Walls of Jericho
All Hail the Dead
7.5
Screw Angela Gossow, Candace Kucsulain has the voice and tenacity to back up her reputation in the world of underground music. Not only did she recently receive a blow to the face, which resulted in a broken nose, but also continued to finish the show and refused to take a break from the tour. Now that, my friends, is fucking tough. Trustkill (Walls of Jericho’s label) themselves put it nicely, “Nobody fucks with Candace.” With that said, Walls of Jericho has released one hell of an album here. All Hail the Dead will rip your face off with its hardcore fury, only to sock you in your bloodied mess you used to call your face, with its tough-ass breakdowns.
Taking their game to the next level since the release of The Bound Feed the Gagged, Walls of Jericho has crafted quite the album that has the perfect mix of old-school hardcore and mosh breakdowns. Chris Rawson and Mike Hasty are able to throw together a good mix of old-school style hardcore riffs in the vein of bands like Agnostic Front or Sick of It All, but are quick to punish your ears with some crushing metalcore based riffs. In addition, do not forget those mosh breakdowns that will have the hardcore kids kung-fu fighting in no time flat. Not to mention, Candace will grapple you by the balls and rip them off with her strong vocal performance. You can sense the desperation and power in her scream and there is just perfect sing/scream along parts to be found throughout All Hail the Dead in “Revival Never Goes Out of Style” or “Through the Eyes of a Dreamer.” While listening to this, you have no choice but to submit and start bobbing that head along to the heaviness served on a bloodstained platter.
If you are grooving on the likes of the new Most Precious Blood album, do yourself a favor and buy this. All Hail the Dead proves that Walls of Jericho is in it for the long run and has earned the popularity they have received. This band is the real deal, not some gimmick because they are female fronted. Buy this album.
