‘Battling giants and talking shit, To watch the sun come up, It lives somewhere, Like a bag of fun dip, to be harvested when necessary’ (Warriors)

Harrowgate is an album about grief. An emotion that even once experienced is almost impossible to describe.  A pain beyond words that time does not heal. It may mute the rawest edges, but the shadow of loss still stalks us, ready to pounce at the most unexpected of provocations.  Yet those same memories can also serve as a positive force – one of both remembrance and inspiration, one that roots us and helps propels us forward.

Disappearances largely comprise members of two fine Philadelphia bands from the mid-noughties, Dying and Less Life (their 2013 split album was an absolute corker).  This pedigree shines through in abundance on this, their debut album, although intriguingly they actually recorded their first demo together nearly a decade ago.

This is darkly metallic, crust leaning hardcore that blends furious blast beat eruptions with slabs of menacing groove and lacerating squalls of mournfully dissonant melody.  Meanwhile, the harrowing, desperation fuelled roared vocals unpick the consequences of grief in its myriad of forms – the death of loved ones, the fracturing of community, the loss of place, and the aftermath of trauma.

The tautly constructed highlights slam home with impressive regularity.  The bruising climatic breakdown to Collapse.  The jagged, convulsing melancholy of Vulnerability Hangover.  The bleakly contagious Shame Trailer.  The bone shuddering bass lines of White Phosphorous.  What emerges is an emotionally uncompromising yet undeniably rewarding statement.