Longest War - Year One

Tracklist:-

1. Adam's Broken Rib

2. Original Six

3. Personal Armageddon

4. Our Mother

5. Fad Busters

6. Breathing Brings Out The Worst In Us

7. We're Only Temporary

I'm going to be using this weekend to carry on the momentum I've gained in reason weeks, while also prepping for life stuff next week that might halt things very briefly. I'm beginning with some rousing US hardcore in the form of Longest War and their recent record, Year One. Year One gathers together the tracks from their 2014 debut self-titled EP and their recent split with Old Ghosts. It's been released by US label Blasphemour Records (Feb 2016). It get better when you realise that the members of Longest War have done time (and still play) in some long-running and well-known US hardcore bands. 

The person in the flat above me is stomping around like they’re at a hardcore show, so I thought I’d give them some! This is raging as well. Adam’s Broken Rib comes in at under a minute but Longest War mixes fast riffs with slow ones and heavy as hell vox! LW makes hardcore that’s steeped in the old-school as the thick guitar on Original Six demonstrates. Plenty of H8000 style going on. The barked screams of Personal Armageddon leave you no time to over think things. Straight-forward is the best kind of forward motion here. There’s subtle mood changes going on during Our Mother, which is instrumental for the majority of the song while Fad Busters makes use of some cleverly subtle tempo changes. Breathing Brings Out The Worst In Us is another perfectly accurate socially conscious song-title, as you’d expect from a hardcore band. That realistic outlook cuts through the song. LW reflect on our short time on this planet during We’re Only Temporary. They aren’t too complimentary about time-wasters either. It’s a hard-hitting end to the record. Mainstream “hardcore” is getting pretty watered down of late, so you should be thankful for bands like Longest War. They prove that hardcore still has a heartbeat and the passion to reach out to people. Good stuff indeed!

You can hear Personal Armageddon on LW's bandcamp page here:-

You can pick up both cd and tape versions of Year One from Blasphemour Records here - http://blasphemourrecords.com/shop/

Longest War Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/longestwarhardcore
Blasphemour Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/blasphemour