Punching Moses
Humanity Pandemic
Out November 20th, 2015 on Seeing Red Records
Jesse Ramsey- Guitar
Shack Erman- Bass
Ben Ihde- Vocals
Jimmy Gasho- Drums
Rob Needham- Guitar
- Intro- venous
This song is exactly what it states in the title, an intro, however it’s a solid four plus minute long introduction. It has a stoner rock feel in the very beginning, just trudging along with some metal/blues sounds to the guitars. They also have a bit of a fuzz to them, but the drums are crisp, leading me to believe these guys want to bring back a bit of sound from the 80’s to the early 90’s style of sound. Right at the 2:00 mark a guitar solo grabs your attention, and it is that southern blues rock sound, nice and cool really getting you comfortable.
- In the Gutter
The song starts out like something you would have heard from bands like Integrity or Cause For Alarm, they have a heavy Punk/Hardcore and metal sound about them. I am digging this song, brings me back to when I first got into hardcore and metal, where it has the strong punk influences and that aggressive approach. This is a cool song, and I see many that grew up in a time listening to hardcore, punk and metal around early to mid 90’s may enjoy this song like I am. This song is ripping and rolling, it grabs you from the very beginning and throws you into a pit of mashing bodies. I find myself just nodding my head and saying “YES” because this is awesome.
- Humanity Pandemic
This song has a slower tempo than the previous track (in the beginning at least), and then throws a flaming ball of chaos at you with the fast old school blasting. I like the guitar riff during this section as it has that specific build to it that so many songs back in the day had. This has that grimy, high energy, hardcore/ metal sound, those guitars are nailing it. Right at the 1:25 minute mark the song really showcases what I am talking about little bit of a bridge and right into that punk/hardcore rhythm. If the rest of the E.P. is like this, I am going to be happy because these guys absolutely crushing it with their sound. With this one, you will get almost all the way through it, and then hit the repeat button to loop back around and take this one for another spin.
- Arguing With The Doctor
No tip toeing around with this song, like a shot gun blast from the hip they are not wasting any time getting things going. They are playing an upbeat tempo, and an old school hardcore rhythm, with some riffing coming from the lead guitars. This song is catchy and now I am trying to determine which one I liked better Humanity Pandemic, or Arguing With the Doctor. I dig the concise sections with the speed picking and blast beats like the one at the 1:52 mark.
- Self Control
I find that I am going back and hitting the back button to listen to the song again, because I am enjoying these songs so much, I forget that I am trying to break the songs down for the review. This is a high energy, hardcore punk song, with the hints of metal blended in. Definitely for fans of Integrity, Ringworm, Cast Iron Hike, Cause For Alarm, and older Turmoil It has that hardcore guitar riff that sets things up for a fast paced dental wrecking song. It goes through the first verse, and slows down for a southern rock sounding transition section, they do this for the second verse also. Then the song changes for a moment to deliver a solo section from the guitars, and really jam out. Its fun to listen to, and sounds like they are having fun themselves. They finish the solos and the vocals come in just red faced yelling the last line of the song, followed by the riff we heard in the very beginning one last time.
This is the first time I am hearing Punching Moses, and I have to say, I dig it, they lock down that old school hardcore/metal sound, and really bring me back to my early teens. Skateboarding and listening to the bands like Integrity, Warzone, Cause For Alarm. This E.P. is too short for their own good, I am hoping a full length will be coming soon, because these guys nail it. From the moment you hit play, all they do is ease you with false comforts in the introduction, and then they down shift, punch the gas, and take you for a wild ride. They do exactly what they came here to do, and it sounds nothing short of awesome. It’s always hard to rate an E.P. as it doesn’t have many songs to breakdown, however this is a rock solid 9/10, the vocals are spot on antagonist fueled rebellious vocals. The drums ride the fine line between hardcore punk and metal. The guitars lock down that old school sound for their distortion and the riffs they are playing, and then the bass. The bass can be heard, it has that strong, heavy hitting approach, like the big guy in the pit. They should probably put a disclaimer on their music because the younger generations will not know what losing teeth feels like until they go to a Punching Moses show.
Do yourselves a favor, go on over to their FACEBOOK PAGE
Then if you are looking to get music now you can get their Impending Doom album. go to their BANDCAMP PAGE
Lastly if you want to pre order this killer E.P. check out the Seeing Red Records Bandcamp Page
-Badger \m/
http://www.badgersmetalbreakdown.com
The Metal Breakdown 