You have to feel bad for High Vis right now. The UK rockers have been a tireless touring machine for years, and they've been hitting the road hard behind Guided Tour, which was my favorite hardcore album of 2024 despite arguably not being a hardcore album at all. Last night, High Vis were supposed to head out on a headlining North American tour with Militarie Gun, which would've ruled. At various points, those shows were also going to include Pissed Jeans, Cold Gawd, and Age Of Apocalypse. Can you imagine? Last week, however, High Vis had to postpone that tour because frontman Graham Sayle needed emergency surgery. That fucking sucks! As a consolation prize, though, we've got ourselves a brand new Age Of Apocalypse banger with a guest-spot from Sayle.
Age Of Apocalypse, the fantastical heavy hardcore band from New York's Hudson Valley, are getting ready to release In Oblivion, the new album that they recorded with Taylor Young, of God's Hate and Twitching Tongues, on production. We already posted the epic lead single "Mortal Coil," and I think that song is fucking awesome. Today, they follow it with "Impulse," a juddering two-minute head-wrecker that has Graham Sayle really bellowing his part out. Sayle was in heavy hardcore bands before High Vis started, and it's cool to hear his soaring vocals, paired with those of AOA wailer Dylan Kaplowitz, in this type of throat-ripping context.
Here's something I appreciate about hardcore: Whenever the singer from one band guests on another band's song, the whole band gets a feature credit. Like, we know that all the guys from High Vis didn't play on "Impulse." It's just one guy, singing. But "feat. High Vis" looks cooler than "feat. High Vis' Graham Sayle." Anyway, here's what Dylan Kaplowitz says about the track:
"Impulse" lyrically is just emphasizing that empathy is not weakness. It's suggesting that looking through the eyes of someone else one might be able to find peace. It's specifically touching on police violence and the dehumanizing protocols that are sometimes taken to exert "the law."
Whenever High Vis and Age Of Apocalypse get around to playing live shows together, this one is going to go extremely hard. Check it out below.
In Oblivion is out 5/23 on Closed Casket Activities.
