Come to think, it’s really not all that rare for a punk/hardcore band to start up, then spend years playing in local dives, squats, basements and VFW halls before deciding to crank out an actual album. I’d even add that, as a genre, the type of punked up hardcore THE BROOD is on about is more geared to a live setting, where the band and the crowd become one heaving, moshing organism than something you’d toss onto a record player. But that’s not keeping the Philadelphia crew from delivering with For The Dark.
‘Sinkhole’ is exactly that from the start, low-end-heavy and the burled bellow of Ned Wells buoyed by the higher register of bassist/vocalist Janine St. Clair as the remainder hang on for dear death. WARZONE is brought to mind with ‘Destroy Fuckers’, while EXPLOITED (the good era) flips cop cars in ‘Burning With The Sands Of Time’. ‘Shallow Graves’ and ‘Enemy’ continue the punkopalypse and – while we’re not hearing anything we haven’t heard countless times before – we’ve never heard it more passionately delivered, the Shawn St. Clair / Bill Chamberlain guitar duo still managing to cram some tasty and tenacious leadwork into the latter.
‘The Best Parts Of You Died’ slows things (relatively) to a BROKEN BONES ground ‘n’ pound, and KILLING TIME’s not a far off comparison either. Of note throughout this banger is the drum sound of Erik A, strong and scruffy in the mix, nowhere more evident than ‘Culture Of Piss’ and ‘Broken Apart’.
Not sparing an ounce of angst or defiance, ‘Outsider Life’ rounds out For The Dark, an almost MOTÖRHEAD as covered by BLOOD FOR BLOOD, and surely an ideal set/album closer. An anthem for the band and scene, without a doubt.
Review By: Lord Randall
THE BROOD
For The Dark
Armageddon Label