siLLy puPPy Coming from Elmira, New York, SABELLA has spent most of the last ten years releasing a series of short EPs that don’t even exceed the ten minute mark but metalcore / beatdown hardcore band of unknown musicians finally released what they consider a full-length album in 2017 titled DOG DAZE but at a playing time just shy of 27 minutes, this collection of 13 tracks is more akin to an EP in the traditional sense that is.

Beatdown Hardcore is not a section of the metalcore / hardcore punk universe i’m very familiar with even though the style kicked off as far back as 1989 with bands like Outburst and Die Hard and most famously displayed by bands like Hatebreed however there are a gazillion of these types of bands that craft they grooves and riffs to be specifically aligned with a mosh pit experience.

DOG DAZE is very much a mosh pit style band designed for playing live and working the crowds into a frenzy. With slower tempos and even some nu metal crossover effects such as rapping and funk combined with the over-the-top screamed vocals is pretty much what SABELLA is all about while they try to maintain that razor edge thin line closer to the world of hardcore punk than jump the fence into the world of metal yet the intensity of the output is quite intense beyond your average punk infused metal band.

I have to admit that this is not my favorite style of either punk or metal. There are elements of Korn and overall DOG DAZE sounds like a more aggressive style of indie rock especially when the clean vocals kick in and the alternative rock of millennials overpowers the heavily distorted guitar riffing which takes on the timbres of noise rock bands like Lightning Bolt or Dinosaur Jr. Unfortunately the tracks pretty much sound the same and this album despite its intensity doesn’t really do anything for me.

Always eager to explore the nooks and crannies of the world of aggressive music, SABELLA seeped into my reality but just as quickly will it seep out as this band is a fairly nondescript example of the beatdown hardcore style of metalcore without really adding any individual stamp and while this isn’t a horrible experience to sit through, there’s really nothing tangible to invite me back. The band is too faithful to the plodding tempos and a few more outbursts of faster tempos or any added elements would go a long ways.