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This short lived San Jose Punk/Hardcore band made an immediate impact in the South Bay and the surrounding suburbs, while they may have only been around for a few short years. With their distinctive metal influenced guitar work they sounded unlike many of their contemporaries who were bashing out 1-2-3-4 play it fast hardcore. Executioner had a much more developed style and a higher caliber of songwriting skills and the recording show just how ahead of the curve they were. This LP focuses on their early more punk hardcore sound with their distinctly British influenced sounding recordings from 82-83 where the influences of bands such as Discharge and GBH to Motorhead can be heard mixed with a healthy dose of American Hardcore angst and boredom.
The LP features their studio recordings from 82 and 83 including the tracks from the legendary 1983 cassette only San Jose comp 'Growing Pains' the packaging includes booklet,postcard,sticker, and insert. For the collector types there's even a limited edition splatter vinyl edition.
For fans of: Crucifix, Christ on Parade, GBH, Ribzy, Discharge, Crass and Bad Brains
Our take: We first stocked Hellbound a few weeks ago, but I wasn’t able to grab a copy before it sold out. However, it’s back in stock now, so it’s not too late for me to point your attention toward this rager. Executioner was from San Jose, California, and played their first show in 1982. The flyers in the insert booklet show them playing numerous gigs with Northern California punk luminaries, but in particular it seems like Crucifix and Social Unrest rubbed off on Executioner’s sound. Like Crucifix, Executioner was explosive when they were in full-on hardcore mode, but like Social Unrest their songs were shot through with the melodic sensibility of Southern California bands like (early) Social Distortion and the Adolescents. I love all those sounds, and the fact Executioner could nail them so perfectly makes Hellbound a slam dunk for me. Most of the a-side is devoted to a 1983 recording session with a clear and powerful sound, while the rest of the record is filled out with recordings that are rougher but still powerful and legible. I’m confident any early 80s punk fanatic will love all 23 tracks. Hellbound also has great packaging, so if this is your thing, there’s no reason not to pull the trigger.