HAANG UPPS is a Punk Metal band out of Montreal, Québec. They were formed back in 2002 and were reactivated in 2015. They have four releases for the time being and I believe they are working on new material for the coming year. This is the latest album and a definite step up from ''Stronger Than Fire''.

It was Punk Metal but you can see the Deathcore influences nonetheless. I mean we are talking about 2002, its almost 20 years ago and the Deathcore style was something really important back then. In 2002 a lot of Punk Rock bands out there went the commercial way but thankfully some smaller bands had the balls and guts to stay true to the genre and not stray away.

Deathcore began back in the early 2000s with bands like THE ACACIA STRAIN, DESPISED ICON but you truly had the apex in the mid 2000's with bands like CHELSEA GRIN, JOB FOR A COWBOY, CARNIFEX amongst countless others. I know the genre has had its share of criticism throughout the years and it's not something I listen to a constant basis. The market was so overflooded back in 2002 that there was no rhyme to reason obviously.

I give them something, for young musicians in the beginning of their career, they have unbridled energy. You have your fair share of breakdowns, down-tuned guitars and tremolo picking and those aggressive vocals. I mean back in the day, that was the standard of the genre, imitation is the best flattery they say. I can hear a lot of angst and anger in the songs, like they had something to prove, you can hear the potential even though I am not fan of the genre. Some guys from this band created another band called OK VOLCA which I will review after this album and I will show the similarities and maturity factors between both bands.

In their infancy most bands will progress from album to album and they did evolve from the previous album, the musicianship is better and the lyrics are better. I know it's not easy to do when you are young musicians and they did pick up a lot of their influences from that time and translated into their sound. Yes, the sound is not overly original, but it's straight to the point, which was the basis of the genre. There is a lot of anger and youthful aggression throughout this opus, its nothing to write home about but it has that energy you were looking for in the genre.

Let's see what OK VOLCA will gives us, can't wait to see the musical progression between both bands , there is more than one decade between both bands and HAANG UPPS really reminded me of a local band called CYCATRIS back in the North Shore of Montreal, their style and anger was quite similar and reflected well the style back then.

There was a collaboration between HAANG UPPS and OK VOLCA, one band did become the other in a sense and they did a song called ''Ouvre Toi Les Yeux'' (Open Your Eyes). Both bands collaborated together and made this song in french, it was the last song from HAANG UPPS and you can see where OK VOLCA was going and the evolution process and next review will be them so I can see myself where they stand as a band.

You see the potential yet it's nothing overly original but there is a lot of passion in their work