Album Spotlight: Level 4: The Game Of Death by Special Move

 

By Ryan Germ
For a very very long time I hated UKHC besides bands like Gallows and Discharge. The accents got on my nerves very quick because it sounded like they exaggerated their accents (see bands like Pintglass for example). When I was active on the Hardlore Discord I vividly remember that I told a bunch of my homies from the UK my take on UKHC, and you bet your ass I was chastised for that take. But I remember someone set out to change my mind and they sent me this record. My mind wasn’t just changed, it was blown. So without any more stalling let’s hop into this Mount Rushmore UKHC record.

The record kicks off with the track Level 4, a sample of a knocking door, gunshots, and chaos starts the track off before a gallopy blast beat rings in the actually track over a kinda tremolo picking riff. It transitions very quickly into a heavy breakdown. The gallopy blast beat comes back for about 10 seconds before a second breakdown comes and pummels you to end the track.

Battle Of The Planets is the next track and it kicks off with a sample before going into a super slow riff and drum beat before kicking into full gear with double kick to give a punishing feel to the track. It then transitions into a very groovy segment but not quite a breakdown, there’s a stop and start part on the hats before going straight into a two step part. A breakdown follows up the two step part complete with gang vocals. A Slayer-esque riff follows that up alongside super fast paced drums before said drums slow to some more mid tempo groove. The tempo slows over guitars that ring out before going into one final breakdown which is super riffy to end the track.

My personal favorite track is next, none other than Bloodbath. It starts with super mid tempo drums over guitars that chug and ring out. It then goes into a double kick part over tremolo picking before the vocals come in and the instrumentation to more groove instead of the punishing quickness the tremolo picking section has. I haven’t touched on the vocals at all so far in this spotlight but they’re great. The English accent is there but it’s not annoying like other bands, in this song in particular the vocals are interesting (and I mean that in a good way) because he’s half yelling half rapping in the verses, and not in the shitty type of way some modern rapcore bands do it because he has sheer agression. Anyways after the first verse it goes into a two step part before the call out of “as you drown in your blood” signals in the mosh part which has grueling double kick over a super gallopy sounding riff, the double kick returns over more high pitched screams before the track ends with a more beatdown style riff.

Face The Enemy is the next track that starts with a sample and it immediately goes into a beatdown portion. Then it follows up that beatdown portion with a fast part. A side to side part follows before exploding into a breakdown with gang vocals which subtly transitions into a 2 step part before going back to the heavy breakdown on the drums. It goes back to the well with the fast part before the breakdown/two step combo returns. The real breakdown then follows that up to end the track.

The next track is not much to write home about, just an acoustic interview. That’s really it, a nice break but not much beyond that.

The Truth Defined however kicks off with a sample before coming in super heavy, which makes the placement super good because the soft acoustic interlude only serves to exemplify the hardness of this track. It slows a little bit to a groovy part with chords ringing out before going into a fast part, the drums slow down over the fast part’s riff. It goes back into a beatdown portion before a two step part nails you. It seems like the track is about to go into a breakdown but instead it’s a solo and then it goes into the real breakdown to end the track.

We’re already at the final track and it begins with a sample with the riff starting over the sample. The drums make the intro riff super moshy. Then the track goes into a fast part before it transitions quickly to a mosh part. It then goes back to a fast part with a solo over the fast part until the solo drops out and the vocals replace it. After it proceeds to go into a breakdown with super heavy double kick. Then it goes into a two step part before slowing to be more stompy. A side to side part then ensues with a heavy breakdown fit for throwing down following it up. It then slows down even more. It then goes into another sample. After a few minutes feedback fades in for one single hit on the crash to end the record.