Not Ready to Step Down

Finding out that Sick Of It All would be releasing a 5-track EP filled me with the same kind of joy as an unexpected day off work or finding a tenner down the back of the sofa.
When the Smoke Clears is a celebration of the hardcore outfit's 30 years of service. 30 years? How did that happen and how old do we all feel now?
Despite anyone's age, Sick Of It All manage to successfully roll back the years with another timeless offering.
Yes, it's heavy as fuck. Yes, it's full of breakdowns. Yes, there are plenty of parts rife for a good old shoutalong. Yes, you will get hurt to these songs in the pit. Yes, yes, yes!
The title track punches you straight in the stomach with its heavy riff, before Black Venom moves through vintage SOIA territory and into the oi-like Doomed Campaign. Blood and Steel is quite a metal song, before Fortress rounds things off with a great gang singalong.

Sick Of It All are one of the most cohesive units you'll find in any genre of music and keep ticking over like a finely-oiled machine.
This is 11 brutal minutes and while no new trails are being blazed they don't need to be. Sick Of It All are the undisputed kings of this genre and this EP just cements their position yet further.