If you didn’t know, hardcore and punk are alive and thriving in Italy. When I come across bands from there, their scene never ceases to amaze me. Italy gave us Raw Power and Negazione in the ’80s, Slander and Strength Approach in the 2010s. Now 217 picks up that lineage with their own mix of fire and reflection by keeping hardcore alive in the new school with their version of it.
217 teamed up with Time To Kill Records to drop their 12-track, second album titled In Your Gaze. The band hasn’t released a full length since 2019 mainly due to covid and life but are ready to blow off some steam now. The music doesn’t whisper but screams nostalgia at times. They are proud to be born and raised on a solid hardcore foundation. The band expands on that base and attempts to enrich it with new influences as well, creating a raw, original essence.
This album moves in short punches and wastes no seconds. The opening track, “Her Lay, Incorruptible, Ethereal Beauty”, hits with that Slapshot energy out the gate but drags in dreamy guitars with almost Type O Negative operatic singing to close it out. It’s an interesting mix of influences throughout the album. The band shines when they stick with their old school hardcore influences which they have dialed in so well. Mixing old school hardcore with any genre and trying to push the boundaries of it, can be tricky to pull off. Some tracks stay closer to the dark rock roots while some are hardcore bangers. They walk that razor line between raw hardcore riffs, tight drums, and occasional direction shifts that can be jarring.
Lyrically, they don’t just shout politics or pain. They refer to the tension between individual will and societal structures. It gives their aggression some weight. 217 tries to take you back to a time of pure hardcore while keeping you in the present. They channel Slapshot and Judge’s fire very well vocally and musically. However, it’s the influences of math rock and alternative dark rock like such bands as the Melvins and Bauhaus that throw you off a bit while listening. The band tries to reinvent itself on this release with a renewed and at times dreamlike musical and lyrical identity.
While this album may not rewrite hardcore punk, it attempts to restructure it. 217 attempts to push the boundaries of a genre of hardcore that most leave as status quo. I’ll give them credit for attempting to do something most haven’t.
