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Reviews
Terrorizer
8/10
The ability to harness the power of righteous aggression
is an invaluable tool, and it's one that Sanzen wield with unnerving,
swireleyed intensity. These Midlands based flame throwers come
across as a gritty, small town Every time I Die, filtered through
the flailing-fist grit of Gallows and The Bronx. Songs like 'Escaping
The South' and 'I'll Be Leaving' are punk-metal rabble-rousers
mutated beyond all sanity-angular, chaotic and delivered with
muscles at full flex. A truly blistering debut.
Metal
Hammer 8/10
Big things are going on in the UK hardcore scene
in 2007. First came Hertfordshire herberts Gallows with their
raw punk fury, closely followed by the more measured angst of
Brighton's Ghost Of A Thousand. Now bare-knuckle, fighting for
position somewhere between the two, comes Nottingham's Sanzen.
And with memebers having previously featured in the ranks of underground
hardcore heroes My War, their pedigree is one not to be taken
lightly. Take all the subtlety of The Bronx, add the unrefined
aggression of the aforementioned Watford punks, mix in the accessibility
of Every Time I Die, inject with a lethal dose of metallic riffing
and serve with a side of hardcore punch. This is Sanzen. and this
is what makes'...Gun City' one of the most promising homegrown
releases this year (Caren Gibson)
Rocksound
8/10
There is a revolution coming, and best of all,
it's us Brits who are leading the charge. Barging in close behind
cage rattling debuts from Gallows and The Ghost Of A Thousand,
'This Is Gun City' marks the arrival of Nottingham scallies Sanzen
in superb style. At the root it's a punk record, you can feel
the frantic heat of it coming off the raw screams of the title
track and the concussive pace of 'Modus Operandi', but there's
Southern-fried rock, twist metallic riffing, a wild-eyed delirium,
and a real party vibe present too. Okay, so there's a touch of
Every Time I Die to, but there isn't an ounce of fat. The revolution
might not be televised but it is on its way to your stereo.
Kerrang
KKKK
It's clear from one listen to 'This Is Gun City'
that Sanzen are veterans of countless gigs in the country's dingiest
venues. From the moment the opening title track howls into life,
introducing their uncompromising mix of raw hardcore and face-meltingly
speedy metal, your mind's eye will be blind to anything other
than a blur of flailing flesh, bloodied noses and sweat dripping
from the ceiling of blackened basements. It's rare, but they've
managed to distil the chaos of a live rock show on record. A new
British band worth collecting briuses for.
Total
Guitar 8/10
The Midland's Sanzen take all the rawest elements
of hardcore punk, rock and metal, and fuse them to create this
pug-ugly beast of unstoppable speed and crushing heaviness with
a depraved rock'n'roll groove Lemmy would be proud of. Punk oiks
Gallows opened the gates for bands hellbent on injecting danger
and violence into modern music, and Sanzen have obviously taken
note.
Montagpress
Containing two-thirds of departed Northern firebrands
My War, it’s apparent to anyone with a functioning brain
and a fully-evolved sense of dread that with very little effort
Sanzen could become the band of choice for both the old school
and the completely full of shit alike, however rather than have
them turn into the Bun Dem Out of intelligent, metallic hardcore,
they actually deliver.
Backed up by careening rock riffs and a brand of chaotic melody
familiar to fans of Starkweather and early Poison The Well, ‘This
Is Gun City’ offers a more dangerous, hard-edged take on
the toe-tapping brand of rock which has become flavour of the
month thanks to the success of Gallows, the band for whom a show
a day and one magazine cover a month will never ever be enough.
Plagiarising both the title and a few songs from an earlier EP,
there’s a chance here for scene stalwarts to shake their
fists at the sky in impotent rage, but for everyone else, it’s
a clever and creative slice of kinetic hardcore, awash with energy.
Subba
Culture
I can’t remember the last release from In
At The Deep End that I didn’t like to be fair… that’s
probably because they pick great bands and there hasn’t
been a release I didn’t enjoy. Sanzen, one of their latest
is no exception either as it really kicks the arse of thousands.
This
is one balls out, grit and grime filled mix of punk, hardcore,
metal and sleazy rock ‘n’ roll in the dirtiest of
contexts and that, my friends is a good thing. Featuring Ben Kumar
and Scott Briggs from My War fame, this reminded me of a no holds
barred bar room brawl between the likes of Everytime I Die, Iron
Monkey, My War, The Bronx, Sick Of It All (vocally) and Botch.
There is also a slight nod, in parts, to Dillinger Escape plan
as there are a few moments where mathcore comes into play but
it’s a very stripped down and basic form of it which is
good because if they went for the whole DEP effect then I don’t
think it would have sat right with the more rock feel to it.
This has no real major stand out tracks as they are all great
and beer fuelled to the maximum but if I had to be pushed into
the corner and use songs to fight my way out then I would have
to say This Is Gun City, I’ll Be Leaving, Modus Operandi
and The Reflections Of Knives In Green Water would be more than
ample weapons to help me hold my own while battering you to get
me out of the corner.
There seems to be a huge wave of dirty punk / metal / hardcore
/ rock ‘n’ roll bands on the rise at the moment and
I for one can see Sanzen riding very high, holding their own and
even beating some of their counterparts into an unrecognisable
bloody pulp.
A
Short Fanzine About Rocking
While this is their first length release, Nottingham’s
Sanzen are far from another bunch of wet-behind-the-ears schoolkids.
With two members having cut their musical wings in My War (a band
I heard lots of good things about but never saw live), you’re
hoping for something that’s well-thought out, powerful and
steers well clear of generic myspace-core sound-a-like territory.
‘This Is Gun City’ doesn’t disappoint, delivering
ten tracks of coruscating groove-edged hardcore metal that’s
almost unrelenting in its intensity. The opening title track sets
out their stall from the off – a frenetic, schizo number
that comes on like Every Time I Die on speed. ‘I’ll
Be Leaving’ is no less intense, singer Jon Eley’s
harsh but discernible vocal style adding to the chaotic feel that
permeates this, and ever other track on offer. The band’s
use of juddering breakdowns on numbers like ‘Modus Operandi’
and ‘Black December’ brings to mind Norma Jean at
their most direct, while that Every Time I Die influence certainly
pops up regularly. Not to suggest however that Sanzen are copyists;
there’s a level of raw intensity here that puts the aforementioned
bands to shame, while the inventive riffing that’s evident
on ‘The Reflections Of Knives In Green Water’ is just
one of many examples that prove the band are full of ideas. In
terms of aggressive balls-out hardcore metal, ‘This Is Gun
City’ is hard to fault, and if nothing else this album makes
Sanzen a must-see live band.
Manchester
Music
Nottingham's Sanzen blast out with all guns blazing
and fittingly they’re on the right label. Sanzen deliver
a hardcore fest of slithering, uncompromising guitar riffs and
full on throat shredding vocal lines. As ever Sanzen live up to
In At The Deep End's quality control standards with the kind of
all out roars that burn with a punk rock flame and carefully constructed
waves of death metal. Big and noisy.
New
Noise
If ‘sanzen’ sounds like an implement
used to gouge out ears to you, you’re not far off the mark.
Two-thirds were in My War, a band that supported the likes of
Sepultura, Entombed and Eyehategod. And no, they haven’t
dealt with their aggression since. Vocals and shrill guitar noodles
clash in heated battle. Drums pound like the apocalypse couldn’t
come soon enough. With song titles like ‘Prepare For The
Worst’ and ‘Black December’, you know what to
expect. Relentless cataclysmic stuff that’s not quite up
there with Gallows but not far off. And singer Jon Eley’s
secret? A whole bottle of Tixylix after each show is probably
necessary.
Die
Shellsuit Die
In
At The Deep End have a knack for picking out decent bands. The
recent success of Gallows and previous efforts in the past few
years by Send More Paramedics, Sylosis, Suicide Silence and Beecher
have made it one of the most well known, independent UK labels.
Sanzen are the latest addition to the IATDE roster and should
hopefully reap some success on this impressive debut album. Hailing
from Nottingham and featuring members of My War, they have a lot
of experience to build on, so what is the outcome then? A pretty
rockin one at that. With 10 songs clocking in at just over 30
minutes and some pretty decent riffing going on this should please
people. A big ball of metallic, rock’n’roll played
with loads of aggression and energy. Bringing to mind Cancer Bats,
Everytime I Die and Botch with more influence on the rock side
of it. In fact the ETID influence is the one that most people
will pick up on. Fans of that band would dig this but it’s
not a generic clone of the Americans sound it’s tempered
by decent songs to back it up and the occasional breakdown. It
does occasionally slip into a generic metal part that slows it
somewhat but that’s usually knocked on the head quickly
enough. You have another decent UK band to add to the ever growing
list.
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