REVIEW: Gadget - Coerced

GADGET are, notably, fairly slow with releases. This isn’t a problem at all, but it’s ironically in stark juxtaposition to the immediacy of the genre they primarily operate in - grindcore. Outside of split releases with PHOBIA in 2010 and RETALIATION in 2021, their past two releases have been in 2006 and 2016 respectively. They’ve been around for over half the genre’s lifespan, and a lot can happen within a genre in 20 years, so it’s interesting to see if they can keep up with their contemporaries on the upcoming EP, Coerced.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for them to assure us that they can. After a buildup of feedback, they put full pedal to the metal on opening track Nonsense, with a flurry of blast beats and blood-curdling screamed vocals and growls from frontwoman Emilia Henriksson. It’s absolutely incredible what they manage to do in such a short amount of time on these tracks, most notably the shortest song on here, the 24-second Gnistan, humorously the first single released for the EP. It might be short, but it’ll certainly be the most abrasive 24 seconds you’ll hear this month, and perhaps beyond.

The back half of this EP takes things a step above however. For those uninitiated within the genre of grindcore, it could easily lose its novelty a few tracks in. But it seems to take some kind of turn from sixth track Flatline onwards. Flatline is a track that starts with a wonderfully sludgy riff that quickly tears itself apart, ground down into shreds over unrelenting percussion and vocals, before the sustain fades into the 5-minute False Pulse. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koWThN3imUo

False Pulse is unlike anything else on this release, it’s a grimy drone piece, featuring this crunchy, static effect every few seconds. A wildly discomforting piece in the way it completely subverts what we’ve come to expect from this record thus far, but the emphasis is still on noise and claustrophobic doominess that emanates from this group’s work.

All this concludes with the second-longest track on here, Violently Silent. Closer to the sensibilities of a sludge-laden hardcore punk group like CONVERGE, GADGET still manages to up the ante compared to them, with suffocating guitar tones, break-neck shifts in dynamics and more blast beats just to top it off. Absolutely a perfect way to end this 13-minute thrill ride.

With this release, GADGET go beyond simply being 'veterans' in the genre, proving that even with ten years between releases, you will trust that it will be worth the wait. To achieve so much on a release shorter than fifteen minutes is unbelievable. It’s the kind of EP you listen to over and over just to pick apart at all the details and intricacies, or simply just for the thrill of it. Easy to appreciate and even easier to return to, Coerced is likely to be a highlight EP of 2026, talked about for the rest of the year.

Score: 9/10

Coerced will be released on 8th May 2026 via De:Nihil Records.

Words: Noise Leonard

Photos: Erik Larsson