Written by Lex Celera After three years, five-piece metallic hardcore Cebu band Sift have put their debut EP. Sift is composed of members from various other hardcore bands, mostly under their shared imprint Hostile Youth Records. The six-track project entitled ‘What Lies Within’ includes two tracks from their 2023 demo listed at the end. ‘What Lies Within’ teeters between a semblance of structure and utter chaos from the jump, featuring riff-heavy tracks with blast beats that can tear apart bone from sinew. “Sifted Soul,” said to be part of their 2023 demo, demonstrates this sort of energy well. But for Sift’s newer releases, the speed of their exhilaration outpaces the emotional weight of its themes. The lyrics form the narrative backbone, creating images of decay and loss (“Boundless Strife,” “Disdain”), personal anguish (“I Against I”). Yet in each of those tracks share lines of redemption, such as in “Boundless Strife”: “Yet in the depths / hope shall not dim / We’ll rise again / to reclaim our life.” As what would most likely happen during their live sets, momentum is not lost in the brief refrains between each track. When played from end to end, ‘What Lies Within’ maintains a certain level of excitement as the sound shifts surely but gradually between different gradations and textures, never leaving space to breathe, and lingering for just the right amount of time. The result is a true, solid effort reflective of the Cebu hardcore scene’s intensity. LISTEN TO THE ART & THE ARTIST:
Tag: Metallic Hardcore
EP REVIEW: Shockpoint – Rhythm Zero
Written by Louis Pelingen Right from the jump, Shockpoint breaks things apart like a Titan pummeling its way through with its heavy fists. They demonstrate their handle on Metallic Hardcore on their 3 track demo last year, equipping themselves with all forms of rage that they can muster; shredding everything apart as the drums crumble, guitars seethe, and vocals thrashing amongst the decaying, fatalist destruction around them. If this is how much they can crush things down just based on their demo, what awaits their path in their future will be dealt with with more bulk in their core. In ‘New creature is born…’, the track immerses itself into what Shockpoint is heading into with this EP; the vocal sample narrating the crudeness that awaits them as they trod along with riffs sparking and grinding with the drum beating sparingly alongside it. In short, this EP throttles itself even further in chewing away the scums of the Earth, using fierce guitar riffings, rumbling drum beats, and anguished vocals to Shockpoint’s advantage. Within 15 minutes of its time, the band charges onward with no consideration for respite or cool down as they willingly brute their targets down with their violent ferocity; intensifying even further as they go deeper, humanity’s cruelty exposing itself at every turn. ‘Annihilating Your Dogma’ is essentially a takedown for pro-life mentality, the chugging guitar riffs and driving drums allow the shrieking anger of the vocals to break apart the individuals within that putrid mentality. ‘Fatal Impulse’ is based upon a video showing an interrogation of a rapist and the stabbing that comes afterward, a disturbance that makes its way to its violent imagery of the lyrics as the overall track stings thanks to its rapid guitar shredding, pulsating drum patterns, and howling vocals. Tracks like ‘Parasaethesia’, ‘Rhythm Zero’, and ‘Software Gore’ revolve around the performance art itself. ‘Parasaethesia’ takes to a slower yet noisier soundscape as the guitars get noisier and the drums get sharper. ‘Rhythm Zero’ cuts through religious pleas as the vocals are at their most unburdened and ravenous, accompanied by rapid-fire drum breakdowns and guitar ravishings. While the EP and its cavernous crushing atmosphere come in and out from time to time, “Rhythm Zero” mostly holds up due to its consistent takedowns of the caustic mentalities that surround in the most open and in the most subtle of places. It manages to not exhaust its formidable energy but to let that rage simmer and break apart the cruelty that wraps everything and everyone in its wake. Support the art & the artist: https://shockpointhc.bandcamp.com/album/rhythm-zero Rhythm Zero by Shockpoint