Three songs from a band whose sound hs been compared to Quicksand meets Sparkmarker, not a bad comparison. The songs have really heavy music and melodic, emotional vocals, and the two make a nice combination. Lyrics are personal and the music is pretty driving; this does a good job of capturing the strength of their live set. I'm impressed. The CD comes with an extra, really mellow song that's emo as hell.

Yet another great replacement for the disbanded Quicksand. Incredible musicianship, catchy melodies and exceptional singing make this probably one of the best releases this issue. Rumor has it they'll be on Victory soon.

Impressive stuff here. Cast Iron Hike manage to be really heavy and metallic, while maintaing great melody throughout. A lot of the stuff sounds like a pissed off Falling Forward and some of the stuff sounds more metal and paced. The singer has a good range and executes the whole singing/screaming thing pretty well. Lyrics more on the poetic side of things. Worth a peek.

Three words: ROCK AND ROLL!! Cool post hardcore(my favorite catch phrase) with a decent groove and some close to over the top RAWK vocals. This shit caught my ear quick and warranted repeat listenings. Surprising as hell. How's about a full length?

What you find inside this excellent packaging are three songs of all around good music. It has a lot of different styles of music mixed together to give us this excellent groove laden post hardcore record. It has a little of the old harmonics mixed with crunchy riffs and topped off with well sung vocals. This has a definite rock feel without being too rocky for hardcore kids to appreciate. I like it, isn't that reason enough for you to like it too?

Cast Iron Hike come from Boston and sound a little like Quicksand on this CD, but they are catchier, heavier, and more moving than the guys from NY. Some critics have compared them to the Bad Brains, but I can't seem to find the similarities. The Shift and Quicksand fans should have lots of fun with this record.

Raucous, powerful hardcore beauty from Boston (wrapped in a gorgeous 7" package.) "Boxed" is hard-hitting and full of surging swells of pent-up emotional discontent. "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town" is a full frontal assault, harnessing the power of one of the most exciting drum parts I've heard in a while and just allowing it to explode. The guitar is metal-on-metal during "And She's No Longer Visible," but is still solid as a rock. You'll need to catch your breath after this one.

After dropping the needle on this record, there was two seconds of silence, and then 24 seconds of Cast Iron Hike (yes, I counted) and then I sat back down in my chair and said, "Oh my god." So I'm guessing that stunned is the best way to describe my reaction to this 7". Three amazing songs combining all the levels of hardcore and post hardcore into one. Awesome.

This Boston band strike back with a second ep which can be compared as a "heavy Quicksand meets Sparkmarker." I saw them perform in front of about only 50 people and they still managed to kick my ass. Melodic, yet still very powerful and tight indeed.

Gotta love the Hike. How could a group make something so moody, grim, and dark, yet so catchy? In some weird way this totally reflects the gloomy, rainy, Boston you always hear about. Driving and heavy with big, fat grooves and cool guitar slides, but moody...dam moody. I think the vocals add to that though. Hell, I try as hard as I can but I just can't describe how cool this band is. Just get this, and the "Salmon Drive" EP, and anything else they will ever put out.

Three songs of a mix of emo, post hardcore keeping a base of music with abstract lyrics. It will leave many wondering. I made my decision, this is damn good stuff. I wanna hear more.