Cold Sweat's debut album, simply called
Blinded, comes at you with a microphone in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. Seriously, check out the picture on the CD case! And as if this threat wasn't reason enough to give it a listen, then there's the curious novelty of its intentionally crusty production and a viscous, sludgy, but otherwise quite typically agitated hardcore sound. At times reminiscent of sludgecore experts
Cavity, at others the latter day grind of
Black Flag, violent outbursts like "Dumbed Down," "Chains II," "Slip Away" and "Nightmare" lurch forward like droves of the living dead; their violent contortions and gruesome convulsions punctuated by hysterical bouts of feedback and consistently oppressive dissonance. The singer's quite the shouter (and he's got that baseball bat, remember?), which is actually perfect for getting the message across for not-so-subtle tunes like "Burn Everything," "Gun in My Head" and "Choking on Silence" with utmost intensity. In the end, 21 minutes is all takes for these 12 tracks to run their course, but that's more than long enough to leave a lasting impression. One that proves Cold Sweat's caustic brand of musical aggression is certainly not for everyone, but surely of interest to fans of extreme and unconventional hardcore. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia