An Expression In Pain

So when I bought the Koro 7" repress (as per my last post) I did that usual thing that we all do, where I looked around the store to see if there was anything else that I might want. Well, I had recently been paid so was feeling like I had a bit of money to play with, so I was looking for an excuse to buy something I guess. One thing that caught my eye was the debut full length from Brain Tourniquet. I bought their first 7" in 2021 and, whilst I thought it was good for what it was, I haven't listened to it much since. But I was in the mood to buy someting, so I figured I would grab the new LP and give it a chance.

The LP is titled '... An Expression In Pain' and was released by a label that I haven't really dealt with previously called Iron Lung Records. With hindsight I did well with my timing on this one, because I managed to get one of the red vinyl copies, which seem to have sold out pretty soon after I got mine. There were 200 pressed on red, and also 100 on smoky clear, all of which are now long sold out. So I feel I was lucky to land one of these, especially as I bought it on a whim.

The band features Connor from Protestor / Red Death / Joing Custody, and they clearly model themselves on the early Slap A Ham bands (Neanderthal, Crossed Out, Infest). And whilst I struggled with the 7" as I found it almost too intense, this has absolutely blown me away. There are 10 songs on here. The first 9 are done in 10 minutes, and then there is a tenth song (which is the highlight) which itself goes on for 10 minutes. Short and fast or long and slow, it seems they can do both.

I'm playing this twice a day at the moment as I love it so much, so it already seems pretty clear that this could be a strong contender for the best release of 2023. and definitely worth checking out if you like the heavier end of the hardcore spectrum.