Killing Time – Three Steps Back

When a band regroups after a ten-year absence, their return can go a few different ways.  Some try fitting in with the present landscape by imitating current trends, others gain new members that completely change the band’s dynamic, and others will show absolutely no musical growth and pick up exactly where they left off.  In the case of New York Hardcore legends Killing Time, the aged group fits with the later.

To say Killing Time is true to their roots is an understatement – as far as they’re concerned, they are their roots.  Along with other 80’s hardcore upstarts like D.O.A., the NYHC five piece paved the way in the 90’s for tough-as-nails hardcore punk. Their latest release, Three Steps Back, provides some of the truest punk driven hardcore in recent memory.  It’s the type of hardcore that makes you get in line and fear for your life.  When you hear vocalist Anthony Comunale demand “look at me when I’m talking to you” in his rough, worn voice, you just know that insubordination may prove hazardous to your health.

Not surprisingly, Three Steps Back, takes full advantage of such intensity, with the album’s strongest tracks featuring gruff backing vocals and a no frills punk beat.  “24” flirts with melody for a sing along punk anthem sure to please fans of melodic hardcore, while “Flight Plan” fits in line with the likes of post-2000 groups like Death Before Dishonor.  But the album also features a fair bit of repetition, and sometimesKilling Time’s simplicity serves as a reminder to how much hardcore grew over the past decade.  For example, metal solos surface on tracks like “Inheritance,” but never feel as ambitious or lively as those by current staples like Death By Stereo or A Wilhelm Scream.

Despite dwelling in the past, Killing Time’s return should excite fans of hardcore.  Three Steps Back boasts a well-envisioned, raw intensity that sounds just as good today as I imagine the band’s work did ten years ago.  Hardcore may be more adventurous now, but there’s always room for the classics.  Subsequently, I imagine those looking for some old school, no frills hardcore will embrace the return of these New York legends.