A389 Recordings sure can pick ‘em! There have been a slew of excellent releases announced for the end of January including a re-releasing of not one, but two LPs released last year by the ripping raucous crust wielding quartet: Young and In The Way. I’ve decided to only review one of these vinyl reissues, but only because I plan to talk about their newest effort released earlier in December in a future review. This one definitely flies by with a spread of eleven tracks clocking at a frantic average of just under a minute each.

I’ve seen the tag thrown onto several hardcore bands lately called “dark hardcore”, and I’m not exactly sure where that denotation originates. YAITW has been assigned this categorization by a large portion of their last.fm users. Since when did  integrating elements of lumbering hardcore punk devices with blackened trim  into the same band enhance it’s darkness? I don’t get it, regardless, I would love to see this band paired up with AXIS and/or Nails.

Sweat encouraging samples of distant, and probably ethereal, women inhabit the first three minutes of the five minute introduction. The only variation comes in welcome a Converge style drum solo that is shortly joined by a series of gritty dissonant guitar swells. five The next four tracks are in a hurry to kick your fucking ass. The beat down begins with a stewing of  hardcore punk timing and a furious buffet of chordal abuse accented by cardio demanding blasts at the back end of most measures. Chords begin to char running leading into a anxious conjuration of groovy black n’ roll, and that is the point where I am reminded why frivolous categorization can never capture the honest portrayal of the actual audio in question. YAITW yanks the listener through a four minute marathon that changes so drastically, but no less appropriately, that the band really does have something for hardcore and metal fans alike.

A particular track that stuck out to me a marvelous example of blackening hardcore with a couple wretched harmonies was “They Should Greet Me with Howls of Execration”. When I listen to the foundational guitar lick that curves through a series of breakdowns I can feel the warm crawl of my body hair reaching upward. Down beat pummeling complete with putrid harmonies accenting the latter segment of the measure? Where do I sign?

At it’s core YAITW is a hardcore band, but here’s the awesome part, their obviously diversified listening palette grants them a smorgasbord of techniques to use. It’s almost as though the band exerts it’s bipolar bending between black and core seamlessly without any telegraphed transitions.

Don’t forget to check the A389 Recordings Store before January 31st to secure your ‘Amen/I Am Not What I Am’ 2×12″

Click here to stream or download I Am Not What I Am for FREE on their Bandcamp page.

- Jared Oates Haggard