‘We’re told the struggle is ours alone, Systemic failures, Sold as personal failure, Isolation, Maintains the system, And if we buy the lies, They become the truth’ (The Lie Becomes The Truth)

The ideas that fuel The Truth Of Impermanence act as a powerful antidote to that most powerful of untruths – that there is no alternative, the now is eternal.  Political hegemony relies on removing people’s hope.  Killing at birth the very notion that anything better is possible.  And at times like this, when the direction of travel feels bleakly inevitable, when coherent opposition feels suffocated, that hope is the very kernel of resistance.

New York’s REDS were initially active in the mid-noughties, releasing their debut album Is: Mean, before heading in their separation directions.  Reforming in 2023, and with a revamped rhythm section, The Truth Of Impermanence was born.  The band continue to hone tautly clean, high energy emotional hardcore, but it is equally clear that it is fired by vehemently renewed conviction.

As they sweep from the searing opener, The Lie Becomes The Truth, to the ferociously catchy closer, The Body, by way of the venomous oscillations of Wounds and dissonant slow burn build of Slow Decay, the intensity is deftly layered.  It evokes a sense of the chaos tinged tension of Hot Cross fusing with the reflective expressions of Fugazi, before being distilled down to its very essence.

The vocal performance, equal parts raw velocity and richly emotional detailing, is the perfect counterpoint.  It builds powerful connections between systematic misinformation, dehumanising narratives, and bodily autonomy as well as the power of DIY hardcore to forge much needed community in the face of such adversity.