My first introduction to Ithaca was with their punishingly addictive and brutal single Impulse Crush, full of squealing staccato guitars, blistering drums and harsh, gritty vocals. Throughout January I had it on constant rotation and relished featuring it on my Jamuary 2019 (sic) playlist.

The quality of that track left me seriously anticipating the release of the full album and I jumped at the chance to listen to The Language of Injury when it was streamed a couple of days early over at Revolver.

I was absolutely not disappointed. This record didn't just blow my socks off it bloody blew them to pieces. Ithaca, you owe me new socks.

Opening track New Covenant begins with an almost excruciating guitar squeal and thick thumping drums before smashing the doors down with spasmodic guitar licks, huge beat downs and asophagus tearing screams, providing a perfect indication of what to expect for the next 10 tracks.

There's brutality, groove and intensity all over this album but Ithaca aren't afraid to cool things off with a calming instrumental on (no Translation) before resuming the chaos on title track The Language of Injury.

Part of that track features a massive crushing progressive riff with a clean lead guitar lick and brutal back and forth screaming over the top. It's one of the most addictive passages in a song I've heard this year and a piece of music that will stick with me for a long time to come.

There are standout moments all over this album like the utterly devastating ending of Clsr., the ravenous and thundering opening to Youth vs Wisdom and the rippling guitars during the mid section of Gilt.

For a debut album the quality and invention and downright attitude presented over a short 30 minute runtime is highly impressive and it's clear to me that there are much bigger things to come from Ithaca.

If you like savage, hard hitting, hardcore influenced metal with coarse vocals and a bit of melody sprinkled throughout then The Language of Injury might just be for you.

Check out the album on their bandcamp or wherever you stream your music.

You can also pick up a physical copy of the album here. 

Peace.

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