‘All our rights are being pulled back, with no end in sight, the wall between church and state, keeps on growing thinner and thinner’ (No Place Here)

Hailing From Virgina Beach, Bato return with their debut full-length and follow-up to 2019’s Ravages Of Time EP.  The band’s base template of blisteringly fast, densely precise hardcore – which draws inspiration primarily from 1980s’ US hardcore, while also being laced through with a discernible mid-2000s’ youth crew spicing – remains firmly in place.

The riffs are fired off with a relentless intensity, an equally remorseless rhythm section ensuring that everything remains locked-in tight.  Bato’s grip on the pacing dynamics is resolute yet fluid.  Each riff is given just enough time to land its hook before barrelling off in a fresh direction, with deft tempo changes, flaring solos, and subtle instrumental accents ensuring that the energy levels never diminish.  The band’s fiercely honed song writing is, arguably, best captured by the ferocious opener Legacy, the mid-paced fury of No Place Here, and the seething Pecking Order.

The vigorous, urgent vocals are the perfect fit as they explore the social malaise gripping US society from economic inequality (Legacy, Useless Debt, and S.O.S) to religious extremism (No Place Here), and from the insidious impacts of social media (Echo Chamber and Model Life) to the hollowing out of democracy (Milk).