Hang The Bastard - EP

Doing reviews has many perks. Getting music for free and getting albums early lead those perks. Sometimes you get bands you've never heard of. Sometimes those bands floor you and sometimes they leave something to be desired. Hang the Bastard comes somewhere in the middle.

Uk's Hang the Bastard formed in 2007 and have been quite active since then. Full lengths, a bunch of splits, and now this ep. Admittedly, this is my first dose of the band. 5 songs is a good way to be introduced to new music.

The opening intro is nice and dirty. It's a slow brooding mean monster of a track that rips into more dirty hardcore. It's fast at times and has a nice rock sound to it. The lyrics and atmosphere provoke apocalyptic feelings as well as Satanic tones. This would have fit well in the Holy Terror realm of things.

Then we get towards the end of track 3. I felt this is where the 5 tracks took a turn for not so interesting. The dirty rock/stoner rock influence really came to the forefront, but didn't lose that evil almost Integrity sound. Often some parts were held out for a bit too much in my opinion. The first half of the album I was beyond stoked, but by 4 and 5 I was losing interest and wishing the EP was still riding high on the intro's steam. Seriously, it's mean as hell and sets the tone and bar pretty high.

None of this is to say album closes out weak. The last track is quite strong. It just doesn't close as strong as it opens. It was a great introduction and they do have some brilliant moments throughout. I could honestly see the moments I didn't care for growing on me, especially with more listens and as I check out their back catalog as I'm quite intrigued now. It's certainly an above average release and something I recommend if you're looking for something that could be a child of Sabbath and Integrity.

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