Heatseeker – Illusion of Will EP

I’ve got a stack of records from Refuse Records’ extensive back catalog waiting in the review pile for a while now, but this 2023 EP stands out as one of my favorites. Heatseeker is a Warsaw hardcore band who’ve been around since 2011, with a strong run of shows and three EPs that led up to their Infected Society LP in 2018. After a brief hiatus during Covid, they returned with a refreshed lineup featuring a new guitarist and drummer, and came back swinging with Illusion of Will, released via Refuse Records in 2023. And this is exactly the kind of comeback everyone following the band, or the broader Polish hardcore scene, was hoping for.

Illusion of Will tears through six tracks with sheer ferocity, combining all the best elements of modern hardcore. There’s speed, power, fist-pumping intensity, and lyrics that push beyond the usual hardcore clichés. The record opens with a sample from the final scene of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain, where the alchemist says, “We shall break the illusion. This is Maya!”, before the song dives into reflective, existential lyrics about human potential seemingly inspired by Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. The same philosophical current that US hardcore singer Greg Bennick channeled with bands like Trial and especially Between Earth and Sky.

The opener “Mind’s Eye” and “Echo Chamber” are probably my favorites, but there’s not a single weak track here. Each one hits hard and balances thrashing hardcore aggression with scorching riffs, urgent vocals and just enough moshing parts without making it some tough guy contest. Illusion of Will reminds me of current bands like ALARM!, who take the heaviness of US hardcore and filter it through darker Scandinavian lens. The addition of Paweł from Drip of Lies on guitar adds this darker, more textured layer to an already tight and intense sound. This one might’ve flown under the radar for some, especially if you’re not keeping close attention on scenes like Poland, but I’m still coming back to it in 2025. Illusion of Will is a killer EP, and with Heatseeker having just played the final Protein show in Kraków a few days ago, it’s clear they’re not done yet.