Strife

Metal/hardcore from Doylestown. Collapse Records

"New Jersey has been bringing quality hardcore for years. From bands like Fury Of Five to Floorpunch, Jersey has produced all kinds of hardcore. Personally, I've always been a fan of the harder bands from the Garden State, like Fury Of Five, NJ Bloodline, One 4 One, Shattered Realm and E Town Concrete. At times things get over the top, but the intensity and toughness of the areas bands has been hard to match. Suburban Scum take the intensity Jersey has become known for and back it up with some well written hardcore songs on "Internal War".

Right off the bat the Trapped Under Ice comparison comes to mind in the tone and song structure of Suburban Scum. Fortunately, these are all welcomed similarities as I am also a fan of TUI.
"Count My Blessings" starts the EP off with a burst of NYHC inspired riffing and tempo. Ryan's vocals furiously match the power of the music and his vocal patterns impress. A couple minutes into this EP and you know moshing will be a must when seeing Suburban Scum live. "Self Loathing" comes in at track three and starts with some ballsy bass and is my early favorite track on "Internal War". The lower guest vocals on this track are also a nice contrast to Ryan's mid range scream and give the track a good Biohazard feel.

"Internal War" and "Hollow Bones" fly by quickly but don't go unnoticed. They are just surrounded by two very strong tracks in "Self Loathing" and "Blind To Life" that they sound feel like a lull in the EP. Rounding out the EP is the cleverly titled "Suburban Discipline". I'm a sucker for anything Biohazard related and once bought a T-shirt from the band Seventh Star just because it was a Biohazard rip-off that said Suburban Discipline on the back. Needless to say, I think this song kills it. Ryan's vocals get a hell of a lot quicker on this track to the point of almost rapping, but still managing to not get ridiculous or sound like E Town. He's just very quick with his words which fits perfectly over the faster parts of the song.

I was excited to hear this band on record after seeing them live a couple of weeks ago and "Internal War" does not disappoint. The production sounds just right for a hardcore record and even the artwork is cool. I am very much looking forward to seeing these guys live again and hopefully picking up a physical copy of this CD. Don't sleep on these guys."


We are in the process of writing an LP. Split with Incendiary coming out soon on Mayfly Records.

Hailing from Wilkes-Barre, PA, Dead End Path bring a heavy hardcore sound with plenty of negativity that musically brings to mind Hatebreed and Buried Alive. Their excellent 7" is out now on Triple B Records, with their debut full length LP to follow this June.