Album Review: Rise Above – For Better For Worse
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Dutch metallic hardcore punk crew Rise Above are back with a new mini album, following on from their Painkiller and Forever extended players and 2016’s DIY full-length All That Is Solid… Melts Into Air.
Having weathered the storm of losing drummer, Pierre, in 2019 Rise Above’s Roy, Arch and Harm recruited a replacement in Jorritt and persevered, refusing to quit. And it is that persistent attitude that runs through the ten tacks and brief fifteen-minute duration.
Bookended by the chant-along titling tracks, For Better and For Worse, this mini album ably demonstrates Rise Above’s disregard for anything other than the most feral and hard-hitting compositions. If you were looking for a comparison, then For Better For Worse would stack up favourably against a band like the LA legends, Terror.
Jorritt makes an early mark with a cacophony of unrelenting pounding at the beginning of Everyone Counts, while Avatar is just a straightforward middle finger of aggressive guitar and agro-riddled vocals.
The Terror comparisons come in the shape of Error’s crunching guitar and the choppy mid-section and two-step rhythms of (and not a cover) Return to Strength. White Eyes is big and fast with a distinctly grooving undercurrent, while Sacre My Demons incorporates Crossover elements into its bridges and finds itself moving from fast and bouncing to slow and beatdown in one of Rise Above more eclectic tracks.
The two songs featuring members of fellow Dutch Hardcore maniacs, LIES! have an added spite about them, with the noticeably longer Recap including Sander on guitar benefit from the extra instrumentation. From the early rapid-fire riffing, through the stomping progression to the ripping solo, this one is a stone-cold live favourite in the making.
Vocalist Rene adds his chops to Persevere, turning the dial up to eleven with a heavy hardcore pillage and a voice to instil fear in even the most hardy of souls.
For Better For Worse finds Rise Above doing what all good hardcore bands should do: get in, destroy everything, and get the F! out of there, pronto. Any longer and it’d likely start to cause physical injuries.
