Deathlust

You either love or hate Kickback. There is no middle ground. Hailing from France, the band has been spreading its message of violence, decay, and Marquis De Sade themes since the early nineties and "No Surrender" is their latest full-length. Ignoring Kickback's controversial history for a moment, this effort is what negative hardcore should be: aggressive and out for blood.

Whereas bands like California Love and Gehenna prefer short, misanthropic assaults, Kickback puts out jams that can range past the five minute mark. Musically, this is like a continuation of "Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres", meaning it has a little more of a Black Metal tinge rather than NYHC. I read an interview that explained the change - the new guitarist has a history with BM (To be clear though, BM has always been an influence on the material, at least to my ears). The assaults may be longer, but they still pack the same punch as C/L does. Even with the longer numbers, there isn't that usual repetitious feel; they keep the listener engaged and uncomfortable.

"No Surrender" powers through eleven tracks in thirty-seven minutes but I cannot help but want more. There's a new full length on the horizon - a two year gap is much better than ten for sure. In the mean time, revisit the band's catalog for some serious metallic hardcore with hate and perversion.

I never really checked out the band until I heard the guest vocals on the Blind To Faith split and for a while I couldn't get past them. They were screechy and at first seemed out of place with the rest of the band. After a couple of listens to "Forever War", I was completely swayed and have never looked back.

The new material is going to slay. As a side note, this was - to my knowledge - only released on CD, which is a momentary bummer. GSR still has this in stock along with some gnarly shirts and hoodies. Support a good band.