Album Review: Starvation - 'Starvation'

For many of us who grew up listening to hardcore and punk, the bands that left the greatest impact have always been the ones with a sincere, uncompromising message at their roots. From the defiant refusal of drugs and alcohol by Minor Threat, Have Heart and Bane to the outright contempt for animal cruelty held by the likes of Earth Crisis and Propagandhi, groups that were pissed off for a reason just resonated a whole lot more, right? Anger felt more passionate when it was fighting for something. It’s perhaps for this reason that the eponymous debut LP from Adelaide five-piece Starvation feels like such a powerfully compelling release.

With a pedigree that includes Stolen Youth, The Weight, Crisis Alert and more, the South Australian outfit craft 14 reliably face-pummeling tracks’ worth of metallic, go-for-the-throat hardcore on their first album, following a demo last year as well as a split 7” with Perth’s Negative Reinforcement. With the crew’s staunch veganism underpinning a lot of the record’s lyrics, they're refreshingly steadfast in their convictions - respect for the defenceless, unbridled disgust for those who prey on them. “My teeth will grind back to the gums / before I ever succumb to your lust for blood,” declares vocalist Marcel “Moose” Cuthbertson on opener ’Souleater’, a suitably appropriate introduction to the album’s soy-powered savagery.

And savage they most certainly are. Starvation have made little secret of their love for acts like Left for Dead and Chokehold, bands as socially aware as they are skull-crushingly heavy. Regardless, this album sees them develop beyond the Colohan worship that’s guided earlier output. While fast and vitriolic is the name of the game, (most tracks at around the minute and a half mark) there’s healthy doses of thrashy powerviolence thrown into the mix, with album highlight 'Mean Side' and closer 'Deep Lead' demonstrating the band’s affinity for combining raw, untamed sonic violence with riffy songwriting flair.

Starvation are the kind of band that make hardcore exciting. Relentlessly misanthropic, their debut sees them deliver a veritable battle cry in just under 25 minutes, standing proudly above acts mired by infantile, directionless aggression. When all is said and done, albums like the Starvation LP are important because they are, at their most basic, a fucking threat - isn’t that exactly what heavy music should be?

1. Souleater

2. Power Corrupts

3. Fill the Blanks

4. Deal With It

5. Mouth

6. Attachment

7. Injury

8. Mean Side

9. Shame Spiral

10. Crippled

11. Vultures

12. Wrecking Ball

13. Hurt Me Plenty

14. Deep Lead