New Zealand hardcore quartet Out Cold A.D’s hard work ethic hits paydirt with the release of their debut album “This Is Survival”. The album showcases ten tracks of the band’s furious, in-your-face style and features guest vocals from Antagonist A.D’s Sam Crocker. “This Is Survival” is an uncompromising release for fans of Lionheart, Cruel Hand, Terror, Trapped Under Ice. facebook.com/outcoldhc
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500 x CDs – SOLD OUT
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PunkRockTheory.com [Belgium]
OUT COLD A.D – This Is Survival
Out Cold A.D. is a band that operates out of New Zealand and apparently people can get pretty pissed off there as well. Maybe it’s those damn hobbits that keep making a mess of everything… I’m not sure. Fact is that on their debut full-length these four guys get their mosh on with plenty of chugga chugga riffage, a hard-hitting rhythm section and a vocalist who has a pretty convincing growl. If you’ve ever heard of bands like Terror, Cruel Hand or Trapped Under Ice, then “This Is Survival” won’t hold a lot of surprises. It gets the job done however in a most convincing way so get ready to mosh it up! Score: 7 out of 10
Chucking A Mosh
OUT COLD A.D – This Is Survival
You know that feeling when you head along to a local show one night and there might be four, maybe five bands on the bill? Might be a Saturday night, maybe a Wednesday- doesn’t matter really. The chances are you are going to see a few bands that may or may not be your cup of tea (provided you stay the whole night!). But usually there is always one who stands out. One band that just does their thing a little more intently, evoke a more primal feeling, involve the crowd a little more and exit with their fair share of attendees remembering their name above all others. Hailing from Christchurch, New Zealand, Out Cold A.D would be that band, without a doubt. Their latest release ‘This Is Survival,’ certainly shows off their talent and skill at experimenting with the ‘Old Thing’ and making it new again. Every NZ native I’ve met has been the nicest person I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with, but these guys strike me as particularly nasty bastards. Who here likes hardcore? Out Cold A.D CERTAINLY play hardcore, in much the same vein as Terror play hardcore- very well indeed. You like gang vocals, old school ethos, uncompromising vocals? Out Cold A.D certainly do that as well. Everything is going to script with the first couple of songs- good traditional HC with what you would expect from a release judging it from first appearances. Then they throw a massive curve ball in the mix that I certainly did not see coming! Via some programming in third song ‘Modern Day Strain’ that made me instantly sit up and take notice, they craft a very, very sweet outro which made me check to see whether I had some pop up internet page playing some background music interfering with the song at hand. Then it leads straight into the 1 minute classic ‘I Hope’ that contains a very choice (!) solo and closing scream that is seriously powerful. Kudos for the sheer awesomeness of ‘Blind Leading The Blind’ with great vocals leading into another little solo. Props for the great intro build up and sheer devastation of ’12.51.’ The rest of the album ends almost too quickly with ‘Constant Fight’ keeping the fury right up until the instrumental ‘Aftermath’ with its consistent riff build-up and doom laden piano atmospherics ending a release that is seriously, seriously good. This is easily one of the best local releases I have heard in a long time. Give us more! Rating: 27/28 Days
Kill Your Stereo
OUT COLD A.D – This Is Survival
If the broken glass sound at the beginning of Out Cold A.D.’s new record ‘This Is Survival’ tells you anything, it’s what the band plan to do to your brain over the next twenty-three minutes. The New Zealanders have scored a little bit more interest of late thanks to their inclusion on the Pee Records International five way split CD, and have followed that release up with their debut full length. The message the record sends is fairly clear, you come here for blistering, fairly stock standard, that is delivered with emotion and nothing else. That is to say that every single element of the band, be it the head ripping vocals or even simply the bass line, is giving one hundred per cent the whole time. The opening one-two punch of Survival and You Don’t Fool Me, present the group as a tight unit offering a relentless assault, mainly driven by the drum and vocal lines, with the guitars providing chaos on the sides. The band offer hints that there could be something more than just balls to the wall hardcore in their veins, as the electronic outro to Modern Day Strain briefly suggests, but considering the fact this idea is not expanded on throughout the est of the record, this section seems tacked on at best. The pace change of the brief I Hope to The Blind Leading The Blind is a good example of how well this record flows, the tracks can almost be viewed as one long strain of hardcore, only separated for easy navigation. The recording quality and all-round sound of the album is far more refined than the band’s spilt appearance and preceding EP, managing to capture the group’s grit in a clear and precise way, a tricky thing to do when dealing with this genre. 12:51 is a stand out, starting softly to the questionable backing of rain, then exploding into a punchy, driving number which has the band performing at their tightest. The record ends with the quick punk blast of Constant Fight and Aftermath, an instrumental which not only ends the record brilliantly, but comes as a little bit of a surprise, almost like a statement saying that hardcore can be more than, well, hardcore. Conclusion. Without knowing much about the New Zealand hardcore scene, it is safe to say that if Out Cold A.D.’s ‘This Is Survival’ is anything to go by, Australian hardcore may have something worthy of a rivalry.
Summary. Solid hardcore up and comers. Rating: 80
RELEASE DATE:
03 August 2012
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CREDITS:
CAT #: PCD053
Recorded by: Hayden Williams
Mixed & Mastered by: Matt Livingstone
Artwork by: Tom Gilmour