Animosity

Hailing from the San Francisco area, Animosity are a gaggle of short hair hardcore kids playing what has now been coined deathcore: a logical continuation of Dying Fetus’ legacy of blasting grindcore, thick groove metal and hardcore. Animosity give all the other deathcore acts a run for their money with this incredibly tight second album. Superb drumming from Navene Kopperweis leads the way for some great guitar work, which is just as impressive working at slow speeds as it is tearing through grind runs. The band were smart to keep this album short; even with the variety they dish out, the songs do begin to blur together by about the midway point. With good lyrics and artwork to boot, Animosity have just proven to the world that despite the unusually young age bracket they reside in (band members range from 18 to, uh, 19), they can rip it up with the best of them. Empires is a great album that has the added bonus of being a bit of an unexpected sucker punch, given the band’s relatively unknown status.