Cease to Exist-Heptaparaparshinokh EP (2012)

I first found out about the DIY hardcore scene (as opposed to being into punk as a historical genre of music) when I was 17 or so. One of the first LPs I bought after I started going to basement shows was Deathreat's "The Severing of the Last Barred Window." I can still remember the amused look on the woman behind the recordstore register's face as she rang up my eager young friends and I. "Oh, yeah. Deathreat. I'm a little too old for them now." Of course, being 17 year old kids, we thought this was preposterous-how could one EVER be too old for a hardcore band?!?

Much the same thought crosses my mind with Cease to Exist's EP. It's not bad: fans of His Hero is Gone, especially their first 7", will enjoy it. Brooding, downtuned guitars, spastic drum pummeling, and harsh, scratchy, growled vocals sprawl over the six tracks. I would have a lot of fun catching them at a basement show, and they actually remind me of some band I saw in Olympia last time I was there, which sounded like From Ashes Rise. I just think I'm pushing the maximum age limit as far as "ability to enjoy this on a visceral level" goes.

Check out CeasetoExist on facebook here. Download the EP here.