Hardcore punk from Philadelphia, PA, the Brood was formed on a sweltering day in the summer of 2011 by four maladjusted humans who love playing loud angry music in dilapidated locales -  because that is what punks do. Previous releases include the If Tomorrow Comes demo, Defective 7", and October Dreams tape.  In 2018, a local ripper joined their ranks on second guitar, bolstering their sound as a burly five-piece juggernaut. For the Dark is their debut full length, recorded in the beginning of 2023 at Permanent Hearing Damage. This album reflects their fully honed attack, sharpened over the years in the practice space and on stage. These 12 songs combine blazing speed with pummeling mid-paced ragers, lyrics that drip with bitter fury, and an atmosphere of creeping dread. Influences include UK82, Poison Idea, Die Kreuzen, The Stalin, and Totalitar. Members of former/current bands: Lost Cause, Witch Hunt, Endless Nightmare, Caustic Christ, Mischief Brew, The Pist and The Dissidents.

For fans of: Poison Idea, Nausea, Christ On Parade, Discharge

Our take: Ten years after their first 7” and eight years after their previous release, we finally have the debut album from long-running Philadelphia hardcore band the Brood. Featuring members of Caustic Christ, the Pist, and Witch Hunt among many others, the Brood sounds like the veteran hardcore band they are, their diverse but coherent sound reflecting many years in the hardcore punk trenches. The core of the Brood’s style is heavy hardcore punk, reminding me most of American bands from the 2000s who incorporated the heaviness of Japanese hardcore into a straightforward, Poison Idea-influenced aesthetic. Other influences poke their heads in around corners: “Burning with the Sands of Time” and “Enemy” have street punk-ish rhythms, while “Shallow Graves” and “The Best Parts of You Died” have some Motorhead touches, and “Long Gone” goes for the throat with a straight Discharge-influenced attack. A two-guitar dynamic and Janine’s charismatic backing vocals lend additional depth and texture to each song, and (as you might have noticed from the song titles), there’s a vintage horror theme running through the lyrics, eloquently echoed in the cover illustration by Max from Invertebrates. With twelve songs in 22 minutes, the Brood offers an efficient, no-frills pummel that’ll leave you eager for the next spin.