Protestant

It's a bit strange that a number of recent crust-influenced hardcore bands call Milwaukee home; it's not like it's dirtier than any other major city. Following Enabler's catchy, crust-influenced 2012 release, All Hail the Void, their Milwaukee brethren in Protestant have unleashed Reclamation. While Enabler took a more metallic route, Protestant have stuck much closer to the norms of crust. However, the band take the melodicism present in From Ashes Rise and Tragedy and turn it up to 11, causing them to fall short of the aggression of genre pioneers Amebix or later flag bearers (and Tragedy precursor) His Hero is Gone. Protestant's mid-tempo, melodic take on crust just feels a bit too safe and clean. That's not to say that Reclamation is a bad release; it's listenable and, at times (particularly "Home" and "Salad Days), quite good. It's just that when your genre descriptor contains the word "crust," you should sound more filthy than melodic.