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Paint It Black

Famine

Written by: PP on 21/12/2023 23:41:23

"It’s not the noise. It's the silence that offends. Make amends" howls vocalist Dan Yemin on "Dominion" in his charismatically coarse, enraged style. It's a highlight track on the best hardcore album in quite some time as the Philadelphia legends Paint It Black release their first new material in a decade in the form of eight tracks on the aptly titled "Famine". Much like "Invisible" EP prior to it, it's a genre-defining benchmark display of sociopolitical intelligence and ferocious anger cultivated through melodic rippers, unpredictable tempo-changes and piercing vocals that place the band miles above their contemporary peers in terms of raw compositional prowess.

Paint It Black has often been misunderstood by outsiders throughout their career, but they've always kept stylistic innovation and uncompromising punk ethos at the heart of their expression. The lyrical universe is a razor-sharp critique of the modern society at large, delivered through ferocious bursts of pure pissed-off rage. The band sways somewhere between hardcore and punk soundscapes with an unpolished, murky expression where the tempo liberally shifts from breakneck speed, in-your-face aggression to creepingly slow crawlers, thus serving as a perfect vessel for Dan Yemin's unquenchable thirst for social justice:

"You think it's lonely at the top?

Try the fucking bottom

Dead End

Keep us at each other's throats, fighting for scraps

So we don't notice the foundation's on the verge of collapse"

- "Serf City, U.S.A"

Unfiltered and unforgiving, Dan Yemin's lyrical universe paints a bleak picture of the current status quo. With material like the back-chilling "Not everyone is free / that don't feel safe to me" finale to "Safe", Paint It Black underscores the very reasons why the punk and hardcore scenes exist in the first place. An outlet for unadulterated anger, an idealistic platform for societal change delivered through astute observations and commentary about the world around us, the songs on "Famine" are borderline genius.

It's nothing short of an instant classic, a staple, and a benchmark in modern hardcore that feels timeless and perfectly timed at the same time. It's a record that will turn any venue into a sauna full of stage dives and unstoppable mosh pits. My only critique? At eight songs and a little under seventeen minutes, it's like tasting the most delicious meal you've ever tried and having it dragged away just as you're starting to appreciate just how special it is.

Download: Dominion, Famine, Safe, City Of The Dead
For the fans of: Capital, Kid Dynamite, Have Heart, Blacklisted, Ceremony, Western Addiction, Beach Rats
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.11.2023
Revelation Records