Album of the Month... February 2015

Eternal Misery by No Zodiac

27 Jun 2013

First Try - Upstart 'Through the Hardships' (Split)

First Try - Upstart 'Through the Hardships'

This split record has been out since February and I cannot believe that I have only just had the chance to listen to this. Both First Try and Upstart have pieced together a bombardment of aggressive hardcore tracks which compiles Through the Hardships which is a split definitely worth checking out.

First Try kicks the record off with 5 brand new tracks, if you are already familiar with their style from listening to Ill-Gotten Life then you will know what to expect as they have kept their trademark sound. These tracks are an assault of fast paced hardcore music with 110% aggression. The introduction of the tracks start off quite melodic but don’t be fooled the screeching vocals and heavy riffs kick in just after this. This City Belongs to Us contains a perfect mix of fast paced, heavy slow breakdown parts and progressive guitar parts to create a fierce and ferocious monster of a band. The next track Back in Business starts off with a slow side to side mosh part which really gets you in the mood to move around. There’s a nice mix of ear piercing screams and deeper rough screams which I found entertaining mixes things up a bit. In this track and Ethic Fail there are some spoken words too which leads to more heavy riffage and rapid drum beats.

All I can say is that I really enjoyed the first 5 tracks and they deliver a nice aggressive style through their varied sounds and this is far from boring. A very energetic band that keeps you entertained throughout. Check out their older tracks too if you dig these.

Upstart is up next with their 5 tracks brand new to the Lyon hardcore scene and sound in the vein of Terror, Blacklisted and Sick of it All. From these influences you couldn't expect anything less than a straight up in your face sound. The track My Pride kicks off the second side of the split with fast paced drums and heavy guitar riffs. Alongside the pummelling instruments, the vocals are very strong and angry resulting in a sound that is very Terror like. Although we've heard this style come across in a lot of modern hardcore bands I just can’t hate it. They produce some very hard-hitting tracks and To an End and Walk Out prove this is a band who I am sure is here to stay. The recordings are of great quality and Upstart have got the transitions between tracks perfectly running smoothly through the record.


As a whole, although this is nothing ground breaking, both bands smashed it on this split and have produced some good quality heavy hardcore. If you haven’t heard this split yet or these two bands check them out here below.