Friendship – Hatred Sentient Ruin Records - 2017 As a less experienced powerviolence fan, I'm always slightly proud when I actually recognize a name in the scene. I was blown away by the dirty, raw half-hour assault that I&II was, and Hatred is quite the successor. Friendship have foregone the unclean, fuzzy sound in favour of a cleaner, more hardcore-oriented sound. This choice is reflected in the riffs, which have a more beatdown feel when compared to the messier sludgy style of the previous album. The slower parts and breakdowns, as well as the riffs they transform into have a punk approach to heaviness, going straight for the throat and leaving the details behind – and it's effective as hell. The rare leads that do appear are atonal nonsense, reinforcing the whole hellish, unnatural aspect of the record. The clearer soundscape also gives the drums some room, enhancing the guitars with blasts and floor-punching, air-kicking beats – the bridge in Life Sentence