‘Find comfort in their chains, Basic needs, a cause for shame, Something less than human beneath the rubble’ (Chains Of Hate)

With members spanning Seattle and Vancouver, Punitive Damage return to Convulse Records for the first time since their seething 2020 debut EP, We Don’t Forget.  The band’s sound has been ever more tightly honed over this period and continues to adroitly harness rapid fire eruptions and bruising breakdowns around a groove-laden hardcore heart.  In essence, old school influences given a fiercely taut, punchily assertive refresh.  Stand out moments are, perhaps, the stomping fury of Baptism Of Fire, the scorching climax to Humanity Upon Request, and the visceral closer, Blight Of Apathy.

The vocals are, as ever, utterly rabid, pulsing with a raw, unyielding anger.  Lyrically, Hate Training focuses on the horrors that have been unfolding in Palestine.  The band explore political attempts to justify military action against a civilian population, people’s ability to disengage their humanity from the plight of those being relentlessly assailed, and how these combined elements have fuelled a deep-seated apathy among many to the realities of the situation.