As we close in on the end of the first quarter of 2024, our ear holes are blessed with some new spacey Hardcore in the form of Spaced and their debut, This Is All We Ever Get (Revelation Records). This album is a quick/ one with only eight tracks and the longest track being around two and a half minutes, but it gets its point across without going stale.

Spaced 2024 Photo credit – Andrew Behrens

“Landslide” starts off This Is All We Ever Get like a hole shot in a drag race with incredible speed out of the gate. The Buffalo, New York-based group then slows it down for some nice side-to-side mosh riffs. 

This blends right into “Big Picture”, which does the inverse of starting off slower and working up to a more upbeat tempo, only to crash back down with a guitar solo at the end. It is a must to listen to both of these opening tracks back-to-back and treat them as one track.

“Downfall” gives off more side-to-side feels in the intro and some gang vocals to add that cherry on top to get listeners moving. The guitar leads in this track really add to the “spacey” and “hallucinogenic” makeup that gives Spaced their name and overall sound. A bass break hits at a slower tempo, a sign of a breakdown to close the track off with more high-pitched guitar leads.

“Rat Race” continues on this trend with more upbeat tempos of guitar riffs and mind-numbing guitar leads. The outro really kicks it up a notch with the aggression of a breakdown and lyrics of “Us! Against You!” will certainly be a crowd favorite in a live setting.

Spaced is certainly new in my library and more than likely many others with only a demo, a split, and a compilation prior to This Is All We Ever Get. At the fifteen-and-a-half-minute mark, this debut is the perfect sample size to see what this band has in store for the Hardcore world. If we are graced with more music in the future from Spaced, this album will be the measuring stick for sure.

Buy the album here:
https://spaced.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-all-we-ever-get

7 / 10
TIM LEDIN