HeadwreckAs Is (Single)

Brisbane hardcore newcomers Headwreck have come in hard with a vicious street-level attack on their debut single As Is, featuring the roaring, raging talents of Luke Harriss from heavycore compatriots She Cries Wolf.

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With this oh-so-brief but extremely meaty first release, the band have built a no-frills anthem to piss and vinegar. Leaning on charged chugging riffs to keep things mean and fighty, the song is a 2-minute moshpit exorcism seemingly designed to purge an audience of people who aren’t ready to put their bodies on the line.

Harsh vocals trade off, shrapnel-sharp and effortlessly pained, with Luke Harriss’s contributions lending an inexorably human flavour to the atonal screams of lead singer Connor Hickman. The band ape the pummelling modern-hardcore sound traded by Antagonist A.D., retaining the street-style aggression of Madball and the severity of Hatebreed. Purpose-made breakdown rhythms meet downbeat beatdowns and the whole thing is over before the blood even hits the floor.

As a debut effort, it doesn’t tell us a lot about the band, but it lays some fairly clear expectations; this is a band who want you to hurt a little and with As Is (featuring Luke Harriss) they have scored first blood.

This is music made to sweat to, and the accompanying videoclip exists with claustrophobic simplicity; a band in a room with too little air and festively uncomfortable lighting, filmed and edited to great, glitchy effect. It’s not a complicated video, but the song only has 2 minutes to make its point and the clip works to show a little of the palette the band are working with.

There’s a sense that this song is a part of a larger whole, both due to its brevity and the dirty moshability of it, but the song contains its own tricks and does not outstay its welcome, enough that it may be due a repeat listen or two. As a debut effort, it doesn’t tell us a lot about the band, but it lays some fairly clear expectations; this is a band who want you to hurt a little and with As Is (featuring Luke Harriss) they have scored first blood.

STICK THIS NEXT TO: She Cries Wolf, Antagonist AD, Madball