Edgewise "Complete Discography" CD
[Thorp]
This is the second installment in Thorp's "Unsung Series", collecting the entire recorded output (totaling well over an hour) of this great Philadelphia metalcore act from the 90's. I've seen this band constantly compared to Integrity and Judge, but that's horseshit if you ask me. Sure, they have some of that rougher old school hardcore in their sound. And yeah, they drop some total metal with some brutal breakdowns and solos and shit as well. But they do not sound like Integrity, nor do they sound like Judge. Portions of songs like "Tolerance" do bear a striking resemblance to early Integrity on a musical level, but only for short periods of time. Edgewise doesn't really sound like any particular band, it's just solid, to the point metalcore with burly vocal shouts and occasional melody... the way it should be, and the way that it was being done in the 90's when the genre was at its peak (in my opinion). One thing that I have to say right off the bat is that I really don't like the packaging here at all. Not because it looks bad. It looks fine. I like the graphics and the one live photo that's included is cool. The problem is that there is absolutely zero information about the band included within. All you get are some recording locations. There are no recording dates, you aren't told what releases any of the songs originally appeared on, there's no brief band bio, there are no lyrics, nothing. The lyrics were supposed to be up on the web, but they're still not. I mean, come on, if this is supposed to be the "Unsung Series", highlighting bands that were overlooked in their time, give us some more fucking information, you know? I know that the first nine tracks come from the band's self-titled CD that came out in the latter portion of the 90's, and towards the end of the disc are the songs from the "Silent Rage" 7" (1990), but other than that I'm in the dark because I never had everything that Edgewise put out. Some of the tracks are from compilations, and I assume that the middle of the disc consists of songs from their debut full-length ("Massacre of the Innocents", which I believe came out in 1993). But the label has got to know where these songs came from, so cough it up already! I mean, shit... all they really tell you is that all of the songs are by Edgewise except for "Lost in Space" (State of Alert) and "Half a Person" (The Smiths). All of the recordings are pretty damn solid, though. I'll give 'em that. I don't have any real complaints. Some sessions are thinner than others, but they all have solid mixes and would stand up against most of what was going on at the time of their original release. This band was definitely more creative than they were ever given credit for being. I'm very glad to see this release materialize. I only wish they had offered up more detailed information. A retrospective discography CD should be as informative as possible, and that's the only place where this otherwise excellent release fails. (7/10)
Running time - 77:46, Tracks: 28
[Notable tracks: In My Hands, Cardinal, Piss & Vinegar, Tolerance, Shadows, Unspeakable, Even the Score]
Thorp Records - http://www.thorprecords.com

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