Excellent! 108 is dropping their second post reunion LP (a feat that I think further proves their honest intentions of just creating and playing music), and dear lord this record is a long time coming (it took more than a year following recording to see the light of day); such waits can do funny things to a band that can have impacts on their dynamic, and 108 certainly did not escape some turmoil with the release of 18:61. Still, this band has always been wrapped in turmoil of sorts, and such adversity has seemingly informed the music that the band has created from day one; personally and from a completely selfish place, I would not have their method or circumstances change because their music has always been filled with a righteous fury that is matched by few bands or musicians.
I can whole heartedly assure you that 18:61 is a raging, frantic slab of hardcore punk done the way that only these guys can lay down the punk rock; squealing guitars, riffs so angular the earth could fall off its access, and some of the angriest vocals that grace wax all wait in store on this album. The band shifts stylistically like a chameleon moving from short, sharp compositions such as “God Talk” and “Fallen Angel” to angular and beefy sounding recordings like “Crescent Moon” and “Relentless Masters” to the crushing sounds of “Forever Is Destroyed” to the acoustic “Early Funeral” without coming across as out of focus or not sounding like themselves. “God Talk” is a furious way to open the album and is absolutely manic in its attack and the mood that it conveys while “Forever Is Destroyed” is an absolute beast that is seemingly hell bent on getting me out of seat to punch the air in my office.
The album’s title track is a pure gem and possibly the best on the album with its trudging bass line and squealing guitars; without a doubt, “18:61” has some of the best grooves of any 108 song put to tape, seriously the bass is so driving and tension inducing it is just not fair (people will lose their minds on this song, I guarantee it). In a top ten list of 108 songs, “18:61” would certainly take its place among the “Arctic”’s and the “Blood”’s and the so on and so forth with its short and sweet power and audio violence.
18:61 is gripping and urgent sounding and every bit a worthy addition to the 108 discography; the album smokes from start to finish (save for the acoustic track at the end, which I could personally do without hearing again) and maintains the intensity the whole time. Some of the songs on the record will definitely take their place high in 108’s oeuvre and would probably create some of the most insane reactions in a live environment (I would probably come out of “retirement” to walk on heads during “18:61”). I genuinely love this album and hope that I actually get to see the band play these live because they are wholly moving; 18:61 comes highly recommended and may be one of the better hardcore records to come out this year.
