Provoke/Tempo 38 ‘Brothers In Battle’ – Split Compilation Review April 2007 – The Package

Provoke/Tempo 38 ‘Brothers In Battle’ – Split Compilation
Review April 2007 – The Package

Provoke is a band from Australia (Brisbane), Tempo 38 is a group from New Zealand (Hawke’s Bay). The spirit of the ANZAC is still alive and well with Brothers In Battle, a split compilation featuring five fast and furious hardcore songs from Provoke and five slightly less fast and just as furious hardcore rants from Tempo 38. It is the perfect encapsulation of the punk/hardcore DIY ethos. I remember about a decade ago (god, no, was it really that long?) enjoying the debut recorded efforts of two Wellington groups, Brubeck and Monkey Puzzle. The two groups had a style that kinda fitted together, but each band still retained their individuality. So the idea has instant merit – you want to get your songs heard, you want to split the production costs and in doing so you give the fans more value for their buck; and hey, in theory, fans of Tempo 38 may discover Provoke and vice versa.
As for the actual music here, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of hardcore; there’s certainly some amazing hardcore music, but I like the more melodic antecedents of hardcore. Give me Black Flag and Husker Du – for me Provoke are just too misogynistic, too angry, almost unnecessarily so. And the politics of ‘Warcry’, whilst earnest, seem out of place.
Tempo 38’s music has more of a melodic strain to it, and songs like ‘From The Flames’ and ‘Full Swing’ are easy enough to like. Crossing over in to Rage Against The Machine-styled rock-raps might bug hardcore purists, but I still say good on both bands for putting their product out there.

Simon Sweetman