Daggers

Along The Acheron

Written by: PP on 14/07/2010 23:46:38

If yesterday was dubbed as a grindcore afternoon, then now it's time for a hardcore evening. To kick start the business we have Daggers from the burgeoning Belgian hardcore scene which has recently brought us awesome acts like Reno and Rise And Fall among others. Like the former, Daggers are at a very early point in their career, having released only one self-titled EP prior to "Along The Acheron", their debut full length, so don't expect these guys to move mountains just yet.

The influences found on the record can be split evenly into two camps. On one hand, you've got the relentless chaos-hardcore of Rise And Fall, clearly inspired by genre heavyweights Norma Jean, which focuses on intense in-your-face aggression designed to cause havoc in a live environment. On the other side of the rink, or should I say the channel, strong parallels to the English hardcore scene can be found, particularly to Gallows' latest album "Grey Britain". The vocalist screams with a similar fuck-you attitude as Frank Carter, even sharing a similar hoarse, unmelodic yell as Carter did during his early days (back when he was pissed off at the world). However, the vocalist here is several tiers below Carter (or the dude from Rise And Fall) when it comes to quality. His monotonous, hoarse bark inspires no particular emotion in the listener, and even though it's aggressive as fuck, it fails to stir up any desire for movement within this scribe.

This is also why the album blends together into a single gray hardcore mess where no song sticks out. In a time when European hardcore albums are a dime a dozen, you simply have to be better vocally to lift your band above the others. Granted, Daggers are just on their debut album so they still have time to develop both as songwriters and musicians, but as it stands now, "Along The Acheron" isn't particularly interesting in any other aspect than its uncompromising rawness.

5

Download: Animated Bones, Last Debt
For the fans of: Gallows, Rise And Fall, The Ghost Of A Thousand
Listen: Myspace

Release date 30.01.2010
Anchors Aweigh Records

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