Soul Control Soul Control [7 inch] (2007) Rivalry

Soul Control derive from the New England area and comprise of ex-members of Verse and What Feeds the Fire, and thank other NEHC bands like Bane and Have Heart in their 7-inch's liner notes. So maybe it's a surprise that they sound virtually nothing like any of this.

Instead, Soul Control start with a base influence of heavy early `90s acts like 108 and Burn, then mix in the soulful thought of Bad Brains and the airy, progressive guitar tones of someone like Supertouch. Combine that with a refreshing push towards lyrically looking inward and you have one of the most promising young hardcore acts on the circuit.

Their self-titled 7" puts forth four absolute ragers. Opener "I Struggle" is a 1:24 buildup that comes to an abrupt end and immediately leaves you wanting more (think of the way Sinking Ships closes "Wait"), while some clever vocal flow is cooked up for "Dive" and "Touched by Fire." All the while, Soul Control convey a mere wish for the listener to search their own soul and decipher themselves ("step outside yourself and look within yourself"). It's definitely a consistent theme that manages to occasionally come up with some impressive one-liners ("self realize to become your own ocean and flood transcendence").

All in all, Soul Control have an incredibly solid start from which to build upon, introducing new old ideas into modern hardcore that sound suddenly original. Oh yeah, and if I'm not mistaken, they formed this past January. Goddamn.

Touched by Fire

STREAM
I Struggle
Dive

(Brian)