Medusa
En Raga Sul
Hawthorne Street (2009)
If the band name and scary artwork didn't tip me off that this was going to be a brutal audio assault, I guess the Hitler sample at the start of the release should have been a clue. Punishing riffs, caterwauling vocals, and plodding drum beats typify the songs on this record. If that sounds like something you need to have, … Read more
Playing Enemy
Accessory
Hawthorne Street (2006)
Playing Enemy is a three-piece band made up of ex-members of Kiss it Goodbye and Rorschach. I do not bring that up as a selling point, but rather to give an inkling as to the school of thought from which the music is derived. Accessory is a two-song EP that may serve as the band's swan song seeing as they … Read more
Playing Enemy
I Was Your City
Hawthorne Street (2005)
The members of Playing Enemy certainly have an impressive resume of musical ventures in which they have been previously involved: Rorschach, Kiss it Goodbye, Deadguy, Undertow, and Nineironspitfire among others. But rather than re-hash sounds and styles characteristic of those projects, Playing Enemy, instead ventured down a different path in the hardcore/metal realm. The Seattle-based band first hit the scene … Read more
Stabbed by Words
Stabbed by Words
Hawthorne Street (2006)
Why has no one heard of Stabbed by Words? A better question might be why is no one really talking about them? Seriously, when a band features members and ex-members of Unbroken, The Hope Conspiracy and The Suicide File, how can a band like this slip under the collective radar of the hardcore herd? One reason for their relative obscurity … Read more
Suicide Note
Empty Rooms
Hawthorne Street (2008)
Some things just get better with age. Suicide Note is one of those things. As the band has progressed over the past ten years they are gradually refined their sound and improved their songwriting. With each new release came another step forward. And now with the release of their latest full-length, Empty Rooms, the band is nearly at the pinnacle … Read more
Sweet Cobra
Forever
Hawthorne Street (2007)
Attempting to mix hardcore, d-beat, and riff heavy rock, Sweet Cobra does each with authority but sound unfocused when fusing them all at once. Credit is due though for attempting to splice genres, making a hybrid of crushing music. At times Forever sounds like a From Ashes Rises record, worthy of the crust title but still accessible enough to appeal … Read more
You Will Die
You Will Die
Hawthorne Street (2005)
One of the few perks of writing reviews is that you get stuffed mailed to you all the time. Sure you may not enjoy every single record that you receive, but every once in a while you'll get something new and invigorating. I was previously unaware of this band's existence before the three-piece instrumental outfit's debut album arrived in my … Read more
