Gutter - Modern Decay Demo

Gutter are a hardcore band from Athens, Greece that features Bak from Scull Crusher Records/Distro and Jagernaut, as well as members of Sarabante and other awesome Greek bands. This is eight tracks of bear-faced fury.

Tracklisting -

1. Why Do I have To Care?
2. Modern Decay
3. The Dogs Are Coming
4. Life In A Cell
5. No Class (Reagan Youth)
6. Forward
7. Influence
8. War Hero (Void)

Having review a Jagernaut split tape ages ago, I was expecting this to sound similar, but Gutter have a retro punk influenced sound, hellbent of paying homage to

American bands like Black Flag, Reagan Youth and Void (who they cover on this demo). The songs are fast and full of attitude. Gutter seem to capture some of the anger the their country must feeling currently, about the state of their economy and the austerity that grips them. The title track is especially ferocious.

The retro sound here isn't that common amongst hardcore bands I've reviewed recently, but it's refreshing. There's still a hint of crust here, which expected due to the members other bands. Listen to the drumming in The Dogs Are Coming, to hear what I mean. Vocalist Stathis chooses to sing in English, and the lyrics while screamed out are audible. The instrumentation makes it for me. It's well played and authentic enough to get you raging!

They keep their sound faithful when covering No Class by Reagan Youth, but Stathis's semi-melodic vocals are a nice touch. The melodic guitar and solos also help show how good they are. Forward includes some cool gang vocals and is a fast and furious as you'd like. More class guitar solos keep you hooked. This song is only one minute and forty seconds longs but it feels much longer.

Their final song here is a cover of War Hero by Void. This is more akin to Gutter's signature sound. Overall, this is a great fun demo by a band made up of well-versed members, who know what they're doing. It's great to hear people having fun and it sounds like they are! Another awesome Greek band to keep an eye on!

You can hear the whole demo on Gutter's own Bandcamp page below:-


You can also checkout more news from Gutter on their blog at http://gutterhxc.blogspot.com/.