#WhatWeMissed: Coercion 96 – The ‘Exit Wounds’ EP.
Coercion 96 – San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.
For our review on the single ‘Crime Spree’ – Click Here.
‘[…] the opening rumble sounding akin to a more Punk-Rock Black Sabbath and a hoarse yet subdued vocal style in the beginning sitting close to 80’s Thrash and Hardcore […]’
Those were the first words that came to mind regarding the single ‘Crime Spree’ when MF featured Coercion 96 in April earlier this year. Now signed to Bird Attack Records and with the full EP Exit Wounds released back in July, it’s a release that despite our own hiatus, was set to be one of the first to break it.
Now we have our chance and the intensity of a man on run after his crime of passion is accosting from the get-go, with the din of the heavy-gloom of the instrumentations hitting just as hard in it’s hybrid Doom-Punk Black Sabbath groove.
From a band with such credible influences and such notable origins, collectively charting some of best Punk, Rock and Metal music of the last 30 years, you go into this EP somewhat contradicted. You believe that you have a clear understanding of what you’re about to hear, yet you are equally unsure and excited. Now that ladies and gentleman, is the unambiguous strength of the release.
‘Grass Is Greener’ and ‘Live and Learn’ are the meat of this Alternative Rock Sub. The former blends-in clear southern California Punk-Rock, strong, melodic and driven, yet keeping in tone with the darkness of the opener. Pennywise fans will surely prick an ear up to the half way point before it changes and Coercion 96’s roots in Good Riddance are strongly and naturally present.
‘Live and Learn’ explores the Punk-Rock foundation further, yet also seems as if it is the love-child of the former two tracks, in its blatant frustration at the order of things. As you come to expect by this track, the guitar work and its sombre-toned but melodically driven leads not only contrast perfectly with the grit from the also on-point bass work but quite subtly show the changes in direction the band take on a per-song and by track basis.
Alternative Rock releases often lean towards either the genre’s Punk roots or its by-products in the world left behind by Grunge. The four-track something that you get with Exit Wounds however seamlessly bridges the ever-so wide expanse of the term.
I’ve listened to the EP back-to-back a number of times and not only is it very obviously re-listenable in every sense, but something that I personally only firmly noticed after a few repeated listens, is the intensity the release carries.
An intensity that is set free by the final track, ‘Unleashed’. Slower in tempo but with the strong and imposing aesthetic now standing at its tallest, the music lumbers rather than accosts, with the lyrics just as hard hitting as before.
The recording of Exit Wounds was completed under the watchful and experienced eye of Michael Rosen of East Bay Recorders and is now available from Bird Attack Records. Find the relevant links below:
- For updates, you can find Coercion 96 on Facebook and Instagram.
- The bands music can be found on iTunes, Spotify and on the Bird Attack Records bandcamp page.
- You can also find an acoustic video of ‘Live and Learn’ on the bands Youtube Channel.
- Bird Attack Records can be found on their Official Website, Facebook and Twitter.
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