REVIEW: Hazing Over – Tunnel Vision EP
Hazing Over – Tunnel Vision EP Review
A few weeks ago, Pittsburgh’s own Hazing Over released their second EP entitled “Tunnel Vision”, and since my several listens yesterday, I have indeed found myself stuck in a haze of disappointment and bewilderment. However, let it be known that the source of my disillusionment comes from the fact that it took me two weeks to actually give this 6 track ripper a listen. In the 11 minutes and 41 seconds Hazing Over gives you to explore their second extended play, they pack a lot in without becoming overbearing. There is a lot of sonic variety, highlighting some of the best parts metallic hardcore has to offer in recent years, as well as growing a lot from their first EP, giving them their own unique identity without veering away from the genre or bands that they seem to draw influence from. Blending dissonance, major riffage, screams that ascend and descend throughout the larynx, melody found where you wouldn’t expect it (and once or twice where you would), and some pit parts that will bring all you 30+ year olds out of mosh retirement, this EP is fucking wild.
I found out about Hazing Over probably a year or so ago, when my brother sent me the track “Pestilence” off their titular debut EP. I was SHOCKED when I heard the track, not because of the song itself, but because my brother sent it to me. It seemed a tad on the heavily chaotic side for him, despite his interest in bands like Knocked Loose and other collectives of their ilk. Regardless I really did dig the sound, though I worried that it started to delve a bit into the vein.fm, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Code Orange (Forever-era) sound. Not that this was a drawback, and it was a small sample size, but I felt like it would have been very easy for Hazing Over to follow their contemporaries even closer with this second EP. My friends, I was glad this unfounded theory didn’t come to pass, and to be honest, I should have known better when I saw that the almighty Taylor Young was producing, engineering and mixing this bad mother at the Pit in Van Nuys, CA, where some of the greatest hardcore records in recent years have been made.
The Tracks
1) Path Denied: We start this fucker running at full speed, only to slow it down about 30 seconds in, so Hazing Over can punch you and some of your friends straight in the face. For your homies that eluded their aural windmill fist to the cheekbone, trust me, it will come for them too. Vocally, this song and EP offers so much range and passion. I am not going to try and pretend I know what these lyrics are about. To be fair, I am not particularly proficient at guessing lyrical meanings, or who the murderer is at the end of movies, and I still don’t know what the theme of The Rocking Horse Winner was. What I can tell you is the vocalist Jake Yencik sounds fairly pissed off. Fuck yes. Be pissed off. I don’t know what about, but I am here for it. And then right as I’m contemplating why my sophomore year english class has anything to do with this song, the rest of your homies got smacked the fuck up with the glass shattering beatdown at the end of the sub two minute opener (told you it was coming). Overdriven bass with a backing beat that brought us into this song also takes us out and into…
2) Tunnel Vision: This is a “starts fast ‘No Heroes-era Converge sound’ that turns into the dopest riff with occasional blast beats” song. Come on, don’t pretend like you don’t know the archetype. In all seriousness, despite the fact that this song is almost 40 seconds longer than the first track, somehow it feels a million times shorter, but not in a bad way. It kicks your door in, eats all your protein based foods, rips open every other packaged food staple you have, throws the items across your apartment and walks out. But I am here to warn you that you are still not safe. Just when you thought the dust had settled, as you were trying to remember which closet you put your vacuum cleaner in, Hazing Over bulldozes your entire apartment complex down with their DOPEST breakdown to date. Give me those fucking pinch harmonics between DUN DUNs as my whole life crumbles around me. Ten spin kicks out of ten.
3) Cutthroat: Potential pallet cleanser? Some industrial beats, a slower and groovy start to the track, all sounds they have experimented with before for sure, but as we have learned from the two previous songs, not all is as it seems. What’s this? Did they throw in, dare I say it… a two step part? You bet your ass they did, and they made the riffs in this part tasty as hell. Short lived, though well loved, we move along into a break beat with some distorted vocals and bass until the band serenades us with the lyrical “cutthroat” screams back and forth, high and low. This song’s tempo feels slower than the first two. Upon my initial listen, my brain was tricked into thinking this would continue.
