VILIPEND

"Her pain doesn't make her special / just useless / this is not sickness / it's a choice / when inspiration hits, with both hands grab hold / and rend and twist / these failings her only companions / she doesn't even bother to cover her scars / and I wish that I was that strong / sweating out the drugs / they say everything takes time / she breaks her down, and down, and down." Those wounds are wide open, so wide you could crawl in one of them and take a nap amongst the ooze even as the stench burns the nostrils. It is powerful stuff these lyrics from "Failings for Friends", I'll give them (VILIPEND) that. The music of the "Love Left to Rot…" EP doesn't always kill with the same level of conviction, but it has its powerful moments too.

The Toronto unit travels with a lot of scrape 'n' gouge through these five tracks of noisy hardcore, the style much more akin to the classic CONVERGE school than that played by the poor huddled metalcore masses lining the mall halls of North America. One hears similarities to the strain of 'core coming out of the Goodfellow camp as well. The damage is fairly comprehensive, if a little directionless at times, and the group occasionally grabs by the throat and chokes folks shitless (e.g. the shift around the there-minute mark of "In Desperation we Reach"). The shapes and sizes are varied from track to track as well, whether in bloody knuckle attack mode ("Wounds Worn as Badges"),lengthy and balanced burn ("Kill the Pills…"),skin-on-concrete drag ("Broken not Breaking"),or 'core semi-rollick ("Failings for Friends"). The band scores points for leaving oxygen pockets in the arrangements, making the album less of a blur than it might otherwise be. Give it some time though.

Those hanging out in these types of 'core communities on a regular basis may find even more to like on "Love Left to Rot…" Me? Sounds like they've got a good thing going here; the more I listen, the more I get the feeling that big things may be in store for future releases. Be on the lookout.