Victims is a hardcore punk four-piece group from Sweden that, since roughly the mid 1990s, has taken over their respective nation's scene by storm through their lively performances and energetic music. Having been picked up by a few different local and international record labels throughout their active years, Victims have a reputation, aside from releasing several full-length albums, for touring consistently the world over. Now, with their newest and latest album upon us, let's all see just how they hold up.
This one being their seventh full-length album and perhaps their twelfth or so release consecutively (counting the band's EPs and splits as well), The Horse And Sparrow Theory was recently made available via the current label Relapse Records and consists of roughly around 28 minutes and eight songs of hardcore, fast content.
Victims' latest album is dynamic and well-produced throughout, but feels a bit unbalanced in terms of structure. The greatest songs on this release were, I thought, the shortest in length and the main focus track that comes about ten minutes into the album drags on quite a bit and felt as though it could've been cut down or some sections could've been switched. Overall, though, the compositions far from outstay their welcome...with the duration being around 28 minutes in total. The intermission/filler track right before the lengthy middle song is titled 'There's Blood on the Streets' and it's more of a take-it-or-leave it song.
With all that being said before, there's still a lot to be admired when it comes down to the pros of The Horse And Sparrow Theory. For starters, the guitar riffs are pretty damn fast-paced and assertive at all times, with sort of an oldschool hardcore or perhaps even a more chaotic Norma Jean-esque style at times. The vocals themselves really do this album justice in more ways than one and have a rather NYHC (New York Hardcore) feel to them all over the place. It doesn't take too long for it to get started either and songs like 'The Birth of Tragedy', which has a lot of great instrumental build-up as well as an engaging, sometimes doom-ey sort of sound; and 'Revenge of Our Fathers': the more melodic and triumphant sounding outro track, really give it the extra push in its favour. There is stuff I like about 'We Fail' (the longest song mentioned earlier), but it's an overall mixed bag.
In all, there's some not-so-great yet a lot of really good aspects of this album when it comes down to structure and musicianship. It's dynamic and somewhat eclectic, but it manages to maintain its own uniform identity from start to finish. The different influences are also easily recognizable, which makes this release pretty familiar at times, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'd still encourage others to check this one out if they want to hear some modern hardcore that's not entirely conventional but still has some oldschool tropes to it.
Fave Tracks: 'The Birth of Tragedy', 'Fires Below', 'Revenge of Our Fathers'
For Fans Of: hardcore, both old and new
**This release is available now here!**
Full Album Stream Courtesy of Label (Relapse Records) Here:
-----------------------------
Support your fave artists and musicians!
-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to share it with others to help us grow. You can also like and follow us on the social media of your choice with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon.