Reviewed by Jonathan Langley

If you're looking for straightforward hardcore that ticks all the right boxes and will fit in nicely with the cream of secular hard music doing the rounds on festivals, myspace and music mags, End Of Destiny are so not your band. This five-piece from Missouri, USA, just don't fit in. But they are compelling. Reminiscent of '90s R.E.X. Records obscurists Sweet Nectar and their underrated classic 'Sad Face In Clown Paint', EOD fuse styles and approaches that, while not miles away from each other, are hardly natural bedfellows. It's not self-consciously done, either, rather sounding as if the screaming vocals over jangling melodies or clean-bass indie riffs are a product of an ignorance of or indifference to what is fashionable. The less gimmicky side of the '80s and '90s is strong on this album, not just sonically but in the raw honesty, thoughtfulness and unaffected devotion to Christ in the lyrics. "Return To Thought" could be by 'Mercury'-era Prayer Chain if it weren't for the screaming. Instrumental breaks on many tracks would make The Choir proud. Free of guile like Nathaniel, yet talented and honest like Kurt Cobain, EOD's odd juxtapositions could, with some imagination, make their next album magnificent.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.