ALBUM REVIEW: Euthanasia – Stray From The Path

“To meet the criteria required for Euthanasia you must have an incurable, constant state of unbearable suffering” rings out during the final moments of Euthanasia’s dark-clouded closer. By the time you get to this point in the album, you will understand how this line perfectly fits in with the ongoing themes on show here. The world has been in a state of disarray for some time now and STRAY FROM THE PATH have seen this and taken all of the pent-up aggression and rage and spewed it over 10 tracks on their latest release.  

Arguably one of the most consistent bands in hardcore today, STRAY FROM THE PATH have been tearing up the scene with their ‘no f-s given’, antagonistic, social commentary on tape for a few years now without showing any signs of slowing down. Their riffs are as catchy as they are crushing, with a tighter-than-tight rhythm section and blazing vocals. Known for their liberal lyrical fire and ‘left-wing’ political stance, you will most likely have a good idea what you’re in for when you press play. This album is a giant middle finger to many a wrongdoer and stains on this Earth and they sure as hell take no prisoners.  

Launching into the scorching opening uprising of Needful Things, the gang set the tone for things to come and they barely ever let up. They want to tell everyone that future generations will not settle for the current state of the world and provoke the proverbial bear further on the warning-filled May You Live Forever. Vocalist Drew York strongly defines how he’s tried to make peace with his enemies but has failed and now wishes they’d push him over the edge. You can hear in his voice that this is something he’s close to.  

Any fans of the police force or military may want to give tracks III and Chest Candy a wide berth. The former gives the boys in blue a taste of their own brutality, except instead of using their fists or a baton it’s in the form of lyrical licking spewed venomously by a pissed-off York. Chest Candy takes shots at the deceitful military sign-up system with lines like “Sign your name and die for me” or the destructive breakdown of “Send them to the furnace / Thank you for your service“.  

The riffs on show by Tom Williams are as ferocious as you’d come to expect from a STRAY release – punchy and infectious with a hint of Tom Morello flair. As a unit the band are unstoppable but the MVP here is drummer Craig Reynolds. His abilities by now are well documented, but once again his playing is otherworldly and expertly helps crush that low end with bassist Anthony Altamura.  

The breakdowns are here in all their glory with the released single Guillotine and Neighbourhood Watch being standouts, the latter with one of their heaviest to date. Brace yourselves. But if you were after something more than the standard STRAY you will be intrigued to know there are a few curveballs thrown in. The DEFTONES-esque Bread & Roses shows a slightly softer side while still being lyrically heavy and features clean vocals from STICK TO YOUR GUNS frontman Jesse Barnett. The defining moment comes at the very end with the captivating Ladder Work. This has an almost nu-metal feel with the DJ scratching but has the modern hardcore sound spliced into it. It’s grandiose and dark and it concludes the album in a spectacular fashion.  

There are two tracks that fall behind slightly when you look at the bar set by the rest of the album. Salt In Your Spit is a decent hardcore track but doesn’t jump out at you for repeat listens and the southpaw jab aimed at some of the world’s elite pricks in Law Abiding Citizen ends up only grazing the cheek rather than landing a knockout blow.  

Euthanasia will no doubt become an essential album for a lot of people and it is arguably the band’s most complete body of work to date. This was an album born in the throes of lockdown where morale was at an all-time low. Like the raging caged animals we were during this time, that rage had to be unleashed unto the ever-failing world and they have channelled those pent-up emotions on this record. STRAY FROM THE PATH are once again in full-blown attack mode. The question is, ‘Are you in? Or in the way?’ 

Rating: 8/10

Euthanasia is set for release on September 9th via UNFD.

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