TOURNAMENT rallies a sick, pounding and belligerent NY hardcore attack in the vein of SUB ZERO, NEUROSIS and other purveyors of metropolitan angst, at times worthy of VOIVOD in futurist deconstruction of riffscape into a mental drama of psychic contrast and illumination. There's not many upbeat songs on here, just pure rage, vocals threatening to break out into BURZUM-esque howls, compact songs (besides one all being shorter than 4 minutes) being elegantly constructed from primal, barbaric bursts of existential punk. The harmonic desperation in "All This Light is Getting in My Ears" recalls JOY DIVISION in a violent clash with melo-punk, while post-rocker zombie drones stand hypnotized by the throbbing bass and guitar impro. From the darkness and alienation of this music an impressive gothic city feeling arises, which makes this one prevail over the neutrality-infused clones that have filled the hardcore scene of the 21st century.

- Devamitra

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/tournamenttournament

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.