Berserker The State of the Empire LP
Hardcore is just one of those genres whose umbrella stretches so far that no two fans ever have the same taste. If your sweet-tooth for hardcore trembles for the more melodic strain, harkening back to the late ’90s/early ’00s especially in guitarist/singer Jon Vornbrock’s convincing Dennis Lyxzén impression, you’ll have plenty to like here. In fact, overall BERSERKER is specifically reminiscent of REFUSED. The riffs, the vocals, the earnest and unpoetic political lyrics; it’s difficult to parse it from the influence of the Swedish icons of post-hardcore (read: when hardcore became appealing to indie rock kids). The blend of pit-savvy chugs and chiming open chords in particular dips its toe into noise rock, a cross-genre amalgam that isn’t my cuppa but is competently written and performed. It’s just hard to look past the lack of originality, especially when a track like “Suicide on 66” lifts a riff directly from “Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine” from The Shape of Punk to Come. And look, I’m not against wearing your influences on your sleeve. I just prefer when it’s not so easy to trace back to a singular source.