:: Samsara - The Emptiness

Samsara

Although only four songs long and running for a total of twelve minutes, Samsara’s self titled debut EP release from 2005 more than established the five-piece act as one of the more promising newcomers to the Australian hardcore scene. Within the last two years, the group has strengthened their line-up, with Her Nightmare vocalist Luke ‘Baina’ Bainbridge and ex-Within Blood guitarists Brad Johnston and Dave Jiannis remaining as the founding members of the group. Helping consolidate the new line-up is bassist Brett Eitzen and Sulo drummer Tim Shearman. Aside from finding the right combination of people, Samsara has also been busy honing and refining their sound out on the road supporting the likes of Hatebreed, Madball, Comeback Kid, Bleeding Through, Mindsnare, Against, From The Ruins, 50 Lions and Miles Away. With the right line-up finally in place, Samsara once again entered the studio with renowned producer/mixer Kurt Ballou to emerge with ‘The Emptiness’, their highly anticipated debut full-length release the result from the sessions.

For an opening statement, ‘Hatred’ is everything you could possibly hope from a band such as Samsara. The production is strong and full sounding, but raw enough to retain a very live sounding feel, while the song itself is full of huge upfront guitar riffs, impressively brutal/barked out vocals from Bainbridge, and just enough overall melody to give the song a sense of catchiness. ‘Slaughter’, ‘Outcast’, ‘Enslaved’, ‘New Disease’ and ‘Unlove’ are just some of the fine examples of where the band really fire things up with a relentless mix of speed and aggression. But it’s on tracks such as ‘Mans Worst Enemy’, ‘Cruelty’, the atmospheric instrumental ‘Chloe’ and the closing ‘Storm’ that Samsara really get to shine, with all of the mentioned songs giving the band the opportunity to broaden their sound beyond the tried and true metallic hardcore mould. After a promising start shown on their debut EP, Samsara has well and truly delivered on ‘The Emptiness’, and in the process proven that the Australian hardcore is as strong as ever.