REVIEW: Out for Blood | Self-Titled (2015)

BAND: Out for Blood
RELEASE: Self-titled (2015)
REVIEWER: Riz Farooqi of King Ly Chee
STREAM THE RECORD HERE:
http://outforbloodlchc.bandcamp.com/track/common-enemy
Final Rating: 8/10

Press play and…GODDAMN…

This has to be one of Asia’s heaviest hardcore-metal releases in the history of Asian hardcore-metal – bold statement but I don’t give a fuck! This things RIPS! Let me help paint a picture of what we have blasting through my speakers…take the heaviness of hardcore bands like First Blood, Lionheart, All Out War, Throwdown (Haymaker-era), Hatebreed, Bury Your Dead (back when they were a hardcore band)…and then throw the vocals of a certain metal legend Max-motherfucking-Cavalera on top of ALL of that! If that doesn’t sell Singapore’s Out for Blood to you then you’re trolling the wrong website buddy.

All the above bands find remnants of influence throughout the 29 minute 8 track self-titled release from this Singapore hardcore-metal powerhouse. That is, this release is the ideal blend of both those genres so if you grew up listening to both Sepultura and Hatebreed – the marriage of those bands is exactly what you will find on this release. There are moments that this band displays its hardcore roots such as the opening riff of “Take This to the Streets”, but then there are times that they unabashedly dig deep into their metal souls producing pinched harmonics and a face melting solo near the end of “Point of No Return” which concludes with a dual harmony guitar solo ala Ride the Lightning era Metallica. “Common Enemy” is the song that they have premiered for some time and this song’s end breakdown comes at the tail end of an immense galloping Hatebreed riff, bridging into death metal territory before vocalist Yasser screams deafeningly “DEFEAT THE COMMON ENEMY” pulling the motherfuckin’ rug from under you hurtling you into an abyss of a String of Conscience-era Unearth breakdown – you know, the ones that MADE Unearth a force to be reckoned with in the first place. Seriously, this breakdown riff has been repeated on my iPod a hundred times. Lyrically the band steers towards providing a voice and strength to the oppressed and marginalized. Sixth track “Rise to the Truth”‘s “Dictated by those around you/Succumb to their pollution/Hate has been filled in my heart/Consume, construct, destroy, abominate/Rise to the Truth” send out the energy of a man living under the mammoth weight of negative clouds surrounding his every being who needs an outlet like Out for Blood to handle this life he’s been given. When they scream RETRIBUTION on this track and drop into the breakdown riff, you can’t help but picture this band losing their fucking minds releasing all that pent up hatred bubbling in those hearts.

I know I’ve dropped a million names in the paragraph above…this is NOT to say Out for Blood isn’t doing their thing! Let this sentence clarify that – Out for Blood wear their influences on their sleeves yet carve out a style that is their own flesh and blood seamlessly marrying all these elements into excellently executed song arrangements.

With production of such immense quality – the guitar tone is so angry that it feels like I personally wronged the motherfuckers behind this band and they’re coming at me hard with aural punishment – I had to ask their guitarist, Herman, what was the story behind the production and whether this was a solely local Singaporean endeavor. Herman states that this release was wholly recorded and produced by Singaporean blood by the way of Cedric with support from wingman Thaqif. The only hands outside of Asia that were laid on this was the final mastering which was done by Colin Davis of Imperial Mastering in Australia. Bands of the heavy hardcore ilk really need to look up this name Cedric and get going on booking time at his studio Inversion Studios with this homie – the production on this release speaks volumes of his talent and touch.

Out for Blood continues to send Asia down the path of releases that turn heads and certainly brings the tide of inevitable focus and change firmly to our shores. Inevitable because Asia’s time is here and now. Bands like Out for Blood are proof of this.

Contact Out for Blood on: https://www.facebook.com/outforbloodlchc?fref=ts