‘Try to make my way out of the trench, Don’t want to work myself to death, Always trying to find another way, When they com to collect are you gonna pay?’ (Maker Of Rules)

Bad World hail from the Northern California and this is the band’s third EP (the first two were originally released under the Bite The Hand moniker), but their first vinyl release.  Theirs is a sound that takes classic mid-1980s’ Bay Area thrash – think Fabulous Disaster-era Exodus – and injects it with a healthy slug of more confrontational crossover bounce in the vein of Bitter End.

The third of the three tracks is a burly reworking of the groove fuelled Nineveh by Only Living Witness (taken from their 1993 album, Prone Mortal Form) is another place marker.  Riffage is king, and the he opening two tracks showcase this even more stridently.  Maker Of Rules literally seethes with rhythmically snarled vocals and crunching riffs that can’t help but flex their intent.  Before Last Of Me brings a more contained stomp to bear and features a trademark vocal contribution from No Warning’s Ben Cook.