The record was written in tribute to three people close to the band who passed away in recent years. The result is a short but striking release – three tracks, each one as heavy emotionally as it is sonically. There’s no attempt to soften the blow; instead, Speed do what they do best: channel pain into power. This is hardcore as exorcism, catharsis through volume.
Opening track Ain’t My Game wastes no time kicking down the door. It’s a classic Speed statement – crushing riffs, relentless pace, and Jem Siow’s unmistakable bark front and centre. The song’s defiant message (“It’s not my way!”) feels like both a warning and a mantra: Speed won’t bend to trends or expectations, not from the industry, not from anyone. The rhythm section of Aaron and Dennis hits with machine precision, while guitarist Josh Clayton laces each groove with hooks sharp enough to catch skin. It’s an opener that perfectly reasserts who they are – a band rooted in hardcore’s old-school DNA but with a modern sense of swagger.
Peace shifts the gears without losing intensity. It begins like a brawl before dropping into one of the filthiest mid-tempo grooves the band have ever written. That shift – from blistering pace to gut-level stomp – is where Speed really shine. The riff locks in like a heartbeat, heavy yet hypnotic. Despite its title, there’s no serenity here; it’s a track full of inner conflict, rage simmering under control. Live, it’s the one that will make the entire floor bounce. It also shows how far the band’s songwriting has come: they understand dynamics, space, and how to make three minutes feel monumental.
The closing title track All My Angels hits with a different kind of weight. It’s dedicated to the friends the band have lost, and you can hear the ache behind every line. “All my angels, I’m taking this tough,” Jem shouts, his voice cracking under the strain. The song builds from grief into something almost transcendent, the breakdowns landing like waves of release rather than just aggression. It’s proof that hardcore, at its best, can be deeply human – loud, raw, and painfully sincere.
At just under ten minutes, All My Angels is over almost as soon as it begins, but it lingers long after. There’s something honest in the way Speed refuse to dress their grief up. They don’t reach for sentimentality; they turn loss into movement, into rhythm, into something communal. It’s the sound of friends remembering friends the only way they know how – together, loud, alive.
Speed may be on a global trajectory now, touring with the likes of Turnstile and filling rooms far from Sydney, but this EP feels personal and grounded. It reminds you why people fell for them in the first place: authenticity, groove, and the unfiltered joy of release. All My Angels isn’t a reinvention; it’s a reaffirmation – of sound, of spirit, of purpose.
Releasedate: 23-10-2025 | Label: Flatspot Records | Instagram
Tracklist:
01. Ain’t My Game
02. Peace
03. All My Angels
