Hold on, let me clear my throat. Let me attempt my best Jonathan Frakes Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction voice. Do you remember Trap Them? Seminal Northeast Metallic Hardcore/Grind band? Oh, many good times were had. Crowd surfing as far as the eye could see in those glory days. Well, those days are unfortunately no more as that New Hampshire collective closed shop in 2017. 

Attempting to pick up where they left off is Elder Devil on their Prosthetic Records debut, Everything Worth Loving. And the results are… well, mixed. 

There are moments on Everything Worth Loving when the band roars alive with pitiless aggression like on the title track and its sandblasting guitar attack. The same can be said for ‘After Flesh’ as it stomps a mudhole on the listener and walks them dry. Much of the success of said numbers can be attributed to drummer Pete Ruacho who puts in a hell of a shift throughout the LP. Ruacho also leads the charge on ‘Puncture Wound’ with his defiant kick drum work. 

Ruacho sets the tempo on ‘The Hounds at Night’ and ‘Awash in Light’ but it seems like the rest of the band aren’t quite up to snuff. Guitarist Jacob Lee has his moments but just seems to be playing paint-by-numbers grind on the former and latter. The same can be said for ‘New Grief’ as Lee never steps quite out of their comfort zone while vocalist Stephen Muir is quite happy to bark vocals along the whole thing. And yes, I’ve said this before and will likely go to the grave with this belief: not every square inch of a song needs vocals on it. Metal, hardcore, or otherwise. 

Last point of contention, here. ‘What Do You Hear?’ starts with some wonderfully rubbery bass lines from Ryan Urquidez that make you wonder where the fuck was this talent on the rest of this album?

Buy the album here:

https://elderdevil.bandcamp.com/album/everything-worth-loving

6 / 10

HANS LOPEZ