Review: “Ass To Mars” by Kwato

Now, this is the plan. Get your ass to Mars.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger, Total Recall.

Douglas Quaid is a bored construction worker in the year 2084 who dreams of visiting the colonized Mars. In a story that takes ideas from the 1966 Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale“, he visits “Rekall” a company that plants false memories into your mind to give you the experience of Mars without having to travel. But something goes wrong during the procedure and it turns out nothing is what it seems…

…Recorded by Cedric Delmas (guitars), Theo Rampont (drums), Nicolas Sonnier (vocals) at Warmaudio Decines in October 2020, “Ass To Mars” is the debut offering from Metallic Hardcore trio Kwato who like to crossover into Thrash territory and sample Arnie from the film in the intro of opening cut “F*** The World“. Elements of Hardcore Punk bleed through a raw mix as the band sounds like they’re recording live in the studio and on bandcamp it says “one shot“, so they may well have done. The result is a ferocious blend of furious vocals and headbangable music that just feels good. Title track “Ass To Mars” brings some clanky Metal tones as it cuts a similar path, sounding not too far away from an early Deez Nuts demo musically before mutating into early 2000’s Metalcore. There is that sense of melody underneath the fuzz of the guitar tone and Sonnier is more of what you might call a classic Metalcore vocalist. The breakdown segment is a brilliantly effective throwback to that era and will crack a nostalgic smile for anyone who came up during those post Nu-Metal years. Biting and barking through “Trust No Bitch“, Sonnier has a classically throat shredding unclean vocal style that makes you thinking he’s going to cough or splutter at any point but he never does before the beefed up Hardcore Punk of “Dad” brings the house down with some groovy two steppable riffs. An uncompleted, uncompromising good time, this is exactly what you want from a Hardcore record [7/10]

Track listing

  1. F*** The World
  2. Ass To Mars
  3. Trust No Bitch
  4. Dad

Ass To Mars” by Kwato is out now and available over at bandcamp.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *