchy breaks followed with occasional changes in tempo, but the complete group retains dynamics during the entire composition. Vision Quest offers even more energetic rollercoasters with Bear Witness, the fourth track on the bill. The song structure and arrangements on this one are utterly insane. Bear Witness serves in-depth cross-section to the delicate sound of Vision Quest. It includes all aforementioned enhancements, plus even more twists and turns as the track passes by. The entire group showcases their capabilities by blasting another giant energetic crusher to the audience. The band tears the sound barriers with Step Up, a vicious banger that indicates closure of this astounding record. Vision Quest has decided to speed up things a little bit, so guitars seem to shred even faster, while the drumming segments are punching somewhere in the very background. All of a sudden, the band breaks it down with another downtempo sequence that collapses into the massive beatdown hardcore orchestration. It’s more than obvious that Vision Quest were profoundly stimulated by bands such as Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Righteous Jams, Terror, Dangers, and additional bands who massively merged stacks of breaks into their music. Bear Witness showcases the ultimate power and impressive musicianship of each bandmember included in this marvelous group, so I highly recommend this intense 7” record. Bear Witness is currently up for pre-order on beautiful splatter vinyl, so check out some of the involved labels to purchase this absolute banger.