ALBUM REVIEW: Watch Me Bleed – Missing Link

There’s a certain primal, lizard brain tickling aspect that some hardcore bands possess. The downtuned, grunting beatdowns seemingly awaken things in us that few other kinds of music ever come close to. KUBLAI KHAN TX and HARMS WAY may have popularized this strain of ‘core in recent times, but it’s always existed in one knuckle-dragging form or another. At its roots, it can be traced back to the best New York Hardcore bands, who pioneered a certain strain of shitkicking, thick-headed brand of hardcore that blended in elements of rap and hip-hop.

The aptly named MISSING LINK are one of the new generation of hardcore bands formed during the pandemic, but there’s a good chance you’ll know some of their members from other work. A blend of the fiery intensity of INCENDIARY combined with the swagger of PAIN OF TRUTH – not surprising considering they share a member, guitarist Nik Hansen – and the white hot rage of COLD AS LIFE, their debut EP My Time On The Cross came out of the gates swinging both fists with reckless abandon, and after a couple of others they now present their debut full-length Watch Me Bleed.

While the production on the album has been taken up a tad from the grit of the various EP releases before this, it’s not much but this kind of music doesn’t need any spitshine. It sounds dirty, filthy but in the best way possible. As the guitars lurch and chug on opener Pillar Of Salt, vocalist Mike Ryan grunts and growls in a way that immediately activates your fight or flight response, and that’s before the opening track’s guest vocalist – the legendary 100 DEMONS frontman Bruce Lepage – comes in. This is fight music, without question, designed to open up pits and knock out teeth around the whole world.

Things take a faster turn on New York Minute, which is the album’s first standout track. From the powerful chorus to the oddly catchy refrain of “Who’s that peeking in my window?“, it’s clear that MISSING LINK are something special. In just over two minutes, they’ve created one of the most violent, undeniable pit anthems of the last decade. In a record stuffed to the brim with highs, the peak is when GRIDIRON pop up on Numbers On The Board. As soon as the ludicrous swagger of Matt Karll comes in, you’ll have a shit-eating grin spreading across your face so wide that it’ll threaten to turn itself into a Chelsea grin. There’s absolutely nothing like it in hardcore at the moment and the fact the two bands are touring together this summer and have the potential to break it out live will definitely result in some dentists getting more business than usual, especially during the “G-R-I-D L-I-N-K” breakdown.

This type of hardcore isn’t for everyone as there’s pretty much nothing in the way of reinvention here, but there shouldn’t be. This is a modern love letter to the take-no-prisoners, skull-cracking scene of the 90s and early 00s. There’s barely a second of let up and with 11 tracks clocking in at a smidge over half an hour, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. There’s just enough variation in things to keep you interested though; Another Cross brings to mind classic hardcore with its two-step intro and pointed, anti-religion themed lyrics, while the weirdly terrifying distorted sample from Happy Gilmore that opens up I Want To Kill You (Pt.2) gives way to a frantic, almost grindcore track which segues into a stomping, gargantuan end with Ryan bellowing and growling with an intensity that honestly makes you a little uncomfortable.

The last track, Genuflect, is the longest song by far at nearly six-and-a-half minutes. Beginning with a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on a CROWBAR record, it takes the record into some surprising places, with clean vocals and atmospheric guitars taking you by surprise and leading you to think that the band have decided to end things on a weirdly beautiful note… until the second half of the track comes in after some silence and proceeds to batter you to death with a ballpin hammer with a breakdown so disgusting you’ll stop whatever you’re doing and just stare off into space, wondering what just hit you.

This is not an album for people who enjoy thinking, it’s a thick-headed battering ram that promises to erase all semblance of rational thought from your skull. That’s a good thing, by the way. The world is messed up enough without actually having to think about it all the time, so just whack this on and let it take over you, one sledgehammer riff at a time.

Rating: 9/10

Watch Me Bleed is set for release on June 7th via Triple B Records.

Follow MISSING LINK on Instagram.