I am going to level with you: There are many legitimate reasons why you might decide not to check out the new demo from the Calgary hardcore band End Game. There is the simple fact that this is the first recording from a band that you’ve never heard of. There is the cover art, which is some of the ugliest shit I’ve ever seen and which might give you the impression that this is a joke band. There’s the fact that we’re talking about a new band called End Game in 2020, which is sort of like if there had been a new band called Ava Tar in 2010. But let me tell you: If you care about hardcore at all, then you need this shit in your life.

I don’t know anything about End Game; their name is not especially easy to Google. But I do know that Demo 2020 is a bracing and deeply satisfying blast of knuckleheaded chug-stomp hardcore. End Game can play fast and thrashy when they want, and they also bust out the kind of breakdown that might incite you to throw a trash can through your own window. They’re the kind of band where the first thing the singer does, on the intro track, is scream the band’s name. They’re fucking sick.

The five tracks on Demo 2020 have a whole lot going for them: Fighting words, gut-splatter riffs, vocal samples from Watchmen and Scarface and Aliens, someone clowning you for not making enough money, major Trapped Under Ice vibes. This shit slaps real hard, and you can hear it below.

You can get Demo 2020 as a name-your-price download at Bandcamp.