Label – MLVLTD
Release Date – 22nd September 2023
Words – Venny
On a dark December ‘22 evening, myself and a couple of hundred others were crammed into a small venue in Newcastle to watch a fast-rising Malevolence on one of a string of low-key club shows. They had brought support made of bands (and presumably mates) from their own MLVLTD roster. Whilst being a very passable hardcore set, complete with no barrier and vocals bellowed from both the crowd and members of other bands, guilt trip did not hugely stick in the memory. Hence, expectations for reviewing their latest album of Severance were modest.
However, like their MLVLTD overlords, Guilt Trip have shown amazing growth on this release, and after only a few listens it is clear they have made something special. This 36 minute album of metallic hardcore presents large dynamic shifts in tempo and style that yield a thoroughly compelling listen. For sure, many of the key tenets of metallic hardcore are present and correct; hulking riffs, dive bombs, breakdowns and certainly pinch harmonics do a quantity of heavy lifting. What is impressive is the meld of straight up metal; GT clearly have a deep love and pedigree with all the subgenres of metal, including trash influences, solos and even nu-metal-ish vocals on the chorus of Sanctified. The record is dripping with influences from bands such as Pantera and Machine Head, with the opening tracks pinch harmonics particularly evocative of Davidian. The opening four tracks roar out of the traps, seguing rabidly into one another, much like Malicious Intent and dare I say, Far beyond Driven. The clean guitar instrumental track Reaching Paradise comes halfway through serves as a nice break from the hulking hardcore. To be fair to the band, is it something they’ve dabbled in the past with, echoing the track Tempest from River of Lies. The second half continues in a strong vein with memorable vocal hooks on stand out tracks Sweet Dreams and Tearing your life away.
Without wishing to make too many comparisons with their mates in Malevolence, the quality comes in the songwriting and diversity. Compared to their last release, Guilt trips have stepped up on technicality across all of the instruments, and particularly in the vocal department. Guilt trip have introduced more clean vocals, first seen on Broken wings, but later coming to fruition on Hell will replace the rain and Dusk. In particular the latter, the finale of the album, has a Down/ NOLA- esque southern US soul, with strained heartfelt vocals. There are plenty of vocal hooks throughout
Contributing to a burgeoning UK scene, the Manchester lads have probably made the best album of this type in 2023, and Severance is as much Pantera as it is Hatebreed, and with it comes plenty of crossover appeal.
8.5/10
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