Wreak Havoc!

The longhorn sound is becoming new again. Where many bands struggle to move away from their influences and create something fresh ― essentially trying to spawn a "style" of their own ― when hearing Wreak Havoc! and their latest bout of downtrodden, kick-the-dirt hardcore, someone finally realized that sounding just like your influences can be rather engaging. Yes, they're a band brandishing an old-school NYHC feel while clearly in the throes of juvenility. Still, it's their fresh faces and creative enthusiasm that make Abandon Everything such an interesting listen. There's enough venom, attitude and embittered passion on each song to generate comparisons to the frustration of Minor Threat and steely contentiousness of the Misfits over tracks that could fit on any one of Agnostic Front's earliest efforts. Throwing in a few double-time riffs and chug patterns clearly ingrained through a formative crossover schooling, Abandon Everything embraces everything it can while still striving for originality. While the vocals sound as though they're struggling to keep up, at times, and could benefit from a touch more confidence, for hardcore upstarts just hitting their third year together, this is quite a powerful accomplishment.