Ingrown - Idaho [CD]

New York, Boston, LA... American hardcore's most lauded scenes better watch out for Idaho. Ingrown aren't just Boise's loudest export, they're one of the most vicious and uniquely compelling up-and-coming bands in all of aggressive music, and their sophomore full-length, Idaho, is the gun-toting, dirt-bike-riding, hell-raising proof. Ingrown-vocalist/guitarist Ross Hansen, bassist Gavin McWilliams, and drummer Charlie Ritch-started in 2015, and over the course of the past decade they've gone from being their state's best kept secret to an internationally touring juggernaut. The group released their debut album GUN in 2021 (drawing attention from the likes of Stereogum, Revolver, Decibel, and more), and toured it heavily supporting bands like Trapped Under Ice, Regional Justice Center, Drain, and Pain of Truth. The time on the road further honed their already razor sharp chops, laying the groundwork for the unbridled aggression that is Idaho. Recorded with Andy Nelson (Jesus Piece, Pain of Truth, Inclination, Weekend Nachos) at Bricktop Studio In Chicago, Idaho pushes Ingrown's visceral sonics even further into the red. "Andy understands our band and our sound better than we do sometimes," says Hansen. "He has an amazing way of capturing a performance in the most precise way possible without losing any rawness or power." Clocking in at eleven songs over just 18 minutes, the album swings between pummelling heaviness and blistering speed, drawing on the technicality of death metal and thrash without losing the unhinged spark of hardcore and powerviolence. Idaho is above all else an ode to Ingrown's home state and the indelible impact living there has had on the band members. Tracks like "Cold Steel," "Bullet," and "Enemy" paint a picture of guns, bikes, and self-reliance, but that's just one side of Ingrown's coin. The group's love for their local community permeates Idaho, lending it a surprisingly earnest and heartfelt touch for a record that also makes you want to smash your head through a brick wall. It's an album that has nothing but vitriol for the woefully inadequate institutions that have been broken by corruption and greed, instead encouraging the kind of strength that's found within yourself and the people closest to you. "We're all on our own in life and that can make you feel alone and helpless," Hansen explains. "You only have your family and your community to support you. But knowing that can be freeing-you have the power to direct your own life." Idaho comes to a close with three tracks that capture Ingrown at their most unexpectedly compelling and unrelentingly crushing. First there's "Asylum," a song originally written by Hansen's father, Erik, for his '80s hardcore band, State of Confusion. The track first appeared on S.O.C.'s 1988 debut album, A Street ("some of the first music I heard, and some of the best hardcore there is," says the younger Hansen), and now it's resurfaced with an Ingrown update on Idaho. The result is a