In a failing hardcore scene The Horror are the type of band that we need to see more of. Unapologetically fast, full of energy, and not giving a shit who likes it. Spoils Of War is their new 15-song attack on a scene full of posers dancing around to below average bands who only care about “beatdowns.”
Both socially and politically aware the album is not only great music, but it also has a sophisticated message, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in hardcore for a long time. You could argue that The Horror are more crust than hardcore, but in an almost non existent crust scene they have to play their share of hardcore shows.
The songs are short, fast and loud, and rarely does it vary, but they aren’t attempting to experiment, so why does it need to have variety? There is a beauty in simplicity that The Horror encompasses, you don’t need to use complex scales and have complicated structures to write a good hardcore song. Even when they stray away from simplicity with solos they still pull it off.
They obviously take influence from bands such as Infest, Drop dead and Man is the Bastard, and this record is a top-notch homage to aforementioned bands. Through combining influence they are moulding their own sound, songs like Flirting With The Right could well be from a crossover thrash band and closing title track The Spoils Of War has doom influence in there.
Unfortunately I’m afraid “kids” who will favour bands that are essentially rubbish, but wear tight jeans and care more about moshing will sideline The Horror, because of this the band may never get the recognition they deserve. I hope that the few hardcore fans that genuinely care about music will take notice of The Horror and give them the appreciation they deserve. Spoils of War is a great record and is much better than most of the tripe coming from the UK at the moment.
Jonathan Teggert