Dopestroke on Badmaster Records

Been a while since I heard from Badmaster Records, who broke that Pop. 1280 to me and I ended up checking out here in NY a few times, really great. This latest single is a 5 track EP from Philly's own Dopestroke who are balanced right between this stripped down hardcore and no-fi metal sound. A sort of Suicidal Tendencies meets Anthrax combo that's almost so closely related it's almost weird those are two completely separate music demographics.

A-Side's "Wet Brain" kicks in with a spazzy superhuman beat, speed hardcore tempo of alternating kick and bass, the entire band is using twelve tracks for yelling...the distortion and fast thrash is just a delivery device for the content. A heavy machine sound barfing up dense noise for the vocals to carry this. It switches gears into a chorus anthemic punk, TV party style with a burst of super echo metal guitar solo. "Social Loathing (I, II, III) is almost an instrumental track of that headbanging raw distortion....with more metal guitar screaming in. Dual vocals of throaty yelling and talking layered over each other. This track has slowly been building the agression back up and as much as they're straight up hardcore yelling, they seem to be messing around a bit too, throwing a bit of goof into the seriousness along with these serious metal chops here complete with serious technical skill.

B-side comes along with, "Help Unwanted" and all I can hear now is chanting the lyrics, it's almost losing all melody and in the process, definitely getting darker and this is where I think they're getting to a different place then just hardcore. They're going to hell, if you believe this tough vocal and banshee wail track of vocal just underneath, like that devil guy on his shoulder has completely taken over.
"Negative, Angry & Depressed" is similarly vocal centric, with people laughing, coming in at the chorus? Man that is the worst. Especially when you are seriously already pissed and depressed. That would really make you kill someone. Why is that the freaking worst sound. People are going to use pummeling a lot to describe this, but really what else is there?
"Copland" has a beefier thick guitar sound, with a police office at the beginning trying to talk to these hooligans. Cerebral Ballzy is great, and I love that they have tracks about skating and generally seeming like goofballs, like some sort of Natural Child based out of queens, hopping turnstiles with 40's, but Dopestroke seem to be taking a more serious angry approach to those same fucked up situations....wait
are they yelling "Go / To / Lunch!" (from Glenn Gary Glenn Ross?) Maybe I've completely pegged them wrong after all. Not the part about this being heavy as hell hardcore/metal....just the dead serious part.

BM0025 - DOPESTROKE EP
In our continuing quest to support and release records by Philadelphia music makers, we offer the vinyl debut for punk frontrunners DOPESTROKE! This Self-titled EP is a 5 song rager, presented on the ever-popular 7 inch, vinyl format. DOPESTROKE has been tearing up Philadelphia and beyond for a short while now and we are stoked to emblazon their style of nihilist punk in a thick platter of black wax. Channeling the unrepentant anger and hardcore speed of Rudimentary Peni and Dissucks, DOPESTROKE draws influence from the classic buzzsaw guitar melody of The Freeze all the while taking ques from bands of the East Bay area, like Grimple and El Dopa. Live shows have been compared to Out Cold, Void, and Easy Action. Go see them when they visit what passes for your local, flea-ridden, basement "venue". 300 pressed on black vinyl. Listen to 'Negative, Angry & Depressed'.

Get it from Badmaster Records direct. What do they have against babies by the way? Humiliating them like that?