“In for a penny, in for a pound, pay the reaper.“
It would be more than fair to say UK hardcore is pretty good shape at the moment, with thriving scenes across the country from Glasgow and Birmingham seeing show after show being put on. This matched with releases this year including Splitknuckle‘s Breathing Through the Wound, which personally still stands as the best release of my year so far, alongside impressive drops from No Relief and Good Cop. Within all this, the emergence of Essex/London unit False Reality has quietly come about.
Dropping a handful of singles in 2023 including “Cause for Chaos” and “L.O.V.E. (Law of Vindictive Enemies“, they were enough to see False Reality gain traction and share the stage with the likes of Jesus Piece and Madball. They sparked their 2024 with release “Opposites React“, featuring Speed who they had also played alongside. The single that would be the first preview of that had stocked on sublime EP Path of Self Destruct.
There is a certain confidence that Path of Self Destruct oozes from its outset, as noodling guitars fill the record on its intro before vocalist Rigby enters with forceful vocals. The track almost psyches itself up for the forthcoming record. Punchy riffs and commanding vocals sitting alongside some juicy two-step grooves, making for a hell of an opening track on “Pay the Reaper“. The stomping tom beats and the sheer aggressiveness make it evident that False Reality are not fucking about with this record.
The whirling riffs and fist-throwing breakdowns continue into “Comeback” and “Pressure“. It’s here where the refinement of False Reality from their past singles becomes evident, with the neat production capturing a sound that the unit feel fully confident in. A shift in gear comes in “To One Far Away” where melancholic guitars fill the track and Rigby sings lamenting cleans, “I numb it all, I numb it all away“. The moment is brief before bursting into a panic-chord lead breakdown, exerting the raw emotiveness of what had come before outward.
The guitar work continues to be ever impressive on “Chained“, having a gravitas that many bands of the late 90s and 00s contained in their ability and impact. The jewel in the crown for many will come on “Opposites React”, the single that saw further eyes cast upon False Reality, with the assist from a feature from Aussie unit Speed. The aggression turned up a notch, the dual vocals with a neat vocal hook of “Walls crashing down, walls crashing down“, that will no doubt see a queue for a mic grab in a live setting. It’s a massive closer that sees out what is more than an impressive debut record.
While it may seem a bold claim, it’s difficult not to see False Reality one of the forerunners of the UK hardcore for the foreseeable future. Path of Self Destruct is a tight, versatile and forceful record that has an aura of a unit staking their claim. For those paying attention, it will now be difficult not to include False Reality up there with their contemporaries as one of the most convincing acts in the scene, with the hope that this EP will open the world’s ears to the quality at hand in UKHC.
8/10
Path of Self Destruct is out now via independent release.