Review / 200 Words Or Less
In First Person / Storm the Bastille
Split

Ape Must Not Kill Ape / Protag (2008) — Michael

In First Person / Storm the Bastille – Split cover artwork
In First Person / Storm the Bastille – Split — Ape Must Not Kill Ape / Protag, 2008

In First Person from New Jersey starts off the a-side with their dissonant and pummeling metallic hardcore sound. The band's highly concentrated and volatile sound is reminiscent of Cursed, Tragedy, and Deadguy. The three-piece outfit, which boasts former members of You and I as well as The Assistant, destroys it on these four songs. If you missed their previous full-length, I suggest you go back and grab that as well. This band could easily be huge.

On the flip side we've got Storm the Bastille from Pennsylvania, which is a stellar name for a band. In comparison, things are a tad less vicious on this side with Storm the Bastille opting for a screamo/power-violence sound. I'd compare them to Joshua Fit for Battle or even older Underoath, when they were highly influenced by thrash and black metal. The recording is rather sub par though, which takes a lot away from the recording.

7.0 / 10 — Michael • October 14, 2008

In First Person / Storm the Bastille – Split cover artwork
In First Person / Storm the Bastille – Split — Ape Must Not Kill Ape / Protag, 2008

Recently-posted album reviews

Contention

Nuclear Summer
Daze (2026)

Contention, I would argue, has spent the last few years at or near the top of the heap of the return to 90's styled Straight Edge Metalcore. I am being specific because there is no mistaking Contention's influences nor their message. This is a STRAIGHT EDGE band that is far more indebted to Morning Again that anything that uses a … Read more

A Secret Revealed

The Ruin I Summoned Forth
Lifeforce (2026)

There are albums that use heaviness as an assault and others that use it to create an atmosphere. On The Ruin I Summoned Forth, A Secret Revealed manage to does both. The German quintet’s fourth full-length is an enormous, bleak piece of post-metal, but calling it post-metal only gets you part of the way there. Black metal cuts through its … Read more

Time Spent Driving

Lost Leaves
Thirty Something Records (2026)

There's a particular challenge facing bands that came out of the late '90s and early '00s emo scene. You can recreate the sound people remember and risk becoming your own nostalgia act, or you can abandon it entirely and risk losing whatever made the band matter in the first place. Time Spent Driving choose neither on Lost Leaves. More than … Read more