‘Trapped in my conscience, And all the promises unkept, The pain is real, Had all that I can take, Can’t compensate the way that you feel’ (Admission Of Guilt)

Repeat Offender draw their members from across Southern California’s Oi (Castillo, Combat Zone) and hardcore punk (Enemy, S.O.H.) communities.  While their debut 7-inch, 2021’s Summary Execution, reflected those pedigrees quite evenly, their first full-length sees the latter influences begin to win the arm wrestle as Weapon Fetish uncompromisingly barrels through our speakers.

From the outset, there is a swaggering velocity in play.  The bass sits resonantly front and centre of the battery as the drums lock in with a burly synchronicity.  The guitars see a healthy interplay between a rhythmic heft, pit sparking breakdowns, and flares of more melodic inclination, not to mention the fleeting, squalling solos.  The demonically bellowed vocals examine the challenges of staying true to your values and retaining a sense of self amid the anxiety and insecurity of a society whose moral compass is increasingly fractured.

Admission Of Guilt kicks off proceedings in absolutely rollicking style.  It is a momentum that never dips from the searing title track (which includes a venomous vocal turn from S.O.H.’s Kristine Nevrose) to the bruising Death Contemplation, by way of the more languid swing of Shit Disturber.