Review Summary: This album really just turned out to be a slightly worse version of “HOHW Demo [Vol. 1]”. Everything about this demo is a bit worse then it’s predecessor.
The Battlecat - HOHW Demo [Vol. 2]
The Battlecat was a four-piece hardcore band from Southern Ontario. They recorded three self-released demos and toured extensively from 2004 to 2008. This demo is the second release. The band wrote it while they were still called "Hell Or High Water" and sold it on tour. I’m surprised and a bit disappointed because this album really just turned out to be a slightly worse version of “HOHW Demo [Vol. 1]”. Everything about this demo is a bit worse then it’s predecessor. There are some more noticeable sloppy moments, there is even LESS material (just under 7 minutes), the vocals are just a tad too loud in the mix, and the music is still quite generic-sounding.
This album does have its sloppy and ***ty moments where the guys don’t have that tight-sound that I think is essential to hardcore. A good place to point sloppiness out is the intro of “A Song For Us”, which is just a tad off time. Another spot is some of the sections of “Get Sweet” that feature messy double bass playing. I’m disappointed because the drummer’s playing really went downhill compared to the first demo. Also, the vocals on this album are also kind of overpowered (there is still lazy shouting at this point too, which I can’t stand). It is most noticeable in “A Song For Us”. This is a shame because the song includes some really awesome guitar riffs and harmonies. There are too many breakdowns on this demo. Lastly, “Get Sweet” ends really abruptly and ruins the flow of the song. This really sucks for them because they had a pretty good crescendo going there.
This effort isn’t completely terrible though. Even though the playing gets sloppy at moments, the music itself is well-written and the guys should have just spent more time practicing it so they could have executed it better. As I mentioned earlier, there are some great riffs in spots of this album. The opening riff in “A Song For Us” is probably one of the best hardcore guitar riffs I have heard in a while. Also, “Get Sweet” changes the pace a little bit by adding a short acoustic bridge with relaxed drumming and a nice crescendo. These moments I mentioned are far and few in between however.
Overall, these guys seemed to have lost their edge with this effort. I think they should have waited a little longer to make this record so they could have had more material to put on it and they could have played it better too. This album seems rushed. On the flipside though, with the clean break in “Get Sweet”, and some of the riffs this time around, these guys are just SLIGHTLY breaking the generic hardcore mold. They still need to work on their sound a lot more though if they want to become unique. This demo is really just you’re average hardcore demo.
PROS:
- Clean break in “Get Sweet”.
- Good guitar riffs.
- Good screams.
- Sick album cover.
CONS:
- Album is rushed.
- Music still sounds generic
- Vocals are overpowered
- The bassist still doesn’t do anything worthwhile.
- Lazy shouting is still annoying.
OVERALL RATING: 2.6/5
