Killing Time

Veteran NYHC outfit Killing Time (aka Raw Deal) return after over a decade of no new material with abrasive effort Three Steps Back. And what a homecoming it is. Dense and steely, yet packed with the chanting choruses this specific sub-genre requires to truly come across, the album certainly makes no bones about where its roots lie. At that, much of Three Steps Back is comprised of modestly predictable blunt-force hardcore as created by fellow behemoths Agnostic Front and Sick Of It All, however these guys do manage to infuse a brutishness all their own. From the pummelling chug riffs and throaty bellowing to breakdowns perfect for picking up change, this album may be rudimentary and obvious but those are its most redeeming aspects. No-frills, no nonsense and never backing down, Three Steps Back is one of the few releases issued by a band after so many years that elicits a sense of "better late than never" over "wish they never did."