Gator King - Gator King I

US hardcore band Gator King, were a band I discovered ages ago, during one of my regular trawls through the darkest depths of Facebook. I was Immediately taken aback by their brand of thrash infused hardcore. Their album Gator King I was released by Mass Grave records in April 2012.

Tracklist:-

1. Nightmares
2. Always Reminded of My Wasted Days
3. No Justice
4. Strength of Friendship
5. Slutstomp
6. Damaged Sense of Trust
7. Die In a Fire
8. Rise
9. Sakura Smash
10. Mill Street
11. Outro

Nightmares is an intro of sorts, slowly building initially with some screamo inspired guitar, which flows into a more hardcore chug. Their brand of hardcore properly kicks in with 30 seconds to go in a short blast of fury.

Gator king follow in the footsteps of some of the more true hardcore bands, sounding fast and angry and playing music that be furious in a live setting. They sound very British in their delivery as well, which is a welcome change, as they don't try to emulate what’s popular.

No Justice is a much longer song, with mid-paced moments mixed with more thrashy passages. The production is good, lending a very live sound to Gator king's music.

The melodic guitar and the solo at about three minutes in, sound awesome and the well placed pace changes make GK sound even more brutal.

The band's crossover influences become more apparent as Strength of Friendship unfolds. There are also crust/grind elements to their sound, but these are not as prevalent. Slutstomp is an utter bro-down, with head stomping riffs and gang vocals aplenty.

The main lyrical themes seem to be anger based, especially with song titles like Damaged Sense Of Trust and Die In A Fire. Rise is the fastest song on Gator King I weighing in at just under a minute and it's a great blast of angry hardcore.

The lowly bass heralds in Sakura Smash, which smashes you in the face and brings forth images of a heaving mass of bodies and flailing limbs, kicking out the jams live.

The stop, start aesthetic of the song also makes it sound heavier.

The Outro includes some great piano from guest Adam Gale, as well as some great instrumentation from the band, especially Tim Lomme on guitar. It's a great ending to the record and hints at loads more to come from Gator King.

I love Gator King and you should definitely check them out. I'm also going to make sure I check out some of the other bands from the Worcester, MA hardcore scene shortly. If you know of any or are in any, give me a shout!

You can listen to the whole album on GK's bandcamp page below:-

You can also pick up the record in either CD or Cassette form via the bandcamp page, however I think copies are running pretty low, so check via their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/GKMass.