Screaming For Change

STRAY FROM THE PATH fight for the future on angry, but positive, ninth album…

Olly Thomas

There are people who look at the world around them, take in the environmental crisis, the far-right doctrines infiltrating mainstream discourse, the polarising divisions in society and the increasing gap between rich and poor… and then whinge online about how there’s too much politics in the heavy music scene. Stray From The Path cannot be counted among this number, and this latest album – the ninth offering from the Long Island firebrands – might well not be for such folk. Although if anything could convince someone to take their head out of the sand and confront the reality of their surroundings, it might just be this.

Internal Atomics hits as hard as you’d expect from a band who’ve never shied away from a good pummelling, setting about modern ills with appropriate levels of anger. But it also balances the feelings of despair with a streak of positivity, seeks to inspire real change and explores new musical avenues within their solid framework of their brand of metallic, groove-infused hardcore.