EP Review: Seized Up – Marching Down The Spiral

If you wanted to look for a positive in lockdown then the unheralded number of “super groups” that have emerged as musicians try to scratch an itch born of the chaos and unpredictability of being in a band. I have seen more artists working together and creating new projects than at any other time, whether it’s the all star UK DIY band Knife Club, although admittedly their launch was just unfortunately timed, the rock and punk marriage of Days Gone By or the international coalition of Fake Names. It’s undeniable there have been some amazing and original studio / lockdown projects launched during the longest year any of us have ever experienced, well now you can add one more, Santa Cruz’s Seized Up who feature former and current members of The Distillers, BL’AST, All You Can Eat and Good Riddance amongst their number, whilst the band was originally a pre-covid project and not an exercise in staving off cabin fever, their return indicates it might well have helped do just that.

Seized Up‘s latest offering is the three track “Marching Down the Spiral” EP that is set to be released later this month via Cursed Blessing, keep watching the site for precise details, but expect it land soon rather than later. The first step on “Marching Down the Spiral” is the intense and off kilter ‘Forum of Decay‘, pounding drums and a d-beat influence ensures a riotous start to the EP. The second track is the EP’s title track, that somehow manages to fit full tilt hardcore and a breakdown into just over a minute, the EP closes with the intense “Dead Zone Denied‘ that completes the brutal and uncompromising trio of songs. You aren’t going to have chance to get comfy, especially if you’re buying the seven inch vinyl, as the three tracks contained on the “Marching Down the Spiral” EP are done and dusted in well under six minutes. This isn’t comfortable easy listening music, this is a collaboration that blends four differing approaches to punk rock. The end result is something new that is simultaneously somehow very familiar

The “Marching Down the Spiral” EP can be pre-ordered on 7″ vinyl here