Domain – Philosophy of the Blade | EP Review

Domain are back, following up their 2024’s debut album, Life’s Cold Grasp, with a new bite-sized treat of metallic hardcore delight.

Domain‘s 2024 debut album grabbed the listener’s attention immediately as it opened with a quote from one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies ever made, Event Horizon. “Hell is just a word. The reality is much worse.” A bold statment of intent that was swiftly followed by a mere 27 minutes of pouding drums, thumping bass and aggressively snarling vocals. How do you follow up a debut like that?  By going hard or going home seems to be the mantra of this South Florida quintet. With two original tracks, and a cover of the legendary Sepultura‘s ‘Propaganda’ that somehow manages to be even heavier and angrier than the original, Domain‘s first EP since their album release is a pleasingly brutal assault on the senses.

The furious, junk yard dog bark of Alex Rothberger’s vocals smash into the listener’s delicate earholes with all the subtlety of a slice of lemon wrapped around a particularly large gold brick. Backed by a thunderous crash of instrumentation that gives you no choice but to sit up and listen, ‘Lost Souls Wander’ is not a subtle track. Not musically, nor in subject material, with lines such as “Lacking empathy I’ll rise / desensitize the mind / dictate communication / you see what they want you to see” In a world of AI deepfakes, social media manipulation and plutocrats dictating the cadence of news reporting around the world, this track stands as a timely 21st century protest song, an unabashed lashing out at the excesses of capitalism.

The same can be said of the final track. Sepultura‘s ‘Propaganda’ remains as relevant now as it did over thirty years ago on the Chaos A.D. album. “Don’t, don’t believe what you see / Don’t, don’t believe what you read”. Domain tackle this one with verve, somehow managing to make an already heavy song even heavier and even angrier, with guitars that scream like a demented air-raid siren and a gloriously, metallic, chunky bass sound like batons thumping against riot shields. What else to say about this track? It’s PROPAGANDA. An iconic thrash track, and Domain give it an even harsher edge here. Wrapping things up is the second original track and while not as of-the-moment as the other two, it’s not lacking in edge of its own. “How does weakness taste? / Why does fear appear in your eyes?” There’s even a little biblical reference in the lyrics that might well put folk metal fans in mind of Skyclad‘s ‘Terminus’ from The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth to spice things up.

With one album under their belt, and this stormer of a new EP, Domain are out to show that there’s plenty of life in the hardcore scene and there’s a new band in town aiming to make their mark. Their name is Domain, and they don’t take prisoners.