Never Enough "Dead Set on Destruction..." CD
[Organized Crime]
This disc contains 27 tracks spanning the first two years of this band's existence, including their 2003 demo, a live set recorded on WMUC, the "Our Will is Done" EP, and six tracks from their forthcoming "Give Me Oblivion" EP. Expect a little under an hour of straight up hardcore with a definite old school sort of approach. The vocals are raspy shouts that have more of a punk aesthetic going on (which I really enjoy), and they're definitely taking a modern spin to the sound (complements of a little bit of loose dissonance and melody), but for the most part it's a bunch of moderately fast tracks of two minutes or less with lots of basic chord progressions, to the point structures, etc. There's not much variety going on from song to song at all, but even though there aren't many pieces that jump out I will say that they're consistently solid throughout. It's not what I'd call heavy but it does have just enough crunch to beef it up, and they've got that classic pounding bass tone in place so that carries most of the weight in that department for sure. Some of the tracks on the demo, notably "One in a Million", do get a little harder with the midpaced chords, and I'm all over that stuff, but again - for the most part it's a no bullshit attack without much variation. The recordings are decent and get the job done without any real issues. The guitar tone could stand for a little more substance, but the bass sound kicks ass, the drums sound fine, and I really like the attitude of the vocals. The mix is nice and even as well, which also helps keep things balanced by giving the bass breathing room while keep the vocals tight in against the music. The live set is definitely muddy as shit, dominated by vocals and drums in the mix, so it's not that easy on the ears at all. Included there are cool covers of Poison Idea ("Just to Get Away") and Agent Orange ("Bloodstains"), but other than that the live set isn't that hot due to the sound. I wish they had placed the live material at the end of the disc, because at 20 minutes it's the longest single session (the other three run right around eight to 10 minutes each), and the demo sounds surprisingly consistent against the EP's, so... the continuity is disrupted there with the live songs. I'd definitely be willing to sacrifice reverse chronological ordering for the fluidity of the listen in this case. The layout's a little rough and jumbled but gets things done well enough, and I'm liking the honesty of the lyrics: "A life of hate and bitter fights building in a rage self-medicate this fucking wreck before it turns to total shit..." Also impressive is the fact that, while not a straightedge band, the 32-year-old straightedge vocalist has included a song description about how one of the edge-related tunes actually identifies with the fact that drugs and alcohol do provide an escape to the "overwhelming pain and confusion that modern life brings" to certain individuals, which is a shockingly astute and sincere revelation that you're rarely gonna encounter from the straightedge scene. I'm not blown away by these guys from a musical standpoint, but I do enjoy it, so... while it offers nothing new, it's something that I can appreciate and I could definitely see diehard fans of traditional hardcore being really into this stuff. (6/10)
Running time - 48:57, Tracks: 27
[Notable tracks: Quit This, Our Will is Done, Just to Get Away, One in a Million, Last Fall]
Organized Crime Records - http://www.organizedcrimerecords.com

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