Trustkill Records may have witnessed THROWDOWN jump ship to join E1 Records (formerly Koch), but there will be no void in ‘chugga-chugga’ bruising hardcore as long as AWAKEN DEMONS (ex-SENTENCE, REPRISAL) are around to pick up the slack. This straight-edge Italian hardcore band has been kicking around for a number of years now, and The Mirror is their mightiest effort to date. Rigid, and crushing, The Mirror doesn’t fuck around. With the first nine of the album’s 10 tracks adhering to a breakdown/breakdown/gang vocal over breakdown/double-bass breakdown/breakdown then outro/intro then breakdown formula, it doesn’t take long to figure out what this band is about (with somewhat typical lyrics about straight-edge, friendship, etc.). The guitar tuning and the shouted vocals of Luca Zattoni largely create the THROWDOWN comparison, but it’s obvious that EARTH CRISIS and MARTYR AD (a supremely underrated band) factored into the songwriting as well. Notably, EC’s frontman Karl Buechner makes as a guest vocal appearance on here, as does Vincent Bennett from fellow guttural-impact artists THE ACACIA STRAIN. On the closing title track, AWAKEN DEMONS show a different side to them, as the five minute instrumental jam is a mix of symphonic metal with mid-placed brooding guitars and gorgeous soundscapes, which largely contrasts with the tougher-than-tough image put out by the band on the album’s first 25 minutes. I’ve got no complaints with The Mirror – for the genre, it’s a 100% competent offering that makes me want to floorpunch until my back aches, but I’m much more impressed with the band’s closing track, which in all likelihood, was probably just added on to pad the album’s brief running time…

Trustkill