Repercussion "And the Winner Is..." CD
[Spook City]
Brutal metallic hardcore from New Jersey with a mix of typical NYHC sounding chord progressions, new school mosh rhythms, and a little added metal on occasion. The vocals are burly shouts and the songwriting is straightforward and to the point. Normally I really like this kind of stuff, but the recording is awful on this thing, so I have a hard time getting into it. The mastering job is pretty quiet and the sound is really rough - almost to the level of a decent demo rather than a full-length. Everything's a little flat and raw, with the basslines getting lost, the guitars overloading on low-end at times, the vocals wavering in volume and coming off as a little dry and dirty, etc. The songwriting's not bad though, it needs a little more energy, but with a quality recording I would definitely be a fan of this. I've always liked no bullshit metalcore in the classic sense (i.e. nothing but chugging chords and pissed off, violent content), I just can't deal with the sound quality on this thing. "Wishing for Yesterday" uses some old school styled chord progressions and is a little more energetic overall, and "No Looking Back" is a little more memorable as far as tempo and overall feel are concerned, but this is a really consistent run without much variety. Included as a bonus is an unlisted cover of "Let it Ride" by Floorpunch, as well as the Sheer Disrespect demo (a band featuring members of Repercussion). Sheer Disrespect is stylistically similar to Repercussion but even more mosh worthy, but it sounds like they used a drum machine on the demo and the recording is among the worst things I've ever heard. It sounds like it was recorded on a computer using cardboard boxes as microphones or something. Absolutely horrible. The songs would be killer with a hard-hitting recording, but this stuff sounds like complete shit. I can't even listen to it. The layout looks decent with clean text and some high contrast images associated with gambling and whatnot. The lyrics are typical toughguy styled stuff about standing up for yourself and refusing to back down, with plenty of assbeating styled lines to boot: "Should've kept your mouth shut for your sake. Now beaten and bruised you're laid out on the ground. We've proven our point that we don't fuck around. Now you're in your place, knocked out lying on your face." Like I said, with a clearer and heavier sound this stuff would be good, but the weaknesses of the recording hold back the core material, and they shouldn't have bothered tacking on the Sheer Disrespect because it's unlistenable. Same story though: A better sound would've made a hugeM difference. (5/10)
Running time - 40:00 (approximately), Tracks: 10+
[Notable tracks: Wishing for Yesterday, No Looking Back]
Spook City Records - http://www.spookcityusa.com

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