CHOLERA - Plagiarised Hope (2014) [REVIEW & STREAM]

GENRE: Crust, Hardcore, Punk, Sludge
FFO: Esoteric Youth, Young And In The Way, Nails, Razoreater, Trap Them
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Alright kids, strap yourselves in for this one because Cholera's Plagiarised Hope 7" that was released earlier this year will completely wreck you. It seems that the hardcore/crust epicenter of the universe is shifting West from Germany with bands like Alpinist, Goldust & Trainwreck to the UK with bands like Harrowed, Isolation Tank & Corrupt Moral Altar. Further evidence of this is Cholera, who in 2012 laid down a blistering framework of things to come in the form of their debut, Egotism (which is available for a free download here from Church Of Fuck). Egotism's 7 tracks gave the fan of hardcore everything they could desire, combining elements of crust, thrash & punk along with atmospheric feedback, making it a near-flawless release. 

Fast forward six months and as you take a listen to Plagiarised Hope, you soon start to realize that somehow, someway, Cholera has managed to improve upon their debut in nearly every way, something that is far to uncommon of an occurrence. Something about this record just seems bigger. It could be that it was recorded and mixed by Joe Nø Studio (Esoteric Youth, Old Skin, Iced Out) and mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Nails, SUNN O))), Integrity). Whatever the reason, it sounds amazing.

Eyeless, the first of six songs, has an intro reminiscent of a freight train, and that is fitting because for the next few minutes you are going to get run-the-fuck-over by Gristle and Anonymous. The latter half of Anonymous serves as a nice middle point with a eerily beautiful solo merging into an industrial-sounding buzz. This little interlude might lead you to believe that you have a minute to catch your breath, but you would be mistaken as the buzzsaw-attack of the aptly named Raped is upon you immediately. Swelling continues the onslaught and manages to channel the riffs of Cursed and the attitude of Chris Colohan to leave you headbanging uncontrollably. Finishing off this slab of vinyl is Puppet, a slightly slower, sludge-y, groove-soaked track that drives through you like a plow that weighs a million pounds.

It should go without saying that if you are reading this blog, you should own this record already. It's a co-release between Church Of Fuck, who has become the King Midas of hardcore recently, and Holy Ground Records. It's limited to 300 on pitch black vinyl but is still available. This is a one-time pressing so if  you need it, get it directly from the band's BigCartel page


or stream/buy a digital copy below:

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