Band – Volatile Substance
EP – Soak My Body In Gasoline. Bathe Myself In Fire
Label – None (that I can tell of)
Release date – out now
Sounds like – Sunshine. Daisies. Lollypops. That fresh new sound. CLEANSING FLAMES
Who wants some sick hardcore jams right up in their face? Volatile Substance are four dudes from Oakland who like to play hard and fast, with the kind of blunt, pulverizing determination that you’d expect from a band who’s EP title is a statement on self-immolation. Also, one of them used to be in an outfit called Dr Kill Em All, which is a seriously badass name for a band.
Volatile Substance are a raw, bare-bones package of grizzled, fractured hardcore punk..
DIY to the core, Volatile Substance have released this debut demo on cassette only (16 available) and a free digital download and it’s a raw, scrappy, dismantling rumble of disorganized mayhem. Feel The Weight is a groggy snarl of slurred disdain – words aren’t so much sung as spat with gurgling hatred, whilst instruments are attacked with zealous enthusiasm, carving out a gnarled thrash-punk furrow. The words “DO YOU FEEL THE WEIGHT?” are growled with Exorcist-aping accuracy and are particularly demonic in execution. The guest vocals on Choke from someone called ‘Warbaby’ are spat with old-school punk rock spirit (think X-Ray Spex by way of The Germs) under a hail of DC Hardcore righteous jams. Less abrasive compared to opener Feel The Weight, but just as fiery and determined.
Dark Clouds is 58 seconds of gruff, windmilling hardcore. Bass and drums are buried in the mix beneath the buzzing guitars, which sound like they’ve become a temporary home for a swarm of angry bees all nursing hangovers. Waste Of Life is all crackling feedback, slow-burning guitar build – harrowing vocals, which sound like the desperate cries of a wounded animal, howling to be put out of it’s misery. The battering, Black Flag-punk rock assault that hits home is breathless, haggard and strangely cathartic.
Volatile Substance are a raw, bare-bones package of grizzled, fractured hardcore punk and debut EP, Soak My Body In Gasoline. Bathe Myself In Fire is a brief, yet strong opening gambit of rad tunes.
Links
Volatile Substance Facebook
Volatile Substance Bandcamp
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Junior Vice President of Keep It Fast. In other news: I work in social media, talk about dinosaurs, run a book club and have amazing facial hair. I am also a male man who is still not dead.
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