Right now Simulakra is leading the charge on the metallic hardcore brutality.
Since the band’s formation in 2018 & featuring some of the creams of the crop members from such bands as Foreign Hands, Vicious Embrace & Gridiron. Which shows the calibre of metal-influenced hardcore Simulakra production.
The band’s debut full length “The Infection Spreads” is a lesson in the unbridled chaotic nature of the human condition.
Featuring ten blistering tracks this album isn’t for the faint of heart.
“Eliminate” opened in a tornado style before the band released a mighty breakdown full of punishment & anger.
“We will spread our lies, Gathering the weak like swine. Crying for release, Begging pleading on their knees.” the vocalist screams in one of the most gut-wrenching performances I’ve heard this year.
This track is the perfect opener & taste of what filth has to bring.
Quickly “Terror Tactics” picks up the pace. In a Hatebreed meets Dying Fetus manner the band has pinned their sound to a tee. A perfect meld of fast unrelenting & earthshattering breakdowns.
The tribal & furious drum & bass cohesion of “As It Rots” opens the track. “In my mind, A piece of me has died. But it won’t let me free, As it rots inside.” A lyric that shows vocalist Dom’s approach is deeply personal. Writing about his ongoing health issues & his daily struggle with them. The substance to Simulkara is deep, no tough guy bullshit here, just the daily things we as people have to suffer.
Later in the album “Fury” a track the band released on a One Scene Unity compilation was my favourite track the band has written to date. Hearing it re-recorded & fitting nicely in the album is a great highlight & still my favourite track.
A short song but full of attack. “You won’t see me fucking coming!” Every time I hear this it gets more and more pumped & shows how great Dom is at writing lyrics that are memorable & relatable.
Where the band as a whole technically shine is on a track like “Mankind Is A Disease”. Like the album as a whole, this track shows how fresh the band can keep songwriting. Changing from fast 2step sections into slower headbanging & spin kick sections. Simularka is a mosh pitter’s dream band.
“Who’s To Blame” from the band’s first demo gets a second life on record. An already fantastic track but now more “beefy” & sadistic in nature. This track always showcased the band’s drummer, a stellar drum tone, and a simple performance but for me, this track showed when a song needs a solid drummer to keep the track heavy & simple sometimes keeping it precise & uncomplicated pays off.
No better way to end the album than with the putrid “Follow The Flies” featuring Mully from Year Of The Knife. Mully was featured on the band’s early demo material and to hear him come full circle on the band’s full length is a great way to close the album. A perfect back & forth between Dom & Mully. This track also showcases the most “metallic” song of the album. A sea of pitch harmonics & tight as hell chugging make this track sound like a ten-ton hammer beating you over & over around the head!
“The Infection Spreads” delivers in every form. As a fan I knew the band would be able to write a fantastic full length but they have exceeded all expectations I had. If you are like me and grew up on a not so healthy diet of Merauder, All Out War, Entombed & Cannibal Corpse this album will give you everything & much more than you could ever handle.
The Infection Spreads is out via DAZE on May 24th, 2022
