There are three bands that I consider to be the top tier in pushing the limits of fastcore; Sidetracked, who seem to have made it their mission to make the catchiest shortest songs they can, Hummingbird of Death, who can go from making a 20 song 5" of very apparent individual songs, to making a straight up sludge metal record, and Backslider, who are a band that shows incredible development with every release they put out. Last time we left this Philly duo, they were making some of the most structurally complex fastcore like it was nobody's business. Now on their new 10", " Consequences", the band has taken their own sound, and stirred up the pot more then ever with tons of different influences. While at the same time, taking a step back from going ballistic all the time, and stretching the song lengths out a bit more. Letting the songs have some room to develop, and for more riffs to stick around for a little while longer. They've still kept the fastcore fury though, no worries about that. The A-side is a devastating onslaught of sludge metal, death metal, crossover, and hardcore riffs, all together in one happy, and very inspired group of songs. The B-side is where the band really surprises though, with only two tracks on it of super sludgeviolence. It's pretty standard for any fast band to have a slow track on the end, but Backsliders newest editions to this formula sounds remarkably fresh. They almost sound like a different band entirely. They get to Noothgrush tempos on here sometimes, but they always keep it interesting with brief flashes of fastcore, and just by listening to how tight these two preform together. The guitars and drums are locked in so masterfully, completely complementing each other and hitting in unison in ways you don't hear many bands of this genre play. Definitely a highlight of the year for me so far. A contender for the top 20.Rating: 9/10
~VII
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