Review Summary: The Contingent bring back older style hardcore, with both good and questionable results.
The landscape of hardcore I've always personally seen as bland. For a large majority it's simply blind aggression and feels like watered-down metalcore. There are, however, a few exceptions. Some older hardcore such as Bane's "Give Blood" and Comeback Kid's "Wake The Dead" often show hardcore's unique side that isn't blind aggression, instead it has an aggressive, but still cohesive sound to it. The more modern Hardcore under the bands Stick To Your Guns and The Ghost Inside are entertaining, but feel more like just more heavy metalcore with the stereotypical "Though Guy" persona.
The Contingent are an outfit from Louisville, Kentucky of all places, and the band members are pretty young, still in high school. The lyrics show their age, but are still well written and are never cringe-worthy by any means.
The debut EP begins right away with "Nervewracker", which opens with a fast drum line and the hardcore vocal style that is familiar. The vocals themselves are good, but sometimes lacks punch. "Nervewracker" is probably the hardest track off of the work, and features a hardcore style breakdown at about the midpoint of the song, which flows into "Dirt" which follows the same formula with more metalcore tinge. It's at this point that one should see where they get the influence from older hardcore. It's also where we first hear clean vocals. The cleans are not
horrible but they're not great, either. Quite frankly, the outfit would have been better off if the cleans were left to either someone with a better voice or just not there at all.
"Bruises" hearkens back to the beginning of the EP with the aggressive attitude, except that the guitars take more of a stage in the song which is beneficial, as the guitars are solid and the riffs are nothing dazzling, but set a good stage for the music itself. The vocals in the track are very reminiscent of the vague hardcore influence found in August Burns Red. The drumming is also good, even throughout the EP, especially in the first track.
Sadly "The Road" is lackluster. It starts off with a nice acoustic passage, and it technically serves as the ballad for the album if you could call it that, with more melodic flavoring with slower, acoustic passages. The problem with the track is the cleans. They are used for the majority of the song and just don't sound very good, and it sadly brings the track down.
Painkiller is a entertaining EP with great instrumentals and good vocals. The EP is lackluster in a few places, but is still kept entertaining with the influence from older works of hardcore, while tinting it with their own style of hardcore. The production is not dazzling but serves its purpose and the lyrics are fairly solid. If you are into hardcore, give this a spin. You may come to enjoy it.
