Album Review: Dragged Under – The World Is In Your Way
Seattle punks Dragged Under rev-up on raucous debut The World Is In Your Way...
When Seattle punks Dragged Under originally released this debut album on January 17, the world was a very different place. Having emerged from the ashes of Tacoma alt-metallers Rest, Repose in early 2019, vocalist Anthony Cappocchi, alongside guitarists Ryan “Fluff” Bruce and Josh Wildhorn (as well as Hans Hessburg and Kalen Anderson on bass and drums) worked hard and fast to rise again and self-release nine tracks of the edgiest, most in-your-face punk in recent memory – loaded with underdog appetite and energy.
Ten months down the line, it feels like everything has changed, but that world is very-much still in their way. This proper release on new label Mascot reaffirms that mightily. Right from overcharged opener The Real You, their blend of chest-beating melodic hardcore, thrashy punk, serrated tech-metal and swaggering punk rock is utterly irresistible. Hypochondria alternates between chest-aching tension and lungfuls of deep relief. Here For War drops like a rain of mortar fire. The Hardest Drug burns its mark with searing intent. Five of these nine songs were singles first time out, and it still shows.
Feel It, the first of two new additions here, is surprisingly lightweight but an even greater earworm, with more pronounced pop-punk DNA than anything they’ve delivered before. "It encompasses the first time you heard a song, saw a movie, kissed, fucked, or loved somebody," Anthony explains, and that bittersweet blend of hope, loss and nostalgia smoulders deeply. Just like Me, comparatively, is more predictable, but no less satisfying in its introspective alternation between frustration and catharsis. They’re slight additions for anyone already familiar with these rising heavy hotshots, For the unindoctrinated, however, now is the perfect opportunity to get Dragged Under...
Rating: 3/5
For Fans Of: Beartooth, Turnstile, FEVER 333
The World Is In Your Way is released on November 13 via Mascot