Forward are, along with Judgement and Paintbox, one of the bands that emerged from the ashes of the legendary Death Side, who defined the Burning Spirits style of Japanese hardcore, which rests on fuming Motorhead rhythms tied to the million-mile-an-hour yelping guitar solos. Forward dial down the metal-guitar rush and instead focus on the anthemic possibilities of punk rock, pushing the vocals to the front, adding a bunch of silly drunken whoa-oh-ohs to the grit and rip of their hardcore thunder so it sounds like a chaotic cross between the sloppy warmth of a fucked-up singalong gruff-punk party, a storming j-core thrasher and the galloping goofy delinquence of Berurier Noir’s La Marche Funèbre De La Jeunesse Suicidaire, ending on a piece of shrieking madness entitled Aarrgghh...
