Premonitions of War
“Left In Kowloon”
(Victory Records)
Heavy ass hardcore. It’s the speed that brings Premonitions of War their recognition amongst the crowded hardcore floor. Just swing your arms in a vicious circle and you’ll hit a hardcore band. So either this shit is worn and used, or it’s brutal domination. Premonitions of War fall toward the latter.
Sure, there are mounds of the tried and true chuggachugga breakdowns and a singer than can do little more than bark and growl lyrics you need printed to translate, but it’s the doses of speed and the unexpected sidetrack of guitar rippage that stamps this with some degree of originality (within it’s obvious hardcore shell).
What this means is, people who listen to a lot of hardcore will know what I mean if they give this a listen, whereas people who think it all sounds the same will think this is just another hardcore. Shame. It’s the subtleties that rule. Like the cascade of drums that punctuate a whole section of “Black Den”. Or the Superjoint Ritual bluesy guitar peels of “The Octopus”. Or the industrial noise woven into “Cables Hum Overhead”.
Premonitions of War hit you with the hardcore, but the chances taken produce a metallic hybrid that crushes on interesting levels of heavy.
