In the ever-evolving landscape of hardcore, where the lines between metal and hardcore blur into a frenetic collage of sound and fury, CRUELTY has carved a bleak niche that feels both a continuation and a divergence.
Their newest offering, “Grey / Decay” (The Coming Strife Records), is a brief odyssey through the shadowed corridors of metalcore, presented with a raw intensity that belies its meticulous construction.
We’re stoked to give you both new tracks, a special Bandcamp EP and the band’s track by track commentary for the main duo of brain crushers.
The opening track, “Grey,” sets the tone with its compact ferocity, followed by “Decay,” which extends the assault over nearly seven minutes of calculated chaos. “2909” then takes listeners on a quarter-hour journey through despair, before concluding with “A Case for Depopulation/The Day The Sun Stands Still (Live in BN1),” a live piece that captures the raw energy of CRUELTY in their element.
Behind the scenes, the sonic architecture of “Grey / Decay” was meticulously crafted by Charlie Wilson Jr. at Monolith Studios in London, a space that has birthed some of the most compelling sounds in the UK’s hardcore scene.
CRUELTY’s journey from their second LP, “Salvation,” to this moment, reflects a deliberate shift towards a more metal-infused hardcore, eschewing some of the post-hardcore elements that characterized their earlier work.
The integration of death metal’s brute force into hardcore’s explosive dynamism demonstrates a genre in flux, yet confidently stepping into new realms of expression.
Accompanied by a tour with No Relief, Killingmesoftly, and Dandelion throughout March in the UK, CRUELTY is embarking on a journey to bring their evolved sound to the masses.
Track by track commentary:
Grey
We’ve always been big fans of the first few Lamb Of God records and this was an attempt to do something in that style adding some more death metal type stuff too.
One section is pure Death worship but obviously we can’t shred like that so it’s Diet Chuck Schuldiner.
Decay
This more typical to the tracks on our last LP ‘Salvation.’ Fast metalcore with beatdowns. Charlie Wilson Jr, who recorded both these tracks, added the solo and divebombs. If you’re into Arkangel riffs check out his band Graven Image with Andy from Raiden. They put out a 12” through The Coming Strife last year which is great.
Andy was meant to do a guest vocal over the Slayer riff on this track but it didn’t pan out unfortunately.
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