Two tracks clocking in at less than five minutes is pretty poor going considering how much a 7″ costs these days, but there’s no denying that the music here packs a wallop. Holder play heavy, intense hardcore with a definite 90s bent, laying in some heavy chun-chun-chun brutality a la Undertow along with scything octaves and some occasional moments of forlorn prettiness. Vocals are raw and blistered but periodically relent for some mopey spoken sections, and the overall vibe is one of an updated smooshing together of Channel, Grade and Skycamefalling. The easy gripe is that it doesn’t last long enough and that some of the more interesting elements (e.g. the awesome percussion woven into the title track) could’ve been teased out a little more, but it’s certainly enough to whet one’s appetite for a full album and the prospect of what must be an intense-as-all-fuck live show.
