Empire Down - S/T EP

Oi! The Boat Records

 

Featuring (ex-)members of Holding On, Relentless, Doomhammer – and probably a few more bands – Empire Down is the latest pack of shit kickers out of the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. With their recent, self-titled debut EP for Oi! The Boat Records, the boys from the Midwest are ready to crack skulls and break jaws – a stomper from start to finish indeed!

 

Featuring excellent guest appearances by Matt (Henson, Noi!se) and Dan (Bullemer, Victory), the Milwaukee – Minneapolis connection is in good company. Does Empire Down need more prominent figures of today’s streetpunk scene to push their release? I think not. Does it contribute in a positive way though? Obviously it does! Besides, friends help out friends right? Right! Matt and Dan appear on respectively “Bastards For The Butcher” and “Room To Breathe”.

 

Now are we only going to talk guest vocals here? Of course not, because musically Empire Down tears it up as well! Their hardcore-punk influenced Oi! sound, sounds dark, harsh and brutish – making you want to go out for blood, while front man Jon’s mean and barbaric lead-vocals are only making it worse... you want to go out and kill! Ironically we, the listeners, hardly get any ‘room to breathe’ though, because “Bastards For The Butcher”, “Start Running”, “Room To Breathe” and “Collapse” follow each other up in a fast and violent pace, ripping it up from front to back!

 

Only 300 copies of this bad boy were pressed (200 on black vinyl and a 100 on yellow vinyl), but I wouldn’t be surprised if a second press will follow soon. These records are selling like hotcakes and for good reasons! This is a killer debut fans of bands such as No Time, Criminal Damage, Tyrant, The Detained and other hard-hitters alike! Check it out!