Ushering in a near year also ushers in new music, and it appears that Bloodbather wasted no time with their release Pressure being released on January 1st. Everything that is synonymous with hardcore music is thrown into the mix, along with a heavy amount of chaos that can’t be ignored. Perhaps it’s just the vocals, but to me it sounds as if they took the Knocked Loose trend going on and beefed it up just enough to make it a bit more interesting.

The Final Request starts off the whole thing, making it apparent from the start that Bloodbather is here and ready to fuck shit up. Around the 1:45 mark we get that somewhat prevalent trend in hardcore where the vocalist vocalizes his lyrics as though he’s having a conversation with the audience. From there, it transitions into an even heavier breakdown. The ending leaves us with a drawn out droning note on what appears to be a cello or another type of orchestral instrument, sort of segueing into the 2nd track titled Suicide Note.

Suicide Note starts off in a similar manner to the 1st track, but of course differs in several different ways. Particularly around the one minute mark where the notes are far more staccato, with less emphasis being on pure chaos. Around 1:35, the pace of the song slows down heavily, with more of the focus leaning towards that dissonant and abrasive guitar. Pressure, however, might be my favorite song because of its unrelenting abrasiveness and groove it has on the instrumentation. About halfway through the song that picks up into a two-step feel, followed by a brutally heavy breakdown at the end of the song.

That turns into some distortion by the guitar counting with the pulse of the song, fading into Sacrifice which is essentially a filler song to segue into Consequence. With Consequence, the band provides us with something that’s similar to the rest of the songs, yet shorter in length. Overall I really enjoyed listening to this EP, hopefully it’s representational of an even crazier live show.

After listening to this album I took a look at their 3-song EP they released nearly 2 years ago titled Justified Murder, which appears to only be available on their bandcamp. The Hunt appears on both that EP as well as their most recent. The transition in quality from their previous work to their most current is something that, to me, is essential in being regarded as a professional band. As for the song, The Hunt has that sense of chaos we’re hit with consistently throughout this EP. Vocal delivery is something to be envious of, while the band is right with each other on each note and never holding back.

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