EP REVIEW: Unpleasant Living – End It

The city of Baltimore probably doesn’t spring to mind too quickly when it comes to the US’ many iconic regional hardcore scenes, but as the birthplace of crossover superstars TURNSTILE, maybe it’s time we all started paying a little more attention. Enter END IT, a band who are both as Baltimore and as hardcore as it comes. Admittedly, they do seem a little less interested in the boundary-smashing fare of their aforementioned state-mates, but there’s still plenty to like about the more rudimentary take on the genre they present on their third EP Unpleasant Living. Out this Friday via Flatspot Records, this is hardcore as its pioneers intended: fast, loud, raw and raging.

With six tracks spanning a tight eight minutes, END IT manage to squeeze a fair bit into Unpleasant Living. While they do mostly paint in hardcore’s primary colours – gang vocals, stompy beatdowns, and moments of rapid crossover thrashing – these songs still feel relatively full and well-realised. There’s an urgency to it all which really works in the band’s favour, something reminiscent of the sub-60-second flurries of the genre’s very earliest heroes. Add to this a significant dose of the beef that began to define the scene in the 90s and you’ve got a winning – albeit very well tried and tested – recipe that really is hard to deny.

Seemingly unconcerned by the fact that they might be a little pressed for time here, the band also make space for a fair few samples on Unpleasant Living. The first of these, a jaunty, old-timey piece, takes up a good third of the record’s minute-long opening track BCHC, with this gradually slowing and detuning into a more expected hardcore stomp. New Wage Slavery kicks the tempo up a notch from there, with breathless vocals delivered over some high-octane crossover thrashing. L’Appel Du Vide maintains a similar metallic bent, this one asking “Is there a God above?” before ending with a sample from Ben Affleck’s The Town.

So far so good, and there aren’t really any surprises from there either. 21 offers another sample, this one taken from GIL SCOTT-HERON’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, while lead single Hatekeeper addresses – you guessed it – gatekeeping in the hardcore scene, with vocalist Akil Godsey emphasising “I never asked for your opinions or permission / You look down upon the world like it was built for your derision”. Closing with The Comeback, this one takes up pretty much bang on a third of the EP’s runtime at two minutes 40 seconds. It’s arguably the toughest of all here, with a massive chugging main riff and a proud closing mantra of “Baltimore’s coming back with a bang / Still knuckle-draggin’ like it ain’t no thing.”

Look, as long as it’s not the first hardcore record you’ve ever heard, you’re unlikely to have your mind completely blown by Unpleasant Living. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last, but you’re just kidding yourself if you say this EP doesn’t at least get your pulse up. Eight minutes long, as indeed it should be, give it a go – what’s the worst that could happen?

Rating: 6/10

Unpleasant Living is set for release on July 8th via Flatspot Records.

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