Norwegian hardcore-punk outfit Bokassa are currently gearing up to release their debut EP No Control and it’s an high-octane release, showing a band with bags of energy and a lot of momentum to their music.
Bokassa throws the listener straight into the EP with opener War On Everything. After a fast-paced introduction, Bokassa launches into an all-out aural assault and whilst it’s a powerful approach to take, it does feel like the band is projecting disorganised noise at you and it’s like they’re somewhat out of sync with one another. Of course, hardcore and punk are two genres that are all about making a hell of a lot of noise, but with No Control it does sound like the musicians are pitting themselves against one another rather than working as a unit.
The rest of the EP continues in much the same fashion, with most of the songs taking a similar approach to one another, but nevertheless it is a hard-hitting listen and definitely sounds like it will go down an absolute storm in a live environment.
Whilst there’s certainly no faulting Bokassa’s enthusiasm, as they have it by the bagful, a little more direction to the music would go a very long way – but this is an EP that definitely serves as a good starting point for the outfit.
6/10
