Angel Du$t “Cold 2 The Touch” Album Review
Angel Du$t are back and better than ever with Cold 2 The Touch, their first new release since 2023’s Brand New Soul. Released via Run For Cover records, Cold 2 The Touch sees the band continue to solidify their unique sound, weaving between punk, hardcore, and indie flawlessly throughout the album. Legendary hardcore vocalist Justice Tripp (Trapped Under Ice) continues to demonstrate why he is one of the most exciting and versatile frontmen in heavy music, maintaining the same amount of personality and passion whether screaming through breakdowns or softly singing through verses.
The album opens with Pain Is A Must, a song that perfectly encapsulates the sound Angel Du$t has been cultivating over the past 12 years. Gently sung harmonies suddenly explode into the aggressive vocals Tripp is known for. With multiple ripping guitar solos, guest vocals from Scott Vogel of Terror, and a beautiful blend of harmony and aggression, Pain Is A Must is a perfect opener for what Cold 2 The Touch has to offer.
The momentum from Pain Is A Must continues barrelling through the album’s title track. The driving drum beat is relentless through the first minute, keeping the song moving at a relentless pace. The breakdown section of the song slows things down, but loses none of the intensity the song creates. The outro of the track lends itself more to the softer side of the band, with smooth “na na na”s contrasting with the relentlessly pounding drums.
I’m The Outside begins by subverting what the listener is expecting after the first two belter tracks. This song is far more upbeat, with a major key lead guitar line and chipper, cheery vocal melody. However, the band does what they do best a little over halfway through this track, ripping into a massive breakdown. The guitars and bass lock in to create a massive sounding, mosh worthy riff that runs for the remainder of the track. “I’m The Outside" is Angel Du$t at both their lightest and heaviest simultaneously, truly excelling in both fields.
Jesus Head takes another left turn, with jangly, indie rock instrumentation taking the place of the heavier style of the first few tracks on the album. Tremolo and chorus drench the guitars throughout, and a beautifully melodic bassline compliments Tripp’s voice in the verses excellently. The guitar solo near the end of the track melts away into a chorus of vocals and a reversed drum track, ending a truly excellent indie rock track that fits this album as well as it would a Mac DeMarco album.
Zero gives the listener the best kind of whiplash. After the gentle indie rock of Jesus Head, Zero is 3 minutes of pure unadulterated riffage, hardly giving you time to breathe before firing straight into the next headbanging riff. A hardly discernible vocal sample pervades the outro of the song, creating a wall of noise that eventually fades into a synth soundbath to end the track.
Downfall is two minutes of pure rock and roll. The song is primarily made up of one repeating riff, with a twangy high end lead guitar complimenting the low, unrelenting nature of the main riff. The breakdown in the middle of the track provides another spotlight for the drums on this album, with a short drum solo leading back into the riff. The simplicity of this song is what makes it so good, making two minutes feel like thirty seconds in the best way.
DU$T begins as the softest track so far on the album. Aside from some sparing percussion, the song is just Tripp’s vocals and a heavily processed guitar. This instrumentation gives the spotlight to some of the more introspective lyrics on the album. The melancholy, soft nature of the song is completely blown up around the 1:20 mark, with a scream of “I’ve got a gun in my hand!” leading into one of the heaviest sections on the album, complete with multiple blast beats and more monstrous riffage. The final section of the song returns to some of the more indie motifs of Jesus Head before ending.
Nothing I Can’t Kill is another of the straight, simple rock and roll songs on the album. A Strokes-esque guitar riff lays the foundation for Tripp to both reckon with his past experiences and spit in the face of the doubters he’s singing about. The lyric “Ain’t no man alive that’s ever gonna stop me” leads straight into “I never felt love or been enough”, encapsulating the back and forth nature of the lyrics on this song. Hearing Tripp get as personal and vulnerable as he does on this track makes it a truly special listen.
Man On Fire is the longest song on the album, coming in at three and a half minutes long, and it makes good use of this comparatively long runtime. The first half of the track is a very slow, contemplative, almost psychedelic indie song. Tripp’s vocals are whispered and raspy, and the instrumentation adds an organ and horns, fully diving into the classic, acid rock vibe. As the song progresses, the theme of ‘soft intro into punk section’ returns with force, however this time the two sections blend, with the riffs at the beginning of the song returning underneath more distorted guitars and harsher vocals. This blend shows Angel Du$t can not only do both, but they can do both at the same time with great effect.
The penultimate song on the album, The Knife, returns to the punk riffage and softer vocals, with a snarling bass tone tearing through the low end of the track. The most notable thing about the song is the outro, with a chorus of crying babies increasing in volume over guitar feedback, reminiscent of the buildup in Nirvana’s Drain You. This choice is odd, but leads excellently into the final track on the album.
The Beat is Angel Du$t at their heaviest. A fast-paced gut punch of a hardcore song, Tripp’s vocals are at their most aggressive as they get on this album, and the whole band joins him in this aggression. Fuzz drenched guitars combined with unrelenting drums will make you want to get up and mosh wherever you’re listening to this song. The Beat is a perfect ending to Cold 2 The Touch, returning to the hardcore roots that brought Angel Du$t together in the first place.
Cold 2 The Touch sees Angel Du$t dominate a whole range of genres, with punk, hardcore, indie, and psychedelic all getting a moment to shine on the album. The album is relentless in its intensity, but it never feels overwhelming - if you’re a fan of the lighter side of punk or the heavier hardcore side, you will find something you love in this album.