As we’ve come to expect from of Victory’s hardcore output over the years, new signings (and token Brits) Continents pile in with all the subtlety of a gangland kneecapping, opener 224 blasting in with a campaign of violence that’s all the more brutal for its brevity.
The kind of beefy breakdowns, deathly growls and oodles of angst found here (‘Why don’t you listen?’ frontman Phil Cross demands on the title track; ‘We’re all going to die’ he points out helpfully on Land Of The Free) make for a formula that’s proven its pit-worthiness time and again.
They do sometimes stray from the well-worn path, though. Poppier moments such as the glitchy Pegasus, Pegasus, with its last-minute punk conversion and clean vocals that bring to mind labelmates A Day To Remember, suggest they have one eye on breaking through the walls of the scene. But it’s moments like the gothic doominess of Loathe or the twitchy rhythm changes that occasionally rear their heads that reveal nuggets of gold in the murkiness.
