The entire United Kingdom and vicinities had a strong experience into the rise of Punk/Hardcore and Heavy Metal during the years of the second half of the 70s and beginning of the 80s, and names as THE EXPLOITED, DISCHARGE, G.B.H., along with MOTÖRHEAD, JUDAS PRIEST and acts from NWOBHM paved the way for Thrash Metal (the fusion of Heavy Metal melodies and care on the arrangements with the Punk/Hardcore aggressiveness) and Crossover (the mix between Hardcore aggressiveness and rough appeal with Thrash Metal weight) births.

In the UK, DISCHARGE and ENGLISH DOGS can be said as pioneers of Crossover, and from Isle of Man (an independent state between England and Ireland) comes the quintet SWARF DAMAGE, here with its first album, “Swarf Damage”. The band hired Si Harvey (of AEONS and CHIAROSCURA) for the sound engineering, mixing and mastering of “Swarf Damage”, and the creation is something that aligns the needed definition and clarity with the rough and uncompromised feeling of Hardcore/Crossover, and it works to give the quintet’s music a strong and compact impact. And the Anna Clucas created the cover art with very good sets of traces and colors, indeed.

The music of the band can be defined with a simple term: horse’s kick. Yes, it’s abrasive, nasty and aggressive, always with that heavy weight contrasting with the spontaneous energy and appeal of Hardcore/Crossover. And the band’s technical approach on the songs isn’t complicated, but’s not as simple as one can think (it’s not a ‘three-strings-arrangement’ thing, as can be heard on the guitar solos and melodic duets on “Cull of the Red Light Queens” and the double bass drums parts on “Kill to Survive”), allowing tons of hooking energy to be unleashed into the brains of the hearers. It’s an excellent work, and that can work wonderfully on live shows.

Musically, the band shows maturity after 5 years of existence, and it’s really very good to hear such balanced mix between Hardcore and Thrash Metal on songs as “Kill to Survive” (excellent rhythmic shifts and Crossover riffs and backing vocals, with strong technical drumming), “Batten Down the Hatches” (a fast song with Hardcore tempos, and massive catchy guitar riffs and ‘motörheadian’ solos), “Sin Eater” (some slow moments are really excellent, with bass guitar showing the right rhythmic sustain), “Cull of the Red Light Queens” (as said above, some unusual melodies inherited from Heavy Metal appears during the guitar solos and duets, but the song depicts a pure Crossover appeal), “Decayed” (a shorter moment with clear NYHC traces, with excellent nasty tunes on the vocals), and “Father”, but all the songs are really very good.

It’s too soon to create greater expectations on the quintet’s work, but one can be sure of one thing: “Swarf Damage” is just a free sample of what SWARF DAMAGE is able to do, so they can surpass any expectation soon!