Album Reviews

Frank Turner apparently needed a break from his acoustic-based tunes and returned to his hardcore roots with a new project that sees him reunited with Million Dead’s Ben Dawson. The line-up is further rounded out by The Sleeping Souls’ Matt Nasir. Together they now go through life as Möngöl Hörde and after just four shows since their formation in 2012, they have just released their self-titled debut.

 “Make Way” starts off deceivingly with a jazzy intro before launching headlong into loud noise that proves right away that Frank Turner is still able to scream his head off with the best of them. From there on, the trio wreaks havoc with blistering riffs, pummeling drums and stories about Natalie Portman’s tapeworm (“Tapeworm Uprising”), time travelling Beatles (“Hey Judas”) and a story about how the communists ruined Christmas while borrowing freely from Refused’s “New Noise” on “Casual Threats From Weekend Hardmen”). But they’ll just as well settle for more of a Trash Talk vibe in short blasts such as “Winkyface – The Mark Of A Moron”.

Except for the first few seconds of “Stillborn Unicorn” (yeah, the song titles are good), there isn’t a lot on here to please the fans of Frank Turner’s folky tunes but you do get one helluva fun hardcore album instead. “Staff To The Refund Counter” keeps on gaining momentum throughout the entire song before ultimately exploding into a series of desperate cries about wanting your money back. Constantly veering between spoken word passages and screams, Turner goes nuts here with the rest of the band following suit, adjusting their dynamic wherever Turner takes them.

All of the songs on here will kick your ass with weird time signatures and some sweet technical riffs but will just as well put a smile on your face if you pay attention to the lyrics. To quote from opener “Make Way”: ‘make way for the Möngöl Hörde, coming back to fuck you up‘! Definitely one of the best hardcore albums of 2014 so far!