Mindforce frontman Jay Petagine is one of the most dynamic forces on the hardcore underground, and he’s lent his ultra-confident Noo Yawk bellow to side projects like Pillars Of Ivory and Out For Justice. A couple of years ago, Petagine launched an absolutely nasty new band called Crush Your Soul with a bunch of other East Coast hardcore heavyweights. They released a self-titled EP in 2024, and they followed it with another one called Living Gracious last year. Now, the Crush Your Soul full-length is finally here.
Crush Your Soul actually released their album Ice Water last week, but I was waiting for it to show up on Bandcamp, and that still hasn’t happened. Whatever! Doesn’t matter! You should still listen now! Simply by virtue of having this guy’s voice and songwriting perspective, Crush Your Soul have a lot in common with Mindforce, but they go for a heavier, moshier sound, which is saying something when you consider that Mindforce were always extremely heavy and moshy.
Ice Water really sits on the border between album and EP, but it’s nine tracks in 17 minutes. I guess that counts as an album even if one of the songs is just a sampled intro skit. “Cento Vite” features the guys from fellow hardcore bands Missing Link and Malice At The Palace, while “Shadow Without The Dark” has assists from the Italian groups Silver and Blvd Of Death. The album ends with “Freezing Cold Weather,” a straight-up Mobb Deep-style boom-bap track from the Massachusetts underground rapper Estee Nack. Stream Ice Water below.
Ice Water is out now on Streets Of Hate.
