Shiny Metallic Hardcore
You know, I hate the biographies that come with promotional copies of CDs. It must be difficult to formulate new and exciting ways of bigging up your bands, but the common ploy of blindly insisting that they're totally unique and beyond all genre boundaries is wearing a bit thin. Apparently, On The Outside 'forgo any classification by combining the most appealing elements of influences ranging from Madball and Leeway to Biohazard and Pantera'. So they're metallic hardcore, then. Let's call a spade a spade. Of course, On The Outside aren't really responsible for their promo bio, but where's the shame in admitting that you're a hardcore band who'd appeal to confirmed fans of the genre?
This 19-and-a-half minute long EP (referred to as "Tragic Endings" in the promo material, although no title appears on the actual CD packaging itself) is the debut label release of Portland, Maine natives On The Outside and is hardcore through and through. Riffs are simplistic but effective, breakdowns are plentiful, vocals are in the typical hardcore shouting style. Average track lengths of between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half minutes mean that the band can pack 10 songs into the CD's short running time. Tempos are generally fairly pacy throughout, and although the material is quite samey, it doesn't hang about long enough to get too boring. The lyrics (mostly) successfully walk the fine line between the defiantly aggressive negativity that is metal's stock in trade and shallow self-pity. The CD packaging is fairly minimalist, featuring generic combinations of military and religious ephemera rendered in the usual moody, rain cloud greys. Despite what some would have you believe, there's nothing really new on offer here, so if you've remained unmoved by hardcore this far, this CD won't be the one to change your mind. But if you're dead keen on the stuff and you've got a spare tenner in your pocket, On The Outside won't disappoint.
Please note: this is slightly metallic hardcore, not metalcore (gag). At The Gates worship/shameless ripping off is minimal, keyboards and female vocals are non-existent, and the band don't flog the grunted chorus/'soaringly melodic' chorus formula to death. All of this makes a refreshing change from the deep sea of "Metal Hammer" cover starring, MTV-approved, Battle for Ozzfest-style metalcore pap currently flooding the world with a rising tide of blandness. This is almost 20 minutes of good, if somewhat generic, hardcore - nothing more, nothing less. Which is where we came in.