Punitive Damage’s This is the Blackout LP was one of Revolver’s favorite hardcore albums of 2022 — we called it a “fuming” release that viscerally landed like a “Doc Marten kick to the gut.” Two years later, the Vancouver bruisers are ready to kick into overdrive again, vis-à-vis their upcoming Hate Training EP. While it’s out in October, they’re previewing the release ahead of time through scorching new single “Baptism of Fire.”
Built on a foundation of primally D-beating drum work, lacerating punk riffs and a bit of rawk-geared soloing, the 90-second rage-out finds vocalist Jerkova seething over dagger-eyed, dangerous bullshit-spewers self-servingly relishing in the suffering of others. And how, collectively, we seem to fall for their tricks every time.
“From the slaughter of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas, to the Third Reich, to the Vietnam War, to the War on Terror — empires point us towards a ‘subhuman boogyman’ that must be destroyed at all costs, and with a big stupid fucking smile we say ‘OK,’” she explains of the EP’s broader themes in a statement. “And only after time has passed do we realize how we shamefully fell for the bullshit, and how we can’t ever let that happen again. And we say ‘Never again’ or ‘We must learn from our mistakes.’ Yet here we are again.”
Hate Training was recorded in Vancouver with producer Jesse Gander (Brutus, Japandroids). It was mixed by Taylor Young (Drain, Militarie Gun, God’s Hate), who was the engineer behind This is the Blackout. The six-song EP is out October 25th, and marks the band’s first release through new label home Convulse Records.
Hate Training tracklisting:
Hate Training
Baptism of Fire
All or Nothing
Chains of Hate
Plaster Saints
Blight of Apathy