I was recently given a copy of Slapshock's new album called Kinse Kalibre. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of the band because I’m already familiar with their music. There was a time that a friend invited me to come with him to Red Horse’s Muzik Laban at the rooftop of Starmall Alabang where Slapshock was to perform as guest musicians. I didn’t get to watch them though because it rained so hard that night that we had to wait a long time for the contestants to resume their performances. Slapshock was scheduled to come out at 2a.m. and we had to go home earlier than that. At least now, I got the chance to listen to them again via Kinse Kalibre.
Slapshock is the type of band I listen to whenever I’m in the mood to rock my socks off. They used to be a former rap metal act but, as time passed by, they evolved into metalcore that redefined their genre which, I think, made a bigger impact on their fans.
When I first heard their new album, I thought that Slapshock’s type of music now has some similarities with the Christian metalcore band called "Devil Wears Prada". The first track called "Intro" has a jazzy ambience which makes a fine intro for a metalcore band. And because they are so fluent in English and Tagalog, Slapshock can be mistaken as an American band when they’re playing songs with English lyrics.
Some tracks, like "Asal Demonyo", has some Japanese rock music elements because of the use of effects that is widely used by Japanese rock musicians.
“Langit” is my favorite track in Kinse Kalibre because the song is not really that much hardcore. Rather, it has more alternative rock and mellow elements. Other than that, the lyrics are beautiful.
All in all, Slapshock is a great band and one of the few and best Philippine metalcore bands I know. If you really dig this type of music, you should go and buy Kinse Kalibre and their other albums.
List of songs in Kinse Kalibre:
1. Intro
2. Ngayon Na
3. Reset
4. Deliryo
5. Asal Demonyo
6. Burn in Hell
7. In The Line Of Fire
8. Langit
9. Under The Needle
10. Heartless
11. Salamin
12. All Hope Is Gone
