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Walls of Jericho - A Day and a Thousand Years
"A Day and a Thousand Years" is the debut EP from Metalcore/Hardcore band Walls of Jericho. Unlike a lot of the more popular metalcore bands, Walls of Jericho has very little melody to be found in their sound, and offer what is these days usually referred to as Metallic Hardcore.
"A Day and a Thousand Years" was originally released in 1999 on vinyl, but re-released in 2002 with three bonus tracks, one of those being an earlier version of 'Why Father' which would appear on their debut full-length later in 1999. The other two songs are good hardcore tracks, but aren't really anything to write home about. The original release however, while only being just over 9 minutes, contains four songs that will just crush your skull.
The title track and 'Moment of Thought' showcase strong Slayer influence with Chris Rawson and Mike Hasty's guitar work, and the drumming during the bridge of the latter sounds like it could have come straight out of "South of Heaven". 'Our Fate Ends' begins with some menacing clean vocals from Candace Kucsulain before becoming a great crushing track. 'Athenian' features some nice groovy crunching guitar and more Slayer-esque drumming. The production isn't as loud as their later releases, but like many releases similar, the raw production compliments the music.
Overall, it's quite a feat for a band's debut EP to be such a crushing and punishing release. While the bonus tracks on the re-release are a bit lackluster, the original release is one short but swift punch release. A classic of Metallic Hardcore, and highly recommended for any fans of Hardcore, and bands like Hatebreed and Slayer. Hope you found this review helpful.
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