Hemorrhage – Chapter One EP
How many times have we opened a review with “wow” around here? One too many, certainly, so let’s start this one out on a different note. If only we had the buzzwords to do it…at least one… What about a phrase instead? How about simply this is of the “I want to punch someone who deserves it in the face repeatedly” variety? No, too juvenile. How about “hardcore has been redefined by the new masters”? No, too snobbish. But then again we’re snobs, we’re the worst of snobs, we scoff with our noses in the air at anyone below our level because we’ve heard it all. We cannot be surprised, nothing can shock us, and very rarely can something amaze us. Sticking with the snob angle, let us also say that hardcore can royally suck if not held in the right hands. For most pathetic excuses for bands it sifts through the fingers like bone dry sand, blowing into the winds of wasted non-talent into a million skinny jeans of boys-who-might-be-girls. For hardcore to properly form, these sands must be sculpted into a monolith by the strongest of hands. Hemorrhage has massively strong hands. They are the creatine in our shake, bruh. Complete mastery of hardcore coming up, side order of repeated listen, 20% tip.
God damn barely any of that made any sense. Whatever, fork it, we’re on an artistic roll here. Hemorrhage are from the OC/LA area, and man do they tear. This one was sadly sitting in a ton of bullshit that had to be sorted through, still part of the “what the hell was the old editor doing with this?” phenomenon we’ve been recently experiencing. In this endless mailing attack of CDs he had sitting in boxes, we’re averaging about one good promo for every twenty. This sad state of the current music industry makes us want to kick in a few mirrors and take off our own skin with the glass, but thankfully before our hands did their own thing we popped in Chapter One EP and saved ourselves from self-flaying.
Wow. Crap, well, at least we didn’t pull that out at the beginning. Chapter One EP is hardcore done 100% correctly. It isn’t simply content with the punk foundations on which original hardcore was built. That kind of thing is difficult to pull off without the proper band to do it, but Hemorrhage are ready to keep moving forward into sludge and post territory, and it’s done here with little effort. These seven tracks go by fast, but not because of their actual time, it’s because of their perceived time since they’re so God damn incredibly wow amazing. Once that sick bass line opens the thing, you’re in for a massive ride. Hemorrhage utilize clever hooks, welcome dissonance, frontal drums that go beyond mere tempo, and killer vocal delivery. If there’s one thing hardcore requires it’s killer vocal delivery, and the vocals here are delivered by a valedictorian with a triple BA. Phillip has just the right amount of man-monster in his voice. It’s that difficult to reach level of depth between a yell and a scream, with just the right amount of bass to keep it stable. When he gets going, it’s over for you, it’s over for everyone. Front to back this is an amazing EP, and trust us, we’ve heard enough hardcore over the years to know when it’s good. This is exactly where hardcore needs to be going. These guys are just starting out, but they deserve to be placed on high with the likes of As We Draw or Regardes Les Hommes Tomber, the latter who we reviewed and interviewed in the past year. Type it in the damn search bar, it’s too late to link it for you, and while you’re doing that buy the hell out of this.
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Hemorrhage – Chapter One EP
Abduct Tape Records
5 / 5
