Tower 7 Entrance to a Living Organism cassette
TOWER 7 is a new band from New York with members of KALEIDOSCOPE and this strange tape is their debut. It’s way more advanced than a demo—even its runtime, almost 20 minutes for eight songs, is longer than most current hardcore band’s full-length 12″s usually are. Urgency is an appreciated feature in hardcore, although TOWER 7 dares to take their time and build a larger and more deliberate work than to rush through a potentially collapsing structure. Many of the songs are mid-tempo, recalling anarcho crossover bands like ANTI-SYSTEM, A//SOLUTION, a less hectic ELECTRO HIPPIES and SUBVERT. The this-is-more-than-music vibes reminisces the ’90s activist hardcore movement, especially within the vocals, and when the metal riffs lose rhythm they remind me of South American ultra metal bands. Quite a few influences to handle but TOWER 7 distills it to their own unique form and they offer enough space and time to digest it. It’s a gradual process to have the music grow over me, although the breakthrough is not guarded by my resistance; instead it is a playful experience to find my way among the many elements. If you are into crusty hardcore that is not blackened, atmospheric, didactic or any of those horrible sub-styles; but dirty, passionate and is about daily politics that are experienced by its performers, then TOWER 7 is a great choice. In short, if you like good things, check them out.