EP REVIEW: Cut From Cold Blood – Iron Form

Here’s a decent rule to live by: listen to everything that comes out on Church Road Records. To do so this year alone will have already led you to the bile-soaked blackened hardcore of GRIEF RITUAL, the ambitious experimental sludge of WREN, and now the gloriously nostalgic metalcore/post-hardcore cross-breeding of IRON FORM as they emerge with their debut EP Cut From Cold Blood.

Comprising the experienced duo of Alex Heffernan and Mario Gambardella, IRON FORM draw extensive and unmistakable influence from the early 00s, at various points evoking the likes of SHAI HULUD, POISON THE WELL, MISERY SIGNALS and maybe even the occasional flash of CAVE IN in some of the more deranged moments found in a track like New History, for example. All this, it should go without saying, is a good thing, especially as while there’s a lot of great nostalgic metalcore and post-hardcore out there at the moment, there isn’t much that shoots for this specific sound, and thus IRON FORM stand out a fair bit more in 2025 than they might have done 20 years ago.

Of course, that wouldn’t count for much if the execution was lacking, which it isn’t. Cut From Cold Blood has a really epic and emotive streak courtesy mostly of the lead guitar work that soars all over it, and the desperate, breathless vocals that deliver its HULUD-esque narrative of “unforeseen suffering and a long fight through harsh, unrelenting circumstances.” Whether you’re able to follow the story closely or not, it is clear enough that the stakes are high; there’s grief, hatred, vengeance, Churchill samples and swinging axes, and all it seems to end in despair with the repeated bellows of “the cycle never ends” that round out the closing title track.

The whole thing lands the right side of a tight 20 minutes, with the climactic lead single Become The Blade probably the frontrunner for an overall highlight, and the chug-heavy Spirit Rain snapping at its heels for second. Make no mistake though: these are five memorable and immersive tracks without exception, each with their own little flavours and moments of individual flair and crafted with clear love and respect both for world-building and for a specific and glorious era where the lines between metalcore and post-hardcore could get real blurry and it didn’t really matter what was what as long as it was done with a level of emotion and intensity similar to that which is exhibited so strikingly here.

Rating: 7/10

Cut From Cold Blood is set for release on March 21st via Church Road Records.

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