Album Review: No Way Out - 'Dead Ends'

Melbourne hardcore quintet No Way Out have had a pretty good run since their formation in 2006, not only do they have an EP and a full length under their belt, but they have toured the country with acts such as 50 Lions, Carpathian and The Red Shore, amongst many others.

The group have now released their second album, 'Dead Ends,' which is their first through Adelaide based punk label Pee Records.

One of the most noticeable things in the opening track No Stone Unturned, is the band’s unique sound, which is leans towards an older metal style matched with a more modern format of song structures. The guitar tones sound like they have been pulled from a Sevendust record with everything else being more reminiscent of the standard Australian hardcore floating around these days.

Second track Witness is a blistering drum and guitar assault with all instruments working together extremely well, an effective aspect of the group’s sound as these songs really do just batter your head in.
The short instrumental track … is some weird little, stadium style epic which is strangely placed on the record, it is hard to comment on its purpose but it comes across as fairly awesome except for the fade out that leads to a weird fade in of the next track Machines, seeming like it may have missed the mark of its cool production intentions. Luckily the guitar riffs in Machines, which are some of the finest on the record, make up for it.

The album finished off with Reason, which moves from its fast paced beginnings to a groove heavy jam driven by its vocal assault. The baton is then quickly passed to the closing and title track, which is essentially just more of the same that came before it.

‘Dead Ends’ has a strong sound from a band that have clearly worked hard to get to where they are currently, but I will say, nine tracks ranging from one to four minutes isn’t really a “full length” album. Come on guys, I know it’s expensive to make these things but would the extra track really have been that hard? That aside, this record is worth checking out and should help raise No Way Out’s presence in the hardcore scene exponentially.

1. No Stone Unturned
2. Witness
3. Fallen
4. ...
5. Machines
6. Defeatist
7. Defiance
8. Reason
9. Dead Ends