Are you in or in the way? This urgent question is basically the whole idea behind Stray From The Path, one of modern hardcore’s most outspoken bands and that is something to behold in such a politically charged genre of music.
Euthanasia takes no prisoners and from second one onward it is a true SFTP record with angry vocals, distorted guitars and blasting drums. The American and Scottish four-piece is more desperate, more pissed and more enraged than ever before. What has changed since their previous work Internal Atomics?
The pandemic was a big incision for every band obviously and SFTP were no exception. The first months were especially challenging, and the uncertainty drove everyone a bit crazy. Fortunately, the members of the band found a way to break out of the vicious cycle of not knowing what comes next and considering putting down their instruments for good. The solution is called streaming. Tom (guitars) and Craig (drums) are incredibly active on Twitch and fans were able to watch them create the new album from scratch. They even streamed their studio session with Will Putney. The interaction with their fans directly influenced Euthanasia and helped Craig to stay sane, when he broke his back and couldn’t do much at all.
As expected from Stray From The Path, the record is a mirror of the modern world and they point their fingers at the glaring issues of the modern time, be it police brutality, corporate greed or corrupt politicians. ”Guillotine” could possibly be one of their heaviest tracks to date and one can really feel the disgust in Drew’s voice when he quite literally spits out the chorus.
If you are familiar with the band’s discography the song ”III” should peak your interest, just by looking at the title and yes it is the successor of ”Badge and A Bullet”. The two previous tracks were also about police brutality and since the violence towards innocent civilians didn’t stop but even got worse, this trilogy of songs is still important. ”Servants of the 187 / Send another victim to heaven / Servants of the 187 / A badgе and a bullet is a deadly weapon”.
Probably one of their grooviest songs ever is ”Law Abiding Citizen”, which is about people abusing their power, influence and wealth to stay out of prosecution for all the stuff they have done. They can still walk around without restrictions and don’t have to fear anything, even though many have destroyed lives or took their fair share in exploiting the planet or the people.
The whole album is politically charged, probably even more than all their albums before, thus it might not be for everyone, but if you got an open ear for people telling you what goes awry today and if you need some cathartic relief, Euthanasia might be the album for you. Stray From The Path are more infuriated than ever before and all that pent up anger is released through and on this record. It is as radical as it can be. Are you in or in the way?
