Haymaker - Let Them Rot | Review

There isn’t an appropriate way to start this review, nor is there an appropriate way to talk about the band in question. Haymaker is a hardcore band from Hamilton, Ontario which features members of Pick Your Side (who dropped a seriously excellent 10” last year with To the Point), Left for Dead, and Chokehold (if you’ve never listened to Prison of Hope you probably should).

I’m not going to write something that’s entirely too descriptive and get lost in metaphors. This is Haymaker’s first release in almost a decade. Let Them Rot is short, sweet, and to the point; exactly what you want out of hardcore. Haymaker, quite possibly, is even angrier than Left for Dead; even though these qualities are arbitrary and for the listener to decide, it isn’t like they are getting that really terrible Throwdown album also named after the powerful punch. Instead, what is delivered are four tracks that move at a blistering pace, with ridiculously ignorant mosh riffs thrown in (see: "Cheque to Cheque").

I’ll sum up Haymaker in two words: fucking angry. If you like hardcore that is the fuck-you-eat-shit type of vicious and entirely negative, then Haymaker is definitely for you. They are another legendary band from Hamilton, Ontario who are totally underrated, but deserving of all types of praise. Let Them Rot is a continuation of the mayhem and the in-your-face attitude the band brings. It’s like they never missed a beat.

Bill Haff

Band info: www.a389records.com
Label info: www.facebook.com/Haymaker

Editor-in-Chief at Scratch the Surface, Bill Haff is a Philadelphia-based music critic who also contributes for Cvlt Nation, Metal Injection and Ghost Cult. You can follow him on Twitter at @bill_haff