There are sometimes trends or waves that inevitably come and go within the hardcore scene. Some bands add new elements to their sound, while others pay homage to the golden era of hardcore and draw influence from bands such as Black Flag, and Suicidal Tendencies to name but a few. One of the bands that has made a name for themselves by championing the latter is LA’s Rotting Out, and across their last two albums ‘Street Prowl’, and ‘The Wrong Way’ respectively, their skate-punk infused hardcore has gained them an adoring fan base and widespread acclaim.
It comes as a surprise that unfortunately Rotting Out’s new EP ‘Reckoning’ falls a little short of the mark. When they unleashed ‘The Wrong Way’ in 2013 it was a whirlwind ride that was nothing short of exhilarating, however this time around things feel rather forced, and ‘Reckoning’ lacks the urgency of its predecessor.
That’s not to take anything away from Rotting Out’s ability to write furious hardcore punk, as they do what they do with precision. ‘Born’ certainly rages in all the right places and ‘Eyes Wide’ is a frantic two minutes of fast paced guitar riffs over traditional old school punk beats. There’s also no denying that vocalist Walter Delgado is still as angry as ever. The problem being that across the three original songs on ‘Reckoning’, they never quite provide that cathartic release that passionate hardcore should evoke in not only the artist, but also in the listener.
The inclusion of two classic Circle Jerks covers in the shape of ‘I Don’t Care’, and ‘Live Fast Die Young’ at the end of ‘Reckoning’ does give the EP some added character. You can hear where Rotting Out gets a lot of their sound from, and they do the covers justice by capturing the revolutionary sound that the Circle Jerks bought to punk rock, but it leads to the three original preceding tracks paling in comparison.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with ‘Reckoning’, and if you like short bursts of energetic hardcore then it will undoubtedly cater to your needs. Rotting Out possess a wealth of talent as they demonstrated on their previous albums, but when bands like Turnstile, Harms Way, and Code Orange are constantly pushing the boundaries of hardcore it makes ‘Reckoning’ feel somewhat average.
GLEN BUSHELL