EP REVIEW: One Way Needle – A Knife In The Dark

A KNIFE IN THE DARK aren’t here to waste anyone’s time. Having made waves with the sheer force of last year’s Somewhere Between The Pew And The Fire EP – a record that wrapped up its entire business in a sub-six-minute runtime – the North Carolina straight edge crew are keen to round out what could be a potent one-two punch with a swift follow-up in One Way Needle. It’s another three-track release, and still only tips towards six-and-a-half minutes all told, but once again comes crammed with enough ideas and aggro to stand on its own stomp-ready feet.

Admittedly, and perhaps obviously, One Way Needle isn’t exactly hardcore rocket science. A KNIFE IN THE DARK land pretty close to a lot of what’s happening in the scene at the moment – somewhere around the beef of their straight edge counterparts in HARM’S WAY but with a slightly more chaotic edge a la VEIN.FM feels like a good start, for example. They kick this record off with Self-Destruction Calls – their longest track to date at just a fraction under three minutes, and one which makes full use of the space to hit listeners with a frenetic procession of raging barks, sweltering grooves, chaotic twists and turns, and, of course, some absolutely monstrous breakdowns. There’s even a hint of dynamic variation here; a slightly more expansive break that rolls into the track’s crushing closing chunk.

In terms of runtime at least, second track Inherent Fault goes the other way. Tearing by in a blink and you’ll miss it 50 seconds, it essentially delivers more of the same: furious vocals, beefy riffs, and a couple of arresting tempo switches to keep listeners on their toes. No surprises follow on Glass either, this one rounding out the record even as it feels like it’s only just getting started. Therein lies the only real criticism one could have of One Way Needle – it’s all over far too quickly. It might not reinvent the wheel, but given the quality of what A KNIFE IN THE DARK have to offer here, most listeners would no doubt quite happily have spent double or even quadruple the time in their presence.

Of course, at the end of the day that’s hardly a huge problem at this point in A KNIFE IN THE DARK’s career. To return to the one-two punch metaphor, One Way Needle feels like a quick second jab to Somewhere Between The Pew And The Fire’s first strike, which hopefully means the band will have a knock-out blow up their sleeves when the time comes for something a bit more substantial. Bring it on.

Rating: 7/10

One Way Needle is set for release on July 22nd via self-release.

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