2016 continues to be the year of excellent debut full-length releases from up and coming bands in the hardcore scene. Amongst the cream of this hardcore crop is Pittsburgh’s Blood Pressure. After releasing a promising EP on Beach Impediment Records in 2014, the group has further refined it’s formula. Need To Control consists of ten tracks of classic, no-frills US hardcore. The listener will definitely pinpoint the influence of '80s Midwestern hardcore on Blood Pressure’s sound, but they dip into all of the best conventions that have developed in American hardcore over the past few decades. Stylistically and vocally, these tracks churn out pounder after pounder much in the vein of Negative Approach.

Each track is a scathing attack on the usual targets of hardcore lyricism: the title track espouses the constant struggle of individualism and the need to escape from society’s constraints with the chorus of “My life, my rules. Fuck your incessant need to control. My life, my rules.” “Drone War” is a tirade against the inhumanity of war and those in power who decide who lives and who dies. One of the highlights of the record is “Chronic Abuse” whose criticism of police brutality is both a traditional hardcore trope and also extremely relevant in the wake of the recent wave of police violence and rising anti-police sentiment. Like the rest of the tracks of the album, “Chronic Abuse” hits you over the head with its brutal musical assault before immediately moving onto the next track; each track segues into the next, creating a relentless assault on the listener while also providing the non-stop energy of a live performance. This is an album that does not let up except for the brief respite when the listener has to flip over the record to hear the next side.

One could levy some criticism at Need to Control, citing its seemingly paint by numbers hardcore construction. However, taking this album for what it is, this point becomes moot. Those looking for an offbeat or unique take on hardcore won’t find it here. However, if one appreciates US hardcore done right and true to the style, Need To Control fits the bill and excels at it. As the cover image of this album suggests, Blood Pressure’s debut album is bleak, unadulterated hardcore.