I always thought Victory Records were a hardcore label, that was of course until I heard Student Rick… but reaffirming my faith that the label hadn’t compromised all things heavy, they have gone and released the new Bloodlet CD – probably the most brutal hardcore record I’ve ever heard. This, however, doesn’t make it good…
‘Three Humid Nights In The Cypress Trees’ is a vicious record, full-on and in your face hardcore, blistering with bludgeoning riffs and brooding lyrics. Unfortunately it is anything but accessible, with the spite and bone-cruching riffage just a little too much for me. They’ve been away for a while, but for me, they could have stayed away that little bit longer.
Opener ‘Learn To Fly: Ascent’ starts promisingly, with vocalist Scott Angelacos’ melodic singing woven amongst some bloodthirsty screams. But it unfortunately descends into average screamathon hardcore within a few minutes. Unfortunately this is a trait which continues throughout the entire record. The likes of ‘The Way Of The Leeches’ and ‘Vision Quest’ are also hardcore by numbers, with repetitive detuned riffs and slow/fast parts interspersed with screams. It’s all a bit boring really.
‘Learn To Fly: Descent’ eases the monotony as it’s actually different to all of the other mid-paced tracks, adding a piano and some whispery vocals to the mix. It’s not that good, but at least it’s different. ‘The Way Of The Will’ begins with an interesting wah-wah effect, follows on with a blood-curdling scream and then descends into a load of crap. Ditto the album’s title track, which just doesn’t have enough of anything to keep me interested. Infact I’m rather inclined to reach for the off switch about now.
‘Worms’ is more of the same, with Scott almost doing the spoken-word thing before launching into yet another scream, then singing the chorus. All predictable, no melody, boring, boring, boring. ‘Motel Surgery’ is similar to most of the tracks here, so much so that it’s beginning to become tricky to differentiate between the songs which tend to just blend into each other. It’s just scream after scream, boring re-hashed riff and after boring re-hashed riff.
As you can probably tell, Bloodlet just are not my cup of tea at all and I doubt this record will pick up that many new fans. However, if you’re a fan of the band, or of the genre, it will probably be worth checking out. But note the use of the word probably…
Paul