From the moment the haunting intro to the opening track, Cujo, begins to unfurl, you suspect that we are in for something of a treat.  And London’s Hellscape do not disappoint on this their darkly enticing self-titled debut 7-inch.

Rasping, desperately urgent vocals brook no debate as they lure you into the band’s maelstrom of clean yet burly hardcore riffage draped in melancholy fuelled death rock melodies.  The EP is riven with a spiky sepulchral energy and deploys the power of repetition to compelling effect.  The opening track concludes on the haunting cry of ‘Hang me from the balcony’, while the repeated mantra of ‘I know it’s wrong’ defines the galloping Intravenous, and surging first side closer Dybbuk, a malicious possessing spirit in Hebrew mythology, poses the pressing question of ‘What do you know of revenge?’.

Side Two opens with the intense eruption of Traitor’s Gate before the fiercely layered vocals of the more expansive Samson.  And then, a further unexpected twist, as the EP closes out with the groove-laden, grunge-fuelled The Grave, with its spectral tale of watery tombs.