Labels: Residue
Review by: Alex Deller
Suitably heavy sleeve and suitably heavy vinyl for a seriously heavy release, Residue Records have gone and done the right thing by reissuing this prime slice of fearsome 90s hardcore. Doubtless the ruin of many an emo kid thanks to the inclusion of one Matt Weeks amidst their ranks, Ottawa weren’t grind, weren’t metal and weren’t powerviolence but were informed by those genres at least, fitting in well with the likes of His Hero Is Gone, Acme and Uranus but, again, their own beast entirely and one that traded in harsh, dark, gut-busting hardcore with spiteful, snarled vocals, a LOTR fixation and enough tricks up its sleeve to ever be considered ‘standard’. This release comes remastered and spread over two sides of wax instead of just one (whoever listened to the Jihad side more than a handful of times, anyway?) and chucks the track from the Lengua Armada comp on as bunce, making for a devastating package that is, in a word, essential.