SPB Newsletter

Why not sign up for SPB's monthly newsletter? It's a monthly roundup of our interviews, reviews and news, delivered straight to your inbox.


Radio K

From the blog

Rock on the Cowbell Slowly
Posted by Sarah 5 weeks ago
There are a few cultural constants we all come to understand depending on where we come from, and growing up… read more...

Show Review: fun.
Posted by Aaron H 2 months ago
One again, fun. are on the road and Scene Point Blank was… read more...

Musink Fest: A Review
Posted by Aaron H 3 months ago
I had the pleasure of attending the 5th annual Musink Fest in Costa Mesa,… read more...

Band Profile

At Our Heels

Hardcore punk from the Bay Area. With a 7 inch released on Heart In Hand Records, At Our Heels has just released their grand opus, "Misanthropy & Godlessness" on Creator-Destructor Records. 13 tracks of crushing blackened hardcore/punk. For more on At Our Heels: http://www.myspace.com/atourheels Read more at last.fm

At Our Heels Album Reviews

At Our Heels (2009)

At Our Heels is yet another in the ever growing list of bands to emerge from the Bay Area’s excellent hardcore scene. Alex Pulisci began piecing together what would come to be At Our Heels…

At Our Heels

Misanthropy & Godlessness

Creator-Destructor , 2010

At Our Heels is a young band coming out with a strong EP last year but never getting as much recognition as that EP probably deserved. They are certainly not a hype band or even getting any real talk outside of a few vague mentions. Strangely, this does more good than bad for them.  What has resulted in this case is strong short blast of hardcore bristling with fury and anger. That is not to say they stock the vague metallic hardcore sounds that seem streetwise but generally hail from the suburban wasteland. Instead this works more in the sounds that made Modern Life Is War and American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost sort of famous.

The band moves the songs along with unrelenting fury from the slow creeping buildup of the starting track leading to a sing along based climax opening track “through Their Teeth” never gives up.  Each song seems to lead directly into the next without much thought for giving the listener a second to breathe. The anger is palpable within the lyrics and certainly in the delivery. The guitars are heavy but not metal and catchy but not particularly melodic. Each instrument sticks together and fits like a puzzle, neatly and orderly. The drums move along giving everything a strong backbone. Everything moves clearly to suit the songs needs. Sometimes this means that the guitars give a bit of feedback or the drums drop to a two step beat but nothing ever settles in place long enough to get boring.

This is not to say that anything that the band does is fully original they are still a hardcore band. Everything they do fits perfectly. The production is gritty but certainly clear enough for everything to come through the mix. There are a few standout songs such as, “Through Their Teeth”,  “Graves”, and “Capture/Consume’. These songs go a long way to prove that this band is well above the normal glut of hardcore bands. When the songs slow down they only sound more powerful. That said this is a band on the rise and deserves your attention.

9.1 / 10
by Jon E. on Monday 24th January 2011
See also:

http://www.myspace.com/atourheels
http://www.facebook.com/atourheels?ref=ts


Share this content

Your Reviews & Feedback

Post a comment



Allowed HTML tags: <a>, <b>, <strong>, <i>, <em>, <blockquote>