Review by Jake Jeremy.
The lines between hardcore, punk and metal have never been more blurred than in 2017, and the latest EP from London based 5 piece Cope throws everything into the melting pot to produce nothing short of sheer brutality.
The Tooth & Nail EP is the follow up to their debut release Challenge Oppression // Pursue Equality and the band has upped the ante when it comes to stretching the expectations of British hardcore. The opening salvo Stray Bullets clocks in at just under two minutes and it grabs you by the throat the entire time. It also gives a good overview of the Cope ‘sound,’ giving indications of the band’s melodic undercurrent and straight ahead riff work. Next up is Tooth & Nail, another riff heavy but more groove based track akin to Pantera but with a healthy dose of Britishness infused in the vocal presentation.
My personal favourite ditty sits in the third slot of this release. Neo-Nasty starts with a vicious nasally bass sound (I’m a sucker for a delicious bass tone, sue me) and then goes into Capdown territory… that’s right, this track is what I’d imagine Capdown would sound like if they listened to more Megadeth and less Madness, again utterly brutal and one for the pits. Many Faces hits next and is probably the weakest track overall, not to say it isn’t another piledriver of a song. If anything, it’s probably the most accessible track for the non-metal contingent of punkers, but I wasn’t quite feeling this quite as much as the onslaught previously.
Populism however, oh sweet merciful gods of metal this was sick. The groove over this song hammers home in the opening few seconds before going all double-time skate-punk on me, many thumbs up for this… that’s before the faux-breakdown hits and lulls me into a false sense of head-banging paradise. Unexpected turns, stops and time changes abound on this one.
Finally The Great Divide brings proceedings to a close with a more deliberate pace and twin vocal attack along the lines of Gnarwolves. A strong ending to a memorable and technically sound sophomore effort. All the K’s, Certified Fresh.
If I didn’t already convince you to buy this then check it out for yourself:
You can buy Tooth & Nail over at Cope’s Bandcamp page. Why not follow them on Facebook while you’re at it.
Review by Jake Jeremy.
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