(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): 21ST AGENDA, THE

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

21ST AGENDA, THE

Band: THE 21ST AGENDA

Genres: Punk / Hardcore / Grind / Metallic Hardcore / Metalcore / Sludge
Related artists: ?.
Country: Red Deer, Alberta CANADA
Years Active: 2014-present
Song: "A Streetcar Named Disaster"
Album: "The 21st Agenda EP"
Year: 2016
For fans of: Cassilis, Seventeen Again, Norma Jean, The Chariot, Ed Gein, Boak, (older) Botch, Lamantide, Machina Genova, Lavotchkin, Perth Express, The Expectorated Sequence, I Am Your Curse, Barque, (newer) Bleeding Kansas, The Bled, Every Time I Die and In The Name Of Havoc.

Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the October 2016 Mix. This is track #4.

You can download: the October 2016 Mix#10 right here or get the new November 2016 Mix#11 here.

Just last month I was sent the new THE 21ST AGENDA self titled EP in the old OMSB email inbox. I was quite surprised and taken with the pulverizing metallic hardcore from my country's more eastern side. The band from Red Deer, Alberta in Canada released a single song in 2014 called "Words of the Nameless" which must have been a teaser for the new record, but damn that's a lot of time in between. Regardless, the song is a good indicator of what the future material was going to sound like and although it's a decent, heavy and punishing ordeal it doesn't hold a candle to the band's 2016 material.

So, let's talk about the 2016 material aka 'The 21st Agenda EP' cd. The "Intro" and "Outro" of the EP are mostly noise/ambient tracks which aren't my forte. Come track two we are introduced to a more laid back and patient version of the band with "Blind/Sighted" that crawls along with heavy, subdued anger. Track three is a clearer representation of what the band has to offer as "Caustic" cuts through the listener in a mere 1:41 chock full of breakdowns, screams (both low and high) and dirty blasts of grind and metalcore. But oh boy, next up is the absolutely stellar "A Streetcar Named Disaster" which is a moshy hardcore beast laden with crunchy riffs and blazing little solos that was the catalyst for me doing this review. Seriously, really fucking good song. "Grace (Disgrace)" follows with 3:43 of eerie and menacing metallic hardcore that leads into the rerecorded version of 2014's "Words of the Nameless". The last non-ambient track on here is track 7's "Asphalt" and it's a fucking doozy. The darkness, speed and ferocity make this the band's most devastating song recorded thus far and it rivals "A Streetcar Named Disaster" for the best track on the record.

There you have it. An excellent debut release by a relatively unknown and young Canadian punk/hardcore/metal band. My hat's off to you, good sirs. Well fuckin' done.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2014 - Words of the Nameless cd single (stream/donate/download here)

2016 - The 21st Agenda EP cdEP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2016) THE 21ST AGENDA - "A Streetcar Named Disaster" (from 'The 21st Agenda EP')