Two stalwart bands of Olympia hardcore, combine to unleash a split LP of contrasting styles unified by the uniform excellence of the venomous delivery.

The most successful split releases often draw on a shared musical inspiration and ideological outlook driving the participating bands.  The origins of this album are, perhaps, a touch more organic, being born instead of hometown friendship.  And the result is an album that sees two bands at the peak of their respective and quite distinct powers, trading five barnstorming tracks apiece.

‘A portrait of the mother of God, Looks down at me, Bleached from years in the heat and sun, It’s just debris’ (Barbed Wire Fences / Electric Chair)

Electric Chair open in surprisingly expansive form with the mid-paced swing of Weed The Rat Out, before firing off four utterly furious hallmark hardcore punk eruptions.  The vocals are as infectiously raw as ever, but notably cleaner than those that characterised their 2022 full-length, Act Of Aggression, and fiercely lock-in with the swaggering rhythm section.  Meanwhile, the guitar leads forge a more prominent role as they career from dissonant squalls to rapid fire melodic volleys.  This blend is, perhaps, particularly potent on the rollicking Barbed Wire Fences.

‘I will find my own strength, Refuse to accept this reality, The power in myself will remain, The path I walk is mine to create’ (Refuse / Physique)

In contrast, Physique deal in noise-infused d-beat of the most discordant kind and are back in action, having released both the Again full-length and Overcome By Pain EP in 2023.  In the wrong hands, this style can feel a rather overly formalised homage, but Physique have always proved highly adept at refining their sound in a way that honours their inspirations, while adding their own brutally distinctive dimensions to it.  On this EP, they dial down their trademark near white noise distortion just enough to allow their riffage to take a more solid form.  Amid the desperation drenched vocals, crashing cymbals, and flaring solos, this injects their apocalyptic onslaught with an even bleaker intensity, most notably on my personal highlight, the slab-like belligerence of Drowning In Debt.