Recon

This four-song demo from Glens Falls, NY's Recon starts off with an excerpt from the Clint Eastwood movie, "Heartbreak Ridge;" "Recon platoon kicks butt." Recon steps up to convince us of this claim before the quote has a chance to fade.

With aggressive, crunching guitars leading the assault over a pounding rhythm section, "Revenge" leads the demo off. Singer Chris manages to evoke images of an extremely pissed off Mike Judge (the singer for Judge/drummer for Supertouch, not the cartoonist behind "King Of The Hill") while the rest of the band seems to meld the aggressiveness of NYHC heavyweights Judge with the more contemporary stylings of bands such as 100 Demons and Most Precious Blood.

"Revenge" smoothly transitions into the second track "Disrespect," another near three minute-long assault. The underlying riffs and harmonics on this song add a nice texture to the sheer brutal onslaught of mosh-ready heavy as fuck hardcore; the attention to these small details sets Recon apart from other bands in this genre.

Track 3, "Side By Side," starts off with a buildup that reminds one of early Bloodlust Revenge-era One King Down, then launches into an auditory assault that brings to mind other Capitol District-area hardcore luminaries such as Stigmata and Section 8. Recon manages to pay homage to their hometown heroes without sounding like a watered down clone or shoddy imitation.

Track 4, which is unlisted on the demo insert, follows along in the same manner, making this one of the most aggressive and mosh-ready demos out there at the moment.

Recon also creates plenty of room for two-stepping and finger pointed singalongs as well on this demo, but what leaves one amazed is the sheer brutality that manages to be crammed into each track; these kids bring it heavy and hard for the course of the demo without stopping once to let you catch your breath. Between Jeff's ground-pounding beats, Tony's pummeling bass lines and Mike's bone-crushing guitar work topped with Chris's gutteral, from-the-abyss vocal, this multi-layered demo leaves no room for the weary and beats the shit out of the weak.

Pick this demo up when you get the opportunity and make a point to see them live as well; these four kids bring it every time and will not let you down.