Bloodshot and Dilated ‘Bad Intensions’ : CD Review

This review is not for the faint of heart. If fast paced, in your face, savage and raw, unrelenting and brutally honest, raw, distilled and crunching punk is not your cup of tea, do yourself a favor, turn around and buy a Justin Beiber CD. This is Hardcore Punk.

East Bay Area, Northern California’s Bloodshot and Dilated are a young band that is D.I.Y. or die! Formed back in late 2010, B.A.D. have been cutting a swath through the bay area punk and thrash scene for a little over a year. Their first recording, 2011’s “Riot in Paradise”, is only 6 months old and was a rallying cry. It’s follow up, 2012’s “Bad Intentions” is a clarion call to arms that does not suffer from the dreaded “Sophomore Jinx”.

“Bad Intensions” is a Lo-fi, raw masterpiece. It harkens back to 1977-1986 Punk/Post punk and hardcore traditions yet sounds fresh and original. The first thing I noticed was how loud and how low the bass is in the mix. Most hardcore is very “Mid Rangy”. This has some serious “ground and pound attack” thanks to Brian’s blast beat/ polka thrash drumming and Alina’s pile driver bass thumps. Bass heavy, but not muddy. The guitars by Mat and Sean remind me of Circle jerks and Bad Religion “three chords and the truth punk” meets pre-“Reign in Blood” Slayer, Venom and DRI Metal and cross over;however, this is not crossover or metal. This is 100% punk and it means business. Mat and Rooster’s Vocals sound like a natural ( not faked) “pig squeal over a megaphone” attack with an ode to Kurt from DRI ( in tone not speed) and Joe from D.O.A. This is 100% Raw,naked and distilled anger captured on wax. The Breakdowns remind me less of breakdowns and more of”My War” era Black Flag, Flipper, TSOL, and Doom Metal. Simple Anthems yet heavy riffs. The meat and potatoes here are it’s breakneck, relentless, take no prisoner speed and lyrics.

The lyrics here are unapologetic,honest. The Lyrics have the subtlety of a punch to the face. There just simply is no subtlety here. The Lyrics preach against the hypocrisies of religion (“Die Alone”). Topics like abuse and those that stand by their man (“Victim”), police brutality and corruption (“Little Pig”) provoke minds and simply provoke.Whether singing about mental collapse from dealing with the rat race (“Identity Crisis”), addiction (“Get Your Fixx”), drunk driving and stupidity (“Drive fast, Take chances”) or modern problems and chaos (“Out of Control”) they pull no punches. Bloodshot and Dilated equally pepper songs with lots of controversy when they sing about children facing this messed up world (“Fxxx The Kids”),then follow it up with tongue in cheek fun about friendship and partying (“Thicker than Rum”). They rage on subject matter about the horrors and realities of war (“Born of War”), despair and anguish(“Kill Yourself”) and the lies, propaganda and paranoia we live through day to day (“Conspiracy”). These words are short and to the point anthems of our age. Like 151 rum without a chaser. This is the bitter truth served raw.

This is a must buy if you are already converted to punk. If you are getting into punk I can think of no better starting point. I highly recommend this Album over 99.9% of the mainstream punk out right now. (For fans of DK, Poison Idea, Circle Jerks, DRI,7 Seconds,Sick of it All,Exploited, and Bay Area Gutter punk).To obtain this magnum opus go to: http://bloodshotanddilated.com/


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