Perpetrator
Cursed (EP)
Release Date: 6 April 2016
Review by Quinton Farrow
Saturation is a real issue in the music industry at the moment. There is no real filter, if a group of like-minded musicians want to play music and release it, then the only barriers to entry are their own lack of time or funds to sustain the lifestyle. With this comes the dilution of the product and a huge disparity between real quality and mediocrity or worse, and that gaps seems to be widening. So where does Perpetrator fit into all this?
Perpetrator have location on their side, the saturation is not so apparent in Australia. While there is a burgeoning underground scene, the amount of bands that want to take that next step are not as abundant as the UK or North America. Perpetrator’s sound is grounded in the hardcore scene, it’s heavy, fast and aggressive yet has some real similarities with the defunct Chimaira, who were not considered a hardcore band. The production is large and has a rounded quality, everything sounds fresh and vibrant, the guitars have a meaty crunch and its backed up by a very capable rhythm section.
Their debut EP Cursed is four tracks long and has a total length of just over eight minutes, so there is not a lot of material here to judge. Some of the ideas could have been fleshed out a little more and in doing that it would have allowed for some space to add some different textures and dynamics. The vocals are largely one paced, the only time this is changed up is a verse in the closing track Sinking In, that borders on rap metal however it’s a commanding performance and something to build on.
Perpetrator are only a young band, so there is plenty of time to improve and grow as musicians, they have a long way to go but this is a promising start so check this out at their bandcamp page and monitor their progress.
2.5/5
https://soundcloud.com/evergreenartists/perpetrator-sinking-in
