Retribution- Consumed 7” review

Retribution- Consumed 7” review

Upon first glance of this record, the first thing I noticed was the utterly fantastic artwork.  That was a great start to jamming out this EP.  The record begins with a punishing intro- you can almost sense the pit warming up as the drums smash in the background and the riffs ring out.  Then, the intro moves into the song “Diseased and Dead”, which rolls along rather quickly, pummeling with speed and focus from all the members of the band, before the tempo slows and the breakdown (inevitable to all hardcore bands, local and otherwise) begins, as the chorus is shouted out from both singer Kenneth Smith and the various voices in the gang vocals, being appropriate here- this is a crowd favorite, so these are words actually screamed out by fans at shows, which is fitting.  Next, “D.R.A.”  is a track about a lost friend and the sorrow and regrets that follows with that loss.  I didn’t get too into this one, but I can see why this song is important- to both the band and the friends who lost the friend whom the song is about, and I can at least give respect to a band for that.  “Consumed” is a metal-tinged hardcore straight-edge jam about, of all things, not being overly occupied with the many vices of “poisons” that lurk in our worlds.  This song is a killer jam- it is direct and pointed, rather than most straight edge songs, which usually are metaphorical and somewhat indirect.  Concluding this EP is a song called “No More”, about taking back the world from the control of those who do evil to other people, namely killers and rapists.  Philosophically, this is right on my level- no moral high ground or being the better man, but instead imposing the suffering that these victimizers have dished out.  There is something inexplicably satisfying about bringing that sort of pain back to someone like that.  It rings of the Malcolm X idiom “by any means necessary”- when danger lurks around every corner, it is a great deterrent to have when equal pain brought will be received in return.

Not groundbreaking, but the songs are some real damn good hardcore jams, the artwork rules, and this band deserved the work put into this record.  Definitely worthwhile, money and time-wise.

-Aunty Social