Terror

The 25th Hour

Written by: PP on 27/08/2015 23:00:28

During the past decade or so Terror have established themselves as hardcore royalty with their utmost respect to the genre values, their relentless tough-guy hardcore attitude, explosive live shows, and dynamic, testosterone driven, down-tuned riffage. Vocalist Scott Vogel's loudmouth opinions on selling out, the state of the scene are a source of constant controversy both live and in interview material, but all that's done is to raise Terror's profile beyond most other hardcore bands playing material as aggressive as them. Thus far, that profile has consisted primarily of straight up hardcore anthems driven by two-step friendly breakdowns, karate-mosh inducing slowed down passages, and "the struggle is real" style lyricism about life in general and the hardcore way of living.

For their sixth album "The 25th Hour", they deviate from their usual formula by converting an already aggressive style into an even more vicious one. Taking cues from the likes of Trash Talk and Cancer Bats (early material), Terror both speed up their soundscape and draw from crossover (think D.R.I) to alter their style noticeably throughout the lightning speed 23 minutes that spans 14 tracks in that space. The macho element of previous work has been toned down in favour of a more tearing, unpredictable style that allows Scott Vogel to shift his vocals from standard hardcore barks to a more piercing and unpolished style, a fact also brought by the production that seems to have taken a step back from the 2013 masterpiece "Live By The Code".

This is the most chaotic Terror has sounded since their debut album "One With The Underdogs", which, unfortunately, comes at the cost of some of the fantastic gang-shout style melodies from previous material. Forget about songs like "The Most High", "Nothing In Your Head" or even "Always The Hard Way", none of the tracks on "The 25th Hour" feature as much melody or anthemic parts. "Deep Rooted" and "No Time For Fools" are some of the candidates, but even here Terror veterans must admit the band are going for one mean and belligerent sound in comparison to old stuff. Take "The Solution", for instance, which immediately brings out lyrics like "the hurt is real" culminating into a fierce battle call "violence solving everything" during a breakdown, which is likely a moment no faint-hearted soul should find themselves anywhere near the pit. It's going to be a massacre. "Blinded By The Lights" is a track where gang shouts return to the picture, but overall "The 25th Hour" takes a less melodic, more brutalized approach to hardcore than we're used to hearing from Terror. Unfortunately, that also means we're a far cry from "Live By The Code", which stands as one of the best hardcore albums this decade has seen so far.

Download: The Solution, No Time For Fools, Bad Signs, Deep Rooted
For the fans of: Hatebreed, Lionheart, Trash Talk, D.R.I.
Listen: Facebook

Release date 07.08.2015
Victory Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.