Nearly every day people ask me how Kansas City can
consistently churn out the best BBQ in the world. The answer is simple, it’s in our DNA. All male and female babies born in Kansas and
Missouri possess a Q chromosome. Most
don’t even realize they have it until later in life when they put flesh to fire
in their backyard some weekend afternoon while watching one of our professional
sports teams completely shit down their leg, and they pull the meat off the
grill to find it succulently moist, smoky, and perfectly seared. So anyway, I’m starting to get the feeling
that something similar is happening in Southern California when it comes to
fast hardcore. ACxDC, Cave State, MPG, Impulse are just a few and that’s without
mentioning all the historic SoCal bands that have come before them.
Los Angeles/Orange Co. reared Fissure (not to be confused with Slovakian Slam gods Anal Fissure) are no exception. They play tight, fast hardcore/powerviolence,
you know, like 8 songs in 7 minutes fast.
After waiting for months, apparently Melotov had a shipment of stampers break, their s/t 7” finally
arrived at my door and it was definitely worth the wait. For the most part, Fissure keeps their style pretty straight forward, but will throw
in subtle tempo changes that makes their fury really pop. 
The 50 second mark on kick-off track “Junkie’s Day Off” is a good example of
this. High energy speed that shifts down
into a speedy groove on the way out to incite the pit. The sludge elements you expect in
powerviolence are there as well, maybe not to a Weekend Nachos level, but
present nonetheless. They pull this off
on “Left-Footed” which starts with
blasting hardcore then sludges out around the 30 second mark before winding back
up to blast on the way out, all within a minute. Same with closing song “G.I.M.P” which starts off blasting then drags you down to that
unfinished basement for a beating with an elongated slow mosh. Front man Oscar’s
vocal performance drips with energy. No
barks, just higher end “wha wha wha!” that add to the intensity of the blasting
hardcore. Tip of the cap to the drum
work on this as well, a ferocious drum performance sets this thing off.
The 50 second mark on kick-off track “Junkie’s Day Off” is a good example of
this. High energy speed that shifts down
into a speedy groove on the way out to incite the pit. The sludge elements you expect in
powerviolence are there as well, maybe not to a Weekend Nachos level, but
present nonetheless. They pull this off
on “Left-Footed” which starts with
blasting hardcore then sludges out around the 30 second mark before winding back
up to blast on the way out, all within a minute. Same with closing song “G.I.M.P” which starts off blasting then drags you down to that
unfinished basement for a beating with an elongated slow mosh. Front man Oscar’s
vocal performance drips with energy. No
barks, just higher end “wha wha wha!” that add to the intensity of the blasting
hardcore. Tip of the cap to the drum
work on this as well, a ferocious drum performance sets this thing off.
Maybe there is something in the SoCal water, maybe it’s a
non-processed, whole food diet, maybe it’s the tacos. I don’t know, but they definitely got
something going on down there for sure.
This Fissure s/t 7” is a
short but memorable piece of blasting hardcore that is a nice accent to the
barking LA powerviolence.
These guys are putting in work with an abundance of shows in the
California area as well and have a rumored upcoming split with UK curmudgeons Gets Worse. It’s starting to warm up here in KC, but if
you need that last bit of frost slammed off you, do yourself a favor and grab
this Fissure ep.
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