Commitment show no fear on their debut LP, but give plenty of reasons why you should fear them.
Release date: April 3, 2026 | Get Better Records | Instagram | Bandcamp
HARDCORE. Long overdue for one of these reviews because as much as I love metal and heavy music generally, nothing hits quite like good hardcore or powerviolence when done right. There’s been some good-ass contributions this year so far, but the first one I’m really taking time to sit with since GYLT, let alone review, is the new one from Philly’s Commitment.
This is a relatively new project, one with supergroup vibes. First, a big shout out to SOUL GLO‘s Pierce Jordan on drums, he kills it here. Didn’t know he got down like this, but it’s likely just my ignorance. I will absolutely, unquestionably claim ignorance to Commitment‘s guitarist though, Jake Smith of Eye Flys, but, as we’ll soon see, he was a great pick. The same extends to singer Tati Salazar who is also a new name for me, but one with pedigree. This team is rounded out by bassist Zach Bailey who puts on a clinic here.
The most interesting crux to this band for me is Salazar’s apparent musical heel turn. She’s most known up to this point for fronting the indie pop group Le Siren, formerly known as The Childlike Empress. I played a couple tracks, they were great, but wholly different from what’s here with Salazar is taking time off from being gentle and wistful to be horny, pissed-off, and vengeful here. Latin people: we do indeed contain multitudes. Fear Of is a very different side of the emotional coin, but one I guess I’m more familiar with or attuned to.
Fear Of is like a turbo edition of Commitment‘s demo from a year ago which floored me when I first heard it. I loved how raw and fierce it was and, to get this out of the way quickly, I do feel like it did this music more justice overall. It wasn’t even a shoddily produced demo either, it was pretty solid! But hey, there’s something to be said for some increased loudness and technical clarity here on Fear Of. For instance, I love being able to hear the bass on this album because I feel like I don’t in much of modern hardcore’s flagrant whirlwind of fuck yous. It’s a bit more prominent here than the demo. Other little additions help serve the tone as well, like the addition of Aileen Wournos’ ‘bastards and bitches‘ rant that contributes to the taunting of the violent hubris of man on “Pluto in Aquarius” and how all empires will fall; it’s just a matter of when, not if. The bassline also goes so hard here, reminds me good Iron Reagan lines especially with that burpy, meaty tone.
“DOG POUND” is sadist torture at its finest, righteous retribution against men who have regularly objectified and sexualized Salazar even as a child and millions of other women and femmes. Fantasies of castration and euthanasia are something we’ll have to keep in the fictional realm for now apparently because we can’t even have pedophiles slapped on the wrist let alone punished as long as they’re running the world, so I’m hanging on Salazar’s every fucking word like when she yells ‘put him down‘ over and over, or ends the track with ‘if you can’t be a good example, being a horrible warning‘. Socially and politically, we have progressed far beyond the need for pink pussy hat pop feminism and I’m glad the word is getting out with bands like Commitment. “Hellraiser” is another similar track that you should hear for more truth-to-power lyrical guillotining with lines like ‘I’m on ur ass, bitch‘ reverberating in your head.
Some other favorites: “Lickback” (called “Betrayal” on the demo) fosters revenge fantasies with lesser stakes (though no less satisfying) on top of bold punk percussion and descending guitar melodies that represent someone’s head falling to the pavement after getting the holy goddamn fuck slapped out of them. “Hard Candy” is 43 seconds of blasting freak fury, cucking the hell out of someone while they’re caged (many interpretations here). For the real licensed to yearners, “Hall of Meat” is just regular horny comparatively speaking, a quickie in more ways than one at less than a minute and encompassing the feeling of seeing someone so hot that you’d surrender your entire body to. I love the standout line ‘I’m just too horny for my own damn good‘ which… yeah, mood.”STD” (called “Send the Deposit” on the demo) offers a related missive, though this time focused on escorting with the refrain of ‘screen and send the deposit‘.
There’s just so much to get into with this bar fight of an album. Fear Of just revels in the extremes of human emotion – lust and denial, hate and betrayal, revenge and justice – all coalescing to portray a more complete picture of much of humanity that we typically don’t see in hardcore. Nuance, right? And even if you’re not interested in the point of it all (why not?), it’s still a stomper of an album that carries melody, pummels when it needs to (which is often), and moves quickly, which is also what you’ll be doing when you hear it.
Don’t wanna get too ahead of myself or place my own pressure or expectations on the band, but I can’t help but think that between a strong demo and refined debut album that Commitment have already become ones to watch with intent and frothing anticipation. If you like hardcore, even pretty casually like me, I can’t think of any reason you wouldn’t fall for Fear Of unless you’re a weirdo misogynist or racist who shits and pisses their dipe when they see a woman or non-white human in a band or something and if so, there’s songs on here that talk about what you can do about it. 🙂 Aside from that, if you still find yourself having trouble with it, just listen to the track “Let’s Begin” until you’re hypnotized and give all your possessions to the band.
