Find a path in the darkness...

...out of this purgatory.

Texas' hardest return in 2008 with their self-titled 7" EP on Malfunction/Deathwish. It features 3 brand new tracks of devastating hardcore. One of which, Purgatory, having been previously released on the Deathwish Summer Sampler 2k8 to mixed reviews. It must have been hard to go back into the studio after the release of their highly acclaimed full-length, Climate of Fear, but it just seems to come natural for Bitter End to bust out some of today's best hardcore.

One thing a lot of listeners will notice about this record is that the band opted to go with longer songs that are a lot more polished and technically tight, as opposed to being shorter and more raw as with their first EP. With each release, songs seem to have gotten longer and more dynamic. If you looked at the numbers, Mind in Chains averaged 2 minutes/song and Climate of Fear hit 3 min/song. This new EP may only be 3 tracks, but it'll take you 11.4 minutes to get through listening. That being, if you can handle hardcore of this magnitude. Texas doesn't fuck around.

The EP kicks off in the Introduction with a pulsing, almost hypnotic groove into some heavy riffage. It closes out with everything coming together over a pounding beat with double bass to spare and leads you right into the next track. Purgatory hits going full speed ahead with raging riffs, and Daniel's signature vocal assault takes you in as he contemplates life, existence, purpose and consequence. They seem to have drawn a lot more from the thrash metal bands of the 80's which, for me, is a great thing! Not to mention we get to hear guitarist, Griff, do more vocal work throughout this track. Dude really needs to front a band. Yo Griff, what's up with Circle of Pain?! Anyway, back to Purgatory. After all the raging has been said and done, it closes out with a monstrous break which falls right into Power Struggle. Using more melody, similar to the Introduction, than the previous track, this song sounds straight outta 1987. That's not to say Bitter End is a total throwback with no originality. Far from it, actually. They simply chose some great influences and made it their own. Churning out riff after riff, these dudes bring you some viciously intense hardcore. This EP sounds like outtakes from Climate of Fear, just heavier. It's definitely going to be one of the top EPs of this year.

The pre-orders have already shipped from the Malfunction/Deathwish camp, and people have already started to recieve them in the mail. If you missed pre-orders, be sure to go in to your nearest record store/distro and pick it up. You can also head on over to the Deathwish eStore to get it.

Now feel the wrath of those you burned.