"Do you like 'Sabbath Town Hardcore'?" I am asked. Well, I'm not sure; I've never heard of it before. Is it a Hardcore Town of Sabbath? Or a Sabbath Town of Hardcore?

But when I suddenly figure we are talking about "Birmingham's most infectious and exciting hardcore outfit", who I quote, "are serving up a hot-tipped EP". Then we must be talking about The Catharsis, and their all new E.P.... 'God Damned'.

They've ignited some critical fireballs so far; grapevines are heaving with affirmations of how The Catharsis' expected wonder-child has secured "their rise from Midlands-upstarts to national newcomers", as their Facebook page declares. But do I like their self-defined Sabbath Town Hardcore? Well I'm about to find out.

From start to finish, 'God Damned' creates the audio effect of being inside a tin can, violently shaken up and down and side-to-side. And although they claim to be a thoroughly hardcore get-up, that's not strictly true; despite Facebook continuing to claim "it's of no concern to them" whether listeners can identify their influences, there's no getting around the fact that The Catharsis' debut baby packs a prism of noisy capsules, including traditional thrash and screamo as well. It's true: they're less 'twiddly' than their melodic contemporaries, preferring to concentrate more on furious, crashing chords and leather-lunged screams to strike a match on, than the harmonies and histrionics of the more 'emo' or metal ends of the genre's spectrum.

So you'd have to be a few spanners short of a tool-kit to miss the big, bad totem of sonic and social anarchy itself, declaring war throughout the 4-tracker: "original punk". The record reeks of the stuff. The modal riffs of 'Party Scars' and the closing 'Colder', and starkly varied time signatures of opener 'Deletist' and '-+', hit musically competent shores. But the power, punch and passion of the cut is raw and uncultivated; it's the stripping away of layers, and the dousing of hardcore in the feral aggression of the punk sensibility, that charms the most about 'God Damned'. And this is particularly potent in light of the proclivity of hardcore to follow branches of 'fusion', until it morphs into something vastly different from its primitive form.

"Unapologetically ruthless", their Facebook bio further proclaims? Yes: over-the-top brutality is a big point of the genre. Yes: the energy is intense, and impressive.  The themes explored, musically and conceptually, are dark. The problem is that the similarity of the songs, to any ear unaccustomed to hardcore upon early listens, will result in 'God Damned' initially being perceived as just an angry composite; there's nothing wrong with this, and in its totality, it's a 12 minute, 57 second nuclear bomb. But if you want to drain anything further from each of its sections, you need to work a little harder; listen a little deeper - and for a little longer.

At the first hurdle, its emotional scope is a Grecian God's temper-tantrum. The silver lining is that 'God Damned' can be unpicked further; after a few spins, it's a very promising feast of galvanized Rock 'n' Roll. And if you can appreciate its impact and lack of restraint, and indeed The Catharsis themselves, for the whole raging enchilada, you'll appreciate the significance they will hold - certainly within the world of hardcore, if not within the quote-un-quote 'alternative' sphere from front to back just yet.

But watch this space, and prepare to see plenty of red...and you will be rewarded.

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