Review: Elders - Blind Rage

Artist: Elders
Title: Blind Rage
Format: Full-length
Year: 2011
Label: King Of The Monsters
Genre: Hardcore Punk with some crusty edges
Rating: 75 / 100

Seldom there is so little information to be found about a band like in Elders' case. Everything the interwebz knows about them is that they're from Phoenix, Arizona, they play violent hardcore punk and are signed to an American label, King Of The Monsters, specialized in dark, crusty, hardcore punk. Elders is definitely no exeption to this concise description. By releasing this Blind Rage LP, they unleash a huge violent chunk of sheer anger, so furious they make Black Flag look like a bunch of grass smoking treehuggers. Sound-wise it even leans a little bit towards the early 80's crust of bands like Discharge.

What I am normally a bit afraid of is the prodcution of albums like these, often resulting is a rumbly, bassless noisy production, not doing any justice to the band's sound. In this case, they chose the absolute perfect way of producing an album like this, lying somewhere between a proper garage and a professional studio, resulting in a sound which fits this kind of music the best in my opinion; raw, but with a oh so heavy punch.

Elders is a kick straight to the face received by a boot drenched in blood. Elders is pure sonic fury, Elders is at the end nothing really special, nothing world shocking, but it's everything done in the right manner, giving one a school example of what hardcore punk should, and could, sound like; mostly fast and agry (Protocols, Used and Abused), sometimes dark, mid-tempo and crusty (Suicide Punk, Blood on the Blade).

Spread some lov.... no wait, fuck it, *punch in the stomach*, I am off, kicking some innocent babies,

Selwin.