EP REVIEW: Persona – Gel

Last year saw GEL release one of the most highly praised hardcore records of 2023; Only Constant further cemented the New Jersey outfit as a mainstay for the foreseeable. Now they come bearing a whole new EP via Blue Grape Music: Persona. Packaged with a whole new soundscape for listeners to indulge in — and indulge the new efforts we will.

A few things are familiar and more than welcome to remain in GEL’s sound: Sami Kaiser’s meat grinder vocals, the sheer ferocity that their attitude unleashes, and the fact that it’s nothing but quality from start to finish. So, what’s different? Well it seems that after hitting what was their peak in 2023 has been broken through, the ceiling of their potential shattered. Finding temperance in song structure rather than the zero to one hundred mentality that overwhelmed Only Constant — which is still present but not in totality — and it highlights the talent and development of GEL as artists and how they aim to evolve.

As for the raw material that they deliver, it’s just as good if not better than what they’ve offered up before. Title track Persona not only frames the new production clarity, thanks to Jon Markson, but the new shape of what a GEL track has become. With a jittery back and forth bridge that will turn heads, it summons something frivolous that makes you want to join in on that hype. Martyr opens with pounding drums that could signal a war chant and for once gives Kaiser a chance to breathe, amongst the reverb that breaks the song apart with rare spoken vocals comparatively whispering “Do you feel the pressure? Do you feel it?”. It’s something that starkly mirrors the path that the quintet have been on for the past year. 

Constantly touring ever since their debut that garnered some of the biggest praise in hardcore that year will result in an unfathomable amount of pressure in a community that is so close knit and not often understood by onlookers. In true GEL fashion, that for the freaks attitude — they close the dropkick EP with Vanity. Touted by guitarist Anthony Webster as “a ‘f*ck you’ song.” In their sign off, they take their stance as knowing their band’s identity. Sludgy gory mess, pure brutality taken sonic form with Kaiser spitting “Can’t change it, don’t wanna / This is the way we push through” as they fade out. In just five short songs, including their longest yet, GEL prove that they’re the hot commodity that they claimed to be in 2023, whilst remaining humble. 

Rating: 10/10

Persona is out now via Blue Grape Music.

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