You already know about Fissure; fastcore front runners from the
OC/LA, purveyors of powerviolence infused punk, and undisputed West Coast house
show champs. Boasting a s/t 7” out earlier this year, a recently released cassette,
and a West Coast Summer mini tour; they were cool enough to let ShatteredKnee
preview their side of their upcoming monster split with UK’s Gets Worse.
Ripping a new acne scar on the scene, Fissure’s brand of
fury is everything you’d expect from SoCal fastcore; fast, explosive, and well executed. However, what sets Fissure apart for me is how efficient they are with
their song composition. I like 40 seconds of blast as much as the next recluse,
but Fissure will actually give you an intro, some blast, a crusty breakdown,
some Nigel Tufnel-esque guitar parts, and a furious close out; all within a
minute. For a fast hardcore band, they do all the little things well that make
for a complete song.
Their side of this split kicks off with some excellent drum
work that transitions into Oscar’s mid-range, hysterics bordering shouts that
moves at a quick pace and then grinds down to a slow, pounding
breakdown behind lower end barks only to speed back up on the way out with some
clever guitar work. Track 2 shows the attention to detail that I spoke of
earlier. A quick hardcore intro into a blistering pace that shifts down into a
subtle groove that is so minute you could almost miss it…the little things. The
song breakdowns around the 20 second mark with some thick bass and wanky guitar work before
chugging back up into a nice hardcore-ish groove. I don’t have the lyrics to
the Fissure side of this split so I can only assume that At Least It Wasn’t
Barbed Wire is a song about an armband tattoo. The high energy breakdown on Don’t
Tell Me Secrets Because You Have Bad Breath is a standout on the Fissure side
of this. The highlight though, is the intro to final track 30 Miles (Of
Diarrhea). They may have perfected the
powerviolence ballad with that intro; nice guitar work to feedback to chugga
chug to “BUUUURRRP!” to fastcore explosion. Just a great and memorable song to
close out their side.
I
thought Fissure’s s/t was pretty straight up fastcore and I thought their
cassette had a more hardcore feel to it, and their portion of this split seems
to have blended the two nicely. Well put
together, high energy, SoCal fast hardcore from some dudes who put in work up
and down the West Coast and in their own communities with their live show.
Don’t wait to support these guys.
On the flipside, Leeds, UK curmudgeons Gets Worse bring a
more traditional, low tuned, powerviolence sound. With the obvious nod to 90’s
powerviolence given, what separates Gets Worse for me is their 3 prong vocal
attack. They write the song then add in the vocals to fit each guy’s style
which melds into an unmatched layered vocal assault. The irony in writing a Gets Worse
review is saying so many positive things about something soooooo negative. I
mean, on the rare occasion I wake up in the afternoon with a hint of optimism,
I like to throw on a Gets Worse record to bully myself back into hopelessness
so I’m never disappointed. I heard
Robin Williams (RIP) may have listened to a Gets Worse record on his last day.
If you didn’t hear “Negative”, please hurt someone you care
about as penance. If you did hear “Negative” then you know about that intro to
Negative PV…Too Much Talk. I’ve never been able to dead lift as much weight as I was
able to while listening to that intro. That whole record is like sonic human
growth hormone. Well, Gets Worse come very close to that again with the intro
to Boring Legend to kick off this split. Feedback gives way to drums to a low
tuned creepy crawl groove which stalls then explodes into some grindcore-ish
blast drumming before finally settling in with some caveman barking in front of
that same low and slow Gets Worse PV groove. The mean streak continues on No
Remorse; shout intro to blast spurt to guitar windup to beatdown chug;
everything you expect from a Gets Worse track. They set up the groove with the
blast and vice versa; using they’re vocal variety to tie it all in. Part grind,
part powerviolence, part hardcore, 100% pissed. Another highlight for me is the
classic PV, all vocal barking kick off to Push Past the Trash. Also, the drum work
by Rich (The Afternoon Gentlemen) is ferocious, but especially on No Shep. If I had any complaints about the Gets Worse
side of this split it’s that none of the lyrics are about physically assaulting
someone, but they more than make for that by using the line “Fuck this!” in 2
of their 4 songs on here.
I realize that this is an absurdly long review for a
split 7” but this isn’t just any split, this is a step backward in the right
direction and deserves the commentary.Two bands on the
rise with two different adaptations of powerviolence infused punk. The only
thing that could make this better is if it were a split 12”. The UK release for
this is sometime in September on Dead Heroes and the US release will be later
this year on Obscene Records/Murdernoise. Steal or find or borrow the cash.
