REVIEW: Hell City | Chaos Has Never Stopped EP (2015)

BAND: Hell City
RELEASE: Chaos Has Never Stopped EP (2015)
REVIEWER: Riz Farooqi of King Ly Chee
FIND MORE INFO HERE:
https://www.facebook.com/HellcityBeijing
Final Rating: 6/10

If you have not heard about the punk rock scene of China than you certainly live under a rock. Anyone that cares about punk rock could easily rattle off a list of some of the most punk rock places in the world – and without a doubt for anyone that cares about worldwide punk rock they will know that in China Beijing is easily one of the two most punk rock cities in this country (the other being Wuhan).

A punk rock band called Hell City from Beijing (formed in 2004) have just released a brand new EP entitled Chaos Has Never Stopped. One of my favorite parts of this release, besides the fact that these guys clearly aren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers in China with their politically charged lyrics (feathers that belong to a group of fools that are so scared of their own people that try their best to clamp down on everything that would inspire/encourage free thought), is that they are absolutely unafraid of incorporating metal elements in their pretty straight to your face aggressive punk rock. I mean this entire EP is devoid of melody which is what you would typically associate with punk rock. You ain’t listening to The Ramones when you press place on a Hell City release! Actually, if I was to go solely by their music, these guys easily pass for a hardcore punk rock band.

With the guitar riffage on this release you would certainly think that these guys grew up on some good ol’ thrash metal like Exodus or early Metallica, while listening to The Casualties. And for them to mix these two styles together makes for some interesting listening. The end of Dead End is just a pit stomper not unlike any of the early NYHC hardcore bands – for an out and out punk rock band to have these elements is pretty impressive.

Definitely worth your time to check out this band and their latest release ALL streaming and available for purchase on their bandcamp below.