CoC : Cast Iron Hike - Watch it Burn : Review

Cast Iron Hike - _Watch it Burn_
(Victory Records, 1997)
by: Zena Tsarfin (7 out of 10)

Welcome to the purgatory known as post-hardcore, you have two choices: Go soft and embrace the "emo" work ethic or hone your skills and put out a charged record that's progressive but still brutally angry. Quite thankfully, Cast Iron Hike have chosen the latter path for their debut on Victory Records. Listening to Watch it Burn, it's easy to see why the Boston-based band have caused such a stir along the East Coast with their metallic, downtuned sound and singer Jacob Brennan's powerful vocal performance. All these elements are captured quite nicely on tracks such as "Boxed," "Workhorse" and "Swimming Through Sand" (picture Quicksand meets Only Living Witness). Although some songs tend to bleed into one another, this record weighs Cast Iron Hike in as a potential force to be reckoned with.

(article published 16/10/1997)