Reviews
Run With The Hunted = Most Precious Blood + Catharsis + early Converge
I foolishly assumed this would be dogmatic, preachy, 90s-style chug-core, rife with warnings (in requisite drop-D tuning) about an impending vegan apocalypse. Shame on me for making short-sighted assumptions, but thank the ghost of Raybeez I was wrong! For their first full-length, these Phoenix natives blend a biting cocktail of metallic hardcore urgency, Botch-esque chaos, and bleakly witty lyricism to create a forceful, challenging and multidimensional record. Political? Absolutely, but it never cheapens itself with militant rhetoric and actually finds great strength in the short moments where they break away from restrictive 90s hardcore norms. “Occam’s Razor” whips itself into sweaty rock n’ roll fury similar to Bars or Heavier than Heaven-era Blacklisted and the maniacal riffing in “Magna Cum Laude” is downright infectious. My only gripe is the awkward spoken-word poetry of “Synesthesia,” but I certainly can’t fault ‘em for wanting to save the Earth. –Dylan Chadwick
As with every band I review I check out a little about the band before I start to review the album. As I am looking around I come across their website and realize they are from Phoenix, AZ. Having formed in 2007 I was quite surprised that living in Tucson I had never heard of this band. Had I just missed them anytime they had come? Were they Phoenix’s best kept secret? Were they just not worth listening to?
I put on the record and the first track is a minute long intro to the album called Introspective. It immediately reminds me of another Tucson local band, Blues. As Blues were an amazing band I am already intrigued and anticipation of the album grips me. “Magna Cum Laude” starts and I instantly forget about Blues. With each song that I travel deeper in the record, the more I am impressed with the band.
They play heavy and fast hardcore music. They slow it down at the right time and rebuild making each song a wonderful aural journey. The breakdowns seem to be a place for expression instead of a place to two step. The vocalist delivers his vocals with keen insight on the genre and succeeds in being my favorite part of the band. Which says a lot since the music is top notch.
Their lyrics are socially conscious with a lot of the songs about wanting to live life. Not be held back by greed and work. Wanting to be happy with life and making it worthwhile instead of spending it wasted trying to blindly achieve success. Putting faith into American way of life and that material gain will make you happy. This is a breath of fresh air to hear such passion amidst the apathy that hardcore and punk has nurtured over the years.
After listening to this a few times through, this record will definitely continue to be in rotation. It is well produced, well played and perfectly emotional. The songs flow into each other making it a fluid record. This is a great band, a great record, and a very pleasant surprise for me. The album isn’t perfect but it is damn close. Don’t miss out on such a great, passionate band.
4.75 out of 5 stars
Run with The Hunted… what’s there to say beyond noting that this band is simply awesome? Hailing from Arizona, a state not known for churning out hardcore like Virginia or California, the state has found itself a special little gem with these guys. With a name referencing a collection of writings by Charles Bukowsk, their newest self titled record and their Panic Records debut, stays true to the tradition of Bukowski by offering listeners blunt and unapologetic tunes.
This self titled debut full length is sure going to make fans of hardcore pay more attention to the Arizona hardcore scene, and rightfully so. One thing that is apparent from the start of this album is the band’s technicality and overt influences that are blended together in a manner that still maintain a traditional hardcore sound. Taking elements of Shai Hulud, Trial, Modern Life Is War, and Turmoil, it’s all wrapped together into a neat little package that will leave listeners mimicking with their air instruments, all the while thinking about how intense the music is. Many times, hardcore and punk bands will lose a sense of technicality, which is fine since the genres aren’t known for that particular aspect, but that is also a complaint to many music listeners who are looking to be challenged and impressed when hearing a new band. In regards to these “listeners” Run With The Hunted heard their cries and this record is an answer to them. The drums are fast, the riffs are faster, and the vocals hit hard, all the while being easily understandable, which is great because this is a band that has something to say! Run with The Hunted hit both political and personal lyrical subject matter, allowing listeners to wrap their heads around personal issues as well as global issues. The idea of college, money, debt and the continued process that it possesses, religion, personal changes, the death of what once made you happy, and self loathing or inner ugliness are just a handful of the issues found within these songs.
Another nice touch on the record is its recording quality. It’s recorded very well and mixed quite nicely without sounding over produced or losing a hard edge that is often sacrificed when a hardcore punk band hits a decent recording studio. Listeners are able to hear the technicality and lyrical content through these recordings, something that could have been lost with a lower quality recording, all the while still keeping a punk rock vibe quite alive.
