D.R.U.G.S. // D.R.U.G.S.

After being unceremoniously booted from his last band 'Chiodos', frontman Craig Owens took just 12 months or so to select a new band, put together from his 'closest friends and the best musicians', and record a new album. Owen's new group includes guys previously involved with 'From First To Last', 'Story Of The Year', 'Underminded' and 'Matchbook Romance' and is an attempt at some kind of post-hardcore super group inspired by frustration and similar difficult experience. Their debut is clearly fuelled by a need to vent – most musicians feel their music acts as a kind of catharsis and it has never been more true than with D.R.U.G.S. Almost every track is a lyrically vitriolic and brutally honest insight into Owen's last year, backed by tight guitar hooks and aggressive drums. The vocals remain melodic while visceral and electro industrial samples here and there break-up what could easily be a formulaic album. By the second and third listen it begins to stand out from the others in it's pigeon-hole and it is clear that this self-titled debut is not just another post-hardcore album but could potentially be the start of something significant.