For the Lavotchkin / Crocus split:
Rocksound Magazine: 7 out of 10
Should
you require confirmation that British hardcore is alive and kicking,
then look no further than this tasty little EP. Northerners Lavotchkin
arrive under a brooding black cloud and proceed to let rip with a
volatile racket reminiscent of cursed and curl up and die, albeit with
a raucous rock and roll edge. And there's no let up as Crocus follow on
with three cuts of old-school screamo. Wild, intricate and brimming
with passion, this Cornish outfit should delight fans of level planes
early releases.
Its all over far to quickly, but consider our appetite well and truly whetted.***********************************************************
Blasting straight out of the speakers, Newcastle based Lavotchkin spare
no time in marking their territory. Moving away from the Botch-ism’s of
their earlier material. Their 3 tracks display a more grown up, bigger,
dirty, rock approach to their chosen genre. Earthy sounding guitars and
hoarse screaming rule here. “You Were Dawn” tears away from the
starting line, bouncing and smashing its way through before the
slowed-down-Hope-Con-sounding “Abandon” sluggishly bullies its way into
your head. Wrapping it up with “Clouds” they end on a positive and
chaotic note. This bodes well for their
debut album.
Crocus
hail from Falmouth (that Bastion of rock) and have been listening to
Gravity Records roster quite some from this recording, which is no bad
thing and they do build on this influence. Mixing in a more punk
approach with some technicality in the playing department. Think of all
your favourites;
Hot Cross, Saetia,
City Of Caterpillar,
Swing Kids etc and then take that sound and mix it with something very home grown. You have Crocus.
It’s
maybe a bit early to be heaping too much on them but the 3 tracks show
a vision and skill that left to breathe and develop could be mighty
impressive.
There you go; 2 awesome British bands.
8/10 - Die Shellsuit Die
**************************************************************
If you like speedy, hard-hitting hardcore then this split EP from Lavotchkin/Crocus will be right up your ally.
Lavotchkin
start off the proceedings with 'You Were Dawn', an energetic,
fast-paced ruckus that definitely wakes you up. Next the
Newcastle-based band show their more structured side with 'Abandon'
with its sluggish guitars weaving through in the background over
screaming vocals and earch shattering drums. They finish their side of
the split with 'Clouds', a track that speeds through at a blistering
pace and at the same time, sounds epic.
Falmouth's
Crocus are more complex in their approach, 'A Spirtual Polemic' starts
off with a simple bass line before easing itself into a complete mess
but at the same time it is structured. 'Ignorance We Swallow' shows the
bands technical side; one second they're speeding through at a furious
pace then suddenly slowing things down momentarily, before once again
turning up the volume. 'Fear of Water' finishes off the EP with 1 and
40 seconds of aggressive, adrenaline filled hardcore.
At just 17
minutes long, you are left with wanting to hear more from both bands.
The combination of the hard hitting Lavotchkin and the complexness of
Crocus, works well and flows with ease together.
4/5 - Alter The Press
*********************************************************
3/5 in Kerrang! hahahahahahahahahaha!
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