Photo by: James Hartley

“The first test / Say, ‘Fuck the rest!’/ One story is only truth / With two eyes closed, we’re incompatible / Solo, so long / That’s the path that I choose!” Okay, that’s a verse that goes hard even by hardcore standards. But then — is that a flute? In a breakdown? SPEED are making it work to their own maximum impact, and convincingly so on “THE FIRST TEST”, the latest preview from the Sydney band’s hotly anticipated debut full-length, ONLY ONE MODE. If you’ve had the privilege of two-stepping with them live on their recent run opening up for Knocked Loose, you know that the instrument isn’t just there in the song as a studio effect. Vocalist Jem Siaw has the woodwind in tow with him and plays the part halfway through the headcharge. It’s a moment that pops hard in a listen that’s already moving with intensity and intentionality, whether it’s breaking barriers or grooving riffs through and through. This goes with everything SPEED is and does as Siaw blazes his Asian-born Australian roots through the pit. Their words match their action, and no one else is doing it like they want to.

Directed by: Thomas Elliott, Jack Rudder & SPEED