Album Review: Bayonet - Bayonet EP

Throw away all your preconceptions about Senses Fail and invariably your opinions on Buddy Nielsen because Bayonet doesn’t care. Bayonet are like a alt-music supergroup comprising of members of The Banner (Jeremy Comitas on guitar), Fit For An Autopsy (Will Putney on bass), Suburban Scum (drummer Paul Klein) and Senses Fail (Buddy Nielsen on lead vocals). It’s a recipe for awesome.

Opening track 'Nightmare' is like a straight up roundhouse kick to the face and it gets progressively defiant from thereon in. 'Blackbird' is a fantastically bellicose song while Harsh is a catharsis of a midway point. It’s intense and full of amplified angst (the EP ends with Buddy claiming “I hate myself I hate my fucking self” on New York Minutes). Lyrics like “I live my life like I’m going to hell, so when I get there I won’t feel like I failed” and “All I ever wanted was to not feel alone but that’s exactly what I got because that’s exactly what I'm owed” are scattered all over the EP as an example of the amplified animosity.

It’s been noted that for the past couple of Senses Fail records you can see the progression towards a heavier sound the band have been making, so it’s great to see Buddy embracing that genre with his side project. I’ve been waiting for this record for what feels like forever and the word all along was that it would be a full-length so to only have a short 5-track EP is my only disappointment. Nightmare and New York Minutes have been up on the band’s Myspace for a long while so only 60% of the EP is new material. When the music itself is this killer, only getting to hear 3 new songs is a cruel taster leaving you desperately wanting more.

5/5

'Bayonet' EP by Bayonet is released July 26th on Mightier Than Sword Records

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Chantelle Goodchild