Album Review: All Out Helter – The Notion Of Control

Allout Helter have returned with their sophomore album The Notion of Control, their first major release for Bird Attack Records, that furthers the bands’ reputation for pushing the boundaries of melodic hardcore, their pedigree is further enhanced as the album is produced by Trevor Reilly of A Wilhelm Scream. The Notion Of Control represents the second chapter in Allout Helter‘s history and sees them deliver an album that captures the essence of their intense live shows.

The Notion Of Control is an album that is full on from the brutal opener A Thief In The Night to it’s closing number, Passengers. Every track is a brutal blend of melodic hardcore and gruff punk with a touch of crossover thrown into the mix, this is especially prevalent around the guitar sound that carries a more technical intricate sound that is beloved of metal and crossover bands, but the rest of their sound is defiantly punk rock. Tracks such as my personal favourite Maximum Helter evidence a stronger pure hardcore sound, but for the most part this is a more technical precise variation of melodic hardcore.

With their second album Allout Helter have released an intense political blast of melodic hardcore, but crucially it’s one that separates itself from the pack by engaging a few other influences to carve out their own niche in the flourishing melodic hardcore scene. This a relentless album of furious political melodic hardcore that, aside from the occasional breakdown, doesn’t pull a single punch, meaning that some of the tracks do tend to blur into each other as their is no respite on this album, but don’t interpret that as a bad thing and fans of established acts such as Propagandhi, Strung Out and H2O should ensure that they check out Allout Helter‘s latest release

The Notion Of Control can be pre-ordered via Bird Attack Records here