Hoods/Freya "Split" CD
[Victory]
I was surprised to see this split CD drop, as opposed to a new full-length from either band/both bands, but screw it... take what you can get, I guess. The Hoods kick it off with six tracks of metallic hardcore, this time ever so slightly more melodic than some of their past work, but still chock full of crushing breakdowns and subtly more metallic riffing akin the 90's European metalcore scene. The vocals are gruffly shouted, at times getting a little deeper and more forced (ala 25 ta Life), but the variation is pretty strong for the most part. "The Only Good Thief..." has some faster hardcore chords happening, "In Love With a Whore" is a little slower and darker at the start before jumping into a classic NYHC sounding verse, etc. "I Own You" is a re-recording of a track off of "Pray for Death", and "Once Again 2004" is yet another re-recording of a classic track from the band's first 7" back in 1996. The lyrics are sort of insane in some of these tracks, getting pretty violent on several occasions: "Here for the fashion, not for the show, I'm gonna beat you, stab you, kill you..." Get the picture? Freya's contributions have a little too raw a sound, not "bad" though, just a little lacking in overall clarity. Aside from that, the songs are significantly shorter and less melodic than the band's full-length, which works well. Only one of their tracks hits three minutes, with the others staying under two, and most of the tempos are a little speedier, so the songs cover a lot of ground in their quick timeframes. There are still some overly groovy influences and a significant level of melody, but there are no singing vocals, so I actually like the direction more than what the band was doing last time out. It's basically metallic hardcore with a few outside influences seeping in, akin to some of the members' later work with Earth Crisis, but much more focused - especially in the creative chord phrasings and picking patterns of "Immortal Beloved". Most of the lyrics are personal and keep it simple, with one somewhat cryptic track taking on larger issues on some level: "Innate instincts awaken, Insoluble opposition, Madness consumes, Until it controls..." The layout's alright. I really like the boldness of the imagery on the cover, the spraypainted design on the back cover is alright but doesn't really fit, and the inner spread sort of looks rushed as the band photos are sort of inconsistent and the text is plain looking. No big deal, at least the cover pops out. Not too shabby. I would hope for a little something more from a split CD from bands of this stature to be honest, but I'm not disappointed. I'd rather have heard new full-lengths from either group though, because good or not, something about this release feels like it's simply some sort of holdover material. But maybe that's because I like both of these bands and would really prefer new full-lengths from each. Who knows? (7/10)
Running time - 20:49, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: The Only Good Thief..., In Love With a Whore, Immortal Beloved, Struggle to Survive]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com

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