Agathocles / III Guerra split EP
Mallorca’s III GUERRA opens this split with some no-frills hardcore punk that has the old school attitude with a relatively modern sound. Shouty vocals drenched in delay sit on top of guitars with perfectly dialed-in distortion and gnarly bass with a strict sense of duty, while the drums punch their way through the mix. This side sounds like getting hit in the face with a concrete block that is so perfectly cut that you don’t really get mad about it. But once you get to the mincecore pioneers AGATHOCLES’s side, the sound definition degrades dramatically. It sounds as if the band recorded their side through a single AirPod’s shitty microphone, but decided to place it even closer to the hi-hat this time around. But hey, if you have any prior experience with this band, you should have seen it coming from a mile away. So, that’s kind of on you if you have any complaints. To be honest, I’m not well-versed in AGATHOCLES’ discography—I mean, who even has time for that??—but it sounds like they incorporated a tongue-in-cheek parody of Oi! punk into their sound to celebrate their bajillionth split. Yay?