It seems this year is going to be an interesting year for hardcore fans with an upcoming new release of Hatebreed and now already a new release by Walls Of Jericho. Besides that one EP (Redemption ), every record by them provides a bombshell of a hardcore disc. People familiar with the band, know to expect a highly energetic and powerful sound and songs that are easy to shout and/or jump along to. I’m sort of hoping that No One Can Save You From Yourself doesn’t stray away too much from their signature sound after being on a hiatus for 8 years.
The first song on the record is the intro to the whole record. The sounds of a bombing or air strike alarm and the president’s voice declaring martial law creates a nice build up to what’s coming. Overall I can already say that the record is yet again one vicious, bone splintering and explosive piece of work. From start to (almost) end, it’s hardcore like it’s supposed to be, using the well known formula of heavy thrashy riffs, high tempo and the to be expected breakdown. If the songs on this record don’t give you the feeling you wanna jump up and join a moshpit, then nothing will. The vocals are very hardcore as well, mostly shouting and grunting away. Candace shows yet again that she’s not to be messed with and that she has more balls and toughness than many men in the music scene and this world overall.
The one downside of the consistency in their hardcore style, is that it’s hard to make the distinction between the different songs. For me there are two exceptions on this record and partially because of this, they quickly became my favorites. The first one is Relentless, which gets introduced by several people saying or shouting “I am relentless”, ending with a little girl repeating this phrase just before the song properly starts. And holy crap, this song embodies everything hardcore stands for: going against the fucked up society, fight for your freedom, life, friends and family and never ever give up the struggle to get on top of things. Plus, it’s a damn heavy, engaging song on which I can see crazy battles going live. If there’s one song I’d have to pick to let someone hear to get an idea of what the album is like, it would be this one. The second song that caught my eye is the closer Probably Will. After a blistering 35 minutes, they finish this fine work with a calm almost ballad-like song. I absolutely love that Candace lets us hear her beautiful singing voice too, whenever she turns to it, she manages to put a lot of emotion and melody in it. I was sort of hoping that they’d go a bit more heavy again towards the end like they did in No Saving Me from With Devils Amongst Us All when first hearing the song. But they actually didn’t need to do this at all, the song is catchy and simply wonderful, still loaded with society critical lyrics. A really nice breather to end their record with after all the hardcore stuff.
This is definitely the best hardcore record of 2016 at the moment despite the repetitiveness. Walls Of Jericho is king of the hill, reigning supreme, daring anyone to try and beat them at their game! After listening to No One Can Save You From Yourself, you’ll feel most definitely pumped up and ready for a fight yourself. There’s still most of the year coming, but I’m really curious if someone is still going to manage to supersede Walls Of Jericho before the year ends. 8/10
Release date: March 25th, 2016
Label: Napalm Records
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Illusion Of Safety
3. No One Can Save You From Yourself
4. Forever Militant
5. Fight The Good Fight
6. Cutbird
7. Relentless
8. Damage Drone
9. Reign Supreme
10. Wrapped In Violence
11. Anthem
12. Beyond All Praise
13. Probably Will
