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<\/a>The only positive thing to come out of the demise of south Wales punk rock legends This System Kills is the fact that we now have three bands where we once we had just the one. Social Experiment are the first of these new bands to show their hand, and boy oh boy have they come up trumps with this debut eight tracker.<\/p>\nSelf released on both gatefold digipak CD and 12\u201d vinyl formats (both of which also contain a download code) the band really have delivered a premium looking package on what must have been a DIY budget, so you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking that all their available readies might have gone into the artwork and the music might be little more than rehearsal tapes dressed up as a debut album.\u00a0 Think again though brothers and sisters because once you drop this baby onto the turntable or into your CD player the aural onslaught that awaits you really is quite astonishing.<\/p>\n
Expertly produced by ex-Dub War and current Bad Sam guitarist Jeff Rose the sound of Social Experiment is nothing less an all-out assault on your senses, and from the almost gothic throb of opener \u2018Unlock The Cage\u2019 to the metallic pounding thrash of \u2018Tilikum\u2019 that closes the record the 23 minutes you spend in the company of\u00a0 Puddle (vocals), Newt (bass), Nicky (drums) and\u00a0 Paul (guitar and backing vocals) are some of the most exhilarating you\u2019ll spend with any UK hardcore band right now.<\/p>\n
Given the ferocity of the band coupled with the bang on point social politics of the record, this is not exactly what you would call \u201ca sit-down and relax after work type of record.\u201d In fact, it\u2019s more of a record for those who like to feel like you\u2019ve just done eight rounds down at your local Fight Club but this time around it\u2019s something you really must talk about, and not unlike those early records by the likes of Subhumans, Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s when Social Experiment break ranks ever so slightly that they truly shine through, like on their second video release \u2018Clones\u2019 a track which has an almost RATM meets Motorhead thing going on, whilst in \u2018It Makes No Sense to Me\u2019 the ghost of Poison Idea looms larger than life in the hardcore rear-view mirror.<\/p>\n
Eight tracks, eight short sharp shocks to the system and a virtual bloody nose for your troubles \u2018Rumours of Our Demise Are Not Greatly Exaggerated\u2019 is one of the most brutal records I\u2019ve heard this year.<\/p>\n