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Join The Amish – The Rumspringa Diaries

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Neck tattoos, sailor shoes, Shane Warne and “the corporate routine” are just a few things that the Amish crew hate. But the band has put that hatred into six menacing tracks of thrash/hardcore crossover, with their debut EP  The Rumspringa Diaries.

The band name being a spin-off of the classic Suicidal Tendencies album Join The Army was enough to turn my attention to this Melbourne 5-piece, featuring members of a variety of Australian heavy bands, such as Aprocessof, Midyouth Crisis and The Abandonment. Not only does the band name and their lyrics bring out the humour that I love in heavy music, but the music itself is done so damn well. It’s in the vein of ’80s thrash like Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies, crossed with hardcore bands like Ringworm and Mindsnare.

Slayer-esque sections are heard all throughout this EP; the solos in particular, but also the intro riffs to some songs. Even the first song is called “Mascara Storm (Disgrace to Slayer)” and is about glam rock fans at Slayer shows! But with all of the brutal thrash chaos, there are still a lot of punk-influenced riffs. The fierce yells and occasional spoken-words of vocalist Pete Alexander, high use of gang vocals and punishing blasts of drummer Joel Taylor also demonstrate their influence from hardcore-punk and power-violence. Each song is circle-pit friendly and there are plenty of memorable moments that will have you singing along and banging your head.

For a first release, The Rumspringa Diaries is impressive. It’s definitely something that any thrasher, grind head, hardcore kid or punk rocker will be into. You can stream the entire EP at http://jointheamish.bandcamp.com/,  but if you want to buy it, it’s limited to 250 copies on 12” vinyl (w/ download card), so be quick!

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