Tampa Florida band Control System recently graced the metallic hardcore world with their debut six song EP, Uncertainty Reigns. Deftly navigating the line between genres, Control System occupy the sacred space heavy music contemporaries Code Orange blew wide open with their recent Grammy nod, and this release shows that there’s plenty of room.
Uncertainty Reigns is an onslaught of brawny ferocity that sharpens into aptly made points, culminating in songs that manage to be relentless without being punishing. It’s graceful in its brutishness, and each player displays a mastery of their material and the riffs are driving but not sloppy.
The music itself is commendable, but the whole package deserves praise.
Control System accomplishes what many metalcore bands have failed to execute, exhibiting all the classic genre touchstones without coming off as tired or corny.
They are somehow able to work in discordant violins, dark-sermon spoken-word interludes, even a shout out to Colonel Kurtz, framing the last third of the EP in the fatalistic Apocalypse Now struggle for sanity among the insane.
The aesthetic holds throughout, and instead of collapsing under the weight of cliché, the EP is bolstered by the dedication to the theme.
For fans of hardcore that crave something faster and darker, Uncertainty Reigns will leave you appreciating the smell of napalm in the morning.
Get It
- Bandcamp (mp3)
Tagged: control system
