It took me about five consecutive listens before I warmed up to this EP, but I’m still not entirely hooked, and probably only a full-length will get me that far. PANIC takes an interesting approach to their hardcore, looking past the generalities of the old-school, but stopping short of adopting the current glorification of metalcore. The end result is something screamy but not entirely unrestrained, closer to early BOTCH and 108, and maybe some STRIFE thrown in there but without the brawn. Lyrically, although this EP is only four songs strong, I really like what’s coming out of the vocals, first going through some internal soul searching in diving through a messy life and then with the anthemic track, “Our Choice Is Made,” which happens to be one of the most inspiring hardcore pride sounding tunes I’ve heard in awhile. “We’ve got to stick together, there’s nothing left but us, screaming ourselves down the dark streets, waiting for the sun, our choice is made.” By far, the best part of this EP is the cover of UNBROKEN’s “Fall on Proverb,” which is tacked on to the end of the final track. So many bands have taken UNBROKEN’s influence to heart, so it’s good to at least see them covered and perhaps brought to a newer audience. Scorching production and sharp high quality design round this out. While not the most stunning hardcore band to come across my stereo, such fiery passion is hard to ignore. I’ll be looking out for more…

Bridge 9

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