Sect – ‘Sect’

The first thing that almost anyone will be quick to address when talking about Sect is those who play in bands pedigree. Granted, we are pretty much doing the same, but really, that’s just a formality. Yes, they are made up of current and former members of Cursed, Earth Crisis, and Fall Out Boy, but this is not a super group. Sect is a very important project regardless of who makes up the band.

It has been a long time since hardcore as seen such a desperate battle cry to take action, let alone scream it with such conviction that it makes you think about the outside world around. While music can often provide mindless escapism from the ills of society that is not what Sect are here to do. Their self-titled record says all the things that some people are scared to say themselves.

The sheer pissed off nature of lyrics that make up the albums unsubtle narrative hit just as hard as the music. Vocalist Chris Colohan pulls no punches when venting his frustration at police brutality during ‘Curfew’, and picks apart nuclear weapons on ‘Death Dealer’, screaming “Atomic Christ, you’ve got them kneeling / can’t control it, I’m done subscribing to this.” He expands on his disdain at society through ‘All or Nothing’, definitely stating “I’m no one’s saint, I just ran out of patience / for the fuckers who would suck out my days in dollars.”

Musically, the album is as viscous, ferocious, and as nasty as they come. Each track barely tops the two-minute mark, and present short volatile bursts of blistering cacophony. The razor sharp, stop/start guitar playing of ‘Seventh Extinction’ and frantic rabid blast-beats that carry ‘Scourge of Empire’ equals the anger that spills from Colohan’s raspy delivery. There are no standard breakdowns, and Sect have eschewed a typical hardcore song structure, with lightning quick solos shredding through the mix, and add slower, bottom-end riffs to ‘Rendition’.

This is a record that not only the hardcore scene has needed for a long time, but one that the whole world needs. In times of political dissension, police brutality, xenophobia, racism and homophobia, Sect deliver a powerful and potent album that provides the perfect soundtrack to disarray.

GLEN BUSHELL