I’m really not going to earn myself any fans in the HC community by saying this, but I didn’t fall as hard for the debut GEL record (Only Constant, 2023) as most did. I’ll be clear, I thought it was good, but it didn’t compel me to light the beacons to hail the coming of the ones who would fulfil the HC prophecy and unite (I’ve just realised I’m writing this on May 4th and am clearly being influenced by Star Wars. I am forty.) the tribes, etc. I liked them, I just wanted to see more, I suppose.

So, learning they’d signed to Code Orange’s label and had a 5-track EP planned piqued my interest, I won’t lie. The alliance with that label doesn’t mean anything in and of itself of course. And so proves to be the case in this EP. GEL continue to do more of what they’re evidently good at. 5 tracks, none breaking the 3-minute mark, all having a relatively to-the-throat mentality and all carrying a certain amount of heft. Sami sounds completely rabid throughout, Anthony and Maddi’s guitar playing shows a level of nuance and consideration alongside the trademark fat riffing, Mathew’s bass offers a versatile and bouncy low-end while new drummer Alex sounds, and I mean this in the best possible way, like he’s swinging wildly between hanging on for dear life and trying to right the ship with a whole crew of punch-drunks sailors on board, in the shape of the rest of the band.

This EP was produced and engineered by Jon Markson who has worked with Drug Church, Drain, KOYO and more in recent years and it does show. The more wiry, disparate sound of GEL in the debut record has shifted to usher in a weightier, thicker-textured version of the band, who still manage to retain the ‘runaway train’ vibe that frankly, you want from a young hardcore band dropping a 5-track EP. There is also a suggestion of more professional production techniques or processes, dare I say it. The bass and drum intro on “Martyr” has obviously been worked deliberately to sound borderline digitised to enhance the impact when the songs kicks in, and it really works.

For me, this is a fulfilment of promise, albeit in a concise package. Whether it’s the band finding their own sound, or their new label encouraging them, or something else entirely, these next few years could be something very cool indeed for GEL.