NSW’s hardcore powerhouse, Dead Crow blend Turnstile’s energy on Kamikaze EP, defining modern hardcore royalty.
FKA JOHNNY HASH, Dead Crow channel Baltimore outfit Turnstile in their hardcore explosion Kamikaze.
One of the more promising heavy rock acts to come out of NSW, Dead Crow sound ready to immortalise themselves in hardcore history.
Chunky, cyclical guitar riffs open the EP, with the title track setting a pace and determining an energy that requires dedication and ferocity.
SURRENDER (TO THE CAUSE) blasts through a chord progression that feels straight out of a Green Day album from the nineties, installing themselves as timeless as well as fresh and capable of trailblazing. Perfected tones and centered dynamics, Dead Crow are deliciously relentless.
A little bit Beastie Boys, a little bit Black Flag, Dead Crow hold their own against their punk and harcore predecessors. DROP DEAD BOOGIE introduces a humorous take on the blues scale, as well as a vocal performance that harkens back to eighties rock.
A modern day I Wanna Rock, Dead Crow shine impossibility bright with this third track. With energy that pummels and obliterates, the band confidently display their musicianship and coercivity at every turn. Their chemistry seeps through the tones, through the crash cymbals and echoing vocals.
Kamikaze blends but never blurs, each track a hallmark of its own. LET’S FIGHT feels like it’s been pulled straight from the soundtrack of a Tony Hawk video game, (a high compliment, as far as I’m concerned) while closer COMMANDO takes all of the pent up aggression created by its company and unleashes it.
Kamikaze as a whole is irrefutable and career defining. A demonstration of aptitude and passion, as well as an impossibly good time. Nostalgic in doses, rage inducing in others, Dead Crow define modern day hardcore with Kamikaze.
With another EP scheduled for release this year, Dead Crow have set a high bar for themselves to leap over, while leaving no doubt that they indeed will – and perhaps breaking the bar in the process.
It would be foolish not to keep at least one eye on where Dead Crow resurrect themselves next, and a crying shame to miss out on their rise to hardcore royalty.
Stream Kamikaze below.
Review by Caitlin Norris
