For Blood And Vengeance

All Bets Are Off EP

Written by: PP on 17/07/2011 01:15:15

Amsterdam, Holland based For Blood And Vengeance are a newish hardcore band founded only two years ago from the ashes of several lesser known bands from the area. Although their brand of hardcore on their debut release "All Bets Are Off" EP isn't exactly original, their form of submission for review consideration was: the release arrived by post on a USB stick enclosed within a transparent jewel case container. A novel concept, and attention-grabbing, for sure.

Anyway, the band take their cues from the tough guy hardcore scene from the likes of Hatebreed, Trapped Under Ice and that sort of bands, but avoid the monotonous pitfall by implementing a distinct European hardcore flavor to their sound. So instead of sounding heavy and intense as fuck they tone down the aggression factor considerably by opting for a mostly clean vocal delivery, which wins them extra points in my books. The resulting sound therefore lies right in between the tough guy or New York Hardcore and street punk genres, taking the anthemic tendencies of the latter and the intimidating fist-pumping characteristics of the former. It's a good mix that makes room for certain crowd pleasers in "Detonate" and especially "Not Now, Not Ever", which has a chant-alongable chorus, but it does also remove some of the punch and power we're used to hearing from hardcore bands. A double-edged sword, I suppose. So while the tracks on "All Bets Are Off" are decent hardcore tracks, they're never really much more than that.

Download: Detonate, Not Now Not Ever
For the fans of: Trapped Under Ice, Hatebreed, Madball
Listen: Myspace

Release date January 2011
Self-Released

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