Path of Destruction "1:00 a.m." 7"
[Havoc]
Another EP of aggressive hardcore/punk with a very subtle crust sort of edge from this Minneapolis band. Expect lots of burly chord progressions, gruff yells, some blistering lead breaks, a hard-hitting attack, and a generally straightforward and consistent delivery. The main exception is "Silence is Golden", which starts out with some clean guitars before introducing an oddly melodic riff that leads into a fucked up off kilter rhythm that comes as a huge surprise. The song as a whole is a lot more diverse than the others, and it's also way more creative than these types of bands tend to be, and I really like that angle. This time around the playing seems tighter and the recording is definitely thicker and more in your face. My only minor complaints with the sound are that it's too quiet overall, and the vocals are louder than the music because they've got more midrange textures, while the instruments tend to have a thick, heavy sound that's somewhat muddy to due the massive bass presence. I'd drop the vocals back in with the music, take a little low-end from the bass tone, and turn up the guitars and portions of the drums ever so slightly. The bassist is awesome, so I'd make sure not to lose his work in the process though. The 7" is on transparent blue vinyl and comes in a black, white, and red sleeve complete with cool illustrations, all of the lyrics, and some black and white band photos to boot. The lyrics are mostly on the bleak side and deal with life in general, but then there are some tracks that deal more with having fun (namely the band-named track "Path of Destruction"). Good stuff. This is better than their last EP, so they're definitely improving. (7/10)
Running time - 12:00 (approximately), Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: 1 a.m., Silence is Golden, Path of Destruction]
Havoc Records - http://www.havocrex.com

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