Thursday, February 9, 2017

EP Review: WE ALL DIE Flatlined... (Independent) by Dave Wolff

Flatlined...
Independent
We All Die is a New York Hardcore band fronted by Joseph “Pugsy” Casolaro whose band Social Decay I reviewed in 2015. Their album Sick Society blistered with their thirty-plus years during which time they played with many noteworthy punk and hardcore bands. Casolaro’s new band has the hardcore/thrash crossover of All Out War, Madball and Down Low on their four-track EP, with significant technical advancement to boast of. The lead in to Suffer (Gift Of Pain) shows how much thought and planning went into the songwriting as the band tightens the thrash-core fusion into something sharper and more energetic than most of what you’ve heard before. There is a lot of open-string crunch in this song that flows comfortably into its shades of hardcore. A rough comparison would be Testament meets Agnostic Front. Most of the band’s progressive outlook centers on the guitars as the bass and drums keep the material’s roots in hardcore. There are several moments when the guitars step to the forefront to elaborate on certain moods, even offering an extended solo when the situation arises; these sections are not gratuitous and enhance the songs well. The vocals speak most strongly of 90s crossover, making their presence known but not playing against the background progressions. Lyrically the band reflects the collective attitude of the local NY scene, in terms of being part of the working class, dealing with society and dealing with personal conflicts et cetera. The last song Looking Thru The Bars is a fine example of where the band can go when they next enter the studio. All these songs are fulfill hardcore’s potential to grow without abandoning itself. At We All Die’s profile at Facebook you can view live videos of these songs filmed at the Blackthorn in Queens, a good sense of how the band are performing in person. -Dave Wolff

Track list:
1. Suffer (Gift Of Pain)
2. Live For This…
3. Bottom Feed 1-2

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