Become One – Subsidence CD EP (New Morality Zine)

It’s been a while since I wrote about the hardcore bands on these pages, so pay close attention to this particular release. Become One is a long-running Long Island hardcore group. The band exists since the late nineties and has a couple of releases in the catalog. Therefore, it’s known only to die-hard fans of the genre, but those who know, they know Become One sounds incredible. The group released the first demo recording in 1998, then another demo recording in 2000, and then it took seventeen years until they released a debut full-length album named Transfixion Of A Subculture. Subsidence is their most advanced material, released on compact disc by New Morality Zine. Considering the number of recordings and the quality of their music, Become One is unquestionably a hidden gem on a NYHC hardcore scene.

Subsidence EP contains four powerful compositions that explore far beyond classic hardcore sound. Become One shapeshifts the boundaries of the genre by delivering complex hardcore tunes. Still, you will stumble on some other similar genres throughout this recording. Perhaps the band bases its sound on the fundamentals of classic hardcore, but it also experiments with modern hardcore, metalcore, and some other subgenres of metal music. Each composition provides a different listening experience, each number is diverse at some point, but the band paid a lot of attention while assembling the material. Therefore, Subsidence appears as a giant slab of harmonious, organized, compact, heavy noise. The most significant thing about Subsidence is that Become One fully stacked this recording with brilliant ideas and excellent musicianship.

As soon as you press play, you’ll notice that Become One is profoundly into nineties metalcore sound, but still, there’s a modern metalcore touch added to all their songs. At some points, you’ll notice some similarities with some renowned nineties hardcore bands like Deadguy, Cast Iron Hike, Catharsis, but there are also some connections with modern hardcore bands like Knocked Loose or maybe Incendiary. Become One takes the best from both worlds and applies these technics to achieve a desired, heavy, aggressive, technical sound. You’ll be blown away by the amount of profoundly distorted guitar shreds, metallic riffs, various metallic scales, and beatdown chugs. The rhythm section contributes with even more layers of power through cleverly assembled basslines and exceptional drumming performance. The excellent musicianship is empowered by ferocious lead vocals, which usually levitate between aggressive shouts, screams, and much cleaner chants. Subsidence EP unquestionably deserves a special spot in your record collection if you’re profoundly into metalcore sound. Also, the compact disc version contains their first demo recording as a bonus. It’s such a cool addition to an already superb material. Head over to Become One Bandcamp page or check out the New Morality Zine shop for more information about ordering.