“Hell bent, hell-fucking-bent!”
Emerging from Boston’s underground and formally debuting with their self-titled album in 2017, all-female hardcore band, Firewalker, have effortlessly demanded and led their own spotlight in a space that has been historically male dominated. Inspired by 80s New York hardcore bands, such as Sheer Terror and Sick Of It All, Firewalker’s debut introduced their audience to their distinct metallic hardcore sound that crushes cultural stereotypes with their unique feminist twist. Now in 2024, the band are ready to release their sophomore album, Hell Bent, which is set to drop on June 28th, via Triple-B Records – a label that features some of today’s best hardcore bands, including Fuming Mouth and Sunami.
Hell Bent opens with “Carry My Own Torch”, which is a perfect opener and representation of the album’s sound. Spanning just under two minutes, this track is punchy and aggressive with slightly technical drums, catchy guitar riffs, and a solid balance of instrumentation. Furthermore, the track highlights one of Firewalker’s most distinct qualities which is their hostile hardcore screams, delivered by vocalist, Sophie Hendry. Her vocal style is full of straight, raw violence that shoves the band’s lyrical themes directly into your face (and ears) and has a sound that is comparable to BRAT’s frontwoman, Liz Selfish. Hendry’s vocals also keep up with the consistent corrosivity and distorted tones of the guitars, as well as the constant forceful energy of the drum work.
Aside from the vocal performances, the most notable aspect of Hell Bent is the album’s title track. The guitar work in this song experiments with new tones, effects, and rhythmic ideas that lean more into the punk or even thrash side of things. The riffs are fast paced and heavy, adding the energy and movement that the track needs. Additionally, “Hell Bent” features vocals from Angel Du$t’s Justice Tripp, whose hard-hitting contribution is paired with new sonic ideas, including vocal effects and double tracking. This infuses the track with unique textures and variety that isn’t found elsewhere on the album. Clearly, “Hell Bent” does not disappoint as the album’s title track.
Compared to their self-titled debut, Hell Bent works towards a more consistent and cohesive collection of Firewalker’s style. The instrumentation and composition of the songs have more variation and experimentation. In particular, the riffs explore crossover styles, as well as different tonalities and modulation effects, which is rare in this style of hardcore. Additionally, throughout the album, Firewalker deliver a high standard when it comes to their drum work, with intense kick rhythms and insanely tight fills. In comparison to their debut and demo work, there has also been an improvement to their production quality, with cleaner drum tones and vocal recordings, yet it still includes their raw and DIY qualities that underground hardcore is well known for.
Despite the slight enhancement of sound quality, this still remains as one of the album’s negatives. When looking at the downfalls of Hell Bent, I believe that there could be a subtle yet substantial improvement to its production as this would allow each band member to shine individually as they do in live environments. The album doesn’t necessarily allow the vocals to be as violent and sonically aggressive as they could be, which is disappointing as Hendry’s raw rage is certainly a highlight of their music. Furthermore, I believe that the vocal double tracking that features on “Hell Bent” could have been made more consistent across the album, as this would have added an additional polish to the release.
Despite these potential downfalls, Hell Bent is certainly a milestone in Firewalker’s musical journey. With this release, Firewalker show a high level of maturity, and are creating and ruling new grounds within the underground hardcore scene. The band have a unique and unapologetic sound that I’m sure many listeners of hardcore, metal, and other extreme genres will love and support. Consequently, Firewalker are destined to break into more unexplored areas, and confidently build up their reputation as a band that defies stereotypes and crushes their audience with countless hard-hitting songs.
7/10
Firewalker release Hell Bent through Triple B Records on the 28th June and can be pre-ordered here.