As much as I hate it when snare drums are triggered so every hit sounds exactly the same, I swear I won't dwell on it in this review of Draw Blood's quite cool nine-minute EP, The Calm Before The Storm. Man, it's about time someone wrote a hardcore song praising moms ("Dearest"), and for that I gotta' give this a thumbs-up. The short, driving hardcore tunes that ride the line between new and old school that this Boston band dish out so relentlessly here don't hurt either, and that artwork is nothing short of stunning. Cool, energetic, uplifting, even if it is a bit redundant. - Greg Pratt