Tausend Löwen unter Feinden – Licht MCD (Let It Burn)
Debut release for this new German hardcore powerhouse whose name translates as a Thousand Lions Amongst The Enemy – when I get round to interviewing them I\’ll be asking how they came up with that one! This EP is all it takes to catapult TLUF right to the top of the German hardcore league, taking no prisoners with their tough sound. I love how opener \”Schatten\” opens and tears right into action – no intro or time spent building the mood, this launches straight into it, hard and fast. From the outset this reminds me of classic Cleveland hardcore, but as the EP unfolds I can hear a decent Madball influence with those heavy, streetwise mid-paced sections, and with the words sung in German it also makes me think of bands like Empowerment or Devil Inside. The vocals make this record quite unique and you can tell they have put a lot of thought into the words as they are spat out. In fact the band has paid attention to the all-round package, with YouTube videos for each and every song on here and quite a distinct style in their artwork and presentation, which I like to see. There is also some subtle yet clever guitar work that adds a more melodic dimension than you might expect, check out the EP closer \”Immer und Ewig\” for a great example of this. Although all the \”big names\” in hardcore have been putting out killer new releases over the past couple of years, this one has the quality to compete with any of them, a great debut. Tom Chapman