Ringworm – Bleed EP (Relapse)
Wednesday, 4th September 2013
It’s a misconception that being pissed and hailing from Cleveland is part-and-parcel. There’s some really sunny folks in that fine city, especially after one its sports teams actually win a darn game (you sometimes find DR high-fiving the locals when he’s in town), yet metallic hardcore titans Ringworm have always been pissed-off to the max. Granted, it’s a bit of a cliché and any number of bands of this style come across in a similar manner, but main Ring-dude James “Human Furnace” Bulloch is not happy, and it shows on the stop-gap 3-song Bleed EP.
Having recently made the jump from Victory to Relapse, the band’s approach to blistering hardcore hasn’t changed – just reference the sniping going down on “The Wheel” or the title track. And thankfully, Ringworm doesn’t go the obnoxious route, as these three cuts are like a demon spiel, only with substance and fury. And before you know it, “The Nightmare Continues” is over, and it’s time to head back to the “Factory of Sadness” for football season to begin. (Ringworm and the ill-begotten nickname of Browns’ stadium have nothing to do with each other, mind you.)
