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Iron Cages “Indulgence” EP is the latest from this DC hardcore punk quartet. After a string of tapes, this is their first vinyl release and their best to date. Featuring members of Firewalker, CDR and a number of broken up DC bands, they rip through 5 songs on "Indulgence." Pummeling drums drive this record from the start, while the riffs are straight forward hardcore punk with enough flourishes to keep things interesting. Oh, and the vocals are scorching too. They are most comfortable playing as fast as possible, but slow things down into mosh inducing crawls. You are just as likely to catch them covering the Ramones as Government Issue. This is a split release with Hog Wild Records.
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Nate Patsfall
Art by Sammantha Garcia
Our take: Debut 7" from this DC band. Iron Cages strikes me as an oddball hardcore band that interrogates the conventions of hardcore songwriting. They have the same ingredients as a typical hardcore band—throat-shredding vocals, fast and chaotic riffs, and the occasional mosh-inducing tempo change—but the songs don’t flow like you expect them to. Rather than building from a verse into a triumphant chorus and then letting things crash into a breakdown in the expected way, Iron Cages swing between these modes in a way that feels haphazard and almost random, frequently delaying or omitting the “payoff” that we expect from pop oriented music. Beyond just the arrangements, they also have a quirky and interesting playing style. In multiple songs they do this strange rhythm I call the “slow pogo” that is infectious, like cough syrup-infused take on the standard 1-2 hardcore beat. If you have a clear idea of the formula that makes for a good hardcore record and you expect bands to stick to that formula then you won't like Iron Cages. However, if you like bands who do it their own way and defy your expectations, then this record may well do it for you.