Outrage – Savior

Hardcore is not my forte but every once in a while I come across a band that jumps out at me and shows me the shining light of hardcore. Last year it was Defeater that really stood out thanks to a combination of powerful music and fantastic lyrics. This year a new band from New England has shown me the light and the band is Outrage. The five piece from New England has delivered a debut EP worthy of praise from both the most strident hardcore fanatic and the ones who only dive into the straight edge hardcore scene occasionally as it is a record that emphasizes everything positive about the style.

While there are some elements of the tough-guy hardcore bands like Terror in their music, Outrage leans more towards the heavy, straight-edge hardcore sound. Bearing striking similarities to recent Bride Nine Records breakouts such as Have Heart and Verse (although with a lot heavier and deeper vocals than Verse) along with hardcore legends Bane, Outrage is poised to make a name for themselves in the hardcore scene. The songs are a fierce, heavy and thunderous concoction of the 90’s hardcore scene. Heavy, guttural guitars and deafening drums battle with one another for dominance and speed while the thrash vocals are screamed overtop with anger and intensity mixing together for a wall of sound, intensity and anger.

Like Defeater did last year, Outrage has stepped up in the lyrics department. While not so strictly a concept album as Travels was, the tracks on Savior still follow a path and storyline. The storyline in question is one of questioning and anger at the status quo and an internal rebellion against it all. The singer questions the world around him (I walk through this fucked up city / and what I see it fucking sickens me / poverty, rape, drugs and violence its like we’re cursed by the seven fucking plagues) and heads out to battle the world. It’s a fascinating story line which grows with each song as he seeks answers, asks questions and almost gives up before finally saying fuck it and living his life his own way (I’ve lived my life in the shadows they’ve cast / and I feel as if I’m dying inside / I’ve finally step into the light / and I have never felt so alive / I am alive. I’m done dying inside).

This isn’t a New York hardcore band and it’s evident. Instead it is a Boston hardcore band and they carry that style with pride and do it justice.