siLLy puPPy Beatdown hardcore is a narrowly focused aspect of metalcore which is infused with a raging anarcho-punk attitude that exists for one simple reason: the moshpit. This style of aggressive bombastic fury tends to have slower tempos with extensive breakdowns which gets the audience riled up and keeping emergency rooms in business. While bands like 25 ta Life and Hatebreed have popularized the style, it remains a small sub-genre within the greater hardcore universe because of its limited scope.

Despite its rarity on the metal scene there are still dozens of these bands that exercise a true fuck off sort of attitude which are apparently borrowed from some forms of gangsta rap and incorporated into a Suicidal Tendencies type of crossover thrash sound. The band ON A WARPATH had a very short lifespan after emerging from San Leandro, CA in 2005, released this sole eponymously titled EP and then broke up the following year. This EP was released on Mike Hood’s Westcoast World Wide label and cranks out 9 tracks in less than 30 minutes.

This music truly exists somewhere in the gray area between thrash metal, metalcore, hardcore punk and hardcore hip hop if that’s possible. While the riffs are rooted in thrash metal, the compositions fit squarely in the metalcore camp while the attitude is dripping in punk with some rapped lyrics about talking nonsensical shit exist in the egocentric world of hardcore hip hop. The tracks are fairly similar as they tend to chug along with growly vocals trading off with metallic raps similar to Rage Against The Machine.

I have to admit that this isn’t a style of metal that appeals to me much but i try to find value in any type of music even if i’m not the target audience but ultimately ON A WARPATH’s sole contribution to the ever expanding metal universe unfortunately comes off as generic and excessively steeped in false bravado like a pygmy marmoset taking a deep breath and pretending to be a gorilla. In the end this just sounds like a bunch of kids who don’t know how to play and are relying on the distortion to give the overall structure more heft than it really dishes out. If you’re into this style of music then you may like it more than i but i’ll take Hatebreed any day over this cheap imitation.