At Both Ends EP

With a double 7-inch this good, it's easy to forget this comes with the last issue of At Both Ends, a fantastic hardcore zine from Canada's Northwest. While that's a bummer, the eight songs on this gem soften the blow. This is a great hardcore record featuring just about anything you could want, starting with a classic, Bane's "Struck Down By Me," which gets a modern update on this new recording. Is it better than the original? Yes. It's a fast, tight and aggressive hardcore song complete with the obligatory slow, emotional part. The mosh part and extended breakdown bleed right into the intro of "Non-Negotiable," which starts off with some crunch but moves quickly into ringing guitar and gang vocals. It's as good as Bane gets, and that's really good. 



The fact that the 7-inch contains two brand new, never-released Grade songs is a little like a dream come true. Largely unappreciated outside of Canada in their time, Grade (along with like-minded cohorts Boy Sets Fire) masterfully mixed elements of metal, hardcore and rock to create a style of music that paved the way for bands like Thursday (which then gave way to any band adhered with the "screamo" moniker in the past decade). The anthemic vocals and screaming/singing interplay are Grade's greatest contributions to aggressive music, and the band showcase it here. "These Eyes Are On The Exit" and "Optical Portions" are similar-sounding songs in parts, but are different enough to prove that Grade still have it even after a seven-year break. 



Between Earth And Sky are a hardcore band with a truly unique sound, primarily in singer Greg Bennick's the Van Pelt-meets-Snapcase vocal delivery. He uses the gimmick to better draw attention to the weighty subject matter of his lyrics, and it works. Musically, Between Earth And Sky do a good job of mixing rather typical hardcore riffs with more cerebral art-rock sounds in the vein of Dredg.



Unrestrained aren't trying to reinvent the wheel with their contribution to the At Both Ends compilation. That said, they come correct with two brutally aggressive tracks of pure punk fury. Both "Anak Krakatau" and "Immaculate Deception" weigh in right around two minutes and sound like they could have been holdouts from a Strife record. Neither song will change your life, but Unrestrained to what they do as well as any other good hardcore band.



With music from all over the map, including tracks from legendary bands and upstarts alike, At Both Ends hit a homerun with this EP–and you get a top-notch magazine to boot.

At Both Ends http://atbothendsmagazine.blogspot.com