This is a fitting follow-up to
Sworn Enemy
's 2008 release,
Maniacal
. Like that album, it combines street-level New York hardcore that
Sick of It All
,
Breakdown
, and
Judge
fans would immediately recognize with thrashy riffs that could easily draw kids into
Warbringer
Fueled by Fire
or
Bonded by Blood
into the pit. The ten songs fly by in just over a half-hour, with vocalist
Sal LoCoco
barking the lyrics like he's on-stage at
CBGB's
on a Sunday afternoon in 1989. The production is excellent, with the drums in particular sounding astonishingly clear and full, while the guitar riffs saw at the listener's ears. The New York hardcore scene always seemed more willing to acknowledge and embrace metal than the scene in other parts of the country, perhaps because in Manhattan, metal was just as much an underground taste as hardcore, so
's blend of crunching riffs and squealing solos, macho vocals, and thundering drums seems authentic and heartfelt, a mixture of styles that were really branches of the same tree all along, anyhow. It would be nice if
(and other hardcore-derived bands) would broaden their philosophical horizons a little bit, but fans of the genre want songs like
"Still Hating,"
"Ready to Fight,"
and
"Step in the Ring"
to be about exactly what you think they're about, so the group can't be accused of throwing pit-dwellers any curve balls. ~ Phil Freeman