Grappler – S/T EP

By Andy

It seems recently that the south of England can’t stop producing decent hardcore bands and in the form of GRAPPLER there isn’t any let up, despite the pretty naff name. The début album from the London rabble is one of ambitious intent that they could be one of the leading bands within the hardcore scene. The combination of gradual build-ups into thrashing tracks is what this EP seems to be built upon.

Opening track ‘1138’ has an atmospheric build-up before breaking into the screams of an enraged front man that will no doubt have any audience member 2-stepping frantically in venues up and down the country. Whilst the opener takes a while to break in it’s followed swiftly by ‘Together’ which pounds incessantly with grimy guitars giving the track even more sense of doom. Highlight of the album is ‘The Sailor Boy’ which isn’t as fast paced as you’d expect but it becomes clear that metal crunches owe more to Grappler‘s sound than the thrash of say Trapped Under Ice.

In truth this EP could’ve been cut down to four songs as the likes of ‘Shore’ and ‘Roadhouse’ appear just to be preludes to ‘The Sailor Boy’ whereas final song ‘Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea’ is more of an outro . That said, Grappler have all the makings to be Britain’s answer to Fucked Up.

TOM WALSH

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