ROR XII
Rise Or Rust Records
LPCD Review
I find it slightly depressing that bands from completely different parts of the world can sound almost exactly the same. Case in point – a vast majority of hardcore bands.
So when Austrian hardcorers Astpai give a list of “Paint It Black, Kid Dynamite,” etc. on their promo blurb, my expectations weren’t very high. This is not say that the aforementioned bands are bad - far from it - it’s just that the sound is not particularly new and far too many bands try and just follow the example. Hardcore has sounded more or less the same for about 20 odd years now, without changing much and few mould breakers.
On Astapi’s 2nd album, Corruption Concealed under Deceptive Slogans, they do themselves a disservice by trying to rely on lazy comparisons (although the influences are clearly there). The music served up is unmistakably melodic hardcore but it also has a bit more colour to it which is mostly due down willingness to play with song structures, instrumentation and production.
The lead vocals are little more than angry throaty grasps that mostly lack in melody and a punch behind them and that makes them underwhelming at first, but they grow on you, although he does sound like he needs some cough syrup. As they become likeable, the music takes the fore.
Musically it is full of stops and starts, stabs and punctuation: a lot of changes of direction and pace. Some interesting pieces of music are put together. A mix of clichés and innovation – some straight from “Hardcore Punk for Dummies” and some out their own book.
The album opens with the unusual ‘Life of Reflection’. It’s unusual in that the lead guitar plays interesting, strange riffs over the top and this pricks up the ears. The song itself isn’t great; neither is the follower ‘Hands Kept Clean’.
The album takes a slightly poppier and better turn with 3rd track ‘Born as Destined, Locked Up as Forced.’ This is where they really get going: unmistakeably hardcore but it chops and changes, following a spikier and quite pleasing direction. The song builds, high points are reached, restraint is shown and the song structuring kept interesting.
The album continues from there into the quite poppy ‘Paving Ways in Cliché Suits’, which is a pleasing sing-a-long. There are glimpses of pop and hard rock thrown all over (and even drum’n’bass/electronica in ‘Stuck on Repeat’ (forgive me if I miss-genre-ise, I’m not into electronic music)) but made clear in the great ‘Obsession Kills.’ Slipping amongst the hardcore, the new ideas are mixed well and produced intelligently.
It isn’t breaking down any real barriers; it’s just taking the typical melodic hardcore formula and doing slightly more with it than your average band. The affect is enjoyable evolution of the hardcore sound. These are baby steps: taking the sound slightly further than it was but not as far as others. It’s nice to have a slight change from straightforward routine of hardcore every 20 years or so.
