(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Sweden’s Riwen.)

Although I don’t listen to as much of it these days, there’s still a part of me that holds Hardcore very dear to my heart, as this was the music that really started my love affair with the howling distortion of a clanging, chugging, buzzing electric guitar.

Of course I’d been exposed to music before this – my Dad was (and is) a big Prog aficionado, and as a result I was lucky enough to grow up with the sounds of Pink Floyd, Yes, Rush, King Crimson, Queen, et al, as the soundtrack to my formative years – but when it finally came time for me to start spreading my own musical wings, it was the sound of Hardcore that first drew me in, possibly (probably) because it was the direct antithesis of Prog in so many ways!

I tell you this because if there’s one thing I’m sure of it’s that The Cold, the debut full-length by Scandinavian brawlers Riwen (whom I last mentioned several times in conjunction with their EP release), really recaptures that primal, gritty essence which initially drew the younger me to Hardcore all those years ago. Continue reading »