‘Profit off everything you see, Turn everything into a fucking commodity, Maybe there’s something I can do? Probably not, same with you’ (Horrible Future)

We’re lucky to be enjoying an era where the creative boundaries of hardcore are constantly being pushed in intriguing new directions.  Yet, every now and then, there is a yearning to get back to the essentials.  And that is where Negative Charge are more than happy to oblige with their utterly bracing self-titled debut album.

Negative Charge is a fiercely unadorned statement of intent, one without even a hint of unnecessary extravagance.  This singularity of purpose primes an onslaught that slams home with an unremitting intensity.  Gruffly barked vocals and muscular riffage are underpinned by a rhythm section that is as frenetic as it is burly.  It brims with a primal pit provoking energy that is gratifyingly organic – the breakdowns are bruising without being leant on too heavily – while the squalling solos cut through with a reckless abandon.

The fury that propels this unforgiving battery is similarly uncompromising.  It rails against a society locked into a warped logic that it seems unable, or unwilling, to challenge.  A rationality that commoditises every aspect of existence and works relentlessly to protect privilege, while punishing the marginalised for their predicament.  Personal highlights are the barrelling opener Horrible Future, the bleakly surging Rotten Leather, and the viciously careering Shut Me Off.