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Released on July 17, 2015 via COF Records / Soaked In Torment Records
UK hardcore – it’s a phrase that calls up mixed emotions. There’s a lot of it about at the moment, some great, some not so great. The sheer volume of bands ploughing this furrow mean it’s challenging to even get noticed, let alone get marked out as something exciting. Fortunately Ithaca, along with fellow scene favourites Employed to Serve, have managed to do both.
Ithaca ‘arrived’ last year with their self-released, still-free-to-download début EP Narrow The Way serving up five slabs of cast iron excellence, calling to mind diverse touch points such as Botch, The Chariot, Defeater, Maths, Throats and a host of others. It was a thrilling statement of intent; short, sharp and shockingly good.
2015 brings their first ‘proper’ release, the Trespassers EP on 7” vinyl. The EP comprises four tracks, and surprisingly, the quality and maturity has actually improved in the intervening period. ‘Otherworldly’ sprints out of the gate with an energetic, slightly chaotic math-y rhythm that is vaguely reminiscent of The Dillinger Escape Plan. The production is punchy, abrasive and clear, adding an exhilaratingly energetic feel to the songs, and a throaty rawness to Djamila’s bleak vocals which almost legitimises the listeners’ feeling that the band have put their all into the recording.
‘Lifelost’ follows with some beautifully horrible dischords and some meaty riffs garnished with little touches of technical prowess that keep the listener off-guard until a meaty groove hits about half-way through. This song demonstrates a keen understanding of dynamics, with a stripped back middle eight building into a crescendo to finish.
The closing 1:2 of ‘Wither and Wane’ and ‘Trespassers’ are probably the strongest material the band have released to date – everything about these tracks are on-point. ‘Wither and Wane’ tones down the chaos and ups the groove and riffs, before dropping to a bleak, minimalist closing passage that serves as a bridge into the excellent title track, which starts slow and moody before breaking smoothly into a groove that crescendos with a throat-ruining vocal. The band pare back the sound again to something more basic, and almost ‘post’, with a touch of strings, before a huge hulking set of Botch-style grinding riffs and screaming bring the EP to a close.
This EP is a journey. Ithaca cram a hell of a lot into a scant 12 minutes and 39 seconds. There’s not a wasted second of space, and every song is taut, elegant, emotive and delivered with precision. Speaking personally, I really, really want to see what these guys can deliver with a full length album.
