Bleach Everything

Free Inside [7-inch] (2015)

Keenan

On Free Inside, Bleach Everything kick out a racket over the course of five minutes, drawing from the shout-along anthems of Judge and the flipped out rhythm of SS Decontrol. The EP veers from scuttling thrash to sludgy hardcore, sometimes all within the same song. With members coming form bands like Iron Reagan and Mammoth Grinder, it's no surprise that they're able to flex these muscles so effortlessly.

However, effortless is also the key to Free Inside's negative qualities as well. The title track sports an impressively rolling drum intro, but the rest of the song is strictly by the numbers. It hits all the obvious points a hardcore song is supposed to and ends without expressing anything approaching vitality. The band only really pushes themselves on "Sons of Hectate," where they're able to write a song about society's anti-progress grandstanding and end up creating an earworm. Granted, this band hasn't been around for too long (they've only released a split 7-inch before this EP). So perhaps it is best to view this as an exercise for the band, performed just to make sure they can get the chemistry right.

Again, Free Inside's hardcore is adeptly played and handled, but every twist and tempo change seems manufactured and telegraphed. If you're looking for an urgent sounding racket, then look no further than this EP. If you want something with a little more meat on it, then I suggest waiting to see what this Richmond band does next.

You can check out the EP here.