At the time of writing this, End It just wrapped up a few dates opening for blink-182 and Alkaline Trio. That’s pretty insane, but not surprising. The rising hardcore band has come a long way in a short span of time since the humble beginnings of playing the usual self-made scene breeding grounds upon releasing their 2022 breakthrough EP, Unpleasant Living. That listen was a revelation in just mere minutes — a raw, confident fury of unbridled ire being shouted from frontman Akil Godry with drummer Chris Gonzalez, guitarist Ray Lee, and bassist Patrick Martin providing a muscular pec bounce behind it, introducing the outside world to their rough and tough streets of Baltimore, on fire, absolutely no filters, nor any sugar-coating applied over the harder realities of it all.

It’s a bit of a stark contrast from the more palatable, vibes-driven hardcore progressions which fellow Baltimoreans Turnstile have presented of those same surroundings, but upon blowing open that same scene’s door — and similarly doing a stint opening for Mark, Tom and Travis two years earlier — End It know an opportunity to seize when they see it, and do so on their own terms with their debut full-length, Wrong Side of Heaven. 15 songs clocking in under a half hour, they take what they already did damn well on Unpleasant Living and a handful of other extended plays they’ve previously released, tidy up the sound quality with an assist from producer Brian McTernnan at his iconic Salad Days studio (which has also been a transitional setting for early Turnstile releases as well as those for luminaries like Bane and Hot Water Music) and blast through with clarity.

The line that separates every outstanding harder-edged hardcore band these days from those who are merely solid can be a fine one. End It fall into the former because of that big personality bursting from their sound. Akil’s loud mouth delivers bad omens on “Pale Horse” (Self sacrifice in the name of your tribe / Assurance of freedom / Now you will die / You don’t run with the pack”), calls out the 1% for their complacency on “Billion Dollar Question” (“Who must die to keep you in your luxury? / Streams from their eyes as they cry out for sanctuary”), humbles the posers on “Exploiter (SYBAU)” (“Blood sweat and tears donated / To the facade you’ve created / No work put in / You benefit at my expense”) and bodies the haters on “Disdain (U Mad)” (“Run your mouth when you’re alone / But won’t say shit when in my face / Lucky I got things to do / I’d fuck you up all over this place.”)

He’s such a natural at the art of smack talk and socio-political pipebombs that when he goes into balladeering mode just as well on their melodic hardcover cover of “Could You Love Me?” by veteran NYC scene band Maximum Penalty, you have to double check to see if you’re on the same record because the four-piece could easily be an entirely different mode if they wanted. It’s a good sign that maybe we’ll hear more of that “softer” side of them more soon enough. For now, they’re on the right side of everything with Wrong Side of Heaven that continues to make hardcore one of the most exciting scenes happening right now.

Highlights: “Billion Dollar Question”, “Disdain (U Mad)”, “Could You Love Me?”

End It’s Wrong Side Of Heaven will be released August 29th on Flatspot Records.

Buy | Stream