OKComputer1016
04/22/09, 10:05 AM
To The Wolves – Symmetry Lost
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Spring 2009
Who?
About a year ago I reviewed these Boston hardcore-heads’ debut EP, Death and the Company You Keep, impressed with the group’s ability to keep it real in a scene that’s become completely fake. Thankfully, not much has changed on this, the 17 minute “full-length”, and the group sound just as pissed off as they ever have. If you thought that Boston was all Mighty Mighty or Dropkick, you’d better think again.
How is it?
Symmetry Lost packs all the crushing blows of its predecessor, plus more. As an unsigned band, To The Wolves took advantage of their situation with some serious DIY ethics. Entirely self-produced, mixed, mastered, and designed, this is the product of full artistic control on the band’s part, with no money-driven corporate scheming (“hmm, mmkay, breakdown here, melodic singing part here, how’re we doing on that acoustic instrumental exactly halfway through the album?”) From an artistic standpoint alone, this is the way that things ought to be done.
From a musical standpoint, To The Wolves maintain their firm grip on intense, tuned-down-to-Z grooves, with monster vocals that never fall into self-parody, but instead genuinely provoke fear. Vocalist Nick Nardelli’s howling certainly seems to have been informed by the likes of Today Is The Day, while the rest of the band pay homage to groups like Converge (see the rhythmic shape-shifter “Infected” – a strong contender for the album’s best track.) Creepy segues glue tracks together in the style of Majority Rule’s Interviews with David Frost, and if you’ve ever read anything I’ve written before, you know that anything with a bit of Majority Rule scores major points. For those of us truly disheartened by the industry’s latest excuse for hardcore music, all hope is not yet lost.
Track Listing
01. Exposure
02. Carrier 1
03. Symmetry Lost
04. Bottom Of The Food Chain
05. Infected
06. You Choose A Slow Dance With Death
07. Bloodwings
08. Rain Runs Red
09. Unbroken
Recommended if You Like
Plague Bringer, Converge, Pig Destroyer
Judge For Yourself
www.myspace.com/tothewolves (http://www.myspace.com/tothewolves)
Record Label: Unsigned
Release Date: Spring 2009
Who?
About a year ago I reviewed these Boston hardcore-heads’ debut EP, Death and the Company You Keep, impressed with the group’s ability to keep it real in a scene that’s become completely fake. Thankfully, not much has changed on this, the 17 minute “full-length”, and the group sound just as pissed off as they ever have. If you thought that Boston was all Mighty Mighty or Dropkick, you’d better think again.
How is it?
Symmetry Lost packs all the crushing blows of its predecessor, plus more. As an unsigned band, To The Wolves took advantage of their situation with some serious DIY ethics. Entirely self-produced, mixed, mastered, and designed, this is the product of full artistic control on the band’s part, with no money-driven corporate scheming (“hmm, mmkay, breakdown here, melodic singing part here, how’re we doing on that acoustic instrumental exactly halfway through the album?”) From an artistic standpoint alone, this is the way that things ought to be done.
From a musical standpoint, To The Wolves maintain their firm grip on intense, tuned-down-to-Z grooves, with monster vocals that never fall into self-parody, but instead genuinely provoke fear. Vocalist Nick Nardelli’s howling certainly seems to have been informed by the likes of Today Is The Day, while the rest of the band pay homage to groups like Converge (see the rhythmic shape-shifter “Infected” – a strong contender for the album’s best track.) Creepy segues glue tracks together in the style of Majority Rule’s Interviews with David Frost, and if you’ve ever read anything I’ve written before, you know that anything with a bit of Majority Rule scores major points. For those of us truly disheartened by the industry’s latest excuse for hardcore music, all hope is not yet lost.
Track Listing
01. Exposure
02. Carrier 1
03. Symmetry Lost
04. Bottom Of The Food Chain
05. Infected
06. You Choose A Slow Dance With Death
07. Bloodwings
08. Rain Runs Red
09. Unbroken
Recommended if You Like
Plague Bringer, Converge, Pig Destroyer
Judge For Yourself
www.myspace.com/tothewolves (http://www.myspace.com/tothewolves)