On Our Own "Now and Forever" CD
[Perfect Victim]
Hmmm, not bad, not bad. I'm not blown away, but this is some pissed off hardcore that's heavy as hell and drops the bomb with no horseshit: 10 tracks in 21 minutes, no song hitting the three-minute mark. I like the fact that it gets a little metallic without truly being metal. Damn straight the start of "Absolute Contempt" is metal as fuck, but it's still what I consider to be true metalcore in the NYHC sort of style, chock full of straightforward chord progressions, burly breakdowns, and tons of chunkiness... oh, and some nice fucking burly vocal shouts. This actually sort of reminds me of some of the bands around here in Richmond like Murder Weapon and Cast Aside, it's just a little heavier or maybe faster sometimes. The song structures and attitude still scream hardcore, though. Good mix of tempos as well, never too fast, never too slow, and covering a good range in between. "Divide and Conquer" has some higher guest vocals during the verse parts and rips out one of the greatest fucking breakdowns I've heard in ages (heavy like a ton of fucking bricks with sweet dual guitar interaction), "1995" has a few more European tinged metallic runs, etc. There are a few changeups like that, but it's a consistent slap to the face here. The production is a bit too muddy, but other than that it's fine. The bass tone seems good, but there's so much low-end in the mix across the board that it gets lost in the shuffle often. The drums are also a little off, with a weird sort of snap that jumps over the rest of the instruments without sounding too screwy, so I think that ought to be reigned in. Adding more clarity to the guitars and whatnot would be the biggest help, though. I think the vocals sound pretty damn good, because you can really hear the hoarseness behind them. The layout's 50/50. The cover looks cool, and none of it looks too weak, but the text is pretty damn cramped together, and the two typefaces chosen don't work together too well. The lyrics are pretty straightforward in delivery, and brief song explanations are included as well. The tracks deal with a range of topics from sincerity and dealing with the loss of loved ones, to political issues such as abuse of power, etc. It's all on the table, so I get the impression that the song explanations are just a less in your face presentation of the ideas. Pretty good stuff. It's not that original, which I'm not really concerned with at all, it just needs a little work. A damn good start, though. Keep an eye on this band for sure. No messin' around here. (7/10)
Running time - 21:11, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Absolute Contempt, Divide and Conquer, Think for Myself]
Perfect Victim Records - http://www.perfectvictim.com

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