I Can't Stand All the Things I See

It's like a Bl'ast of Agression to your cerebral cortex, in this alternate universe in which Southern California is located in Austin, TX and Black Flag was named after a Bad Brains song. Coptic Times is their name and playing loud, angry punk rock is their game. The Temptation EP was released earlier this year [May 27, 2008] on Youngblood Records. I've posted about this band before. Actually, the first post I ever made on here was when they put out their demo tape on Next Level Records 2 years ago. Vocalist, Matt Jackson, had sent me the demo tracks over AIM, and I had just made the blog earlier that night, so I figured it was only right to post about it. Help get the word out, you know?

Anyway, the EP features five tracks of raging hardcore punk. One of which was rerecorded from the demo [Urban Decay became Wasteland]. I'd also like to point out that the cover artwork was done by the great Andrei Bouzikov, who has inked some awesome designs within the hardcore punk community for bands such as Municipal Waste, Deadfall, Violation, and Reproach.

Feedback....it builds...piercing the ears as it builds. What's to come? A steady beat breaks as an almost Sabbath-like riff brings you in over a grooving bass line. High Strung. Things seem to pick up only to drop back into that lull of a break. Droning...then you snap back. It picks the pace back up. They even throw in a short solo for good measure. Some tight start and stop going on in the chorus. I like that one. Through These Eyes comes in and keeps up the current pace of the record. Remaining upbeat, for the most part, throughout. Wasteland. Re-recorded and renamed, Wasteland features an anthemic style chorus; aggressively chanting, "I can't stand all the things I see." This world isn't meant for people like me. Pulsing and straight forward, this song is the battlecry for the disillusioned who seek, but find not, answers in this world. Self Destruction, similar to the track prior utlizes a 3/1 chorus [repeating the first line three times followed by the last line]. It's in my head! A fun song, overall, with its use of changing pace through the chorus and solos thrown in. The EP closes out with the title track. Temptation brings us back to a familiar sound. Feedback seeps into our ears. A snippet of a guitar lick comes in and out. Then it hits: the drums, upbeat, and guitars, unrelenting, take us for the longest ride seen on this record. It closes in, and we'll end it on that note.

This is definitely one of my favorite EPs of this year, from a great Texas band. The record is still available through the band, Youngblood Records, and various punk rock distros and record stores, so you should pick it up as soon as possible. Also, if you're gonna be in the area, go catch Coptic Times at this year's This Is For You Fest along with fellow Texan ragers Lie and Wait, ANS, Highlife, Streetcleaner, and Mammoth Grinder!