On their new EP, God Failed Me, out today, WAR CRIMINAL rips through five in-your-face tracks that delve into the band’s personal experiences of betrayal, loss, and depression. Each track brings a dark, evil, & heavy turn to hardcore with morbid lyrics, thrash riffs, and hard-hitting drums.
While sonically God Failed Me is truly a hardcore record, lyrically the band goes more in-depth than your average approach. “False Hope” centers around the want to believe in a “god”, but eventually resenting the notion completely because of a life dealt with negative experiences. Dealing with this despondency carries along to other tracks on the EP, including “No Way Out” and “Smile Lines”, both centered around different aspects of depression and hiding your true emotions. Lead single and album closer “Unforgiving,” which features guest vocals from Josh Compton of Forced Under, hits heavy from the start with menacing guitar lines and lyrics centered around deception by a friend. The EP was recorded with Evan Sammons (The Contortionist) and Ryan Paolilli (Kaonashi) performed drums on the release. With God Failed Me, War Criminal has crafted the perfect response to a tumultuous year.
Forming at the end 2017; the New England Hardcore band War Criminal was created by Ryan Hill and Jamie Way out of Bangor, Maine. In September 2018, they released their debut EP titled Suffer, followed up by regional tours and playing shows with bands like Cruel Hand, Knocked Loose, Terror, Jesus Piece and more. Shortly after their first release, Anthony Brown joined on guitar, and in 2020, Tyler Lamkins joined on drums to complete the band.
“It’s five tracks of brash, abrasive, ’90s-style metallic hardcore, and War Criminal do justice to their forebears while keeping their sound fresh.” – BrooklynVegan
“War Criminal brings the pain on every second of their soon to be released EP God Failed Me.” – Cvlt Nation
