Pride Kills "Deep in the Heart" CD
[Thorp]
Had I not heard this Texan outfit before I wouldn't necessarily have expected them to sound like they do based on the artwork used here, but whatever the case they drop right around a half-hour of straight up metallic hardcore in the 90's NYHC sense, with what I believe is their debut full-length. In the interest of moving forward they've branched out ever so slightly to toss in a little more melody to some of the accent riffs, which is a nice touch, and they're employing a little more variation in terms of overall tempo as well. Of course, sometimes there are slipups in the process - for example, "Deep in the Heart" is a damn solid track (well, sans the cheesy One Life Crew-esque spoken intro about "true motherfuckers handling their shit, taking care of business, supporting their fuckin' families" ) until they randomly throw in a sloppy solo over a weird thrashy chord progression that just doesn't fit and totally kills the flow; and the banjo intro (or whatever) to "Cold & Dead" simply wastes time before delivering a couple of minutes of textbook heavy hardcore fury; but there are some successes too. Moments in "Driving On" are so Madball it almost hurts, "Make This Work" tosses in some energetic speed and unexpected octave chords, "Learn Your Lesson" brings in more of a metallic edge to the churning dual guitar intro, etc. Also worth mentioning is that a lot of the aforementioned spoken intros, and some verses here and there, are delivered by a significant number of guest vocalists from members of Full Blown Chaos and My Luck, among others - so that adds a little something different to the flow on occasion. The sound's pretty good. Not too heavy and in your face, but not rugged either. It's a well balanced sound that matches the level you'd like to hear from a band that's on a modestly sized hardcore label. The mix is clear, the bass tone sounds nice and plays a prominent role behind the guitars, the drums are crisp, and the distortion is well controlled. I don't have any complaints. I'd like to hear a touch more density or crunch, but it's not necessary, they've done pretty well for themselves here. The layout looks alright, but I think their EP looked a lot better as far as matching the style of hardcore that they play. This one looks more like a street punk record or something, and I'm not really into the typical photo/tattoo collages or whatever, but what can you do? The lyrics often rely on the hardass angle this time around, and the hokey pre-breakdown insult towards "fuckin' suburban, nerd ass faggots" (another OLC-ism) in "Love It or Leave It" is sure to get the politically correct crowd up in arms, but I can actually appreciate some of the more personal content that just deals with busting your ass to make ends meet and some of the fallout that can come along with that. More often than not it's the "talk shit, get hit" kind of thing though, though some of that can make for a good time on some level, too. This definitely isn't for everyone, but I have a feeling that most people who dig this style of hardcore aren't gonna be pissin' and moanin' about the lyrical content. Admittedly some of that stuff creates a hitch in taking the band seriously (though tracks like "Think Before You Speak" are clearly intended to possess an air of sarcasm), but the writing's making some nice moves here, and I think these guys would have a lot more potential if they'd set aside some of the attitude in favor of just writing honest, sincere hardcore songs. Musically they're definitely on point, so those like myself who miss the prevalence of this style of hardcore should give this one a shot. I like this, but I'd like to believe that the band's sitting on their best material still to come... (7/10)
Running time - 28:58, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Make This Work, Cold & Dead, Think Before You Speak, Learn Your Lesson]
Thorp Records - http://www.thorprecords.com

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