Saturday, August 7, 2021

Ekulu - Unscrew My Head (2021)



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New York hardcore has a hype to it, there's no escaping that, and sometimes that hype is overhyped. In the case of NYHC's Ekulu there isn't a single fleck of flack that could be rightfully flung. It would all be flat air because Ekulu play with an obstinate sense of style and energy, and if that is somehow lost on you when you listen to Unscrew My Head, then I don't know what to tell you. BUST IT!

When Ekulu released their debut EP back in 2018 you knew these guys were poised to churn out a handful of great sounding hardcore releases barring the fickle pitfalls of limited run hardcore bands. Building off the foundations laid out in the 80's, Ekulu dip into the metallic brunt of hardcore like Merauder and Madball leaning into elements of thrash and going even as far as embracing subtleties from Show No Mercy era Slayer and early Accept. Much of the youth crew hardcore omitted these blatant influences and instead dug further into the punk raw power apparent in Youth of Today or JudgeEkulu has taken some of that into their mix too and in totality the result is a ripper of an album. 

Ekulu - Unscrew My Head (bandcamp)

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