It wasn't that long ago that I caught a little tour featuring Hour of the Wolf, Lewd Acts, and Trash Talk. In fact, it was just last year. The bill was interesting as it mixed varying punk/hardcore styles - a little something for everyone which is a welcome change to the one show-five bands-one sound norm. Two of those artists have teamed up here for a split release, complimenting each other's sounds quite well, despite their differences.
Hour of the Wolf follow-up on last year's sensational Waste Makes Waste with two new songs and an oldie. "Overload" strikes first and immediately brings to mind "Attitude"-styled Misfits. The music is fast-paced punk but there is also a sense of "pop" in its sound. "War Machine" is a leftover recording from a couple years back. I'm not sure what it is, but the song just seems out of place with what I've heard from them. It's a lot less punk and more hardcore, which for the band isn't what I was used to. Perhaps this is why it wasn't originally included on whatever release it was intended for. "Nothing Hits as Hard as the Abyss" is Hour of the Wolf's final offering; it's a nice fast metal meets punk jam calling to mind Lemmy and company.
2007 saw Lewd Acts release a discography, which for many was their first exposure. One calendar year later they're back with four new cuts. The band starts their side off with "Broken Kids." Musically the song is a lot less hardcore than their previous output, in fact it almost sounds like an Hour of the Wolf song - rock-infused punk. Given the band's San Diego origins, this isn't that surprising. Unfortunately I wasn't really into it on that song but thankfully the band redeems themselves with "Jealous Sea" and "Shark Bait." Both are metal-driven hardcore jams with some nice thrashy crunch and vicious yells. Closer "Glass Act" opens with an even-paced rock groove before segueing into a nice bridge section and launching into a ruckus-raising breakdown - definitely one of their best songs to date.
This split is a nice holdover while we wait for new full-lengths, which is really as much as you can ask from this type of recording. The Hour of the Wolf side was pretty much more of what I enjoy from the band while Lewd Acts hit good on three of four. I'm sure we'll be hearing from both of these bands again before years end.
