Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

As many punk rock fans will know, California's Thumper Punk Records release music "that reflects a positive, Christ-centred message." This three-song EP is the debut from a South African three-man hardcore punk band Broken (not the most original of names, there was once a UK band The Broken and more recently an American rapper Broken). Anyway, the vocalist with this band, Jesse, is credited on their Bandcamp page as "shouting" rather than "vocals" gives an indication of what is to come when you hit the play button for 'Broken EP'; "Civil Disobedience" screams in with high energy, dark, wall-of-guitar chugging and energetic yelling about who is the master and who is the servant. Unfortunately, it's a pretty mushy and rather confused sound. The guitars dominate the mix and the drums badly lack definition such that it's hard to hear what they're actually doing. The three songs all sound pretty similar and it's not always easy to discern the lyrics due to the guitar dominance, so all-in-all this is a release impossible to recommend.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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