Review Summary: I don’t need therapy; it just makes it worse for me.
7 minutes is enough time to seriously *&^% someone up. Philadelphia’s SCARAB (Seeking Chaos and Revenge After Betrayal) arose from singer Tyler Mullen leaving Delaware’s Year of the Knife and somehow becoming even more pissed-off sounding from the trip between DE and PA. After 2018ish this reviewer had taken a bit of a break from hardcore and power-violence type music. A friend that knows my love for just utterly filthy vocals sent over a YouTube link for a live Scarab show performing this EP and my love for angry, filthy, beat-down hardcore was rekindled anew.
SCARAB pulls from the 2-step, down-tuned mold of the scene. Metal-tinged riffs over a rhythm section filthier than the Philly streets they call home are the basis for Tyler’s vocals which sound like a cathartic, emotional breakdown tossed into a cement mixer with the heavier side of early of New England Metalcore. Upon first hearing the song New Day I wondered what in the hell kind of effects he was using to get that vocal modulation to the pre-breakdown scream. Nope, no effects, just anger and microphone movement. Definitely a band to keep an eye on, and if they are anywhere near you go check them out live.
4 tracks, 7 minutes, no BS, and enough anger seeping through your headphones to make you want to start crowd-killing your family at dinner tonight. Go check it out.
