So far, so cathartic. Indeed, the one thing holding Diaspora Problems back, save for its disappointing lack of hooks, is that it doesn’t exploit its strengths as fully as it might. Certainly on We Wants Revenge, the outfit – now reduced to a trio following the expulsion of their guitarist who’s been accused of abuse – demonstrate that they can go just as raw punk bellicose as The Bronx. In contrast, Driponomics (featuring rapper Mother Maryrose) goes somewhere The Bronx would never go – deep into bass-boomy hip-hop. Following their line-up problems, Pierce gloomily described his band’s future as ‘murky’. Let’s hope he was wrong.
Soul Glo may not quite invoke the anything-could-happen chills you get from a Code Orange album, but this fiercely marshalled whiplash of a debut tells you they might do all this and more. Diaspora Problems sows the seeds; what happens next is up to them.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: Converge, Bad Brains, FEVER 333
Diaspora Problems is out now on Epitaph