Album Review: Cage Fight – Cage Fight (Candlelight Records/Spinefarm Records)

Originally started as little more than a bedroom project by TesseracT guitarist James Monteith and long-time friend and collaborator, bassist / MC Jon Reid, by their own admission Cage Fight were simply a project to unleash some frustration, and nostalgic tribute to the music of their youth, bands like Slayer, Terror, Hatebreed, Biohazard and Stampin’ Ground.

Quickly, though, the idea began to grow legs, as they shared the music they’d made among friends, and they realised it was too good not to do something more permanent with. Bringing in drummer Nick Plews, Cage Fight were completed in February 2021 by the addition of singer Rachel Aspe.

Which brings us to this debut self-titled album, out on May 13th, 2022 via Candlelight/Spinefarm Records.

Making the best of a bad situation, the creation of Cage Fight is a positive that can be gleamed from the last couple of years. That this period also served as a source of inspiration for what Cage Fight are expressing here is suitably welcome too. After all, who doesn’t love metal that is attempting to twist your head from your neck?

Thirteen original bouts of brawling noise that runs the entire hardcore gambit and one Body Count cover, Cage Fight have come out swinging here. This debut will leave you sore all over but loving every nick, bruise, ache and broken bone. Each earned because Cage Fight are delivering a blistering blast of hardcore that starts off hot and doesn’t cool down once.

A chaotic intro leads to the first round of pummelling body shots with The Mirror Shattered, Killer and Hope Castrated. These tracks capable of creating sweat-drenched pits you have little choice but to be part of.

Little choice because this is hardcore that seeps its way into the soul, infecting the mind, and forcing the body to do unnatural things. Without any care for what might happen, you’ll be compelled to jump into the ring, fists up and ready to go.

This is how Cage Fight make you feel and tracks like Make A Decision, Guillotine, the self-titled effort and Shine Don’t Fade are just further confirmation of this. Aggressive? An understatement. Fiery? That’s underplaying the burn. Blistering? You’re going to need a lot ointment here.

Enjoyable? Are you even listening?

Yes, this is a killer album, one that features almost no filler. At the halfway point, the blood will be pounding through the body as the adrenaline has well and truly taken over.

There’s no bell so be prepared for even more of a pasting with the second longest track on the album, One Minute. Where Cage Fight incorporate thrashier and speed metal tones to make their hardcore stomp even more intense.

You’d think such constant explosivity would get tiresome but that’s so far from the case as Cage Fight continue to burn as brightly as they did at the start. Tell Me What Real Is, Respect Ends and Eating Me Alive another set of the bangers. The latter featuring the always welcome vocal talents of The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad for even more eye-watering savagery.

Finally, it’s 6+ minute My Dreams to wrap up the original music of this album. A drawn out and nasty slab of hostility that sees Cage Fight take their time, building up to a flurry that will leave most doubled over, gasping for breath and begging for an end.

It’s not quite done though as the finale is actually a cover, a Body Count cover too. Cage Fight choosing to breathe new life into Bitch in The Pit, giving it the Cage Fight feel but paying homage to the anthemic original.

It’s a debut that leaves you dreaming of a long ice-bath after hearing it.

Cage Fight – Cage Fight Full Track Listing:

1. Intro
2. The Mirror Shattered
3. Killer
4. Hope Castrated
5. Make A Decision
6. Guillotine
7. Cage Fight!
8. Shine Don’t Fade
9. One Minute
10. Tell Me What Real Is
11. Respect Ends
12. Eating Me Alive (feat. Trevor Strnad)
13. My Dreams
14. Bitch in The Pit (Body Count Cover)

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