The first track “Snake” starts slow with muffled vocals, a calm guitar, and drums that barely hint to the absolute smack in the face that is the first verse. Vocalist and drummer Jake Morenc leads this frontal charge with aggressive screams and fast drums while the guitar follows with a riff that is very reminiscent of early metalcore, such as Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold. This is followed by the chorus, which has humming in the background and adds an almost ominous and evil touch to the song. Lead Guitarist Radean Anavria delivers a solo that any guitarist could appreciate, that fits perfectly within the song. As you think the song is coming to an end, Jake initiates a sequence that is very reminiscent of Black metal with a blast beat and fast guitar. As that winds down, you are hit with the intro to the next song “Enemy” with “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,” a quote directly from the 1995 movie “The Usual Suspects.”

Guitars come in heavy with a hardcore riff laid down by Aiden Spektor and Radean Anavaria with the bass drum following it. The chorus contains some clean vocals with guitars until Jake screams, “I’m gonna put you in the dirt!” The breakdown is heavy, with Jake once again doing his iconic screams until the next track “Godless” starts with a riff that reminds me of Time & Space era Turnstile, but a bit heavier.

This song is very personal to Jake. He explains how the song is framed around how the world is ugly and dirty and how growing up you are told that it’s not. Noise Complaint never misses with their breakdowns and this song proves that. The next song “Hell’s Not New To Me” starts with a very eerie drum and bass intro with Drako Alva, the bassist, and Jake Morenc slowly setting up the song with faint screams in the background. “For the intro, I made it a challenge for myself to include as many percussion elements and polyrhythms as I could. I came up with the initial idea about 3 years ago and had no idea what to do with it for so long. I kept working with it and transforming it into the creepy hell soundscape that you hear on the song! The most fun day was when I went into the studio alone, turned off all the lights, and just screamed my head off to make the demon/tortured souls sounds.” Jake said.

The track has a lot of clean singing which matches the heavy guitars perfectly. Jake really shines with his clean vocals in this song, showing he can keep the same energy without screaming, and there is once again a heavy breakdown. Noise Complaint doesn’t mess around with their breakdowns, and as in any metalheads dream, right before the end of the song the breakdown comes back even slower. This will cause all metalheads to wake up with a sore neck. Once you think your neck can’t take anymore, the final song “Acceptance” hits with a Latin Acoustic guitar intro.

Unfortunately, your neck isn’t safe, because a crushing riff picks up where the acoustic guitar left off. The final song is a heavy yet melodic send off to this up and coming band’s debut EP. There is something for everyone on this EP, with Jake stating bands such as Slipknot, Sunami, Deftones, and Avenged Sevenfold among many other bands as major influences. It really shows Noise Complaint’s ability to not only write, but make unique, heavy, and melodic songs. Which is why it gets a score of 9/10. This EP is a beacon for more heavy music to come back to Isla Vista. “Hell’s Not New To Me” by Noise Complaint is out now on all streaming platforms.