Negative Blast - "Echo Planet" on Apple Red LP ***LIMITED to 500***

To tap into the present moment while simultaneously avoiding its pitfalls is no easy task, but on their debut LP "Echo Planet", San Diego’s Negative Blast make it look easy. Engineered and mixed by the band’s own Alex Jacobelli at Sunsick Studios, mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, and released on Quiet Panic, "Echo Planet" is a fully realized, layered, and expertly crafted slab of hardcore punk that is both unconcerned with convention and deeply reverent of the genre’s roots. The members’ musical pedigree runs the gamut from 2000s hardcore stalwarts Lewd Acts and Hour of the Wolf to innovative post-punk act [CON•TACT], with the recent addition of Mario Rubalcaba throwing Hot Snakes, Earthless, OFF!, and more into an already impressive list of bona fides. Boasting those qualifications, it’s no surprise that Negative Blast are as precise as they are left of center. With a knack for mid-tempo dirge that evokes   My War-era Black Flag or Pissed Jeans and a darkly atmospheric melodi