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I
kind of want to say that Squalora plays pure hardcore, just
because I want to say I actually like hardcore music. To tell
you the truth though, most hardcore bores me to death. Not only
because it’s preachy as all fuck (I know there is a bunch of
stuff about principles and ethics inherently attached to it, and
blah blah blah…but I don’t really care), but because I grew up
with the idea that all there was to hardcore sounded like the
Cro Mags and Agnostic Front. And despite how much and for
how long I have to bow to both bands because of their place in
underground music history, musically, I never really cared for
either. And image-wise the whole muscle head angle never
appealed to me. Times have changed though, and with that new
rules of allowance have come into play; such as that one that
says that one may cross pollinate hardcore and metal without
having to be categorized a poser.
Not that
there is a ton of metal to the hardcore of Portland’s (via
Montana) Squalora, but the quotient is there. And is enough for
me to say that I like hardcore without necessarily digging most
of the straight up East Coast hardcore and more importantly,
without lying. Plus, this band rips alright with pissed off
attitude but is low in the muscle head value; high in
ridiculously hyperactive energy and bold enough to offer up some
pretty moody breaks (beginning of the six-minuter “Mind Lapse”).
Squalora is formed from the ashes of Ass-End Offend, a band I
know nothing about besides that they once existed under the name
Ass-End Offend. Of their current sound I can tell you that is
utterly vicious but is also smart with plenty of variations (of
tempo, texture, etc); breakdowns, skin ripping velocity,
grinding riffs that step into classic thrash and raw vocals that
walk the loose tight rope between both; hardcore and thrash.
Truly, listening to Squalora grants me the right of lying
without really lying.
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