The first hit lands like a fist into concrete — short pause, tension, then impact. Maximum Force don’t waste time easing in. This demo is built to move weight, whether that’s a barbell or a car you’re probably driving a bit too fast with this on.
The band comes out of a long history together. Most of them have been playing alongside each other for 15–20 years, cycling through a dozen different projects before this one clicked. It started as a side thing, then their previous band fell apart, Brandon stepped in, and suddenly this became the main focus. Years of shared instincts, finally lining up.
They’re based in Cobourg, a small town sitting between Toronto and Montreal, the kind of place where scenes used to mean something different. “The 90s and early 2000s Cobourg had a very robust scene with lots of touring bands coming through,” they say.
That’s mostly gone now. DIY shows happen when they make them happen. “We’re orphans in a sense,” they add, pointing to Montreal, Toronto, and St. Catharines as the places that keep them in motion. There’s still Zap Records holding it down locally, a constant since they were kids.
You can hear exactly what they were aiming for. The blueprint sits somewhere around Cro-Mags’ “Best Wishes” and the wider late-80s NYHC axis — Outburst, Killing Time, Breakdown, the “Where the Wild Things Are” and “New Breed” comps. They wanted that old Normandy Studio feel, but louder, heavier, sharper.
The demo moves quick but doesn’t blur. The first track sets the tone — controlled bursts, held-back energy, a sense that it could snap open wider at any second. The second track pushes harder, almost tipping into thrash tempo, galloping forward without losing its footing. Then things shift. The third and fourth tracks pull back slightly, more balance, more space, before the closer stretches out with a metallic solo and twisting guitars that lean further into crossover territory. Somewhere between street-level hardcore and something more jagged, more metal-edged.
Lyrically, there’s no distance. “The lyrics aren’t some abstract concept they’re about the reality of being squeezed from every side,” they say. “We’re living in a neoliberal nightmare where everything — your time, your friendships, your own head — is just something to be bought or sold.” It gets specific. “You’ve got fascist pedophiles running countries, bankers and hedge fund CEOs running countries. Corruption in every level of authority.” And then it zooms right back in: “whack ass fucks that go to shows, dumbass people I work with.” Some tracks are just direct shots.
“Mind Pollution” locks into that overload — the constant noise, the feeling your brain’s being filled with stuff you didn’t ask for. “War of the Weak” sits in the same space. “It definitely turned into a theme across the demo — the idea that war isn’t just on the map somewhere, it’s in your head or someone else’s.”
They wrote everything over fall 2025, fast, then tracked it in their own jam space early this year. From there it went to Will Hirst for mixing and Arthur Rizk for mastering, pushing it into that dense, punchy zone without losing the rough edges. “The goal for the demo is just to demonstrate our style — hardcore for hardcore.”
Physical Therapy Records picked it up almost immediately after hearing it. The label will have a tape run available online and at United Blood in Richmond on April 11 and 12. Shoutout goes to Neolithic.
Shows are coming. Spring and summer should be busy. There’s new stuff already in progress, but no rush to overpromise. “We’ve all got various commitments outside of the band. So no ‘big things coming soon’ haha.”
