By: Charlie Butler
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 03/11/2017
Label: Southern Lord Records |
Daymare
Recordings | Sentient Ruin
Laboratories
Over the course of twenty five crushing minutes, the band show they
have honed their potent blend of crust, powerviolence, grind and sludge to
deadly perfection. “Hatred” feels like burying your face in a bowl of
razorblades while being kicked in the stomach.
“Hatred” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Rejected
2).
Regiside
3).
Corrupt
4).
Tortures
5).
Compton
6).
Grief
7).
Life Sentence
8).
Blue Berry
9).
Execution
10).
Dirtbags
11).
El Chapo
12).
Treason
The Review:
The
dust has barely settled from my recent exposure to Friendship’s
facemelting EP compilation. The Tokyo wrecking crew have wasted no time in
releasing their debut LP “Hatred”, a
relentless assault on the senses that cements their position as the current
masters of all things short, fast and horrible.
Over
the course of twenty five crushing minutes, the band show they have honed their
potent blend of crust, powerviolence, grind and sludge to deadly perfection. There
is a new found clarity and gut-churning heaviness to their bludgeoning
onslaught. This has resulted in a marginally less raw and chaotic experience
than before but still feels like burying your face in a bowl of razorblades
while being kicked in the stomach.
“Rejected” and “Regicide” open the record in furious fashion like a warp-speed Iron Lung. Both tracks
feature carefully deployed bursts of squealing feedback like a lead instrument,
particularly powerful during the cacophonous climax of the latter. “Life Sentence” and “Blue Berry” find Friendship
mixing in punishing, chug-heavy sludge riffs in amongst the high octane punk
mayhem that bring an intoxicating air of hardcore brutality. The bands interest
in the heavier and slower side of life is most evident in the monstrous “Corrupt”, a low tempo bruiser that
bristles with Eyehategod/Noothgrush sludge attitude.
A
re-recorded version of “Compton”
from the band’s debut EP makes an appearance at the LPs mid-point. It is
significantly burlier than its predecessor and encapsulates all that makes Friendship great in two minutes. Fret-mangling noise rock
riffs lead to passages of exhilarating knuckle-dragging simplicity, a perfect
balance of innovation and primal no-frills punk rock.
With
“Hatred”, Friendship
have delivered in style on the immense promise of their early work.
“Hatred”
is available here
Band
info: bandcamp
