Long gone but well missed by folk. Hard To Swallow where responsible for so much influence in UKHC. But only to people who knew about them. I came across this back in 1999 when buying some stuff from the Household Name distro. Got this album and the t-shirt because I heard it was some guys from Iron Monkey. Of course it sounded nothing like Iron Monkey and took me a few weeks of tentative listening before it clicked and I realised how awesome this band was. I listened non stop for months. Absorbing all the ideas and every twist and turn. As you do when young and when you discover something that grabs your interest.
Yes, it is hardcore. Its hardcore that veers towards power violence bug time. But never quite becomes it. HTS was this crazy, mangled beast of twisted riffs, dual screaming and some immense, inventive drumming.
Basically this album became my constant companion on journeys to work and college and years later I ended up in a band with one of them.
Seriously, I urge anyone with a passing interest in hardcore, grind, power violence whatever to give this album a listen. It comprises of all the various 7" splits and comp tracks they put out as well as 11 new tracks written for this release. 25 tracks in total including some hidden live stuff.
Once again its a mighty list of bands that have spawned from the remnants of this band. I really can't list them all so instead head over to HTS vocalist Bloody Kev's blog Keep It In The Family! He has pretty much everything he has ever done available there as well as links to the HTS family tree.
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