Gloves Off – Life … And Everything After
Gloves Off – Life … And Everything After
Upstate Records
Release Date: 28/01/2022
Running Time: 32:00
Review by Rory Bentley
8/10
There are some styles of music that make me act like a fussy toddler if the balance isn’t just right for my ears. Too much cheese and helium screeching on a Power Metal song and I spit my dummy out; excessive Euro-pop synths on a Symphonic Metal cut and no amount of airplane noises is gonna make me swallow it down. Then there are some genres where I’ll greedily clear my plate before I’ve even been strapped into my highchair, which is kind of where I am with Hardcore.
Putting aside this bizarre man-baby analogy for a moment, the point I’m making is that if you play metallic Hardcore with an Entombed-style guitar tone, my objectivity goes out the window a little. This stuff is catnip for me and my default setting of snooty cynicism is somewhat nullified; replaced by a two-stepping guy in a bandanna that shouts ‘FAMILY!’ a lot.
Gloves Off tick a lot of my boxes from the get-go: violent band name, angry faces on press photos and cool song titles like ‘My Death Was a Banquet’. I’m also pleased to say that the execution matches the imagery and throws in enough sonic curveballs to make them stand out from the crowd.
Hailing from Pennsylvania, a rich hotbed of Hardcore, Gloves Off deal out a savage brand of down-tuned depravity and abrasive noise that recalls the crushing chugs and harmonic screeches of their fellow natives Code Orange at their most feral. Aided by a production job that blends surgical clarity with a delightfully grimy overtone, the sonic palette here strikes the exact balance between extremity and accessibility that I gravitate towards. Essentially it doesn’t sound like it’s been recorded in a shoe but it’s also filthy enough to avoid any unfavourable Warped Tour Metalcore comparisons.
The album opens with tar-black hanging power chords booming ominously before accelerating into a crossover Thrash riff that could conjure a thousand circle pits. I was immediately struck by the unconventional but very welcome use of blast beats that punctuate the beat down sections here, adding a flavour of Death Metal while still retaining the streetwise feel of a Hardcore banger.
By second cut ‘Death Awaits’ it is quickly apparent that Gloves Off are adept at switching up tempos frequently in a way that adds variety to their relentless barrage without disrupting the overall song structures, bringing cohesion to chaos. ‘In Reflection’ switches up the formula slightly and if you’re a Gojira fan (and why the hell wouldn’t you be?), then you’ll be lapping up the immensely satisfying pick scrapes and screeching natural harmonics that litter the scorching riff-work as the track segues into the eerie octave chords of the album’s catchiest chorus so far. Not for the first time, it’s worth acknowledging the savage beat down section at the end, which is just straight ignorant and makes me want to spin kick until my ligaments snap!
This would be a good time to give some shine to vocalist Cody Clark, who has an unhinged razor blade ferocity to his scowling bark that may not be good for his vocal cords but is great for selling the existential rage contained within the weighty lyrics of ‘Life… And Everything After’. He tackles the agony of existence with a philosophical approach while retaining the scowling demeanour of a street-brawler. This more literary approach to prose essentially allows me to have my cake and eat it – I feel like I can shout the mosh calls with permanent screw-face without the sensation that I’m descending into the world of macho parody that the name Gloves Off might infer.
If I had to pick a standout track then that honour would go to ‘Conqueror Worm’, which blends all the elements of the album that have had me salivating and closes with a gargantuan breakdown that I fear one day will put me in hospital, before frantically escalating in speed to an anxiety-inducing sprint to the finish line. Like the album itself the song offers a delightful buffet of the best bits about modern Hardcore, collated into a satisfying feast of Converge-worshipping malevolence.
Taking my over-sized baseball cap off and donning my critical hat, there are areas for improvement. Predominantly I would love the band to explore a little further beyond the self-imposed borders of the genre; as there’s plenty of evidence they’re more than capable of this. Like nearly every band from the scene since Code Orange dropped their seminal 2017 opus ‘Forever’, there are samples and ambient moments stitching the record together that hint at roads yet to be travelled.
The outstanding closer ‘Between Greetings and Goodbyes’ sees the band employing dissonant arpeggios and moments of pure black metal destruction that recall Bleeding Through in their blackened Hardcore pomp, showing that there’s plenty more tools left to play with should the band veer from the palm-muted beaten track. More of this please!
‘Life…And Everything After’ is modern Hardcore done to a very high standard with the green chutes of future growth and innovation excitingly peppered through its perfectly pitched 32-minute runtime. Far from just being a thuggish haymaker to the gut, this is a sophisticated lesson in violence performed with proficiency and panache. If Edgar Allen Poe owned a pair of brass knucks he’d probably love this album.
‘In Reflection’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Pinnacle In Timelines
02. Death Awaits
03. In Reflection
04. By A Thread
05. Decay
06. Conqueror Worm
07. My Death Was a Banquet
08. Winter Solstice
09. Between Greetings and Goodbyes
LINE-UP:
Cody – Vocals
Ethan – Guitar
Sean – Guitar
Brian – Bass
Phil – Drums
LINKS:
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