-

Existence - “Go to Heaven” (QCHQ, 2023)

Still rocking the best that came out in 2023, and considering how behind I am in terms of posting on the Blog... we will be checking 2023's review for a big chunk of 2024. Deal with it. This is not my day job, sadly. Love you all, but love Existence a tad more.

Paraphrasing Gordon Ramsay: Fuck me! I was not expecting such violence, but the hype is absolutely real, and well-deserved, if I may add. I had heard a few of these lads’ tunes a few years ago (“LP Promo”, perhaps, 2020), but this one takes it up a notch. Ok, it is very Slayerish, but most Nordic Hardcore/Punk has this Thrash scent to it, and most of the time it is Slayer. At least good taste is something that most definitely have. Nevertheless, and unlike much of what I read, they are not “another Slayer clone”; they have a very well-balanced fusion of Hardcore - hard style - and the best of Slayer. Not too fast, not too slow, just perfect. “Frozen Spirit” seems, at times, that it is going to jump right into a Hanneman solo, and it is amazing!

I did read many good things about this release, but was not expecting it to be this good, honestly. Nordic Hardcore is a breed apart. The way they mash the styles is tremendous. Their usage of Thrash Metal is so well done, that it never - or almost never - falls into the usually boring “Crossover Bag”. And it has that perfect length: 31 minutes and 49 seconds. It’s like a quickie, for example: short, hard, intense, sweaty… orgasmic. Excellent way to describe a HC release, I dare say. 

Again, Quality Control HQ took the wheel and drove it home! Not many more to say, to be honest. I knew the band, knew they were really good, but was not expecting this. And the bloody groove this has, damn! “Caught in the Deep End” and those acoustic guitars are a step above the competition! What else? Cro-Mags and Slayer had a baby. It was born in Sweden. Its name is Existence. Have a great day.

Existence Official Bandcamp

Quality Control HQ Official Bandcamp



Comentários

Enviar um comentário

Mensagens populares deste blogue

-
Imagem
Beyond Helvete - “Anthem of Decay” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2022). Immortal Frost Productions has given us 2 tremendous Black Metal works this year: Corpus Christii and Pyra. Both different, but both within the realm of Black Metal (and Death Metal). This work, by Beyond Helvete, is the 3 rd IFP work I have access to, and we again drop into the universe of Black Metal. Slightly different from the already mentioned ones, but still ferocious and full of power. Beyond Helvete has been around since 2007, and Natrgaard, the man behind it, has been delivering the goods. Imagine the strength of a band like Marduk, that endurance, that consistent show of power… Beyond Helvete lives in a similar bubble, although not reaching the quality the Swedes have gathered throughout these many years of presence in the Black Metal Global scene. Nonetheless, it sounds as a good example to describe one of the facets of the German musician without limiting it to A or B. The track that names the alb...
Ler mais
-
Imagem
  Psychonaut 4 “… Of Mourning” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2024) Psychonaut 4 have been spreading their specific human condition for several years now, 14 to be more precise, and only now have I contacted their sound! The name was well-known, but the music was not. I have never been a fan of the more depressive side of the genre, and these lads live inside that sphere; thing is, their sound has small details that sound differently. There is a different dynamic in all their sound, an almost progressive and psychedelic approach. No, not a Floydian one, ok? They have guitar solos that sound quite cheerful. Wait… are they not on the depressive side of the globe? Maybe they are… The more you listen to this record, the more you are able to hear the different moments the band has crafted. Several emotions and stages of existence. Funny how their sound has these 2 opponent personas: sadness and joyfulness. Well, I can hear and feel moments of clarity and clear skies. But sadness does ...
Ler mais
-
Imagem
  Kratti “Matka Kohti Kosmista” (Signal Rex, 2024) “Kratti are the ascending newcomers of the bleak fields of Finnish Black Metal!” That is one bold statement, right? You need to be good at something before you go out and say that. Well… let’s find out. Kratti is a 3 man Finnish straight to the throat Black Metal act. They do have a point when they state they are the “…ascending newcomers…”, for their sound is stone cold ripping Black Metal. It is Finnish, and you can almost feel it in your bones. The melodies merged with that Finnish violence – that is not violence, but a harsher approach – that we all love. Come on! It is hard not to enjoy what the Finns have been doing for decades, their mastered sound, their own vision of Black Metal… Kratti goes down that path, successfully, and oh man! I was never into complex music, maybe due to my Hardcore Punk background, so when a band goes straight to the point, I am in for the ride. To say that these lads are doing something tha...
Ler mais