Terror is one of those veteran bands that you know what they sound like as soon as you hear their name. That’s because they have put down a nearly fifteen-year career doing hardcore the right way. They are old-school sounding enough to love, and modern enough to carry weight without trying hard to be too modern (no death metal vocals, no breakdowns for the sake of it). When they signed to Victory Records a few years back, it was a no-brainer. Terror is a band that really espouses the what the Victory punk bands of yesterday used to be and what hardcore continues to need in these times. Their first release for the label, 2013’s Live By The Code was a solid affair, but a little too clean for me. It was a major move for the band to switch labels, so I can understand playing on the safe side then. Their new album The 25^th Hour is downright dangerous by comparison.

With 14 songs clocking in at 22 minutes, the album breezes right by you. However, don’t mistake brevity for lack of quality. The 25^th Hour is one of the strongest releases in a good year for hardcore with memorable tracks that hit hard, and cut you to the bone. Scott Vogel’s impassioned rasp wails with urgency as the album is a loose concept of our modern society on the brink. You feel all of Vogel’s desperation, fear, contempt and dismay on track after track. Great riffs, tight beats and a few breakdowns mark these songs, and with zero time for B.S. Besides the title track, the stand out cuts are ‘No Time For Fools’, ‘Feed The Rats’, ‘The Solution’, ‘Blinded By The Lights’, ‘Why_’, ‘Sick And Tired’ and ‘Deep Rooted’. These songs will have you foaming at the mouth with anger, but inspire you enough to think, after you are too tired from moshing and screaming along to the words.

8.0/10

KEITH CHACHKES