SIDEWINDER – MARCH OF THE ETERNAL HERETIC EP REVIEW

14th February 2025 0 By Laura Jane

‘March of The Eternal Heretic’ is the recent released EP from Sidewinder – Who are Sidewinder is the main question you should be asking. I’ll be honest, like you.. I was sat here thinking “I don’t know” and I will tell you something for free, you shouldn’t be thinking that. These guys are a band that you should know… Sidewinder hailing from Leeds, United Kingdom are a bruising Thrash/Hardcore band. Now, when I see the word “thrash” for anyone who reads my articles or knows my reviews you’ll know that I’m sat here rolling my eyes whilst muttering under my breath, please god – not this again but I’ll give it to these guys after the first track I was hooked on the sound. I loved it. I would definitely say musically it’s certainly more hardcore leaning but you can see the influence from thrash music clearly in the music. Something I’ve also figured out is that all bands that are donning the thrash genre lately seemingly have the word ‘eternal’ in their albums/EP’s.

(For an example of this you can check out the recent review for Ruinous Reign >> HERE << who also are part of the ‘eternal’ in the EP crew).

‘March Of The Eternal Heretics’ features 4 tracks with a full run time of 15 minutes 44 seconds and I have to say it honestly didn’t feel like it lasted 15 minutes – as they say time flies when you’re having fun and the EP play time certainly shot by. I enjoyed it. All tracks featured on this album had a generally fast pace, involved some complex guitar inputs, and featured those all-important harsh and aggressive vocals that you come to love in both hardcore and thrash music.

The EP kicks off hard and continues to go hard, and we love to see it. I’m refraining from my recent childish humour with phrasing and how I describe things but the EP shows no effort to slow down between start to finish. It has the full package – an absolute smasher of an EP.

Highlighted track off the EP for me would be ‘Ashes Of Reality‘ which brings a true circle around of infusing a track with elements drawn from different genres showing ode to thrash and hardcore history whilst still producing something new and fresh.

Overall, I loved the dynamic of this EP. I loved the fact that it brought a uniqueness through music whilst still paying ode to bands of a similar genre. These guys are a band I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for a local show, although Leeds isn’t too far away to be honest… It’s only ‘down’t’ road from Manchester. I’d rate this EP a solid 10/10 with a short listen time that you can fit in among a hectic lifestyle, I would not sleep on giving this a listen.

Score 10/10