New Music – From The Ashes

Rising like the mighty hammer that fell all those years ago, Bloodclot bursts into action with some punk and hardcore heroes, bringing the spirit of hardcore into a revival that never seemed to truly burn out. The legendary line-up of Todd Youth from Samhain, Warzone, Agnostic Front, and even once playing with Motörhead for a brief period of time, Nick Oliveri who has played for just about everyone under the sun including Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Dwarves, Vista Chino, and even having his own personal band Mondo Generator. There is also John Joseph who was in the immaculate punk band the Cro-Mags and finally Joey Castillo who has filled in for Queens Of The Stone Age, Trash Talk, Danzig, Zakk Sabbath, and Wasted Youth. Almost in a call to action, Bloodclot comes fully swinging both in the recording studio and on the stage despite every member being forty-five or above.

The twelve-track, twenty-nine-minute hell ride is simply called Up In Arms, a bit of an understatement for how brutal and truly aggressive it is at a first glance. Bloodclot captures what makes an adrenaline rush into music, they capture the rebel yells of angered voices that never got out the energy of the older day; they perfectly signify that music is a powerful tool in both the destruction and the building of a nation. With their opening self-titled track, “Up In Arms”, there is a subtle use of amplifying noise before the listener is cast into an overbearing amount of sound. The percussion from Castillo that bangs along with the raging bass from Oliveri, the bass that then conflicts with Youth’s guitar and the vocals where Joseph is at a constant scream. Bloodclot is not for the faint and they make this apparent in their first moments of Up In Arms where Joseph describes, “Violence of sleep, movement of sheep. Death raining down, blood paints the town”. Still capsuling that same bottled energy that he had in the Cro-Mags back in the 1980’s, where Joseph was the frontrunner for one of the most in-your-face bands of the decade.

Moving on in a frantic two-step motion, “Fire”, “Manic” and “Kill The Beast” launch onto the scene as catalysts of utter destruction. Incredibly painful and almost overbearing, Bloodclot is a sadistic dream with pounding speed-ridden riffs and the overall motion being ramped up to an even eleven. Even when Joseph is on the stage at the humble age of fifty-four, he still moves just as he did so many years ago, lighting the stage in a rough-cut, maniacal manner of animalistic movement and rapid-fire vocals without breaking a sweat. Bloodclot is a band that stands out for their ability to kill both the recording studio and to totally annihilate the live stage as well. Youth, Oliveri, and Castillo are all fantastic throughout their set on their co-tour with Negative Approach, another group of legendary punk rockers that still have as much power as they did in yesteryear.

Even as Bloodclot begins to reach the final moments of Up In Arms, they still ramp the movement and energy up to a constant eleven. “Slipping Into Darkness” is a rampaging beast of sudden clicks from Castillo almost reminiscing of Bad Brains’ track, “Sailing On” where it suddenly erupts in a wall of sound in mere seconds. The bass solo from Oliveri is then the flashy back layer behind the eruption of Todd Youth’s breakneck solo that transitions the track into “Life As One” which is more systematic than the previous tracks. Even for the several moments where it does catch its breath, Bloodclot continues on through the twenty-nine-minute record; keeping the consistent energy as they move onto the final track, “You’ll Be The Death Of Me”. A track that is a perfect send off as Bloodclot’s constant rush of Up In Arms begs for an eventual end as the rugged beating that they hand out seems endless. The head-banging, gun-slinging hell raisers prove that age is merely a number and punk rock is still very alive and still very well.

Up In Arms gives metal heads and punk rockers more of what they need, a constant mosh-pit inducing, lip-biting, moment of explosive movement that begs to be played when driving at top speeds or jumping off the furniture in your house. Seeing Bloodclot live, meeting and talking to the members, realizing just how friendly and appreciative they were is just the cherry on top of the punk rock knuckle sandwich. If Bloodclot makes it to your town and you have the chance, make sure you go see the legends in action.

Listen to Up In Arms Here!!! – Youtube/BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes