Endgame - Exeter Demo

A few years ago I received a copy of the Endgame/Monument split in the mail to review for my zine Midwest Assault. The zine fizzled out before I had a chance to review it as my laziness outweighed my inspiration, but I wasn't really wowed by either band to be honest. They both had a melodic hardcore vibe with a post-hardcore tinge that was not quite up to par. The potential was there, but neither had hit their stride by any means.

Fast forward to the summer of 2007 - A new batch of Endgame demos surface on the Bridge 9 Messageboard touted as being "for fans of Strength 691, Lifetime, etc" and allegations were correct. The songs had strong influences from both bands, but had more than enough character to stand on their own. A few years of honing their craft turned this mediocre melodic hardcore band into this exciting band capable of producing my favorite demo of 2007. The five songs here are the kind that make want to start a record label just to release their record and completely ignore what may or may not come. They remind me of summer road trips with the windows down and being 16 and listening to Jersey's Best Dancer's for the first time and totally in awe that a hardcore band could still be melodic and catchy without compromising anything. If this sounds like your sort of thing, check it out. I'm eagerly awaiting their new EP coming out on February 5th.

EDIT: Unbeknownst to me, Distracted, the new Endgame EP, is the same 5 songs from the Exeter sessions. So, out of respect for the band, I have taken down the zip file of the entire demo and replaced it with a download for the song "Piece of Mind." Definitely check out their EP when it comes out on Feb. 5th.

Endgame - Piece of Mind from the Exeter Demo

Endgame on Myspace