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Ashers hail from Boston, MA, and feature Mark Civitarese, better known as the lead singer of Hellcat Records’ The Unseen. Mark has also sang on other bands’ records, including Global Threat and Death Before Dishonor, so it’s pretty clear Ashers ain’t gonna be a barbershop quartet. Kill Your Master is their first release since 2008’s Cold Dark Place EP.
It’s not uncommon for bands to claim they mix metal and punk nowadays. Ashers are another band that make that claim, but for once, it leads to a positive outcome.
The opener and title track hits you straight in the face with the hard, fast hardcore punk. The sound is one that could only be made by an experienced musician- complex and well produced, but still raw. Just as Mark wanted, he will be pleased.
From the off, it’s also relieving to hear a screamer that knows what he’s doing. There’s no pig-squeels or death growls here, just angst-filled shouts, the punk way.
‘End Of The Rope’ is a fine example of new school hardcore punk that’s still true to its roots, think Gallows. Most of the tracks follow suit.
The metal influence is more prominent on some tracks than others, ‘Blood And Grain’ for example, which is also the longest track on the record and features a guitar solo towards the end, adding to the metal element.
The only flaw with this album is the slight lack of diversity. Each track has it’s own little personality, but they’re all very fast and very heavy, which means there aren’t really any stand out tracks. The entire record is only 25 minutes long though, so you should survive through it without your ear drums exploding.
Even though it’s claimed to have punk, hardcore, metal and rock elements, there’s not much of the latter two. It is very dark, angry punk though, so could be considered closer to the metal side of things. It’s definitely not chill out music, more like music to break stuff to, but then again, that’s exactly how hardcore punk should be.
The Unseen fans will not be disappointed, and a new set of fans may be drawn in, as this new style of hardcore punk has ever increasing popularity. And Ashers certainly do it right.