U.K.’s Dead Retinas Rocket Ahead With Wildly Intense New Hardcore Punk EP

Dead Retinas play an energetically aggressive brand of heavy music on their Divine EP, which kicks the listener into overdrive and pushes them towards a confrontation with their beast inside, whether or not those metaphorical creatures were previously well-known to fans to begin with. The band’s music seethes and contorts with the fury of someone who’s been pushed down for far too long, and at least at some points throughout Divine, Dead Retinas’ music takes on a subsequently triumphant feel, like you should pump your first — or storm a barricade. Either way works.

That’s not all the music has to offer, however. It’s not shallow or monotone. The release feels like a glimpse into what triumph actually entails, and spoiler alert: it’s not always pretty. The band’s music combines a sort of straightforward, galloping rock swagger with chaotic, intensely swirling metal, crafting a sort of hybrid that has less to say about any particular genre categories and more to offer straight to the listener.

The music, while definitely heavy and intense, feels very heavy music-listener friendly, and the longer you listen, the longer you might be prone to come back to this release. Because there’s a significant, noisy, and chaotic breadth for the band’s melodic jumps to rest on, there’s really something substantive to come back to in the first place. The music doesn’t feel like it runs out of steam after a couple run-throughs or anything — the songs have more to say.

You could take the tracks on any number of levels, which the band manage well, letting every element have its time to shine. There’s a strong emotional component that doesn’t overwhelm the listener but does make itself known at times, offering grim mirrors of some precarious situations no doubt all too familiar to plenty of people.

From there, though, both the music and some of the lyrics take the listener on a journey, rocketing them out of their stalemate into some new, more intriguing and even inviting environment. On the record, the band’s various elements come together in a manner strongly reminiscent of a live show — making Dead Retinas seem like a band you should really jump into, as soon as possible.

5/5 Stars

Listen below via Bandcamp