Whenever I think of Until the End, I think of the time I crammed five finals into a twenty-four-hour period so I could take a road trip down to Gainesville Fest. The kids there went absolutely bat shit for them - head walking and jumping off each other, huge pile-ons, and, of course, devastating mosh. Sure, it sounds like a riot
well, it basically was, but it was so much fun. Perhaps that's what the people at Eulogy had in mind when they decided to issue this discography effort.
The first offering from Until the End was the self-titled EP, which landed on Equal Vision Records shortly after their formation in 2000. Centered around former Culture/Morning Again guitarist John Wylie, Until the End set forth to deliver straightedge hardcore to the masses. Back then Alan Landsman of Poison the Well and Mean Pete shared vocal duties. Their dueling throats complimented the meaty metallic hardcore quite well. Bruising hardcore in the vein of Despiar and Hatebreed was partnered with lyrics of the edge and betrayal galore.
Blood in the Ink was the band's debut full-length. It marked their first release for Eulogy as well as the first with only Mean Pete on vocals. A revamped rhythm section and the addition of a second guitarist might normally mean a lot of change, but that wasn't the case here. The music was harder, the vocals were more guttural, and the lyrics were more vicious than ever. Songs like "Death Disguised as Salvation," "Nothing Between Us," and "Less Than You Deserve" just destroyed in a live setting. This is still one of my favorite records in this era of hardcore.
For Until the End another year meant another release, this time the EP Let the World Burn. Oh, and it also meant a couple of lineup changes, but not a change in sound. The music was still an unrelenting assault of visceral 90's-inspired metallic chug. While I enjoy this EP, I found it to be a slight step down from the previous offering. And the live tracks, well, they were just filler.
By the time Until the End's final recording came to be, the sole remaining member was Wylie. Mean Pete had left to focus on Remembering Never and newcomer James McHugh took over, doing an admirable job with his replacement role. However, The Blind Leading the Lost marks itself as my least favorite release in the Until the End catalog.
From the Beginning
Until the End is a nice trip down memory lane, though I'm not quite sure how relevant this discography release is as most of the releases are still readily available. Nevertheless, with the band's dissolution, consolidating the band's entire recording history into one package is a logical step. With that in mind, how about a comprehensive Culture discography release Eulogy?
