Now on their sixth album, the one-time side project of Comeback Kid, which blossomed out of Canada’s hardcore punk scene, continue pushing stylistic boundaries. Their latest offering, ‘Outsider’, is packed with some serious metal riffs, raging hardcore vocals, the occasional killer hook and even a slight hint of pop-punk buried deep. The result? Killer record baby!
From the searing riff of frantic opener ‘Outsider’, through to the superb finale of the incredible ‘Somewhere, Somehow’, this is a pretty damn fine album. The title track immediately shows their chops, before ‘Surrender Control’ follows with a showcase of the quality mix on offer. Seriously thrashy riffing, an aggressive vocal and a big bad chorus all set their bar high from the off.
This mix of metal and old school hardcore makes for a potent blend on tracks like ‘Absolute’ (featuring Devin Townsend), with its bouncy groove and attacking riff, and the foot to the floor riffarama of ‘Outrage (Fresh Face, Stale Cause)’. However, the pop-punkiness in the chorus to ‘Hell of a Scene’ and the straight up punky ‘Consumed the Vision’ (featuring Chris Cresswell), are a nice contrast to the layers of full on attack.
Nevertheless, there is plenty of North American hardcore stylings, displayed most effectively on the two-minute ragers like the old school ‘Blindspot’ and the mosh pit candy of ‘Throw That Stone’ or ‘Livid, I’m Prime’. Although there is a lot of fury on this record, it is delivered in style and tempered by moments like the dark intro to ‘Moment in Time’ (feat. Northcote) and the more measured ‘Recover’, which takes a turn for the epic mid-way through.
All told, ‘Outsider’ is one hell of a classy record, delivering fresh sounding, quality hardcore with a seriously metal bent. You will be hard pushed to find a record with this much raging fury that nails each and every song in such killer style. Simply faultless.
5/5
‘Outsider’ by Comeback Kid is out now on Nuclear Blast.
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Words by Edward Layland (@EdwardLayland)
