In Stride
Place of Decay (Bottled Up)

There is nothing revolutionary about local hardcore act In Stride's seven-song debut; what more can you ask of the quintet's choice of genre, other than songs that are short, fast, and aggressive as hell? Place of Decay, fortunately, is all three. The brawny opener "Watch and Burn" kicks off with a thug-mosh groove, before launching into nuclear-powered polka beats and a flurry of guitar chords. Screaming over the mostly speedy EP, Chad Loewen comes off as a super pissed-off dude, shredding his throat raw ranting about what's getting him down. Going against the overall negative feel of the disc, "Backside Disaster" finds the outfit getting goofy. The skate-thrash tune stresses the pros of going outside and gleaming the cube, with the singer admitting, "I feel so damn good." While anger definitely fuels In Stride, it'd be nice to hear what they could do if they grabbed their boards more often.

Link: In Stride official site