Halshug

Blodets Bånd

Written by: PP on 22/02/2015 03:01:53

Metallic hardcore has experienced quite an uprising in Scandinavia as of late. Multiple acts have each offered their take on the cold, brooding winters of our geographical location translated into sonic abyss and crust-laden hardcore illustrations of absolute devastation with Hexis at the forefront. Next in line seems to be Halshug - their name translates to 'decapitation' - whose debut album "Blodets Bånd" offers an uncompromising take on the blackened, metallic hardcore scene much in the same vein as Trap Them. With the notorious extreme music label Southern Lord behind their backs for this release, you can safely assume to squeeze your body through a man-sized cheese grater throughout the duration of the album if you were to describe the listening experience vividly.

Basically, Halshug offer a truly brooding, blackened, and uncompromising take on metallic hardcore. It's crusty, dominated by d-beat (think Discharge), but they also complement their style with Kvelertak-style groove on occasion. "Knæl" and "Total Destruktion" being the highlight tracks that do just that. Melody is mostly ignored in favour of brutalized, testosterone-driven aggression, but this works to the band's favour because of the vibrating down-tuned bass-lines and the absolutely devastating vocal assault that defines their expression. Still, these two songs are examples where their music features a catchy element of sorts that elevates them from sounding just like another senseless metallic hardcore band sounding heavy and fast just for the sake of it, into something a little more interesting. This is an important feat because metallic hardcore bands are a dime-a-dozen these days. Even more so considering heavyweights like Trap Them released a rather mediocre album around the same time, which Halshug easily surpass on "Blodets Bånd".

As AP put it in a live review about a year ago: they cannot claim many points for originality, but for what they are, Halshug pull off their music better than most. It's aggressive, testosterone-driven, groovy, and passionate throughout the entire record. That it's unmelodic just means most of you will hate it; the band will probably love you for saying that.

7

Download: Knæl, Total Destruktion
For the fans of: Discharge, Nuclear Death Terror, Trap Them, Hexis
Listen: Facebook

Release date 23.02.2015
Southern Lord

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