CD Reviews

• Zero Tolerance
  Now this is good. Dublin's Coldwar have taken all sorts of heavy shit - Sepultura-esque metal, hardcore and a wee bit of punk and have moulded them to create a suitably filthy and disturbing beast.
  
  The six incendiary tracks on this MCD are, as you'd imagine, fuelled by pure vitriol, with 'Dirty Protest' and 'In the name of god' demanding special mention for their headbangingly ferocious intensity.
  
  A fantastically furious fucking racket.

• Blistering.com
  The term Cold War brings to mind immediate images of fear, depression and barely concealed anger and hated. Musically the band Coldwar also do this, but there's nothing concealed here. Instead what you get with this six-track EP is up front, honest and unapologetic. It's the jack-booted kick to the ribs that you hoped wouldn't be delivered. Kicking straight in with the drums, a scuzzy guitar riff gives way to the hoarse vocal punishment of 'War Rising'. An unrelenting, dirty sounding head-fuck of a song, it combines elements Slayer/Sepultura metal with punk-tinged hardcore, but there's nothing metalcore about Coldwar. There's nothing fashionable about them at all. No sooner has the final bellow of 'War! Rising!' faded than a slight drum roll heralds the onset of 'Dirty Protest'. The extended introduction spews forth constantly shifting and changing riffs, which eventually part, giving way to a pit-inducing verse that's bolstered to a punching chorus. Each song is full of rummaging moments, little unexpected twists, tension and a constant supply of anger. The flapping guitar at the beginning of 'The Messenger' is quickly shoved aside by an avalanche of drums. The sparse, hollow chorus acts as a direct counterpoint to the bludgeoning verse, a daring move, that leads into the a squealing solo. 'In The Name Of God' and 'Misery Cult' marry simple sounding riffs to gunshot drums and pulsating bass lines, Trevor's vocals a harsh, guttural growl remaining clear enough that you can distinguish the lyrics. While initially the production comes across as being a little poor the more time you spend on 'In The Suns Dead Rays' the more it seems to fit. Rough and ready it's not as furious as say the likes of The Red Chord but it's still unrelenting, demanding that you bang your head.

• Metal Hammer UK
  Debut mini album from the fast rising Irish metallers.
  
  With a band formed from a number of hardcore and metal acts, one would expect the resulting music to fall into the current vogue for metalcore. Not so for Coldwar, The Dublin five-piece have instead gone a stage further back - to the source. 'In The Sun's Dead Rays' brings in the dark fury of Napalm Death, the doom-laded aesthetics of Cathedral and the hell-bound bluesy musicianship of Iron Maiden. The standout track on the short album has to be 'Dirty Protest' - named after an Alan Partridge-ism. The brooding intensity of the break-neck speed guitars and rigid, galloping drums is repeatedly broken-up by a groove-heavy riff, which expertly lifts the song. The guttural vocals of Trevor 'The Growler' have acres of power and the occasional Irish infections give the sound a definite distinctiveness. The brave use of unusual arrangements, the often bluesy riffing and the earnest integrity of the lyrics, lifts this release above many of the recent metallic hardcore releases.