ALBUM REVIEW: The Extermination Vol.4 – Flatspot Records
No-one in their right mind would bet against Flatspot Records on their current form. The Baltimore-based label has been a dependable force in hardcore for the better part of two decades, but in the last few years it seems to have entered some kind of golden period reminiscent of those of the legendary Dischord, SST and Revelation Records, to name just a few. The Extermination Vol.4 provides a wonderful snapshot of this – and perhaps by extension of the state of hardcore in the early 2020s – bringing together 11 bands in an impressive show of the strength, depth and diversity of the label’s enviable roster.
Much like Flatspot‘s wider catalogue, this compilation covers a real range of hardcore in its tight runtime. It kicks off with one of the label’s heaviest hitters in SPEED, whose track One Blood We Bleed instantly resumes the bludgeoning the Aussies dealt out so forcefully on last year’s breakout EP Gang Called Speed. If that’s your preference, you’ll probably have similar fun with later tracks from the likes of LAW OF POWER and M.A.D., the former tearing through plenty of AGNOSTIC FRONT-esque territory before ending with one of the record’s hardest beatdowns of all, and the latter providing the album’s most obviously metallic track as skull-crushing riffs and ripping guitar solos push things past the three-minute mark for the only time on this release.
Elsewhere, we get more 80s-inclined stuff from the likes of THE CHISEL and CHOICE TO MAKE, a pair of particularly blistering cuts from Chicago’s BUGGIN and Los Angeles’ SECTION H8, and even a more straight punk cover of CRUX’s Keep On Running from Colombia’s RAW BRIGADE. No band lets the side down, and while highlights will surely vary according to individual taste, both the breadth of subgenres covered in this release and the pace with which it moves from one track to the next means that even if you aren’t super into one particular offering then there is always something else waiting right around the corner to change things up.
To an extent there’s not much point picking an MVP, but if it’s not the opener from SPEED it’s probably one of the three-track run from JIVEBOMB, END IT and SPY that comes in around the record’s halfway mark. Both JIVEBOMB and END IT sound particularly raw and incendiary, as indeed they did on their respectively excellent EPs from last year, while SPY spend the first third of their allotted minute and a half slowly building the pace before kicking into a whirlwind of deranged fury and barked vocals that marks them out as a particularly unmissable prospect for when they come to tear Outbreak Festival to shreds this summer.
Then again, other listeners will probably pick completely different highlights, and that’s the best thing about this record. In less than 20 minutes, Flatspot Records cater to just about every stripe of hardcore fan and in doing so they present a strong case indeed for being the best label in the genre today. Get yourself a calendar and make a note of every release they have coming up, because you really shouldn’t miss any of them.
Rating: 8/10
The Extermination Vol.4 is set for release on January 27th via Flatspot Records.
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