9th January 2021

Review: “Demo” by No Escape

When an envelope gets pushed with the word “Demo” written on it, you might expect something that sounds a little rough around the edges, like it was recorded in your parents basement or step father’s garage with a laptop and a single microphone, you know, just to get something down. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jerome from Born Hanged, coupled with artwork from Black Ugly Work and in no way shape or form any of those things, October 2019 saw Mannheim Heavy Hardcore quartet No Escape drop their first EP with that title…

…Running through a brick wall with 74 seconds of hard hitting Beatdown Hardcore riffs and throat shredding vocals that sound like they could be the bastard brother of Knocked Loose and Malevolence, “Intro” is a full track that sets the tone like a security guard cracking your skull with a fire extinguisher. “World Abomination” continues the rapid fire sinister groove with the push that makes you want to move. A killer rhythm section keeps everything right while vocalist Simon tells it like it is with a dragon’s breath vocal spit over some beefed up 90s Hardcore rage fueled riffs. Two step friendly downtempo shifts are an absolute must and the final breakdown is as good as they get. Classic Beatdown riffs tear the place up with “Losing Grip” being a fine example of the kind of material that the likes of Street Soldier get down to with that pre Deathcore vibe and violent lyrics that drag you kicking and screaming into the pit. Breakdowns piled up on breakdowns stacked high that Torben’s bass bleed out before fiery final verse and “Bleigh!” is a momentary respite. Keeping the vibe going with Mosh pit friendly riffs, “Nightmare” ups ups the Metallic edging while chopping up the classic Beatdown chord progressions and even offering up a Slam growl before a downtempo crush to finish in blunt force trauma style [7/10]

Track listing