Rhinoceros are a straight-edge hardcore band from Buffalo, NY. If the term "straight-edge" sounds a little nostalgic for the early '80s, the band's sound will make that impression even more solid. Their riffs and headlong tempos are straight out of the
Agnostic Front playbook, with some songs ripping by in barely over a minute ("Self Destruct," at 3:50, is practically an epic). There's a fair amount of feedback and noise to their music, too; they don't go for the ultra-clean, downtuned metalcore sound popularized by
Hatebreed and played by so many of their Eulogy Recordings labelmates. This is old-school hardcore that sounds destined to blare from crappy amps on the tiny stages of dives across America. Vocalist Joe Riverside similarly avoids the stylistic uniformity of his genre, shouting hoarsely but with perfect comprehensibility instead of going for a death metal growl/roar. The band offers a rumbling relentlessness reminiscent of its namesake animal, frequently working a downtuned, one-chord riff for what could be either a maddening or mosh pit-detonating length of time. Fans of the classic East Coast hardcore sound (
Sick of It All,
Bold,
Youth of Today,
Warzone) will find much to like here. ~ Phil Freeman