Self-released, August 29, 2020
Jesse Michaels is back with some furious new support on World of Burning Hate.
Jesse Michaels has done all sorts of awesome stuff, most notably the legendary Operation Ivy, then Common Rider, and more recently Classics Of Love. With each of these vehicles, Michaels has explored different sounds and ideas through sporadic output (this is the first new stuff from him since 2012). And when Michaels gets so motivated to put out something new, we’ve got to listen.
Originally featuring Jesse Michaels and the members of Hard Girls, the band now sees Michaels joining forces with Sharif Dumani (guitar/bass) and Peter John Fontes (drums). On the new five song EP World of Burning Hate, the band make a glorious rambunctious racket, and the chaos seemingly parallels everything bursting around us.
World of Burning Hate is timeless hardcore, plain and simple. It could fit alongside any of the stuff of legend. The rabid riotous din of opener “Future Shock” destroys everything, reveling in trashed drums and corrosive bass, all topped with a disintegrating and violent guitar lead. It leaves me out of breath. “Crime Pays” keeps to the hardcore sound with it frazzled fast drive. And the hooks and melodies on the chorus bring to mind something from the Operation Ivy days. “Walking With the Lost” also keeps to the blistering fast thing with a cool riff and excellent vocals that echo all weird-like at the end of each time that “walking with the lost” gets yelled. And the lead guitar on the slowed break sounds stupid great. It’s a bunch of turbulent gold.
On “Life Dread”, there’s a little more nuance. The guitar riff is pretty hooky and the bass gets after it too, mimicking the guitar. But where the three songs above froth, this one seethes a little more, keeping the fury at an on-edge simmer. And closer “Dawn of Universal Law” is a ragged slow burner with disorienting feedback and a cool descending guitar and bass riff. It feels like such a heavy song, like the weight of the world is getting carried by it. A little less manic than the others, but the ferocity is palpable all the same.
World of Burning Hate is pretty much great. Jesse Michaels sounds desperate and alive and the musical bedlam around him makes for something great. This is pandemonium, but it’s pretty spectacular to watch it all burn down.
You might like this if:
- You want some rabid chaotic hardcore or dig all things Jesse Michaels
You might not if:
- You want something poppy and light
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
