‘You think you’ve felt it all, Can’t get any worse, Trauma fills your bones til you’re laid down in a hearse’ (Funeral March)

Having been active since 2017, Brighton’s Imposter make their vinyl bow on this, their debut full-length, Oblivion Opens.  Drawing in equal measure on the buzzsaw riffage of early 1990s’ European death metal and the swaggering velocity of late 1980s’ New York hardcore, the band have unleashed a visceral realisation of blackened hardcore.  Think, perhaps, of an unholy union of Entombed’s Left Hand Path and Agnostic Front’s One Voice.

That the burly, bulldozer riffs and sinister guttural vocals form the band’s bedrock is unsurprising, but the notably limber rhythm section injects a thoroughly enticing suppleness to the onslaught.  Meanwhile, lyrical themes of depression, addiction, and mortality provide a harrowing accompanying narrative.  Personal highlights include the rampant opener Kings Uncrowned, the stomping title track, and the pulverising finale, Only The Few Remain.