‘Sundowning’ is the début full length release from the Long Island hardcore punk band that is This Is Hell. This Is Hell is not a band trying to reinvent the wheel with its sound, this album brings nothing new to its genre, what it is however is a hard hitting album of hardcore punk and one which always packs a hefty punch. Fifteen tracks feature here and the album has a total run time of just under 31 minutes; the tracks are short, the music is greatly powerful here however and always the bands sound has much to offer.
From first track ‘Retrospect’ right through to closing classic ‘Another Facade’ this album truly is brilliant. There’s not much variation here, none in fact; the album is strong though and although every track present on this album is incredibly stylistically similar the music most definitely has much to offer. The guitar work is excellent here, the vocals are brutally shouted, and always the drumbeats are absolutely excellent.
There’s a high level of aggression presented by the band throughout this album; the sound created here is instrumentally hard hitting and vocally powerful also. The tracks build well and there’s a lot of passionate anger which can here be heard in the vocal performance. If you’re a big fan of hardcore punk then you’ll have heard this sound done a thousand times before; This Is Hell is a band that does the hardcore punk genre proud however and although the sound created here is nothing too innovative, it’s most definitely an excellent album to listen to.
The hardcore punk sound is always here extremely well put across by the band, every vocal line is ferociously shouted and for a début album ‘Sundowning’ truly is incredibly impressive. This Is Hell is not a band that is doing anything particularly new, what this band is doing however is playing incredibly dark and excellent hardcore punk with great precision and power.
‘Sundowning’ is an album that all fans of hardcore punk should own in their collection; this will never go down in history as a classic, it is however a fantastic way for This Is Hell to introduce themselves as a band with a hardcore punk album of such high calibre. If you listen to a lot of hardcore punk then ‘Sundowning’ is an album that you should most definitely own, and I suggest you make the investment sooner rather than later also as I’m sure that this is one hardcore punk album that you shall be listening to an awful lot.
Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: November 19th 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.