.upset – Slaves Of The New World CD (Geenger Records)

After writing reviews for a second full-length and a Passing The Torch split EP with 8082, I decided to go even further and review a debut album by .upset. By looking at the information included on the cover artwork, I can only assume Geenger Records is supporting these guys right from the start. As far as I am informed, it seems .upset skipped a standard demo recording route and exposed themselves directly with a full-length. It is probably a more reasonable move, especially nowadays when demo recordings are not so popular among hardcore fans. The group nailed in every possible way by delivering proper contemporary hardcore music right from their inception.

Slaves Of The New World carries thirteen catchy hardcore tunes. The first thing I noticed about this material is its impressive visual identity. .upset had outstanding illustrations right from their beginnings, so that’s the case with this material as well. The artwork reflects on the issues of contemporary society, domestic and global politics, religion, police oppression, mass media manipulation, corruption, and many other topics. The background imagery showcases a pile of dollar bills generously layered with grunge textures, so the band aims that money makes the world go round. Perhaps this particular material doesn’t have premium quality production like their later works, but slightly unpolished production goes in favor of these compositions. There’s something in the raw sounding guitars and semi-distorted basslines that gives even more aggression to this particular material. Just add some appropriate drumming performance and recognizable fierce shoutouts and you got yourself a rock-solid hardcore album.

For some reason, Slaves Of The New World works so much more for me than their later recordings. This album possesses some proper hardcore bangers and sounds powerful from scratch to finish. The way these guys are taking care of all thematics, riffages, guitar shreds, beats, and arrangements, builds up a memorable listening experience. Don’t get me wrong, their following recordings are equally brilliant and possess more advanced production, but there’s something about Slaves Of The New World that forces the listener to spin this record over again. From meaningful visual identity to cleverly arranged music, .upset thought about even the tiniest detail of this material, which will unquestionably be right up your alley if you’re into flawlessly executed hardcore music. The compact disc is still available at the Geenger Records store, but you can also purchase a digital version if you’re more into streaming. Head over to Geenger Records for more detailed information about ordering.