The Virus
Nowhere to Hide

A hand grenade.  27 minutes of pure devastation. 

There it is described in one line, "Nowhere To Hide", a street punk masterpiece from 2002, the product of those crazies in The Virus, released on the equally crazy and highly commendable "Punkcore Records".

Who said that to make an extreme album you have to go to the lengths of Negative Network, Pengo's 3000 bpm, Agoraphobic Nosebleed's albums with 100 tracks, or fill 4 chords with stupid growls, random distortions, and pseudo-brutal titles for effect? For the Philadelphia band, all it took was a guitar, a bass, a completely gone drummer, a singer (Paul) whose voice being called tough would be an understatement (in comparison, the previous leader Mike Virus might as well sing at the Zecchino d'Oro); et voilà, here it is, one of the most destructive and extreme albums of the new millennium. Oh, it was well known that Punkcore didn't mess around, and that the Virus weren't exactly salon material was amply demonstrated with their previous "Still Fighting For A Future," but it's with this gem, and new line-up, that they surpass the competition, and especially themselves, who since their debut had established themselves as one of the most aggressive bands, proposing a sort of "Brutal Street Punk", let's use that term.

From the very opener, just 1.38 in duration, you understand what the trend of the album will be, Paul commands with sharp lyrics and biting riffs (it is necessary to highlight the skills of guitarist Fat Dave, and bassist Josh). The tempos are always very fast and furious, try listening to the devastating "Already Dead" (the fastest of the bunch) or "Terror" (the title says it all), two bullets, also aided by the excellent work of drummer-killer Jarrod, who manages to keep always high tempos without making a single mistake, precise like a clock! And what about the short yet intense "Nowhere To Hide" (a train of just 1.10), and "The Very Last Day" (a crazy track with a completely insane Jarrod.) The only more "human" episodes are "Heroes", with its cheerful riff that winks at lobotomized Ramones, and "Rats in the City" (the slowest track, and also the only one exceeding 2 minutes, but it doesn't spare us from 4 minutes of pure energy), the refrain chorus alone is worth the whole album. However, they always stay at a pushed standard, and the only musical gleams (because the typical power of the band is always present) are found in "No One Can Save You", and "My Life, My World", typical pogo-addicted anthems with catchy choruses and melodies (but never trivial). A separate discussion must be made for that bombshell that answers to the name of "So Long", undoubtedly the weightiest track, very fast and sharp, with a still superb Jarrod, and an ever more ferocious Paul.

A true masterpiece, one of the most extreme albums of the genre. Indeed, truly "extreme", no adjective was ever so fitting for "Nowhere To Hide", one of the few works that can afford this adjective without resorting to over 200 tempos, ridiculous guttural vocals, and full-blast noise. Who spoke of grind, brutal, and the like? 

Devastating.