Hailing from Los Angeles, Hardcore outfit Entry crash land with their diverse debut on the renowned Southern Lord label. Following on from the band’s acclaimed (and sold out) 7” release, No Relief, Detriment takes influences from the likes of Discharge and Minor Threat and then throws in the sort of off-kilter touches that will find favour with those raised on a diet of Botch and Converge. A short, sharp shock, Detriment clocks in at just over fourteen minutes in length, the album making up what it lacks in length with sheer, white-knuckle ferocity.
Surprisingly for so short a record, Detriment kicks off with an intro that suggests a subtle sludge influence, Sean Sakamoto’s evilly distorted bass prowling around Clayton Stevens’ hammer-blow riffing. It is not long, however, before Chris Dwyer’s rattling snare introduces the Rancid-on-steroids hardcore of Your Best interest. With Sara G’s vocals closer in spirit to death metal than straight forward punk and the band throwing in a sudden tempo change, Your best Interest is every bit as vicious as a post-bar knife fight and, at only a minute or so in length, it gives ground just as suddenly to the high velocity impact of Vulnerable, a searing assault that sounds anything but. Seemingly in the grip of a primal bloodlust, the band run amok through the third track, Secondary, dispensing with the whole thing in just under a minute and recalling the white-hot horror of Napalm Death’s seminal Scum in the process.
One of only two songs that exceeds two minutes, Selective Empathy sees the band pile additional weight into the riffs, whilst Chris does his best to reduce his kit to so much matchwood. It ends in the sound of overheating amps, and the band up the tempo once more with the adrenaline-soaked These Feelings capturing the same spirit of intensity that made Black Flag’s live shows an event as liable to end in bloodshed and arrest as a post-gig beer. Continuing to exude a menacing atmosphere, the tribal pummel of Not your Decision is almost catchy in much the same way as an apple with a razorblade lodged within is almost tasty, whilst Control sees the band hurtling towards the album’s end with unhinged abandon. It leaves the three and half minute Demons (practically an epic in comparison to the rest of the band’s output) to bring the album to a suitably uncomfortable conclusion. Not unlike putting on a punk record to find it’s been substituted with a Neurosis disc, the slow-motion horror that the band unleash suggest that the band have plenty more tricks in their sonic arsenal, with Detriment only a warning shot across the bows.
And with that, Detriment takes its leave, the listener somewhat bloody and insensible in its wake. It’s rare indeed that an album carries such an immense and lingering sense of threat; yet Detriment succeeds by being harder, darker and nastier than the rest. Whilst fourteen minutes may seem unfeasibly brief, the band make every precious second count and such is the density of the production, that time itself seems to slow as the band unleash wave upon wave of heavily distorted noise in the general direction of the hapless listener. Woe to those who venture to an Entry gig unprepared, for this is a grimy and unfiltered assault on the senses that will leave you shaking and confused. Not for weak of heart, perhaps, but Detriment is every bit as unhinged as its creators intended. Approach with caution… 8.5
