REVIEW: Speed - ALL MY ANGELS

“To love unconditionally, without fear or regret” is a rare and courageous sensibility for anyone to live by. To have it guide you, as you slam dance your way across international stages, smashing out aggressively positive hardcore bangers, well, that's nothing short of magnificent. The Aussie five piece, SPEED, carry this phrase and ethos alongside the release of their latest EP, ALL MY ANGELS. Born from their tortuous experiences of grief and its shifting landscape of existential pain, the record is testament to the strength found in expressing genuine vulnerability. Their epic and ecstatic rise in popularity over the past few years, has been accompanied by a series of tragic bereavements, shaping their creativity and truly cementing the messages of love and inclusivity they imbue.

The blazing storm of global injustice fuels the sound of the EP’s first track, AIN'T MY GAME. As it blasts out, a frenzy of drums and distortion, lyrically, it's espousing solidarity and compassion, ‘The hardest fights take integrity. My loyalty lies where my heart and values meet. Gave all the fear in me to my misery.’ JEM SIOW's emphatic delivery punches through the irrepressible energy from the band, made up of AARON SIOW (bass), JOSH CLAYTON (guitar), DENNIS VICHIDVONGSA (guitar), and KANE VARDON (drums).

This is a ride or die group, a real blood brothers team, making music for themselves, and for their beloved Sydney scene. Forming only six years ago, they are already in high demand internationally, and their down to earth sincerity, truly an Aussie gift, translates across all mediums making it impossible not to root for them. Thankfully, they consistently produce top notch hardcore, so it's an effortless exchange.

When reading the track listing, the purposeful usage of ‘all caps’ is noted with an involuntary cognitive wince. PEACE opens with a blast of irrepressible anger and frustration, building to a grooving breakdown, ecstatic enough to make our eyes roll back and you sink right in. The first single released from the EP back in September, the strain of holding back the tide can almost be heard in the cracking in SIOW's voice as he repeatedly cries out, ‘I wiped all my tears to see’. 

The last part of this triptych is ALL MY ANGELS, a heart-breaking howl of loss in a cloud of unanswerable questions, ‘The burning question tugging on my soul is, when a life gets taken, where does it all go?’. Whipped up into a storm of power chords and riffs but slower than elsewhere on the EP, SPEED are seemingly weighed down by their grief. This is a chugging lament with a crowd rousing chorus, using the titular line to throw down amongst the rabble. Shifting tempos with well placed down tuning to finish off. It's piercing and it’s raw.

Yes, hardcore’s having this breakthrough moment right now, and not to mention it in relation to SPEED would be negligent. For a genre that's still riddled with outdated forms of masculinity and gatekeeping, the new wave of inclusivity is a breath of fresh air. But in today's often lightning quick turnover of cultural production, the longevity of maintaining this position is impossible to predict. Regardless, it's pretty fucking exciting to see this vanguard of heavy music receiving such recognition, and SPEED, sits right beside US bands, TURNSTILE and KNOCKED LOOSE. 

ALL MY ANGELS is the work of friends experiencing life's tragic inevitabilities. In an era of tasteful displays of health and wellness, they are sharing real time processing of their deepest pain in a raw and authentic therapeutic release. SPEED's got that ‘big heart energy’ and throwing in a flute solo or sharing experiences of emotional struggle is par for the course. Consistently outspoken against inequality, cancelling slots at big name festivals in support of political boycotts and pushing boundaries of ‘acceptability’ for a hardcore band, shows us the credibility of their message.

Undoubtedly, they are pushing an aesthetic and sound that is heavily ‘masculine’, which for some, breaches a code we haven’t necessarily made peace with yet. You can’t deny that the ferocity of the band's moshing is something that would keep many at a distance. Back in the 90s, FUGAZI tackled this head on with an outright ban at their gigs, and under a banner of 'inclusivity’, it for sure warrants consideration. However, there is something that runs bone deep in their effort to establish what is encouraging and welcoming in their music. It is also key to remember, that part of the beauty of hardcore is as a subculture, and by de facto, is not meant for the many. Only time will tell how this message translates out, on to the forefront of popular culture.

Score: 9/10

ALL MY ANGELS was released on 23rd October 2025 via Flatspot Records/Last Ride Records.

WORDS: Alana Madden

PHOTOS: Speed