Cast Aside "The Struggle" CD
[Deathwish]
God fucking damn right, I've been waiting for this for awhile and it kills as much as I expected it would. No bullshit, fucking hard as nails hardcore with metal added only to amp up the heaviness factor tenfold, and this fucker kicks in straight away with a good level of moderate speed, massive breakdowns, etc. This is by far their most pissed off and in your face material to date, it's definitely something very much in line with the 90's style of chugging, brutal metallic hardcore with a NYHC sort of thread running through it. Oh, and did I forget to mention that they're a straightedge band that's among the few who actually still have songs that are blatantly about straightedge? It's about time. Most songs stick at less than two minutes and pull no punches: "Honor" opens up with a fucking mosh part (you don't get that very often), "Dead Beat" unloads some quick dual guitar interaction and a sick breakdown, as does the re-recording of the excellent "Say Goodbye" from their 7", and there's even a minute-and-a-half outro track that's nothing but midpaced thrash metal styled power chords. I'm all for it. And the recording's great. The bass is a little hard to make out and the drums aren't as dense as the guitars, but it works out fine in the end. I really like the guitar tone because it's thick and heavy and really takes up the space well. The vocals are also impressive because they sound far more pissed and clear than in the past, with a lot more force and emphasis that gives them a unique sound. If the percussion was a little thicker and blended against the guitars it would be dead on perfect. The layout's totally consistent with a minimal color scheme and lots of speckled high contrast imagery with a spraypainted sort of look to it (including the band photos). Lyrically the songs are totally in your face and often deal with ties to straightedge, revenge, betrayal, and another shot of revenge. "Your actions are unforgivable, Vengeance is at hand, I will unleash this hatred inside of me..." I love this shit. Every minute of it. Say what you will, but when this style of hardcore is done right it's fucking skullcrushing perfection and I'm a sucker for it. 11 tracks, 21 minutes, done. Sign me up. These guys are by far one of the best bands out there for this niche of the genre, so this comes highly recommended. (9/10)
Running time - 20:52, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Stand Up, No Excuses, Dead Beat, Say Goodbye]
Deathwish Inc. - http://www.deathwishinc.com

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