Vitamin X, “About to Crack” LP

cover-vitamin-x-about-to-crackTankcrimes‘ release of About to Crack, from Dutch hardcore act Vitamin X, makes me relish the label even more. I’ve only recently jumped into the waters of the metal / hardcore / thrash label, but it seems that the gents running the show really know their shit.

The album’s fairly straight-ahead hardcore with a touch of metal, but its when Vitamin X makes the slightest foray into thrash that About to Crack really pop. The guitar flourishes on “Ready to Burn” had me air-guitaring every time, and the intro to “Raise the Flag” is a stone-cold bit of shredding.

For whatever reason, those cats up in Norway, Holland, Sweden, et al, have this innate ability to take American music and composite it in ways that make rather basic genres seem fresh. Much like Turbonegro took glam metal, garage, and punk, and turned it into something completely their own, Vitamin X do the same with hardcore and thrash.

Using the energy and snottiness displayed by the likes of Career Suicide, but upping it to the speed quotient and riffage of Anthrax, Vitamin X has created a hybrid that lures you in with a sense of familiarity. It’s the innovation that keeps you there, though. Are they breaking the mold? No, of course not. Innovation within genres like hardcore and thrash is still limited by the basic conventions of fast and loud to which said genres adhere.

Listen to a couple tracks from the LP below. It’s out tomorrow. Buy it direct from the Tankcrimes store.