This Finnish hardcore band has a different sound than what I'm accustomed to hearing from the region, opting for a really melodic old school sound with straightforward vocal shouts rather than something brutally heavy or anything like that. The recording is sadly raw and loses some impact, but the songwriting is really damn cool, and I like this stuff. Opener "Holy War" has a lot of openly melodic riffing with basic dual guitar parts, "Voice of Treason" is a little more aggressive and straightforward at the start but like the other tracks opens up into a more melodic set of chords with some quick singing backup vocals, "Blood on the Sidewalk" lets the bass parts play a larger role underneath some melodic octave chords, and so on. It's nothing really new or anything, but the songwriting is good, they keep things short and sweet, and the end result is pretty memorable at times. "Our World" is definitely a really catchy song - my favorite of the demo, for sure. As mentioned the sound needs work, as it sort of sounds like it could've been recorded live or something. The drums are a little distant, the mix isn't that clear, etc. You get a good idea of what the band has to offer, but it needs more clarity and force to really let these songs reach their full potential. The CD-R comes in a simple xeroxed sleeve with minimal artwork and clean text for the lyrics and information, so it gets the job done. Almost all of the lyrics speak out against violence, with a few songs taking on the topics of racism and nationalism and such, so that's a refreshing angle. Not bad at all. I'm rarely let down by Finnish hardcore bands, and this is another to watch out for. Songwriting-wise I'd definitely give this a higher score if the recording were more effective, but the rough sound definitely holds them back a touch on this particular demo. I'll look forward to hearing more, however. Hopefully they'll do an EP or a full-length soon.
[self-released]
Running time - 12:23, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Holy War, Our World, Blood on the Sidewalk]
None Would Remain - http://www.lprhardcore.net/nwr/
