REVIEW: REAPER BY ROTTING OUT BY ROB KENT

When Hardcore doesn’t pay the bills the best cause of action isn’t to traffic drugs, especially not a van containing 70 pounds of Marijuana to gain some extra income because merch sales may have decreased. After having their frontman Walter Delgado behind bars for eighteen months due to him choosing this method to help fill his wallet, LA hardcore punk outfit Rotting Out make their return with their first effort in four years. The band released “Reaper” and a video to accompany it on the 10th January and with it, 2019 has begun for Hardcore.

Rotting Out have been around for a while since forming in 2007 the band have established themselves in the genre and have the respect of people who have been attending shows and keeping up to date with releases over the past ten years. So after not being active since the summer of 2015, have Rotting Out treated everyone to a major comeback and made a wave of anticipation that will see them take 2019 by storm or have they just released a half-hearted song that is too little too late for them to rebuild their place in the current scene again.

At the short running time of one minute and forty-four seconds, musically the track is everything we wanted to hear from Rotting Out. The riff and guitar playing on the track are great with the rhythm section packing a huge punk punch with the energetic bass and drums complementing each other consistently all the way through. Giving the track energy, aggression and the in your face presence that is was needed for a band that has been away for so long to really make a footprint and honour their return.

The lyrical content and theme of the track are also well written. With Delgado touching upon his time alone in prison throughout the track. Lines such as “What do you know about time and counting days? The walls laugh as I cry wondering how I got this way” show that Delgado felt the weight of his time away and lost what was precious to him while in prison, Rotting Out is now serving as a creative outlet for him and I’m looking forward to hearing what other lyrical content the frontman has to offer in the future.

However, I do feel the track is quite predictable after a short amount of time. The track continues into parts that bring absolutely nothing new to the table and show nothing but predictable and standard hardcore punk songwriting. Elements that we have all heard before. But Rotting Out do it well all the same and have proved themselves as a band that knows their craft and I’m sure to have made fans worldwide very pleased that the band are back and active again.

Rotting Outs return has been un-impactful but at the same time their return does put a piece that went missing back in its rightful place, Rotting Out are meant to be in the Hardcore scene and it has felt slightly lighter without them. This track will hopefully be on a release to come later this year and I feel the track will slot nicely into a full length and a live set.

You can listen to the track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=UYzBAn9b7e0

By Rob Kent