Review: “Stay Relentless” by Justice For The Damned

“A huge focus was writing music that would be fun to play live for the next few years – and we managed to do that while still retaining our favourite Justice tropes. Musically, we’re leaning further into a metalcore-mosh sound, paying homage to our early days in Western Sydney. We’re not reinventing the wheel, but we’re making sure it rolls smoother and heavier.” ~ Justice For The Damned

Five years between albums is a long time but somehow Australian Metallic Hardcore crew Justice For The Damned have manged to maintain a reputation for a blistering live show and toured the globe several times over. Since 2020’s “Pain Is Power” the outfit have shared stages with a wealth of genre heavy hitters including but not limited to Kublai Khan, Thy Art Is Murder and of course Malevolence, the later of whom we witnessed them open for at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town London in 2023 during the “Malicious Intent” touring cycle. Once again mixed and mastered by the legendary Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Body Count, Fit For An Autopsy) a new album with not one but two interesting guest vocal appearances has captured the imagination but can the Australian quartet “Stay Relentless“?

A fierce vocal performance from Bobak Rafiee on the dark and brooding opening cut “Retribution In Blood” sets the scene for “Stay Relentless” with shades of bands like Kublai Khan and Knocked Loose in both the weighty guitar tone and mid-tempo crush and sonic approach. The surprise is that it’s not the all out aggression that you might have expected from a band returning with their first recorded material in five years. Instead of going straight for the jugular they’ve chosen something slower with menacing and sinister overtones and it works. Increasing the intensity with a little more blood and thunder “Built To Be Broken” has the repeated fist pumping gang chant of “Fight for your life!“, a classic bass drive and an ocean of groove laden swagger before finishing on a stompy breakdown of all out chug. An adrenaline rush of energy comes with the rapid fire “Every Lie You’ve Spoken“, a cut frontloaded with two step action and surprisingly catchy lyrics. It will no doubt be a circle pit driving force when they take it to the stage, the higher pacing making all the difference. Title track “Stay Relentless” finds drummer Chas Levi getting playful with a couple of fills and Noah Adams backing vocals offering up a shriller alternative to Rafiee’s vicious bark. If you hadn’t guessed it, the cut very much does what it says on the tin while feeling like someone is about to get hit in the face with a concrete paving slab.

A bulldozer of a track, “The Current” makes good use of staccato riff breaks and pummelling percussion to give it a looser feel. It has instant appeal and headbang-ability with its powerful mid-tempo crush, driven by the scream-a-long lyrics that get in your head and just won’t leave. “Shattered” follows suit as if cut from the same cloth, subtle nuances making all the difference. There are a couple of moments on this one that feels like its been setup for a wall of death live in the mid-section, the abrasive guitars delivering a satisfying crunch in Metallic Hardcore. A tune that probably had a working title that was someone’s name “Cry Wolf” finds Rafiee spitting blood and venom throughout while the band never break from the mosh part laden formula. What’s interesting about some of these tracks is that there is the distinctive impression that the band are going to be squeezing another five or even ten percent more energy out of them by playing them faster and harder, something which they haven’t done in the studio. Whether that’s been done on purpose to create a more menacing atmospheric or whether they haven’t quite managed to capture their live energy is open to debate but the feeling is inescapable at times. The first of two guest vocal appearances almost inevitably finds Taylor Barber of American heavy weights Left To Suffer join the party for “Clawing Wounds” and this one slaps harder. Straight out of the Deathcore playbook the guitars feel like they’re mimicking the jackhammer footwork of the drums and the whole damn thing feels like an artillery shelling bombardment from start to finish.

A far darker atmosphere makes “Ghosts Of Tomorrow” stand out like a hammer smashed thumb, the bleak lyrical narrative not masked by the punchy Metallic Hardcore outer shell. While the majority of these tracks are shorter and sharper, playing to the mosh-core sound, this one is another forty seconds or so longer, giving that atmosphere the opportunity to get under your skin. The longest track on the record is “Eyes Of A Killer” clocking in at just 196 seconds with a little introduction. Brutal vocals, thunderous percussion and rumbling bass are all present and correct but fleeting almost Post-Hardcore leads in the first half add an eerie touch, the lyrical narrative told in a first person perspective making for one of the records stand out moments. Andreas Malm of No Omega joins for “Writhing Mass Of Liars” with Chas Levi bringing out the big guns for some blast beats and tribal fills as both vocalists take it in turns to breath fire like a twin headed dragon. A fleeting ambient moment after a false ending is a nice touch, offering a little breathing space before the skull shattering closer that is “Leave You Behind“. The surprise with this one is the presence of fleeting lead guitar parts and clean sung backing vocals which make for another stand out simply because at this point it feels like an experiment that works [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Retribution In Blood
2. Built To Be Broken
3. Every Lie You’ve Spoken
4. Stay Relentless
5. The Current
6. Shattered
7. Cry Wolf
8. Clawing Wounds (ft. Taylor Barber of Left To Suffer)
9. Ghosts Of Tomorrow
10. Eyes Of A Killer
11. Writhing Mass Of Liars (ft. Andreas Malm of No Omega)
12. Leave You Behind

“Stay Relentless” by Justice For The Damned is out 15th August via Greyscale Records