Today's band presents itself as another one of those west coast US hardcore punk artists that strive to create hard-hitting and swiftly heavy compositions. Since their early 2000s formation, California heavyweights Terror have become rather noteworthy in the underground core scene and possess somewhat of a cult following among the hardcore community. To date, the band's released a grand total of seven full lengths in addition to numerous EPs under their belt and have performed many festivals. That being said, Terror is now back in action with their latest album, which sees its release this Friday. Time to find out if it was worth the wait.
Total Retaliation is the boldly titled seventh album from the Cali hardcore outfit. The new release, which consists of thirteen tracks, will be out on September 28th, 2018 via the band's current label Pure Noise Records. With yet another new bass player now under their wing, Terror has come back onto the scene in full force as a five-piece and continue their rebellious and destructive rampage. Clocking in at just under half an hour in length, Total Retaliation is also notable for featuring Will Putney (of Fit For An Autopsy fame) as producer and is somewhat considered a follow-up to the band's EP from last year named The Walls Will Fall.
From the very beginning, I was delighted to see that the artists' message on here is the usual anti-authoritarian, rebellious spiel. And, while this type of theme may be kind of cliche at this point, it's always a pleasure to have in this kind of music...it just fits. Also, even though the album is your typical hardcore punk, that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. The production quality is top tier and mixing of all the instrumental pieces really helps bring the emotion out of every note, chord, and passage being performed on Total Retaliation. Additionally, many of the songs, especially in the chorus lines, come across as undeniably catchy and memorable. All in all, the song lengths are very brief, with the average duration being about two mins (the longest track 'Resistant to the Changes' being just about three minutes), but the band really manages to get the point across and pack as much of a punch as possible in the short running time they have. Upon finishing my first foray into this new album, I've come to the conclusion that my personal fave songs were ultimately 'Mental Demolition' for its song structure and heavy guitar work in the latter half; as well as 'This World Never Wanted Me' purely for its message/lyricism and 'One More Enemy' for its vocals. The album's rap interlude is an interesting choice, and makes for a cool break from the heaviness. Despite this, I also thought the title track was a bit of a letdown, aside from the guitar solo (which I thought the album needed a bit more of in general) and a couple other tracks felt like fillers at the end of the day. Overall, however, this was a pretty solid and polished album.
Total Retaliation by hardcore outfit Terror is just what you'd want and expect out of the genre itself. Despite its formulaic innovation and straightforward style, the album sports just the right quality of content for those who want a fast-paced, aggressive, and "in-your-face" type of sound. The instrumentals are satisfyingly heavy and the choruses as well as lyricism are catchy enough to warrant allotting a bit of your time for this one, especially if you're into the band's past material and/or a fanatic of the genre at hand. It's a pretty brief listen as well, so I'd say to go for it...as I did myself and was admittedly left with some memorable satisfaction by the end of it.
Fave Tracks: 'Mental Demolition', 'One More Enemy', 'Post Armageddon Interlude'
For Fans Of: Harm's Way, Hatebreed, Madball
**This release comes out this Friday, Sept. 28th here, on Bandcamp and at other retailers!**
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-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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