Album Review: TERROR - ’Still Suffer’
After 2 decades of breaking bones and building communities, TERROR return with ’Still Suffer’, showing each and every fan that they don’t plan on slowing down any time soon.
Terror is no longer just a band; they are a hardcore institution, deservingly uttered in the same breath as bands like Mad Ball, Hatebreed and Fugazi, Terror can be found littered across thousands of fans’ Mount Rushmore and rightfully so. As time seeps into the creative process, it can sometimes lead to a lacklustre record, be it a failure to capture the previous magic or an old-school approach that doesn’t quite fit modern production, leaving some projects to fall flat. ’Still Suffer’ is the furthest away from this phenomenon that any band could get. This 10-track stick of dynamite is packed with incendiary riffs and brutalist lyricism that stuns from start to finish. Time has worked in Terror’s favour as this project still adorns the sound of adolescent rebellion while approaching it from a wiser and more astute place in life. This attitude to writing, coupled with the boots on the ground and minimalist production of former guitarist Todd Jones, leans into the authenticity that makes hardcore such a beautiful and communal genre and does exactly what it sets out to do from cover to cover: spread love and kick ass.
In classic TERROR fashion, the album starts in a blitz of chugs and speedy riffs, pressing play on this album is like letting go of a dead man’s switch connected to a 30-minute-long atomic bomb. The energy is perpetual and refuses to slow as the opening portion bounces from track to track and runs through their entire catalogue of new singles. This sonic rendition of war has an elegance to its fury, coupling their violent instrumental pattern with their astute and wise, almost introspective lyricism. The opening 3 tracks, ‘ERASE YOU FROM MY WORLD’, ‘STILL SUFFER’, and ‘PROMISED ONLY LIES’, like the rest of the album, blend together in a haze of chaos and deliver some of the most memorable riffs this band have created in their nearly 25 years of creativity. These ripping choruses and skull-shattering breakdowns have long been a staple for bands like TERROR, and it brings me great joy to see and hear that they are very obviously still kicking ass and haven’t run out of fuel yet. This non-stop action continues for the whole project and only builds as these short and sharp tracks deliver on their promise time and time again, joyous anarchy.
The singles on this album are second to none, spanning tracks 2, 4 and 5 ’STILL SUFFER’, ‘DESTRUCTION OF MY SOUL’, and ‘FEAR THE PANIC’, blow the roof off of whatever room you’re in when you listen to them. ’STILL SUFFER’ was the first track to be released along with the announcement for this album, and it is evident that the reception has been positive. Starting out with some excellent call and response chords and drum parts, it immediately breaks into their incendiary style with a harmonic to power chord progression that builds pressure indefinitely until the chorus cuts through the speakers and picks the speed up tenfold. The production quality of these tracks is second to none, and for a band that have been doing it this long to still sound so clean and concise is riveting. They couldn’t have picked a better track to be both the title track and honorary hype man, as this track embodies everything that the album sets out to do. The next 2 singles are just as influential and brutal, with ‘FEAR THE PANIC’ being not only a high point for the album but for the band itself. This track is so expertly crafted, and every ounce of effort put into both the writing process and the post-production is evident and carries this track into legend status. ‘FEAR THE PANIC’ is also a collab track with Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan, and I honestly could not think of a better collab for this project. The vocal dynamics between Scott and Ragan are perfect and is innately intertwined into the sound of the rapid power chords and truly killer snare bombs. ‘FEAR THE PANIC’ acts as a brilliant midpoint for the album, helping tide the excitement over to side B without losing any of the built-up ferocity and momentum.
The back half of the album is heavy hitter after heavy hitter; every single one of these deep cuts is true to the roots of hardcore and carries TERROR’S timeless style. With two of these tracks clocking in at sub two minutes and the other two falling just shy of three minutes, it’s a short burst of adrenaline that in any other album would likely be called a second wind, but due to the explosive nature of this album, it is merely an on-form continuation of their evident talent. The shining example of this blinding fury is the song ‘A DEEPER STRUGGLE’, this trudging and furious track fuses blistering speed with messages of finding unity within others and staying strong in the face of others’ problems, so as not to get dragged down with them. This is something the band has done forever, blending heavy and honest messaging with frenzied musical brilliance. This honest brutality is found everywhere on the album; it’s easy to make the tough guy hardcore tracks about kicking teeth in, but to make people jump off of monitors and kick each other in the face to songs talking about ‘finding beauty in your losses’ is truly poetic. As the album draws to a close, it becomes evident that it’s almost exhausting to listen to something this awesome, whether it be in your car or at a show; keeping it all together is impossible when TERROR comes into the picture. The final track ‘DECONSTRUCT IT’ is home to two of the best parts of this album, one of those being an all-out massacre of chugs and halftime blasts of the drum kit laid perfectly over a thick and intrusive bass line, and the other being an amalgamation of frontman Scott Vogels voice mails over a Wu-Tang style back beat, this, swell as the music itself just speaks to the sheer beauty of the hardcore community, friends, bands, idols and fans share an even playing field, this is something that TERROR has both championed and been a heavy part of for nearly a quarter century now, this compilation being the ending of the album is absolutely perfect and really shows just how communal and homely this scene is.
After sitting with this album for a few weeks, one thing has remained clear: it’s absolutely impossible to turn it off. This album is so much more than just another project, its lineage, its history, its community. ’STILL SUFFER’ feels like the motorway exit before your house, it has this almost uncanny familiarity and through its blend of visceral brutality and honest lyrics, it functions as a reminder of why this genre is such a core part of so many peoples identity, it has a unifying power like nothing I have witnessed while still feeling light and fun and being a vessel for creativity and brilliance. some of the best experiences I have ever had have been rammed into a sweaty venue to get hit in the skull by other members of the community and if it wasn’t for TERROR hundreds of bands around the world wouldn't have been able to provide people those memories so its nice to see that it works both ways and the talent and energy that radiates from this band are still very much there, I truly cannot wait for the world to experience this album and hopefully we can all pick up a concussion on a future UK tour.
Words by Josh Pook
