Album review: Stray From The Path – Clockworked

Stray From The Path have developed a compelling shorthand for life in the 21st century on their awesome 11th album. Social decay? Rising far right politics? Loss of happiness? That gutting sense of not giving a shit over things that should spark outrage? It’s about ‘getting clockworked’.

Aptly summarised by artwork from ’80s kids nuclear war movie WarGames, showing a game of tic-tac-toe where you can’t tell whether X or O is about to make the winning move, the New York hardcore stalwarts are exploring how those in power want us to be disoriented, desensitised and doubtful of our ability to make things better. Distilling the hopelessness and frustration of that situation is part of it. But more important is sparking the desire to never surrender without a fight.

Arriving before the album was announced, lead single Kubrick Stare tapped into the numbing effect of watching the world falling apart online: seeing something terrible one day, but knowing that you’ll probably see something even worse the next. Arriving by surprise, like some kind of sonic guerrilla ambush, the other nine songs are about rattling us into action. The furious Fuck Them All To Hell, for instance, was originally planned for release before last year’s U.S. election, but hits even harder in the context of everything that’s happened since. The grinding Shot Caller is an uncompromising call-out of corporate violence. Can’t Help Myself shines the spotlight inward, drawing on frontman Drew York’s experiences with the self-defeating nature of addiction.

Instrumentally put together over just a week in the studio, there’s real vitality, vividity and immediacy to everything. The old-school nu-metal and rap-rock influences are polished and repurposed with sheer indignant brutality on Bodies In The Dark and Can I Have Your Autograph, the latter an indictment of celebrities who see no problem with signing their name on bombs that will be dropped on civilians.

Although, ultimately, there is no real resolution to a planet that’s gotten quite so fucked up, you’d be hard pushed to find a better soundtrack to blast as you go down swinging. Play it loud.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Knocked Loose, Stick To Your Guns, Every Time I Die

Clockworked is out now via SharpTone