Seasick pretty much cement themselves as my favorite New Jersey hardcore band with Ouroboros, even though these assholes have put out like four straight releases or so without a full-length yet. Eh, whatever -- as their MySpace quote reads, they are "firm believers in the 10 minute set." Arguably their best release yet (and a slight step up from last year's Awakenings), it's a one-sided 12" EP with an actual ouroboro (a snake eating itself) laser-etched on the B Side (see the picture?). Rad.

"Fallacies" is one of their best and most creative tracks to date, a swirling 2:34 introductory opus that opens with something akin to the drone of chanting Gregorian monks before ominous, commanding drums propel the song into a genre-defying, darkly executed wordless manifestation. Then "Leviathan" serves up a stark reminder of what Seasick are really known for: starkly intense, spitfire fast hardcore with absolutely raging parts (here, the bridge), clearly influenced as much by local predecessors like the Degenerics as much as elders like Bad Brains and Infest. If you're not moving when 12" closer "The Problem of God's Evil" comes rolling through, check your pulse.

Speaking of Infest, the digital download of Ouroboros comes with a cover of "Behind This Tongue," and oh Lordy do they nail it. Living a good two hours from New Brunswick, I've never actually gotten to seen Seasick live but things have to be predictably batshit crazy if and when they do this in person for all 34 seconds.

Conclusion: Seasick is sweet. They need to do more weird instrumental songs, or at least one on every release. A full-length someday would be nice.

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Garden of Failures