THE SYNN REPORT (PART 175): STAMPIN’ GROUND

Recommended for fans of: Earth Crisis, All Out War, Living Sacrifice

If you’re not aware – though it’s been well-documented here over the years – Hardcore was the first genre of “alternative”, non-mainstream music that really spoke to me as a kid.

And although I’ve grown apart from “the scene” over the years – I’m sure there’s still good parts of it still, but trying to navigate all the different cliques and their increasing obsession with “mosh style” just isn’t for me any more – I’m still always keen to find and feature new albums and new bands (perhaps you’ve even read about some of them here?) that I think best represent the sort of Hardcore that I want to hear more of.

At the same time, however, I’ve also still got a lot of love for the bands who first got me into the genre back when I was just a dumb kid (as opposed to an equally dumb adult), which is why today I want to (re)introduce you to the thuggishly thrashy Metallic Hardcore of British bruisers Stampin’ Ground.

1997 – DEMONS RUN AMOK

The band’s debut wasn’t the first thing I heard by them (that would come about a year later) and, as such, probably doesn’t hold quite as prominent a place in my affections as a result.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there’s not a lot to love about it, and it’s fascinating to hear the band in their larval form (this being their first and only album with vocalist Heath Crosby) and wearing their early influences even more prominently out in the open.

The ominous, hanging chords and chunky grooves of opener “Damnation”, for example, clearly owe a lot to classic Earth Crisis (as do the choppy, down-picked chugs and menacing melodies of “Anger As A Way of Life”) while there’s also a fair bit of Merauder to the punchy (and punky) ground ‘n’ pound of “Fester in Isolation” and the swaggering “Fear of Reprisal”.

Sure, the band have yet to fully define an identity of their own, but there’s an undeniable charm to their proto-Metalcore sound on Demons Run Amok (the title track in particular feels that little bit darker and heavier than what most of the group’s peers were doing at the time, possibly due to what seems like a little bit of the quintet’s Death Metal influences starting to seep through), and if the almost Nu-Metal-ish grooves of “Scarlet Icon” are a bit of a misfire the subsequent combo of “Manmade” and “Burn” (the former recalling, in places, Satisfaction… era Hatebreed, the latter practically bursting with Ringworm-esque rage) soon gets things back on track.

“Won’t Be Denied” then pushes the punkier side of the group’s sound to the forefront a little more (without losing their more metallic edge, obviously), dropping a few d-beat-ish moments and some extra limber bass work into the mix, after which “Idol Mysticism” brings the focus purely back to the riffs… before “Blackened” (no, not a cover of the Metallica classic) brings things to pleasingly chuggy, unapologetically ugly, conclusion.

1998 – AN EXPRESSION OF REPRESSED VIOLENCE

With the addition of a new vocalist (Adam Frankes-Sime) and the incorporation of some major Slayer and/or Kreator influences (which you can immediately hear during the frantic chop ‘n’ chug of opener “Lesion”) the band not only found what would be their “definitive” line-up but also began to properly find their sound.

The incorporation of heavier guitars and faster tempos (as found on “Emasculate”, for example) immediately gives the album a more muscular and powerful presence, letting the band hit harder than ever without sacrificing the primitive (in the best possible way) hookiness of their Hardcore roots – something which the second half of “The Death You Deserve” in particular has no issues demonstrating.

The band also seem to have learned a few new tricks as well, with “My Will Be Done” being both the most melodic and heaviest thing they’ve probably done so far (it’s a cliché now, sure, but the song’s combination of moody leads and brutish breakdowns – plus some gnarly backing growls – still felt fresh at the time), after which “I Am Legend” sees guitarists Antony Mowbray and Scott Atkins fully giving in to their thrashiest urges.

Stampin’ Ground clearly haven’t forgotten where they came from, however, as “Betrayed By Many” errs more towards “Hardcore Punk” than “Metallic Hardcore”, while “Fear the Parting Darkness” channels their formative Earth Crisis/All Out War influences (replete with gang vocals) into an even heavier, more “Metal-core” approach (the early kind, not what the word would later come to represent).

Speaking of “heavy”… the bruising riffs and brooding grooves (plus the occasional dash of bleak melody or bludgeoning breakdown) of the likes of “Boiling Point” and “Break the Mould” (especially the latter) hint at the burgeoning impact of the likes of Biohazard and Machine Head on the band’s development, with final track “Shapeshifter” (not counting the bonus cover of “Jerusalem”) marrying these influences to the group’s thrashier impulses and Hardcore fundamentals as the song builds towards its crushing crescendo.

