MARCH 2023 OFFER: Buy any 2 LPs or 4 CDs and get a random free flag with your order!
MARCH 2023 OFFER: Buy any 2 LPs or 4 CDs and get a random free flag with your order!
When it comes to fast paced, aggressive hardcore, the shorter it is the better. Poland’s The Dog definitely seems to subscribe to this mentality as their debut full length ‘The Devil Comes at Night’ runs just under twenty one minutes, with the final song taking up over a quarter of that run-time. That leaves the remaining fourteen songs at around a minute or less, but like Negative Approach and Spazz these guys are able to make the most of it. Hardcore doesn’t need to be long winded, and when it can punch you in the face with some aggressive instrumentation and darker tonality, that’s just fine.
Set for release on CD from EveryDayHate and cassette from Drop Out, ‘The Devil Comes at Night’ is quickly approaching its June 26th release date, and EveryDayHate was nice enough to give us a chance to premiere one of these fast, punchy songs so you can hear for yourself. Cult of Nothing is one of the shortest tracks on the album, coming in at thirty-two seconds, but it’s like a freight train coming at you full speed. The guitar and bass fly by at a frantic pace, with riffing that has nods to hardcore’s earlier bands with hints of grind added in for good measure. It hits you with a good deal of weight, but there’s a certain rawness to the instrumentation as well. While the rest of the band blasts away the vocals come through as a higher scream that adds to the aggression and gives off a bleak, hopeless vibe as well. It’s a great mixture, and when contained in concise doses like this The Dog knows how to maximize its impact.
If the references to groups like Negative Approach caught your attention, then you should know this is an album you need to check out. Now in their third year of existence, it’s clear these guys know how to write fast, aggressive hardcore that’s as raw and untamed as some of the earliest in the genre. ‘The Devil Comes at Night’ is out June 26th on CD and cassette, and no matter which format interests you, you’ll want to crank this one up and feel blast after blast.
