At just over twenty minutes in duration, Bloodclot‘s new release, Souls, can barely be called an album. But my word these NYHC vets manage to pack an album’s worth of entertainment into the record, so who’s counting?

Not me, certainly, especially when for ten minutes in the middle of the release – War Castles, Save The Robots and Infectious – the band delivers a nigh-on perfect blast of modern hardcore with an old school twist. And we haven’t mentioned the cranked-up mayhem of the Motörheadish Relentless or a neck-testing take on the Bad Brains chestnut How Low Can a Punk Get?!

Vocalist John Joseph has lost not an iota of his magic over the years, and here gives a geed-up performance that’s equal parts inspiration and fire. Taking no prisoners and backed by some real fire from the band on the suitably-monikered Unhinged, he reels back the years in frankly astonishing fashion. Save The Robots is pure NYHC mayhem, nothing more, nothing less with former Agnostic Front man Craig Setari (bass) and ex-Quicksand guitarist Tom Capone locking down the riffs in grim-faced style whilst drummer Darren Morgenthaler – Sentinel Daily readers might remember him best from Madball – batters the living bejesus out of his kit. It’s life-affirming stuff, but perhaps the best track is the crawling, slithering Infectious, which finds the band sliding into Life of Agony territory with devastating results.

Whatever way you take your hardcore, Souls has got you covered, and got you covered good. I honestly can’t remember enjoying a recent hardcore release quite as much as I have this record – so hopefully you’ll feel the same when you give it a go.

Souls releases on December 16th.