2000 – CARVED FROM EMPTY WORDS

If you were at all already familiar with this band prior to this article there’s a very good chance that “Officer Down” is the reason why… seriously, this thing was (and still is) a true mosh-pit anthem on a par with the likes of “Davidian” or “Perseverance”, with its raging thrash-core riffage and absolutely monstrous chorus refrain (with Frakes-Sime sounding more and more like Living Sacrifice‘s Bruce Fitzhugh behind the mic).

It’s not the only reason why Carved From Empty Words was such a big underground hit, however, as the likes of “Outside Looking In” – a blistering attack on the judgemental nature of the scene’s self-righteous “gatekeepers” that still rings true today – and the spitefully catchy, savagely thrashy Spiritworld-esque “The Symmetry of Hatred” both absolutely crush too (with the former being just as much a live staple as the opener).

With “Bathe My Wounds” the band demonstrate that they’re just as capable of knocking you on your ass when they slow things down – the song’s brutish, bone-grinding pace and thick, meaty guitar tone recalling the Thrash/Death/Hardcore hybrid sound of seminal album’s like Chaos A.D. or Reborn – only to then pick things up with one of the fastest, most in-your-face tracks they’ve ever done (“Everybody Owes a Death”), which really puts drummer Ade Stokes through his paces with its ultra-intense, unrelentingly thrash-tastic assault.

“Fundamental Truth” then adds a bit more punky swagger into the mix – think Scratch the Surface era Sick of It All meets Divine Intervention era Slayer – after which “By Whatever Means Necessary” doubles down on the heavier side of Metallic Hardcore (while also giving Stokes a chance to show off his hard-hitting rhythmic chops even more) before “Nothing Changes Nothing” pushes things closer to Death-Thrash territory as it ramps up the intensity of the album even further.

The band then continue to ride this line with the even more Death Metal influenced “Mid-Death Crisis” (one of their best “deep cuts” in my opinion) which finds Mowbray, Atkins, and bassist Ian Glasper locking in to an even tighter, heavier groove for the song’s full length (especially that furious finale), with the bludgeoning beat-down chuggery and raging rhythmic riffery of “Ultimatum” then delivering the album’s conclusive sonic kerb-stomp.

2003 – A NEW DARKNESS UPON US

Following the mood-setting title-track, “Don’t Need A Reason to Hate” showcases the band continuing to embrace the thrashier side of their personality, mixing razor-sharp riffs and heaving grooves with primal Hardcore hooks in a way that is instantly recognisable as Stampin’ Ground, after which the staccato stomp of “Behind the Light” shows off just how much they’ve tightened up their rhythmic game too.

“Killer of Society” feels – especially these days – like a cathartic call-back to the Punk/Metal/Hardcore hybrid days of the mid-late 90s as it chugs, bounces, and thrashes its way out of the speakers, before “Dead From the Neck Up” – pretty much this record’s equivalent of “Officer Down” – hits you right between the eyes with some of the nastiest, catchiest riffs and hardest, heaviest hooks on the entire album (love that ending too).

With “The Cage” the band get really fucking groovy, resulting one of the hookiest (and most blatantly Earth Crisis inspired) tracks on the album, only to then switch things up with the pounding Punk-Thrash of “Bear the Scars” (another live staple) and the gloomy gut-punch of “Betrayal Has a Face” – with the addition of a little more dark melody in the latter making the chugging, churning riffs hit even harder by comparison.

In “Pain Is Weakness (Leaving the Body)” the group return to their roots a little more, hammering the listener with three minutes of unrelentingly aggro Metallic Hardcore that owes a lot to the likes of Cro-Mags and Ringworm, before channelling their Slayer/Sepultura/Kreator side even more with the tightly-wound riffage and explosive energy of “Unmarked Grave” (which sees them basically transforming into a full-on – albeit still Hardcore influenced – Thrash band for just over four-and-a-half ferocious minutes).

Penultimate powerhouse “Ashes to Scatter” then cranks up the energy and intensity one last time (closer “Mantra of a Dying World”, in a somewhat ill-advised decision, serving basically as an extended outro for its predecessor) with its mix of Death, Thrash, and Hardcore elements – all topped off with just the right amount of melody and groove – to deliver the sort of riff-driven rage-anthem that The Haunted would have been proud of!