Stray From the Path - ‘Euthanasia’ [Review]

Review : Dan Maynard

I feel like I should start by pointing out that I’ve been aware of Stray From the Path for just over 12 hours. It was last night that Everblack main man Nev Pearce suggested I give them a listen with the new album being released today. So with that, I’ve known of this bands existence for less than a day and this album (SPOILERS) is already looking to be in my top 3 albums of the year and I haven’t stopped listening to it all day.

Euthanasia is the latest instalment from Long Island natives Stray From the Path and from the moment this album kicks in with opening track Needful Things, right through to the final moments of fire crackling of Ladder Work, the energy just doesn’t stop. This is 10 tracks of pure straight up aggressive hardcore and a clear massive fuck you to everything that vocalist Andrew Dijorio is growing tired of in his home country of the United States. Dirty and true to the heart passionate vocals underlined with the most filthy balls deep guitar tone you’ve heard in forever, you try and find a moment where you feel the need to switch this album off, I promise you, you won’t.

Needful Things opens the album, after a quick spoken word soundbite, the track blasts into a mass wall of heavy noise and I mean that as a compliment. Unprecedented energy drags you throughout the intro and into the verse where Dijorio first tears the speakers apart with some of the meanest screams I’ve heard in quite some time. With its bouncy verses and ear worm of a chorus “Are you in or in the way”, this track is everything an opening track should be.

III was one of several songs released as a single with accompanying film clips prior to the albums release and for me, is probably my personal favourite of the ten tracks. The guitars drive the song with such groove as the drums pull it into a tight ball of a slap to the face (that fucking drum production *chefs kiss*). Dijorios lyrics hold so much power behind them and are so aggressive and truthful, you can hear that these aren’t just ramblings of a mad man, but a dude who just thinks shit is out of order. Though that last sentence honestly sums up the vocals and lyrical content throughout the entire album, there’s just something about this song that just makes you want to flip everyone off, in the most loving of ways….I guess?

As stated before, III is my top pick for the album, but boy does Law Abiding Citizenclimb in at a very close second. Head bopping and contagious as fuck, this song absolutely slays. Another track that grabs you by the throat and hammers you into the floor with its gritty tone and massive drums.

I think this may be one of the quickest I’ve become this hooked on a band. I’ve spent the day spreading the word of Stray From the Path, cranking the album start to finish more than once and trying to find words that truly sum up how brilliant this album is. From its strong lyrics to its bouncy chorus’s and right down to the production of the album, I cannot fault it at all. Now I sit back, relax and wait for them to *fingers crossed* announce an Australian tour.