Cast DownA Deconstruction Of Self

Melbourne greenhorns Cast Down sound very much like a modern hardcore band in the shadow of Converge or Nails, and they owe a large debt of gratitude to their peers; but they are far from a carbon copy.

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There is however, an energy that this recording has captured that is similar to that raw energy and anger of early 2000’s hardcore, it is furious and antagonistic.

Opening track Pantomime Villain, like all good opening tracks should, utterly tears your face off. Charging, head first, into the fray with bounding energy and vicious intent. Abrasive guitars, fuelled by the ever-popular HM2 pedal, pierce through electronic sounds after what you could be forgiven for thinking was an Atari Teenage Riot introduction. Like much of the EP, just when you think you have your head around what is happening, you are turned around at lightning speed. A trick that works for most of these songs, but it does get a bit overused. And truthfully the first song could end a good thirty seconds earlier. But it never lets up and that energy is contagious and inciting, and it continues.

Charging, head first, into the fray with bounding energy and vicious intent.

For a first release to be coherent it often takes a lot of luck as whenever a new group is formed it takes at least one record to find out who you are sonically and Cast Down have managed it with great dexterity, although not without its awkward moments. But when they triumph, they do so with great confidence and find some great territory in the latter tracks The Water & Left Unrequited, carving out their own niche in a genre that is thoroughly saturated. A Deconstruction of Self is an assured first record that sets a solid foundation for this young band.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Pantomime Villain, Left Unrequited.
STICK THIS NEXT TO: Converge, Nails, Cursed