Giver - Where The Cycle Breaks album review

Cologne’s hardcore ruffians prepare to kick up a stink

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Cover art for Giver - Where The Cycle Breaks album

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Hardcore is kicking serious amounts of arse right now. Last year we had Converge, Code Orange and Employed To Serve pushing the genre to its limits, and 2018 is shaping up to be no different. Channelling the open-armed posicore of Comeback Kid and the ferocious UKHC of Bastions, Giver’s debut full-length unleashes wave after wave of rampage and destruction, but with the ability to shift between spacious melodies and slamming brutality like a switchblade. There’s a lot to digest in the 40-minute runtime, all of it oozing with menace and passion, but nothing is rushed. Each move is meticulously calculated and considered; from the almost black metal percussion on The Other to each flutter of feedback on Weightless, Giver have spawned a monster, a thick, crushing mass, swallowing all it touches and forever moving forward at its own deadly pace.

Luke Morton

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.