I would never in a million fucking years have guessed that they were from San Antonio, Texas, but indeed that is the case for Bitter End, whose debut full-length, "Climate of Fear" (out now on Malfunction/Deathwish), chugs through 11 tracks of absolutely stellar late-80's/early-90's NYHC worship. And when I say "NYHC", what I mean is, "Remember all those badass old NYHC records that were totally influenced by thrash metal...?" Yeah, that shit... which it just so happens that I fucking love: Shitloads of crunchy midpaced power chords and thrashy picking patterns, sick riffs, fiery little lead breaks, a solid sense of energy with just a little tinge of melody here and there... it's great! I mean, god damn, they cite some of the standard big-name influences (Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, Leeway, etc.), but then they also start breakin' off names like The Icemen, Dmize, Outburst... shit, they might as well have thrown Social Disorder in there, too! And the even crazier thing about it is that these guys are in their early-20's! Some of 'em are a full decade younger than I am! Insane!
And they really take the entire aesthetic seriously, man (I'm surprised they didn't just pack up and move to New York), because this is one of those records where you can just look at it and know it's gonna kick ass. It totally looks like Nuclear Assault's "Handle With Care" or something like that, and you just don't see cover art that looks like this on many records that have come out since that late-80's/early-90's timeframe. But what really seals the deal are the fucking vocals, man! Holy shit, I mean, where the fuck has this guy been hiding!? Finally a fucking frontman that understands that, yes, it is possible not to shout exactly like everyone else on the planet, and no, you don't have to go terribly far out of your way to differentiate yourself. It's because of the vocals that this record sounds so motherfucking convincing (and dated, but in the best way possible). What can I say? I'm impressed. Sure, there's a little room for improvement (though this is already a huge step up from their EP)... but fuck, these guys are the shit. I'm all over this. This album is definitely the one that kicked me in the ass to start catching up on all the metallic hardcore I've been missing out on lately, but I just don't see it being possible for any other band in 2007 to get more props from me from a stylistic/influence point of view. These dudes know exactly what the fuck is up.
Bitter End "The Higher"
Bitter End "Climate of Fear"
Comments
This fucking rules, and you are absolutely right that this is obvious from looking at the cover alone. The idea of completely ignoring what’s been going on in this genre (and any other) the last fifteen or so years is the best idea since salt on french fries. Fantastic shit.
12.7.2007 | By svein
Man, I need to get my hands on this shit ASAP. It was good.
12.7.2007 | By xGabrielx
The singer sounds just like Chiqui, the singer for Dmize! Someone call Beto and Hoya…
12.7.2007 | By Carlos
I like it. I think this is going to have to go on my still growing ‘must get’ list.
12.7.2007 | By Dichatomy
Awesome record, been spinning this a lot recently.
12.7.2007 | By xBenx
Really stellar album.
12.7.2007 | By Jeff
Goddamn awesome record, this has been in my record player since it came out, lots. Nice heavier NYHC with that thrash touch on it and the cover art is so amazing too, got that 90’s touch on it.
12.8.2007 | By MarkusxKTL
First track posted is cool. Very melodic, especially that melody, lead-ish thing.
Second tracks is more typical. Dude does have a cool voice, you’re right.
Anyone remember that shitty Metal Blade band Bitter End from the late 80’s?!?
12.8.2007 | By Justin
definitely an awesome throwback to NYHC and the typeface of the cover totally reminds me of Just Look Around era Sick of It All…
did anyone ever like Withstand from Albany? or am I the only one?
Well, a few moments remind me of that bands first EP, which was aping the Leeway / CroMags style anyway…
whatever, great stuff.
12.10.2007 | By blend77
Great LP for sure. Is up there in my yearlist.
From the description above I’m curious to hear something from Withstand by the way.
12.10.2007 | By Pim
Meh.
12.10.2007 | By Johnny
Withstand were pretty cool. I only have the Into My own 7” that came out on Moo Cow or Fist held High…something like that, you should ef chec’em out Pim, think you’d dig.
12.11.2007 | By Son Of Man
Withstand was great. I posted about them last year, actually. The mp3’s aren’t up anymore but the post is here. You can check out a couple of tracks at their MySpace page as well.
12.11.2007 | By Andrew Aversionline
i have the Withstand album Anger Was A Warm Place, but the 4 song EP that came before that was bonkers! One of my favorites along with the One King Down EP with Bill Brown on vocals… tough ass hardcore.
anyway, this site rules.. i’ll be visiting more often.
12.11.2007 | By blend77
That Withstand stuff sounds pretty good, I’ll try to find so more. Thanks dudes!
12.11.2007 | By Pim
Not entirely impressed with this record. It doesn’t hold up as a full length but would have been a perfect ep.
Still, they have got style and the singer fucking rules.
1.12.2008 | By Birkir