It’s hard to find something negative to say about this record, and there is no real true downfall to be found, but despite the creativity and overall quality of the songs, none of them really seem to get stuck in your head. You can listen to the record in its entirety, yet afterwards there isn’t a song that really has you humming or singing along because it stood out. Is this because the songs don’t have staying power or because they just aren’t necessarily “catchy?” I’d venture a guess that it’s a case of the nature of the songs don’t lend themselves to easily grasped hooks, but ultimately the listeners can decide. All in all, this is a terrific debut from a promising Arizona hardcore band that is sure to get noticed now that Panic Records has snatched these guys up!
–Devin Boudreaux
4 out of 4 stars
Thought you were already well versed in every decent hardcore band that exists? Well, if so and you haven’t heard Phoenix’s Run With The Hunted, you need to add it to your list of must hear throat shredding, pummeling, frenetic hardcore. Playing urgent, ebullient and at breakneck speed on their debut full length, these up and comers are quickly making a name for themselves in the world of DIY hardcore after 3 years of touring and racking up some well received EPs on various labels, though now they now call stalwart indie label Panic Records home.
Fraught with charged and powerful energy, Run With The Hunted mix in noisy, crunchy guitars moments akin to Botch or Catharsis with sheer manic heaviness that can run parallel with Turmoil or Indecison. Rather than just relegating themselves to the overdone chugga-chugga mosh sound of countless other straightedge vegan bands, Run With The Hunted mix proficient technical playing to create a new twist onto the template of hardcore.
Lyrically the band take on both political and personal subject matter, showing an introspective and emotive side to this very abrasive listen. Seeing as how I assume the band’s name is from a Bukowski book, you’d assume lyrics are an integral part of the bands songwriting, and here the band pen sophisticated, thought provoking self-reflection. Cathartic, passionate and blistering with sincerity, in a perfect world, all hardcore bands would be as interesting as Run With The Hunted.
Available now on CD, digital, and vinyl (pressed on three different colors of vinyl- black, blue or grey- and with a free download code).
For fans of: Botch, Tragedy, Turmoil, Modern Life Is War, The Hope Conspiracy
I would never claim to have a firm opinion or be an exhaustive resource about hardcore music, but I do know what I like and can tell you why. I didn’t grow up around anyone who listened to bands from this (or any related) genre, and my first real exposure to it was in college when I happened across a copy of Where Blood And Fire Bring Rest by Zao. From that discovery, I moved through a slew of hardcore, metal, and postcore acts, and attended as many local shows featuring such music as I could. I’m always on the lookout for bands of this nature that are engaging and interesting, so it pleases me to declare that the debut self-titled full-length from Arizona boys Run With The Hunted is a welcome addition this time-honored (and often misunderstood) milieu.
This eleven-song affair is rife with the sort of anger, aggression, and confusion regarding the current state of the world that has fueled music of this nature for the last thirty years. The dense dual-guitar chugging with vigorous power chord riffage gives strength to the hearty bellows and screams of the vocals, while the rhythm section displays tremendous intensity. The solid, vintage hardcore chops that fill this entire record remind me of the concentrated spate of acts from Roadrunner, Victory, and Equal Vision Records who led the way for metal and hardcore in the early ‘00s.
Yet for all of the praise I could heap upon the quintet’s musical acumen, I must pay due homage to the hard-hitting lyricism of Drew Wilkinson, as this is the true hallmark of this album. “Magna Cum Laude” is a searing track about the futility of a receiving a hard-earned diploma, when all you do is become “a cog in a machine” with “degrees of happiness like shades of grey / never living a life just filling a series of days.” On “Sycophant,” we hear the cautionary tale of the loyal working drone who’s gone awry in the dog-eat-dog work-a-day world. With “Occam’s Razor,” hope and anguish sit beside each other with lines like, “I want it all for all the world to see. I want to know what I’m missing.”
My favorite track on the record is “Synthesia,” which contains this soul-searing passage: “I’m just looking for answers / but I found bodies writhing on the floor / fingers grasping out for more / desperate eyes straining longing for a vision / abused hearts yearning for a final incision / to cut away the pain.” And what strikes me hardest about these words (and much of the content in all of these songs) is that these aren’t songs penned by lazy, indolent, pissed-off kids; these are philosophically deep questions bursting with heart, purpose, and socio-political awareness.
Ultimately, Run With The Hunted is jam-packed with powerful, hard-hitting tunes. Few tracks last beyond the three-minute mark, and even those never drag on or turn into a ponderous metal-ish ballad. These are pit-ready anthems, with strong rhythms and pacing for circles, moshing, and general fist-raising (and I’m quite thankful for the lack of repetitive breakdowns). I’m really eager to hear what this talented band creates next.
