Within Chaos

Virulent

[2.5/5]

There are no surprises to be heard on Within Chaos’s Virulent. However, that shouldn’t dissuade you from buying and listening to it because originality’s not what this band’s about. They almost seem to be in a contest with Throwdown to see who can sound more like Pantera (a contest Throwdown are winning because Within Chaos also steal a lot from Lamb Of God). But that’s okay, because chugga-chugga riffs and clogged-throat machismo never go out of style, right? As with the best (and the rest) of hardcore, it’s almost impossible to tell one song from another, so it all blurs into 40-plus minutes of fist-pumping and chest-beating, as song titles like “What Doesn’t Kill You,” “Power Trip” and “Pain Is Temporary” make abundantly, risibly clear. Pain may be temporary, but metalcore is forever, I guess. (KOCH) Phil Freeman