XweaponX – Weapon X Demo

Pissed off Straight Edge Hardcore. As simple and generic as this may sound, I think this debut demo by Louisville, Kentucky’s XweaponX is one of those releases that stick with you whether you’re edge or not due to its passion and unrelenting, punishing sound. As someone who has claimed straight edge for over fifteen years, this hypes me the fuck up. This demo takes me back to a time during college when I didn’t know anyone else at my school who was sober and would walk around listening to my MP3 player blasting xBishopx, feeling isolated and angry at the world.

A lot of those of us still proudly claiming straight edge after all these years is due to our frustration of society’s normalisation and aggressive promotion of intoxication as a means of coping with daily life. To us, sobriety is the obvious choice (see track two: “People like you remind me why, straight edge ’till I fucking die”.) Through all the good and the bad we actively and staunchly stand sober. Our collective mindset holds us together and encourages us to take this stand against the toxins society drowns themselves in. The last track “In Spite Of” references this very simply:

For the world that’s conditioned to use

I’m not weak just because I refuse

A world that you fell victim to I am straight edge in spite of you.

I rate this EP highly and I already know it’ll be one of my favourite EPs released this year. So chuck it on, give it a listen and let it all out.