Will to Live and Endless Fight…

I'll admit that when it comes to current metallic hardcore I've been pretty bored with most of what I've heard in the last six months or so, which is why I so often find myself turning back to the 90's bands. However, in a recent string of releases the rather prolific Spook City Records has really hit the mark with the "Tested and True" EP from Will to Live, which is by far one of the label's strongest offerings to date. The band hails from Texas and this is the first I've heard from 'em, so I don't know if it's their debut or not (for some reason the band's website is blocked as a "sex" site by the wholly inaccurate security settings at my job), but damn does this thing make its mark straight off the bat with a killer sounding recording (If only that snare had more of a natural resonance to it!) and plenty of chugging breaks amidst the faster power chords and picking patterns. Looking at the big picture the band doesn't particularly offer anything new on a musical level, but the sheer force and memorability of the songwriting makes a solid first impression that sticks with you, and that damn sure counts for a lot. Also worth noting is the fact that the lyrics are better than average in terms of having a pissed edge, but sticking to a more reflective approach as opposed to all the tired hardass material that tends to go hand in hand with much of this genre—which definitely furthers this band's edge. A mere seven songs in 17 minutes really leaves you wanting more, but that's not a bad place to be!

Will to Live "All of the Above"
Will to Live "Every Strike"

Spook City's exclusively distributed by Lumberjack, who I don't use that often simply out of habit, but at $7.50 you can't lose, so pick this up and keep your eyes peeled for more from Will to Live:

@ Lumberjack Distribution

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Also solid from Spook City's latest batch is the debut full-length from Endless Fight, who I believe is from Canada. In similar fashion these guys take a pretty traditional approach to metallic hardcore with shifting tempos from faster chord progressions to chunky breakdowns, but they toss in some unexpected little melodic riffs and quick alternate picking runs that add an extra dash of metal without really affecting the fact that this is clearly a hardcore record. Again, they're not really rewriting any books by any means, but they're messing with the riffs and arrangements just enough to catch your attention, which should yield even stronger results in the future if all goes well. They don't consistently floor me, but I think fans of this niche of hardcore will agree that there are admirable traits aplenty within this material:

Endless Fight "Lies in Disguise"
Endless Fight "Far From Return"

Same deal, as always, if it's something you enjoy, make the grab:

@ Lumberjack Distribution

Also, Billy Graziadei posted some information on my old Biohazard demo write-up this morning, which I think is pretty god damn cool since I've been listening to Biohazard since I was like 14 or 15 years old, so that might interest some of you as well.