Very few bands on the planet make revved-up, anthemic old-school hardcore punk as well as Seoul’s Slant. Slant’s style is fast and frantic, but it’s also catchy. The riffs hit hard, and bandleader Yeji has one of the best rabid-weasel screams out there. In 2021, Slant released their full-length debut 1집, and it was one of my favorite hardcore albums of the year. Now, Slant have followed that EP with an absolutely stomp-ass three-song demo.

Slant are apparently gearing up for a Japanese tour, so they’ve dropped three new songs full of fired-up garage-rock guitar heroics and full-bore fury. A few moments on the new demo are more rock ‘n’ roll than pure moshpit fuel, but they’re the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that can work as full-on moshpit fuel. If you like Restraining Order, then you will probably like this, too. If you haven’t heard Restraining Order but you have any love in your heart for early-’80s hardcore, then you should listen to this and to Restraining Order. Stream the demo below.

Demo 2023 is out now, and you can get it at Bandcamp.