:[Ten Cent Toy]: – Off The Grid

Dedication.  One of the quintessential ingredients for success.  In any walk of life – but especially so in the music business.  Coupled with commitment, it is quite possibly THE single most important characteristic any artist (be they on their own or in a band environment) can possess if they want to succeed in what is, quite possibly, the dirtiest, most unforgiving game around…

Thus, it’s an immediate hats off to Welsh hardcore crew :[TcT]: that they are determined to put themselves across to new audiences by the fact that, more than a year after its initial release, they are still touting this impressive debut album around every possible media outlet they come across (and, yes, we’ll forgive them for the delay getting it this far, but then it’s also been sitting in a pile of about 150+ other worthy new releases for a month or so now…).

At its core, ‘Off The Grid’ is primarily a metalcore album, but it possesses enough of the energy, aggression and pure, unbridled energy of proper hardcore metal to lift it out of the doldrums of mediocrity which have plagued the genre in recent years (and alienated many fans, such as myself, who admired the innovation which the sub-mien, in its infancy, brought to the metal scene but unfortunately lost when it was forced to grow up too quickly in the public spotlight of mass media scrutiny and therefore lost its immediacy and excitement, descending into the self-imitating mockery of itself which I have criticized on many occasions, both here and elsewhere).  As a result, :[TcT]: find themselves revisiting the visceral sounds of the likes of Chimaira and early KSE more than the anaesthetised antipathy of latter day imitators.

Track list:

1. The Works
2. Jayu
3. Drone
4. Baptised
5. One Above All
6. Contemptible
7. Last Word
8. Time In Memorial
9. Sold Into A Lie
10. Off The Grid

https://www.facebook.com/tencenttoy/

Catch :[TcT]: live at:

Thursday July 4^th – The Hatchet, Bristol

Friday July 5^th – The Doll’s House, Abertillery (Slugfest 6)

Saturday July 6^th – Bogiez, Cardiff (Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses Semi-Final)

Friday July 19^th – Tomato Bar, Tiverton

Saturday August 3^rd – Blaenfest, Blaenavon

Saturday August 24^th – Hobos, Bridgend

Saturday August 31^st – The Doll’s House, Abertillery (‘Save Dapper FM’ Fundraiser)

Saturday September 14^th – Bogiez, Cardiff