Set To Explode
Biography
Within the first few seconds of Set to Explode's self-titled EP, you should know exactly what you're in for. A few quick, distorted riffs, and you're given the intro of "Feel the Rage," the first track off a six-song effort whose songs hover around the one-minute mark and deliver Minor Threat-styled hardcore every second. It shouldn't be terribly surprising the band is based out of D.C. either, while their ex-members alum include 86 Mentality, the Goons, Worn Thin, and the Aftermath, with ex-Striking Distance vocalist Dave Byrd fronting the outfit.
While musically this is sure to please fans of Righteous Jams and the aforementioned, Byrd usually employs a more gravelly, garbled bark rather than a straightforward yell. Think Kill Your Idols' Andy West, but a bit more comprehensible in Byrd's case.
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What seems to be holding the record back is the band's thus underdeveloped sense of modest anthem. Set to Explode are already writing songs with a raw base in place necessary to help shift focus to the message; expansion on the other parts would likely result in a more memorable record, however, and do wonders for them overall.
Not to disspell the band, Set to Explode are definitely channeling the earlier years of their hometown in a way many are likely to believe wasn't still possible (or in the least, still relevant).
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.