The Setup "Nine Kinds of Pain" 7"
[Anger Management]
Holy shit... this Belgian act opens it up sort of calm and quiet, but you can tell something's about to blow up, and then a sample comes in against some brutal chord progressions and distant screaming, ebbing and flowing in volume and intensity, and after this instrumental ("Mirror Images") things get a bit more frantic and involved with "Wireless", as the screaming vocals come to the fore with more rhythmic attacks and a better sense of melody and variety. This is basically creative metallic hardcore with more metal than straight hardcore, but it comes off as very balanced, it's strange because it doesn't sound metal per se, you can just hear a lot of those influences at work. They make excellent use of dissonant chords/note combinations, the writing is powerful, and this is great stuff. "A Man of Honour" is a little more simplistic with an almost rocked out lean to some of its rhythms, but the title track picks up the pace a little more and gets back into the twisted sort of discordant hardcore riffs and constant fluctuations. In a way this kind of sounds like Burst if they were more towards hardcore as opposed to the dirge-y sort of bleak stuff, as these guys cover those bases but definitely still come off as a hardcore band. There's a little bit of everything here. The recording comes off as a little thin with a definite sheen of treble hovering over the instrumentation, which is a shame, but it still works because the bass tone is great and as a whole the tones are strong. It if it was a little cleaner and more controlled in the mix it would absolutely crush. The layout is awesome, though. Everything is printed in shades of brown with cool high contrast designs and organized text, and quality little band photos. The record comes on opaque maroon vinyl and has messages in the center dealing with "melons" and "boobies" - perhaps a joke best kept between friends, because that style of humor is not in line with their music/lyrics in the least. The lyrics are bleak and seem to be personal, but are sort of posed in a way that leaves that open. "I see the upside there's nothing left to me. To choose denial consumed by all our fear. Separation, the marks, the death of me it's all so fucking hysterical for the kill." Good work. I damn sure want to hear more from this band, because this is a fiery EP, and they could do some major damage. Check it out. (8/10)
Running time - 10:00 (approximately), Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: Mirror Images, Nine Kinds of Pain]
Anger Management Records - http://www.am-records.com

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