Bad Habits - Parting Words 7"

I've been neglecting Speedowax for way too long. Especially, when I own a lot of the label's 2013 output! I felt I needed a break from the doom metal that I've been writing about this last week, so I decided to pick four of the latest seven inches to write about. Rich (Speedowax head-honcho) is a massive supporter of hardcore and has been putting out some top stuff over the last twelve months.

This first review features Bad Habits. I don't know too much about them other than their a four-piece hardcore band from Pensacola, Florida. They've been around since 2012. This record was pressed to celebrate the 16th birthday of Speedowax and each one was hand-numbered!

Tracklist:-

1. Exile
2. Two Faces
3. Steel Cage
4. Parting Words
5. Beaten Path
6. Discard

This is crossover as hell! Bad Habits throw out some great hardcore with a twist of thrash. The thrash-like vocals remind of Tom Araya at his most rabid, but with more energy. Exile features riffs that sound groovy and bring the beatdown. For a first seven-inch EP, this is really tight. Bad Habits get more ferocious as Two Faces starts. It’s got more of a punk edge than the record’s opener and there’s a great, understated solo. The dual vocals are more apparent in this song, with the crossover vox standing out next to the deeper hardcore vox.

Steel Cage has wrestling written all over it. The slightly off-kilter intro might catch some people off guard, but it’s not long before they’re pounding again. They manage to fit a lot into a two-minute song and the melodic solo at the mid-point shows a hint of dramatic songwriting from the band. The title track is a moody interlude that prepares you for Beaten Path. Bad Habits get their groove on again during the build up and the rhythms from the drums will no doubt incite chaos live. The energy of the band comes across really well on their recorded output, which isn’t something you can say about every band. There’s plenty of volume in the recordings and it sounds meatier for it.

Discard starts in a sedate manner but it’s anything but when the verse kicks in. The drums fills are creative and bridge the gap between transitions well. Those deep hardcore bellows are almost bowel shaking. As the song and indeed the seven inch fades out, you’ll be feeling like you take on the world. That’s what hardcore does, it empowers you and gives you strength. This is recommended!

Parting Words is available to stream in it's entirety here:-


It's available from the above bandcamp page as a pay-what-you-want download.

You can get physical copies of the seven-inch from Speedowax here - http://constantrotation.bigcartel.com/products

Bad Habits don't seem to have a Facebook page or anything.

Speedowax Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/speedowax