Golden Tanks - RDHB

Hardcore is not for the faint of heart. Now, I ain't talking about the sort of left-handed website hardcore, but about the bludgeoning noise and bile-spitting vocal that, yes, has leanings to punk but at a much greater belligerent unflinchingly relentless pace. I'll be first to admit this particular brand of music is not my first love, but this year I have been able to relate to the misanthropic discord of Pissed Jeans and the unfathomable charm of The Bronx, who follow similar lines to Golden Tanks' rejection of the norm.

So who are Golden Tanks? They are a now three-piece drawn from Reading and seem more than equipped to deliver. RDHB is their new EP and contains five urgent, sharp pieces of anger and unequivocal releases of suppressed emotions, both through the vocal and the highly-charged guitar and pounding drums.

'859' pricks the ear instantly and musically reminds of early Fugazi; 'Ten Days' is straight-edge but vocally, the vitriol refrain, "This is the final line, this is the final line" delivers with an unerring chill. 'Burnt Bridges' chokes with the killer line "we must surely be dead" over a death knell chugging guitar. The EP's self-titled track is the stand-out, with its bold, searing guitar over a blood-curdling vocal delivery.

Full of vigour, spunk and barrels of transcending energy, they have age on their side and can only improve. Golden Tanks are definitely one to look out for in the hardcore genre in 2013.