Torchbearer's three-song 7", The Worst Is Yet to Come... is a fairly massive and pensively brutal batch of hardcore with subtle metallic edges.

I believe this band cites such influences as Undertow, Unbroken and 108 and all are certainly present in here (Undertow's grueling motion; Unbroken's thumping edge; 108's moments of sludgier musicality and low-scale vocal yelps). But there's a fairly consistent, full sound at work here that rarely lets up. Things are most dynamic in opener "Spy Report," while the band invoke a somehow slower, more sinister tone to the nearly six-minute closer "Hello, My Name Is Torchbearer," with haunting, mechanical chords and a few impressive parts where it's only a low, droning bass, steady drumbeat and frustrated, bellowed snarl.

This 7" is admittedly short on memorability, but it rips pretty hard when it goes. A pent-up 11-or-so minutes of rage worth a listen.

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Spy Report