4th October 2026

Review: “Lariat” by The Blade Itself

Having been conceived in December 2024, Metallic Hardcore crew The Blade Itself made their live debut in May 2025, choosing to spent eighteen months or so sharing stages with the likes of Seething Akira, Stone Soup and Halloran before committing their debut EP “Lariat” to tape. That means that the songs have been tried, tested and no doubt tweaked to find out what works and what doesn’t in the best possible way, in front of rowdy crowds up and down England’s green and pleasant land.

Whether or not the band take their name from the dark, character-driven fantasy novel that serves as the first chapter of “The First Law” series by British author Joe Abercrombie or not, you’d have to ask The Blade Itself but what we can tell you is where the name of their debut EP comes from.

For those not in the know “Lariat” is a word derived from the Spanish “la reata” (“the rope“) and can have several different meanings. The title of the record is put into context by the image of a Professional Wrestling belt on the cover artwork, whereby it refers to a strike attack where a wrestler runs at an opponent and hits them with an extended arm across the chest or neck… If you don’t know, now you know.

The Blade Itself leap from the top rope into the title track “Lariat“, which has an instant appeal in neck snapping Groove Metal infused Metallic Hardcore sounds that have the nostalgic qualities of the 2003 American scene and “You Had Me At Hello” era Bury Your Dead. Gang chants and a bass solo add a spice that’s nice to the chugging guitars and barked vocals and can tell that it’s the push that makes your want to move when the band takes it to the stage. It has that mosh pit violence inciting energy about it.

The raucous sounds continue into to “Faith” which has a Crossover Thrash style fleeting solo to brighten up the rhythmic pummelling before a couple of back to back breakdowns of the highest order. If there wasn’t enough to floor you then the addictive repeated cries of “Should I cave in your skull?” will get you screaming-a-long. The deeper darker death growled vocals moments add to the weight of the cut and that violent edge nicely.

Leaning into towards Metalcore with flavours of bands like Earth Crisis, “Innocent End” has slick riffs, leads and even a solo before the half way mark, the stuccato riff breaks and undeniable groove and invitation to two step. What was always essential was that The Blade Itself were able to capture their live energy like lightning in a bottle when putting this record together without the energy of the crowd to feed off. That’s not always the easiest thing to do when your used to getting people moving but here they’ve absolutely nailed that so you rest assured that after listening to this, they’re going to smash these songs out of the park on stage.

The award for the longest song title in the discography belongs to “Thus the Earth Shall Turn to Ash“, a cut which continues the flow like a lava river to an obsidian sea with a little more Groove Metal swagger that packs a Hardcore punch. A blisteringly extended solo makes makes this one stand out from the pack like a hammer smashed thumb in the best possible way, the breakdown that follows it adding that essential weighty crush. The melodic, melancholic ending is a little unexpected but a nice touch, perhaps indicating that they fancy broadening their horizons in the future [7/10]

Track Listing