4) Gushing Wound: Sometimes it is dope as hell being wrong, subconsciously or otherwise. Two snare hits and WE ARE BACK BABY. Not to imply we went anywhere we didn’t want to be before, but track four gets me back to headbanging and feeling that sense of impending doom that only occurs when a whole song is building you up for crowd kills and group chants. Hazing Over uses Gushing Wound to remind you why you came here in the first place: brutality, dissonance, space to breathe in a moments notice just to be suffocated again and again by riffs, that INSANELY thick sounding drum kit, its marriage to their fuzzy low end, and all the screams a small venue goer could hope to sing along with.
5) Tightrope Walker: Do yourself a favor. If you are reading this review before giving this EP a chance, I would advise not doing so while operating heavy machinery, inhabiting a small space, or being surrounded by people in general. This song especially should come with an advisory sticker, because by the end of this 66 seconds, if you haven’t already, you will be thrashing your body about uncontrollably. Tightrope Walker starts “innocently” enough… but… fuck dude. A little less than half way through, the drum fill comes in that indicates something is about to go down. Slow tempo… starts to speed up… Yencik starts ripping through vocal lines… suddenly the lyric “I WITHDREW” comes soaring through the uninhabited auditory space just before BOOM FUCKING DUN DUN DUNDUNDUNDUNNNNNN. You think to yourself, “this is magic, pure pit wizardry”. What you don’t know is they aren’t fucking finished and are quickly approaching the possible peak of the EP. Released upon our ears is an ear piercing scream floating over an inhumane breakdown that would give Job for a Cowboy a run for their money. Terrifying. Brutal. Helpless. Feral. Fuck this song is so good. So is that fucking howl.
6) Disavowed: This leads us into the EP closer, and what a finale it is. Let me take a minute to express how dope the songwriting for these tracks were, as well as the track placement and flow. Disavowed has some of the most unique moments of these nearly 12 minutes, but somehow the band never ceases to lose its identity throughout its conclusion. We open with an epic ring out, mixing maybe a little minor chord action, and then we are magically whisked away to THE fucking riff of the EP. It teases us with some of those old Misery Signals type chord choices, back into THE fucking riff, and then it happens. Hazing Over, while having experimented with vocal melody in their songs prior to this EP, takes me back to the ‘early 2000s metallic hardcore’ clean vocal vibe that I felt was abandoned too long ago from this genre. Fusing it back in with harsh vocals and continued riffage, it is a departure from the rest of Tunnel Vision but still feels very appropriately placed. Something about it reminds me of the era where hardcore bands were starting to sing for the first time, like Poison the Well or early Every Time I Die even? It was a time that didn’t last long, as bands started becoming more formulaic when attempting these melodies in harsh music, but Hazing Over slaps you with this nostalgia that doesn’t overstay its welcome. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the impressive vocal performance with little cracks in the melody that appear subtly throughout the song. All of this said, the culmination of this EP comes at the epilogue of their longest song, where we get a Davidian style breakdown of EPIC proportions to keep the spin kickers busy until the very end. This includes a drum fill that takes us into a slower tempo and two screams that will give Mike Patton’s creatures in I Am Legend feelings of insecurity and doubt. The final riff is the riff they came into this EP with. No fade outs. No gimmicks. Just brutality, the final hit and WE’RE OUT.
Conclusion:
Does this EP rule?
Yes and you should listen to it.
Will you purchase this on vinyl?
They are playing Baltimore in a couple of days and if I am able to make it then I will get it from the merch table along with some SHIRTS.
Is this a good record for the gym?
This is a great EP to put on for your warm up, or when you’re attempting a PB.
Did Hazing Over change the world of metal / hardcore forever?
No, but there are moments on this release that I could foresee bringing them to a place of growth and possible innovation in the future.
Did you listen to this because you knew Taylor Young engineered / produced / mixed it?
It didn’t hurt my enthusiasm to search for it on Spotify.
Are you adding any songs to any playlists?
Tunnel Vision, Tightrope Walker have for sure made it to my “Salem’s Lot” playlist, which is essentially my “best of” playlist I share with my friend Marlayna. Disavowed may make it one day, but I feel it best to listen to that song when accompanied by the whole EP.
Final thoughts?
This band is coming into their own. Not a dull moment. I will be listening to this for months to come. Give me more. EPs get a rating out of five…
4.5 crowd kills out of 5.
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